National Innovation Foundation, an autonomous organisation of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt of India, has taken up the innovative technology for the necessary support and incubation activities
A woman farmer from Kannur district of Kerala has come up with an innovative practice to develop support roots in cashew trees to protect her senile cashew garden from devastating borer attacks and frequent cyclonic storms.
Aniyamma Baby from Kerala has developed an innovative cashew multiple rooting propagation method. The method generates multiple roots in a grownup cashew tree, thus improving production per unit area. It also helps eco-friendly management of stem and root borers, restores productivity, provides strong anchorage against wind damage/cyclonic storms, and extension of the plantation life without the necessity of replanting.
By observing the rooting and development of new plants from the mother plant, she thought of developing new plants by wrapping sac filled with the potting mixture on the nodes of lower parallel branches. She guided the new root to the ground with the help of a hollow areca nut stem, as well as adding weight to the branches close to the ground and covering them with soil for rooting. Both of her experiments were successful, and she has been using these two methods in her old senile cashew plantations for the last seven years to support her family with a continual supply of high cashew produce.
National Innovation Foundation, an autonomous organisation of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt of India, has taken up the innovative technology for the necessary support and incubation activities.
The technology (Cashew Multiple Rooting for Senile plantation) has been further verified by ICAR- Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur (Mottethadka, Darbe Dist – Puttur, Karnataka) & Kerala Agriculture University (Vellanikkara, Dist – Thrissur, Kerala) in 2020. It has been found that to be unique and provides anchorage against wind damage/cyclonic storms, and restores cashew trees from a severe attack of cashew stem and root borers in a very eco-friendly and cost-effective way. The technology offers new hope to the cashew growers having senile cashew gardens to realise additional yield.
The two different methods used by the innovator include— Cylindrical Shape Method, in which a sac filled with a potting mixture (soil and cow dung) is tied on the lower branches of cashew growing parallel to the ground. The new roots that are former are guided through a hollow areca nut stem filled with soil and cow dung to the ground. Over a year, these roots develop and add to the root network of cashew, which acts as an additional channel for nutrient and water uptake to the plant and improves the yield.
