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Thursday / November 14. 2024
HomePosts Tagged "ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana"

President of India inaugurates the 2nd Indian Rice Congress at Cuttack

Rice is the cornerstone of food security in India and also a key factor for our economy said Droupadi Murmu, President of India. She was speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the 2nd Indian Rice Congress at ICAR-National Rice Research Institute.

The President said that though India is the leading consumer and exporter of rice today, the situation was different when the nation became free. In those days, we depended on imports to meet our food requirements, and the nation often lived what was called a ship-to-mouth existence. If the nation could overcome that dependency and become the largest exporter, a lot of credit goes to the National Rice Research Institute. The institute has contributed immensely to India’s food security and also to improving farmers’ lives.

The President said that in the last century, as irrigation facilities expanded, rice came to be grown in new places and found new consumers. The paddy crop requires high amounts of water but many parts of the world are facing severe water shortages due to climate change. Droughts, floods and cyclones are now more frequent, making rice cultivation more vulnerable. She said that even as rice has broken new ground, there are places where traditional varieties are facing challenges. Thus, the task before us today is to find the middle path: preserving and conserving traditional varieties on one hand, and maintaining ecological balance on the other. Another challenge is to save the soil from excessive use of chemical fertilizers, which are considered necessary for modern rice cultivation. We need to reduce our dependence on such fertilizers in order to keep our soil healthy. She expressed confidence that scientists are at work to devise eco-friendly rice production systems.

President of India inaugurates the 2nd Indian

It aims at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers in Maharashtra.

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu has licensed and transferred the Banana Wine and Vinegar Making Technology to the Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur, Maharashtra.

In her address, Dr. S. Uma, Director, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli emphasized that converting the ripe Bananas into alcoholic beverage will not only help to reduce the fruit wastage in the supply chain; but, also enable the doubling of farmers’ income by tertiary processing, create jobs and enhance investment opportunities.  Ratnadeep Mohan More, Chief Executive Officer, Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur accentuated that the technology from the ICAR-NRC of Banana will be used to produce Banana Wine and Vinegar that will provide the consumers with the options to choose only Grape Wine or Apple Cider Vinegar for consumption. He stressed that the over-matured Bananas at the field and produce rejected during the export finds a new way for further utilization.

Dr. P. Suresh Kumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli & Inventor of the Technology briefed that in a recent move that is aimed at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers, the State Governments like Kerala and Maharashtra are revising their state Policies to utilize the native grown crops. The Banana is a good choice for Wine production because of its high concentration of polyphenols and antioxidants with high sugar content, Banana wine does not require additional sugar.

Dr. K.N. Shiva, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana & Co-inventor of the Technology underlined that the Banana Wine can be produced by the fermentation without addition of alcohol or synthetic flavors. Similarly, in place of synthetic Vinegar, Banana Fruit based Vinegar has good market potential.

It aims at providing a larger market

The technology transfer will add new products to the market

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu licensed and transferred the Basil Seed Suspended Clarified Banana Juice to the Thottiyam Banana Producer Company – Member of Tamil Nadu Banana Growers Federation in Tiruchirapalli.

Dr S Uma, Director, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli stated that the technology transfer and converting the over ripe banana to juice will add new products to the market. She said that the banana is grown in 6,000 Ha area in Trichy District and approximately 1 Lakh Hectare in Tamil Nadu.

Dr P Suresh Kumar, Principal Scientist, one of the inventors of the Technologies, ICAR-NRC for Banana briefed that the market is flooded with artificially flavoured, Synthetic Chia Seed Suspended Juice having the traces of fruit juice with a lot of added sugar. He emphasised that this is the first of its kind that the bureau has come-up with the novel technology of using the traditional basil seeds to make Suspended Clarified Banana Juice.

G Ajeethan, MD, FPO said that the technology from the ICAR-NRC for Banana will be used for producing the new beverage from banana.
The institute has also developed more than 55 different technologies using the different parts of banana including minimally processed foods, low sugar bakery and confectionary foods and utilising the wastes like peel, stem, corm and male flower for functional foods for the benefit of the entrepreneurs, consumers, etc.

The technology transfer will add new products

The transfer of technology is aimed at enhancing the banana production system in Tamil Nadu

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu licensed and transferred its Technology – ‘A Micronutrient Mixture – Banana Shakti’ to the three different stakeholders, viz., KVK, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission (TNSRLM), Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, and KVK, Karur respectively.

Dr S Uma, Director, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli stressed addressing the micronutrient deficiency in the banana production system immediately with a more scientific approach. The technology has been widely used by the farmers across Tamil Nadu and is gaining momentum in the other states as well. Dr Uma stated that the technology is low-cost, more adaptable, trial-able and farmer-friendly.

Dr KJ Jeyabaskaran, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana & Inventor of the Technology underlined that the micronutrient mixture – Banana Shakti primarily corrects the micronutrient deficiency and at the same time, increases the “use efficiency” of the primary and secondary macronutrients in the Banana production system. It increases the productivity by 15 per cent to 20 per cent and enhances the quality too.

Dr Jeyabaskaran stated that with the investment of Rs 5,000 for its application, an additional net profit of Rs one Lakh per hectare could be accrued. He emphasized that it also improves the shelf life and reduces the skin splitting of banana fruits.

The transfer of technology is aimed at enhancing the banana production system in Tamil Nadu.

The transfer of technology is aimed at

Technological know-how has been provided to the farmers of all the states

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu along with its associate partner – Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat has licensed and transferred a Farmers’-friendly Macropropagation Technology to the Gujarat-based Jarvi Nursery.

Dr S Uma, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli & Inventor of the Technology stated that before commercialisation, the technology was tested in Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar representing the different agro-climatic zones for its viability. She underlined that the technology’s success has been witnessed and technological know-how has been provided to the farmers of all the states.

Dr S Backiyarani and Dr MS Saraswathi, Principal Scientists And Co-Inventors of the Technology outlined that a minimum of 25 healthy, true to type, disease-free plants may be obtained from the single sucker within the period of three to four months and throughout the year without any seasonal barriers.

Technological know-how has been provided to the