Krishi duniya magazine english july 2016

KRISHI DUNIYA VOLUME I ISSUE 1 JULY 2016

The Purple Mango A Cross Between Jamun and Mango

Welcome Krishi Duniya

Indian Sugar Industry Problems and Solutions Next Generation Indian Agriculture Role of Crop Protection Solutions The World's First Seedless Mango Importance and Medicinal Value of Lily

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KRISHI DUNIYA VOLUME I ISSUE 1 JULY 2016

Editor Executive Director Conceptualisation Sr. Correspondent Correspondent

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Santosh Ahaluwalia Shyam Chander Mohan Kanika Chauhan Anamika Chaudhary Ashutosh Rana Pooja Bisht Neha Singh Renu Sharma Ritika Raju Geeta Rawat Dhiraj Kumar Hasan Imam Pradeep Chaudhary Kartik Sharma Mukesh Kumar Ranjeet Kumar Shushil Kumar D Kumar Kamlesh Yadav Rakesh Kumar

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30 The Purple Mango A Cross Between Jamun And Mango

Ashwagandha -A High-value Rejuvinating Medicinal Crop............................................12 Production Technology of Brinjal For Indian Farmer................................................................16 Indian Farmers are Charged Exorbitant Pesticide Price Due to Illegal Registrations and Rules.....................19

16 Next Generation Indian Agriculture Role of Crop Protection Solutions

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of the information contained in this publications, the publishers are not responsible for any errors or omissions that might have crept into this publications.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or kept in a retrieval system, without the express permission of the publishers.

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for Kharif Crops of 2016-17 .................................................................20 New Gmo Controversy are the Herbicides Dangerous?..................................................................24 The Purple Mango -A Cross Between Jamun and Mango.........................................................26 Agriculture App Available on Mobile by IFFCO KISAN.........30 Seed Hardening Treatments in Vegetable Crops............................................................32 Importance and Medicinal Value of Lily.............................34

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Use of Molds in the Fruit & Vegetable Production..........................................38 The World's First Seedless Mango..................................40

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Agri News.......................................................................6 Company News...............................................................8

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IN THIS ISSUE

Native Indian Mustard vs GMO Mustard.........................42

Native Indian Mustard vs GMO Mustard

Tomato Varieties Different Tomato Colors........................44 Role of Specialty Corns and their Specific Production Technologies to Enhance Farmers Income........46 Success Story of Quinova Cultivation at Fathepur Dist (UP)....................................................50 Climate Change and Its Inuence On Insect Diversity.........52 Indian Sugar Industry Problems and Solutions..................54 Smart Gravity Flow Micro Irrigation System...................58

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Next Generation Indian Agriculture Role of Crop Protection Solutions...................................60

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Innovation in Modern Agriculture for Enhancing Productivity

EDITORIAL

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nnovation is not only driven by technological advances, but also through novel ways of organizing farmers and connecting them to the information they need.

Sometimes, innovations to address these issues are taken to farms via extension training. Farmers themselves can be organized in innovative ways so they are reached more easily and effectively with information. The type and style of the extension itself has evolved much over time. For instance, advances in satellite mapping and information and communications technologies (ICTs) are transforming more traditional agricultural extension work today. Farming is becoming more precise and productive as a result.

Without these advances, far more land would need to be cultivated to produce the food we need today. For instance, it has been estimated that we could produce the same amount of total food grown fifty years ago on less than one-third the amount of land used back then.

If yields had stayed the same since 1961, we'd need to cultivate more

than double the amount of land to feed the population today – a shift from 12.2 billion acres to at least 26.3 billion acres. That's 82 percent of our total land area on earth.

Farmers today are faced with a changing climate, which demands seeds that can cope with increased incidents of droughts, heat waves, floods and elevated salinity levels.

This is happening while arable land per capita is ever decreasing, which compels farmers to maximize harvests on existing land.

To do this, the right inputs need to be used in the right amount and at the right time, in the right location. This is called the 4Rs, and is an integrated part of best management practices for improved and more efficient fertilizer application. For example, in more developed countries, global positioning systems (GPS) are helping farmers to track their use of fertilizer and match it very precisely to various soil types on their farm. It can also help them to identify potential pest or disease outbreaks.

Without pesticides and other pest controls, an 'estimated 70 percent of the worlds crop might be lost, rather than 42 percent today. This would require substantially more cropland being brought into production to make up for this loss.

Market access allows farmers to buy the inputs they need such as improved seeds and fertilizers, and also to bring their crops, livestock and fish to market to earn a living.

Millions of smallholder famers live in remote areas, and are often isolated from market opportunities. Innovations in connecting these farmers to market are happening in many ways – resulting from social, technical and scientific advances.

These advances help farmers find and share up-to-date market pricing information; protect and add value to their harvests; invest in their business; reduce and share risk; and access finance and training.

These innovations can be used and accelerated by actors all across the agricultural value chain to reduce transaction costs and risk while helping to give farmers equal access to the opportunities that exist through trade.

Editor Email: editor@krishiduniya.com

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Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare - S.S Ahluwalia

S.S. Ahluwalia took over charge as the new Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in the recently changes in the Cabinet. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that to accelerate the development of Agriculture sector and reaching out to the farmers who are on the last ladder will be the focus.

The Minister represents Darjeeling (West Bengal) Parliamentary constituency in Lok Sabha. S.S. Ahluwalia was a member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha representing Bihar and Jharkhand in 1986-1992, 1992-1998, 2000-2006 and 2006-2012.

Ahluwalia was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from June 2010 to May 2012.

Ahluwalia was born on 4th July, 1951 and is a Law Graduate.

Ahluwalia has been Member of various Parliamentary Committees.

S.S. Ahluwalia has held various portfolios in the past including Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment (Department of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation) and Parliamentary Affairs.

Improving Agricultural Yield and Quality

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he Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, the Certification Agency for Tissue Culture Plants organised a stakeholder meet on the National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCS-TCP) in New Delhi. The event was organized by Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) to raise awareness about the opportunities under the NCS-TCP to ensure production and distribution of quality tissue culture planting materials.

Realising the potential of plant tissue culture to revolutionize the growth of agriculture in India, the Department of Biotechnology established the National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCS-TCP) in 2006 under the Seeds Act 1966 with the objective of mentoring the tissue culture companies for production and distribution of disease-free and high quality tissue culture plants. The NCS-TCP has made a substantial impact since its inception a decade ago. Since then, 96 companies have been recognized and 5 test laboratories and two referral centres have been accredited under this system.

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Maharashtra govt. plans to make agriculture sector run on solar energy

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he state government is working on a draft proposal to segregate and shift agriculture feeders from coal-based power to solar energy through a long-term policy aimed at making both agriculture and industries financially sustainable.

Highly placed sources in the energy ministry said, “Power supply to farmers in Maharashtra is heavily subsidised at 85 paise per unit. As a result, Rs 8,000 crore financial burden incurred on subsidy given to farmers is partly recovered from industrial and domestic consumers. This leads to higher power rates for industrial sector as well as domestic consumers.”

Non-recovery of dues from agriculture is also steeply rising having crossed Rs 15,000 crore. krishiduniya.com

Interest subvention Scheme for providing short term crop loan to farmers

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he Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Interest Subvention Scheme for farmers for the year 2016-17. The Government has earmarked a sum of Rs. 18,276 Crore for this purpose. This will help farmers getting short term crop loan payable within one year up to Rs. 3 lakhs at only 4% per annum.

The salient features of the scheme are as follows:  The Central Government will provide interest subvention of 5 per cent per annum to all farmers for short term crop loan upto one year for loan upto Rs. 3 lakhs borrowed by them during the year 2016-17. Farmers will thus have to effectively pay only 4% as interest. In case farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they would be

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eligible for interest subvention of 2% as against 5% available above.

The Central Government will give approximately Rs 18,276 crores as interest subvention for 2016-17.

In order to give relief to small and marginal farmers who would have to borrow at 9% for the post harvest storage of their produce, the Central Government has approved an interest subvention of 2% i.e an effective interest rate of 7% for loans upto 6 months.

To provide relief to the farmers affected by Natural Calamities, the interest subvention of 2% will be provided to Banks for the first year on the restructured amount.

In case farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they would be eligible for interest subvention of 2% as against 5% available above.

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lobal population was around 1.6 billion in 1900 — today it is around 7.2 billion and growing. Recent estimates on population growth predict a global population of 9.6 billion in 2050 and 10.9 billion in 2100. Unlike Europe and North America, where only three to four per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture, around 47 per cent of India’s population is dependent upon agriculture. Even if India continues to do well in the services sector and the manufacturing sector picks up, it is expected that around 2030 when India overtakes China as the world’s most populated country, nearly 42 per cent of India’s population will still be predominantly dependent on agriculture. The prosperity of this sector is therefore of critical importance to India.

MP: Non-utilisation of fund puts agri officials in dock

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he Madhya Pradesh government has issued show-cause notices to deputy directors of agriculture of 17 districts for not spending fund allocated by the union agriculture ministry under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) for rain-fed area development in 2015-16.

In 2015-16, fund of Rs 29.19 crore was sanctioned under NMSA for rain-fed area development in the 51 districts of the state out of which only Rs 10.46 crore has been utilised. show- cause notices to MP agriculture officials State principal secretary (agriculture) Rajesh Rajora has issued show-cause notice to deputy directors of agriculture of 17 districts, asking them to explain why has a

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single paisa of the fund not been utilised until now. The districts include Gwalior, Shahdol, Panna, Barwani, and Sheopur.

Apart from these, fund utilisation has been less than 10% in some districts like Ujjain, Singrauli and Umaria. Some other districts such as Burhanpur, Neemuch, Khandwa, Rajgarh and Shivpuri have reported fund utilisation of less than 25%.

The agriculture department plans to implement direct benefit transfer (DBT) method in all such schemes from April 1, 2017. In addition, the state government has to ensure that at least 50% of beneficiaries belong to small and marginal farmer category.

Rain-fed area development adopts an area based approach for development and conservation of natural resources along with farming systems. It aims to introduce appropriate farming systems by integrating multiple components of agriculture such as crops, horticulture, and livestock with agro-based income generating activities and value addition.

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John Deere ups focus on smaller tractors

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ith an eye on gaining higher share in the Indian tractor market, tractor manufacturer and farm solutions provider John Deere India (JDI) is upping its focus on tractors below 40 HP. The company is also chalking out a strategy to develop a stronger channel network in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand which are primarily lower HP markets but where it still does not have a good channel.

Satish Nadigar, MD and CEO of John Deere's said that we are working on our markets in 35-40 HP category and we can provide effective solutions for lower horse power, He also pointing out that they were market leaders in the 50+ HP segment and their market share in the 41-50 HP segment was between 10 per cent and 12 per cent. Based on a new product mix and improved reach in regions where the company did not have strong channels JDI is eyeing an overall market share of over 10 per cent in the next three years against 6-7 per cent today.

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deere and Company, has two tractor manufacturing plants in India – one each at Pune and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh – giving it a combined installed capacity of 1.20 lakh units. While it was also affected by de-growth in the Indian tractor market, (55,000 units were produced last year), overseas markets gave sales a big boost, accounting for 44 per cent of total sales.

Zuari Agro Chemicals climbs Per cent

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Monsanto and Microsoft to invest in agricultural technology in Brazil

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onsanto Co. and Microsoft Corp. have formed a partnership to invest in agricultural technology startups in Brazil.

Monsanto will join a Brazilian investment fund with up to 300 million reais ($92 million), managed by Microsoft, evaluating ideas for new digital tools to be applied to agricultural production in the country, executives said.

Selected ideas will receive initial funding of up to 1.5 million reais ($459,000) for early development.

Project owners will have the option to pay back the investment after three years or convert the money into equity.

“We want to foster new startups in the agricultural sector. There is a vast area for research and development," Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Agribusiness Forum (GAF 2016).

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 224 on 16-Jul-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 118.2 on 29-Feb-2016. The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.84 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 14.96 % and 11.2 % respectively.

uari Agro Chemicals Ltd has informed the exchange BSE that the company has availed an unsecured Inter Corporate Deposit of Rs.100,00,00,000 (Rupees One Hundred Crores Only) from Adventz Finance Private Limited, a promoter of the company, for a period of 12 months. The scrip opened at Rs. 184.5 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 188.5 and Rs. 182.9 respectively. So far 79766(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 736.68 crore.

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Mahindra sales moves ups 20.33% in June

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omegrown auto major Mahindra and Mahindra details a 20.33 per cent increase in total tractor sales at 30,191 units in June. The company had sold 25,090 units into the same month last year.

Company said in a statement that domestic tractor sales grew by 20.49 per cent to 28,797 units in June as next to 23,899 units in the year-ago month. Exports during the month enhanced by 17 percent to 1,394 units compared with 1,191 units in the same month a year before, it added. Commenting on the sales outlook, M&M President and Chief Executive Farm Equipment and Twowheeler Division Rajesh Jejurikar said that Hope of a very good monsoon coupled with higher MSPs (minimum support prices of crops) will drive sentiment thus positively impacting tractor order.

Dow AgroSciences launch a new PowerCore trait technology

John Deere to open 116 equipment banks in Karnataka

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Dow AgroSciences

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ow AgroSciences announces the U.S. commercial launch of PowerCore trait technology, new insect trait technology from Dow AgroSciences that protects corn plants from yield-robbing, above-ground insects. PowerCore will be offered initially in hybrids from five seed brands. This new trait that controls above ground pests will fit nicely into the Smart Stax system, “There has been a growing demand in the Midwest by growers who need just above ground insect protection. Company had such great success with this product in South America, they had to bring it north to the U.S.” PowerCore incorporates a pyramid of three different Bt proteins Because each Bt protein targets insects differently, PowerCore uses three modes of action to control more insects than other above-ground trait technologies. In addition, the three different modes of action offered by these proteins reduce potential insect resistance to the technology. Brian Barker, general manager, U.S. Seeds at Dow AgroSciences said that PowerCore trait technology is the latest advancement in the Dow AgroSciences portfolio of innovative pest control solutions to help growers above ground insects and protect yields. “PowerCore protects corn against damage from European corn borer, southwestern corn borer, corn earworm, western bean cutworm, black cutworm, fall armyworm, and sugarcane borer. It offers excellent control of above-ground worm pests for growers with moderate to low rootworm pressure. krishiduniya.com

ractor maker John Deere said that it will set up 116 new custom hire service centres (CHSCs) in Karnataka over the next three months. CHSCs, also known as equipment banks, are aimed at helping small and marginal farmers - constituting about 80% of India's sowers - rent tractors and other equipment on a need basis.

The company said it opened its first centre in the Pune and "has committed to open all the 116 centres in the next three months." John Deere already has 34 of these equipment banks spread across Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

"In Gujarat, 15,400 farmers have benefited from these centres, so far. The concept of CHSC is fairly new and hence difficult to give a comprehensive number," the company said in a statement. However, it said each centre will be able to cater to 1,000 hectares around it. Typically CHSCs are subsidised by the respective state governments as it has been seen as one of the ways to further farm mechanisation in the country and improve the yield per hectare.

The cost of hiring equipments, the company said will be lower than buying a tractor (for instance) because of subsidies that are involved. Therefore, this is also bringing to these centres big farmers who need alternative or more such equipments. Each equipment bank takes between Rs 50 lakh to 1.5 crore to set-up depending on the range of equipments involved.

On broader terms, Satish Nadiger, managing director & CEO, John Deere India, said the company will look to increase its "channel penetration," in order to improve its tractor market share in the country.

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ASHWAGANDHA

a High-value Rejuvinating Medicinal Crop Deepak Lall, Dr. S. Saravanan and Vivek Kumar Singh

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shwagandha in Hindi is also called as Asgandh or Asgandhi. It is an important late sown kharif season medicinal plant belongs to the family Solanaceae and botanically known as Withania somnifera. It is also known as 'Indian ginseng'. It is a native grown all over north-western and central parts of India. It is an important ancient plant; economically its roots and occasionally its leaf¸ fruits and seeds are used in 'INDIAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS OF MEDICINE' viz. Ayurveda and Unani therapy. It is widely distributed in states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh alone it is cultivated Ashwagandha about 5000-8000 ha area. The estimated production of its roots in India is more than 1500-3200 tonnes which is valued rupees 160 million, while the annual requirement is about 7000 tonnes, necessitating increase in its cultivation and higher production.

The pharmacological property of the roots is attributed to the presence of several alkaloids and withanin content. The total alkaloid content of the roots is about 0.4%.

Botanical description Ashwagandha is an erect herbaceous evergreen less branching shrub with a normal height of 130-150 cm.

Ashwagandha is a hardy and drought tolerant plant. All its parts are clothed with stellate hairs. Branching is extensive leaves are ovate¸ entire thin; base cuneate and densely hair beneath.

Flowers are bisexual; greenish or lurid yellow axillary type. It has cymose type of inflorescence. Fruits turns orange to red when mature seeds are yellow in colour and reniform in shape.

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Important species of Ashwagandha 

Withania somnifera- It is a cultivated species mainly grown for its commercial values. Most of the varieties belong to this species. Mostly they attain a height upto 150 cm when it matures in a favorable agro-climatic condition.

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Withania coagulans- It is a plant from solanaceous or nightshade family, native to Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent. It is also called as 'Rishyagandha'. It is a wild as well as primitive one.

It has so many wild land races which can be used for crop improvement.

Important Varieties of Ashwagandha 

Nagori- It is a local type of Ashwagandha variety.

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Jawahar Asgandh- 20- It is a single plant selection released from JNKVV- Regional Research Station; Mandsaur. It has highest root yield

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Poshita- It is a variety of Ashwagandha released from CIMAP- Lucknow; It is medium to tall having 70-82 cm of its height. It matures in 180-210 days.

Average dry root yield is 1400 kg and total alkaloid recovery is 1.292 kg per ha.

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Asgandh WS-90-134- It is released from JNKVVRegional Research Station; Mandsaur. Alkaloid content is very high [0.605%] and withanoline content is about 20.38% krishiduniya.com

Other uses 

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Medicinal Properties and its uses Ashwagandha as being a high value medicinal crop it has so many medicinal values which is used in therapeutic measures. Indian's known Ashwagandha for its medicinal and therapeutic properties more than 2000 years back as mentioned in Veda's ( Ya j u r v e d a ) a n d f r o m a n c i e n t literature viz Charak Sanhita, Kamasutra and Sushrut Sanhita etc.

Ashwagandha is considered to be one of the best rejuvenating agents in Ayurveda therapy. Its roots; seeds and leaves are used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. Ashwagandha roots finds an important place in treatment of rheumatic pain; inflammation of joints; nervous disorders and problems like epilepsy. Dried roots are used as tonic for hiccup; cold; female disorders; as a sedative and problems like ulcers. Leaves are applied for carbuncles; inflammation and swellings. Leaf juice is useful in conjunctivitis. Bark decoction is taken or Asthama and applied locally to bed soles. Ashwagandha and its extracts are used in preparation of herbal tea; powders; tablets and syrups. krishiduniya.com

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Ashwagandha is considered an Adaptogen which is a non-toxic herb that works on a non-specific basis to normalize physiological function, working on the HPAaxis and the neuro-endocrine system.

Ashwagandha is effective for Insomnia but does not act as a sedative. Its rejuvenative and nervine properties produce energy which in turns to help the body to settle and sleep. Thus it helps the body to address a stress related condition rather than masking it with sedatives. A herb that rejuvenates the nervous system, erases insomnia and erases stress.

Ashwagandha has also been shown to lower blood pressure and is highly effective in stopping the formation of stress induced ulcers.

In arthritis, which involves joints that are painful, dry, swollen and inflamed, Ashwagandha would be the herb of choice.

One of the special properties of Ashwagandha is that it will enhance ojas. Ojas is the most subtle, refined level of the physical body and is the end result of healthy food which is properly digested. It is responsible for a healthy immune system, physical strength, lustrous complexion, clarity of mind and sense of well being. It allows consciousness to flow within the body. With

decreased ojas, we are less in touch with ourselves and more prone to diseases and having a feeling of d i s h a r m o n y. ' O j a k s h a y a ' (decreased ojas) is a condition similar to AIDS/HIV 

Research on Ashwagandha has concluded that extracts of the plant has a direct spermatogenic influence on the seminiferous tubules of immature rats presumably by exerting a testosterone-like effect.

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Ashwagandha increases hemoglobin (red blood count) and hair melanin. It stabilizes blood sugar and lowers cholesterol as well as reduce the obesity.

Benefits and Healing Effects of Ashwagandha 

It Protects the immune system

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Helps combat the effects of stress

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Improves learning, memory, and reaction time

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Reduces anxiety and depression without causing drowsiness

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Helps reduce brain-cell degeneration

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Stabilizes blood sugar

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Helps lower cholesterol

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Offers anti-inflammatory benefits

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Contains anti-malarial properties

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Enhances sexual potency for both men and women.

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Chemical composition of Ashwagandha Ashwagandha contains several different types of Leucosides and various alkaloids. These chemicals and alkaloids are abundantly found available in the roots; leaves and fruits of Ashwagandha plants. The alkaloid content which is found present inside the roots and its root system viz Nicotine; Somniferine; Withanin; Pseudo-withanin; Sommine; Tropine; Pseudo-tropine; Coline; Quoschohygrine; N- hygrine and Annaferine.

The alkaloids which are available in Ashwagandha leaves they are withanin and withaferine-A etc.

Whereas the fruits of Ashwagandha contains high level of Amino acids.

Agro-practices Climate & Soil

Field preparation Land should be thoroughly prepared by 2-3 deep summer ploughing with disc plough followed by 3 harrowings and discing followed by 2 fine leveling and planking to make the soil more pulverized and to bring the fine tilth. Mean while after the completion of tillage practices it is advisable to incorporate Farm yard manure (FYM) mixed with top soil; compost organic matter and green manure to make the soil more fertile and friable.

Ashwagandha is a hardy and drought tolerant plant. It requires semi-tropical climatic conditions with the annual rainfall ranges lies between 500 - 800 mm for its suitable cultivation as a rainfed crop. The crop requires relatively dry season during its growing period. It can tolerate a temperature range which lies between 20°C - 45°C and even though minimum temperature range as low as 10°Celsius. The plant grows upto the altitude of 1500-1800 m above the mean sea level (MSL). It requires well drained sandy loam soil; heavy clay loam to light red soils with good drainage facilities and having pH range of 7.5 to 8.0.

As we found seedlings of Ashwagandha are prone to seed borne diseases and fungal diseases, It is suggested that the seeds must be treated before sowing in the nursery beds or main fields. Seeds should be treated with Thiram; Diathen M-45 or Mencozeb @ 3-4 g/kg of seeds.

Nursery Management

Seed rate and Sowing method

Ashwagandha is propagated through seeds. Fresh seeds are sown in well prepared nursery beds. Although it can be sown by broadcast method in the main field but its transplanting method is preferred for better quality and export purpose. For export, a well maintained nursery is a pre-requisite.

The nursery bed, usually raised from ground level is prepared by thorough mixing with compost and sand. About 5 kg of seeds are required for planting in 1 ha of the main field.

A seed rate of 10 to 12 kg per ha is sufficient for broadcasting method. They can be sown in lines also. Line to line method is preferred as it increases root production and helps in performing intercultural operations smoothly. The seeds are usually sown about 2 to 3 cm of its depth. Seeds should be covered with thin layer of light soil and sand mixture in both the methods. Line to line or Row to Row distance required for seed sowing of Ashwagandha is about of 60 cm whereas plant to plant distance should be maintained upto 30 cm in the main field. The spacing which is required for nursery establishment is about 20-25 cm for Line to Line and 8-10 cm or plant to plant distance. The spacing / distance can be altered according to soil fertility. In marginal soils, generally the plant population maintained as much as high.

Nursery is raised in the month of

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June-July. Seeds are sown just before the onset of monsoon and covered with thin layer of the sand. The seeds starts germinated after germinate in 5-7 days.

About 35 day old seedlings are transplanted in the main field.

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Transplanting After the manure is incorporated in the soil, ridges and furrows are prepared at 60 cm of its spacing. Healthy seedlings are planted at 30 cm of its distance. In some places, 60 cm x 60 cm or 45 cm x 30 cm spacing are also adopted for suitable cultivation. However, a spacing of 60 cm x 30 cm with a plant population of about 55000 seedlings per ha is considered and recommended or its commercial cultivation.

Seed Treatment

Manures and fertilizers The crop responds well to organic manures / compost / vermicompost/ Neem cake/ Bio-fertilizers. Application of 10 tonnes Farm Yard Manure (FYM) krishiduniya.com

or 1 tonne vermicompost per ha is recommended for one hectare cultivation.

Application of 30 kg of Nitrogen; 30 kg of Phosphorus and 20 kg of potash per ha is beneficial for higher production and fertility of soils. Application of 40 kg of Nitrogen and 40 kg of Phosphorus per ha are sufficient to produce high root yield in low fertile soils.

Irrigation Light shower (Life irrigation) after transplantation ensures better establishment of seedlings. Life saving irrigation may be provided, when it required. Under irrigated conditions, the crop can be irrigated once in 10 days for better results and higher root yield. Average about 7-10 irrigation is required throughout the whole cultivation period.

Plant- Protection Measures Whenever the Ashwagandha crop is damaged by insects, two or three sprays of rogor or nuvan should be applied @ 0.6%. A combination of 0.5% malathion and 0.1% - 0.3% kelthane and 5% Neem oil (5ml per liter of water) as foliar spray at 10-15 days interval was found highly useful against aphids, mites and insect attack.

Major Insect-Pest Cut worm (Agrotis sp)- Larva attacks on tender seedlings. To control- Hand pick the caterpillars and destroy, Spray NSKE 5% or Use poison bait to lure the larvae.

Fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera)- Nymphs after hatching feed on tender leaves, Later on larvae bore the hole inside the fruit.

Epilachna Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata)- Skeletonization of leaves. To control- Collect the beetles, grubs, pupae and destroy, Spray carbaryl 50 WP 2g/ lit mixed with wettable sulphur 50 WP 2g/lit of water.

Diseases like seedling rot and blight are associated with Ashwagandha crop.

Seedling mortality becomes severe under high temperature and humid conditions. Incidence of disease can be minimized by use of disease free seeds and by giving proper seed treatment before sowing as stated earlier. Neem cake also can be applied. It will save root damage caused by nematodes and insects.

Further, adoption of crop rotation, timely sowing and maintaining proper soil drainage will also protect the crop.

Harvesting and Yield Maturity of the crop is indicated by drying of lower leaves and yellow-red berries. Flowering and bearing of fruits start from December onwards. The crop is harvested for roots by digging in January to March or late upto April - May i.e.

180 - 210 days after sowing. There should be sufficient moisture in the soil at the time of digging. Roots are dug out or ploughed using power tiller or a country plough. The tap root should be carefully pulled out without damaging even the small lateraal roots. Ashwagandha gives 6.5 to 7.0 qt of dried roots and 2-2 qt of

seeds / ha in well managed fields. The dry root yield goes up to 8.0 to 12 qt /ha whereas seed yield goes to 6-8 qt / ha under scientific crop management.

There are instances where farmers have achieved root yields as high as 1 tonne/ha. Commercially, roots of 6 to 15 mm diameter and 7 to 10 cm length are preferred. Alkaloid percentage in roots ranges from 0.13 to 0.31%.

Marketing The Neemuch and Mandsaur markets of Madhya Pradesh and markets of district barabanki in Uttar Pradesh are found to be very much popular through worldwide for Ashwagandha trading and sale purchase. Importers, buyers within the country, processors, traditional practitioners, Ayurvedic and Siddha drug manufacturers visit these markets for procurement of Ashwagandha roots every year. Before going on large scale, establish or find out marketing for the crop. Contacting any herbal/ayurvedic companies would be best choice. The sale price of dried roots and seeds has been considered at Rs.90- 150/kg and Rs.75-85/kg respectively.

Economics  Duration of the crop: 8-10 months or 12 months.  Average Yield of dried roots 600800 kg per hectare.  Average yield of seed 350-450 kg per hectare.  Sale rate of dried roots @ Rs.90150 per kg.  Sale rate of seeds @ 75-85 per kg.  Income of dried roots- (600 x 150 = 90,000/-)  Income of seeds- (350 x 85 = 29,750/-)  Gross Returns or Net income = 90000 + 29750= Rs. 1,19750/ Total Cost of Expenses = Rs. 43000 / Net Profit = Rs. 76,750/1

Deepak Lall, 2Dr. S. Saravanan and 3 Vivek Kumar Singh 1

2

SRF- Horticulture, Associate Professor and 3 Research Scholar Department of Horticulture, Allahabad School of Agriculture Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture Technology & Sciences (Deemed To-Be University) Allahabad (U.P.) India- 211007

krishiduniya.com

JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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Production Technology of

BRINJAL FOR INDIAN FARMER Brij Bihari Sharma and Mahesh Kumar Dhakar

B

rinjal or eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important solanaceous crop of sub tropics and tropics. The name brinjal is popular in Indian subcontinents and is derived from Arabic and Sanskrit whereas the name eggplant has been derived from the shape of the fruit of some varieties, which are white and resemble in shape to chicken eggs. It is also called aubergine (French word) in Europe. The brinjal is of much importance in the warm areas of Far East, being grown extensively in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and the Philippines. It is also popular in Egypt, France, Italy and United States. In India, it is one of the most common, popular and principal vegetable crops grown throughout the country except higher altitudes. It is a versatile crop adapted to different agro-climatic regions and can be grown throughout the year. It is a perennial but grown commercially as an annual crop. A number of cultivars are grown in India, consumer preference being dependent upon fruit colour, size and shape.The varieties of Solanum melongena L. display a wide range of fruit shapes and colours, ranging from oval or egg-shaped to long club-shaped; and from white, yellow, green through degrees of purple pigmentation to almost black. Most of the commercially important varieties have been selected from the long established types of the tropical India and China.

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

Seedling raising Nursery Bed Preparation : Brinjal seeds are sown on nursery beds to raise seedlings for transplanting in the field. Raised beds are necessary to avoid problem of water logging in heavy soils. In sandy soils, however, sowing can be taken up in at beds. Raised beds of size 7.2 x 1.2 m and 10-15 cm in height are prepared. Thus, ten such beds are sufficient to raise seedlings for planting one hectare area. About 70cm distance is kept between two beds to carry out operations of watering, weeding, etc. The surface of beds should be smooth and well levelled. Well-decomposed FYM or leaf mould may be mixed with the soil at the time of bed preparation. To avoid mortality of seedlings due to damping off, drenching of the beds with Bavistin (15-20 g/10 litres of water) is effective.

Raising of Seedlings About 250-300 g of seed are sufficient for raising seedlings for one hectare of land. Prior to sowing seeds are treated with fungal culture of Trichoderma viride (4 g/ kg of seed) or Thiram (2g/ kg of seed) to avoid damage from damping-off disease. Sowing should be done thinly in lines spaced at 5-7 cm distance. Seeds are sown at a depth of 2-3 cm and covered with a fine layer of soil followed by light watering by water can. The beds should then be covered with dry straw or grass or sugarcane leaves to maintain required temperature and moisture. The watering should be done by water can as per the need till germination is completed. The cover of dry straw or grass is removed immediately after germination is complete. During the last week in nursery, the seedlings may be hardened by slightly withholding water. The seedlings are ready for transplanting within 4-6 weeks of planting when they attain a height of 15 cm with 2-3 true leaves. The sowing and transplanting time in krishiduniya.com

application and the final at three and half Kharif 2 week of June July-August months after Rabi End of September October-November t r a n s p l a n t i n g . Fo r hybrid varieties, the Summer 2 nd week of January February recommended dose is 200 kg N, 100 kg P O different seasons are as followsand 100 Kg K O. Out of this dose, 25 % Cultural Practices of N and 100 % of P & K is applied as The field should be kept weed-free, basal dose. Remaining 75 % of P is especially in the initial stage of plant applied in three equal split doses. The growth, as weeds compete with the crop first split dose of N is applies 20 days and reduce the yield drastically. after transplanting. The second dose is Frequent shallow cultivation should be given just before the onset of owering done at regular interval so as to keep the w h i l e t h e t h i r d a f t e r t h e fi r s t field free from weeds and to facilitate picking/harvesting. soil aeration and proper root In eastern India Application of 25 development. Deep cultivation is t/ha FYM along with 60 kg/ha each of injurious because of the damage of roots P2O5 and K2O has been recommended. and exposure of moist soil to the surface.

Nitrogen is applied @ 100 kg/ha in 5 to Two-three hoeing and the earthling up 6 split doses during the crop growing are required to keep the crop free of season through fertigation. weeds. Hand weeding and hoeing are done to control weeds. Black plastic Integrated Pest and Disease mulch is also an effective method to Management in brinjal: control weeds. Black polythene mulch Major pest of national significance in prevents entry of light, which restricts brinjal germination of weed seeds and growth. r e e m e r g e n c e a p p l i c a t i o n o f 1. Insect Pest: Fluchloralin (1.5 kg a.i./ha) coupled Shoot and fruit borer, Jassid, Aphid, with one hand weeding 30 days after White y, transplanting is effective for control of 2. Diseases: weeds. Staking is another cultural Damping off, Phomopsis blight, little practice which help to keep branches leaf, Bacterial wilt upright and protect from wind damage. 3. Weeds Lamb square (Chenopodium If support is not provided then heavily album), Pimpernel (Anagalis arvensis), bearing branches may break.

Sweet clover (Melilotus sp.), Fumitory Manuring & Fertilization (Fumaria indica), Compsperry (spergula Brinjal being a long duration crop arvensis), Blue grass (Poa anuna), requires a good amount of manures and Canary grass(Phalaris minor), Rabit fertilizers for high yield. The fertilizer foot grass(Dectyloctium aegyptium) dose depends upon the fertility of soil and amount of organic manure applied 4. Nematode to the crop. For a good yield, 15-20 IPM stratigies in brinjal tonnes of well-decomposed FYM is I. Cultural Practices incorporated into the soil. Generally, Phytosanitation to reduce the application of 150 kg N, 100 kg P O and source of inoculum such as removal of 50 kg K O is recommended for optimum plant after final harvest, volunteer yield. Half dose of N and full dose of P plants. Clean planting materials, and K is given at the time of planting. preferably certified seeds should be The balance half of N is given in 3 equal used. split doses. The first split dose is given Crop rotation with French bean one and half month after transplanting, the second dose one month after the first reduce bacterial wilt incidence. For root Season Time of sowing

Time of transplanting

nd

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knot and reniform nematode crop rotation should be done with non host c r o p l i ke s o rg h u m a n d w h e a t .

Intercropping with marigold, onion and garlic also recommended for nematode management.

Adaptation of raise nursery bed (10 cm) for good drainage thereby avoid damping off in solanaceous nursery by preventing soil born fungi viz. Pythium, Phytophthora and Rizoctonia.

Soil solarization using black HDPE transparent polythene sheets(60-100 gauge) on nursery beds for about 15 -20 days which helps in killing weed seeds, nematodes and resting stages of insects and diseases Deep summer plough also helps to expose resting stage of pests to sun light Avoiding over dose of nitrogen and phosphorus on brinjal reduces the incidence of shoot and fruit borer Avoid excess use of water for disease management Use of ash dust reduces the incidence of shoot and fruit borer Destruction of crop residues /debris and alternate host plants reduces the inoculum load of many foliar diseases.

Crop seedling should be planted timely in well prepared fields at recommended spacing. Use balanced doses of fertilizers to obtain optimum plant population and healthy crop JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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stand, which would be capable of copeting with weeds at initial stages of crop growth.

Selection of less susceptible varieties like SB17-4, PBR129-5, Punjab Barsati, Arka Kasumakar, Pusa Purple Cluster for shoot and fruit borer II. Mechanical Control Collection and destruction of egg masses, larvae and adults of Hadda beetle and tobacco cutworm Removal of damage shoot,fruit and fruit borer and destruction.

Use of yellow pan/sticky traps for sucking pest @ 10 per ha.

Regular destruction of damage fruits at each harvest in brinjal to reduce the population.

Crop should be maintained weed free for 4 to 6 weeks after by resorting to timely hand hoeing and hand weeding III. Biological Control 1. Conservation Pristomerus testsceus, Cremastus avoorbitalis, Bracon greeni, Phanerotoma sp., andCampyloneura sp. on L. orbanalis; Pristomerus euzopherae against E. perticela; Microbracon psarae against Psra bipumctalis; Chrysonotomyia appannai, Chrysocharis johnsoni, Elasmus sp., Pediobius feveolatus, Tetrastichus ovulorum against Epilachna sp.; Aphidus sp. aginstaphids and Euritoma sp. on Asphondylia ap.

In adition to these parasites, general predators like Coccinellids, Syrphid, Spiders, Carabids, Staphylinids, Dragony, Damsey, Pradatory miridbugs, Predatory pentatomids, Nabid bugs, Reduvid bugs, Anthocoridbugs, Geocorid bugs; Predatory mite, Pradatory thrips also actively suppress the pest population.

Since these natural enemies are highly prone for pesticides, avoiding unnecessary sprays are the best way to conserve them.

Grow cowpea and pulses on the bunds to buildup natural enemy fauna.

Install bird perchers @50 per ha.

2. Augmentation Release Crysoperla camea @ 2 grubs per plant to control aphids and other soft bodies insects during early in the season.

Inudative release of T. chilonis @ 50000 per ha, in brinjal 5 times starting from ower initiation stage at weekly interval against shoot and fruit borer.

IV. Biopesticides Spray Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki, the commercial preparation@500 g/ha against lepidopteran pests.

Seed treatment with trichoderma viride/ tricoderma harzianum@2g per100of seeds to prevent seed and soil borne infection of fungal diseases.

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

V. Botanical Pesticides Five percent NSKE spray for sucking pests in early stages of the crop; it also takes care of serpentine leaf miner.

Application of Neem cake @200kg/ha, a basal dose at the time of land preparation for controlling root-knot nematode infection.

VI. Chemical control Chemical pesticide should be used on need basis as a last resort. Only when pest population intensity crossed economic threshold level, the safer pesticide should be applied judiciously.

Folier spray of carbendazim 50%@300g/ha to control early leaf spots (Alternaria solani) whenever the disease is noticed.

Application of bleaching powder @15kg/ha before planting against Bacterial wilt infection in endemic areas.

Application of carbofuran @ 1kg a.i/ha during early stage of crop growth to avoid sucking pest and also nematode.

Spray cypermethrin 50g a.i/ha at 15 days interval.

Root dipping in dimethoate 0.02%, 6 hour before transplanting for the control of little leaf disease of brinjal by avoiding jassids infestation in early stage of crop growth.

For weed management apply uchoralin@ 0.91.35kg a.i/ha as pre-planting soil incorporation.

Treat nursery bed with carbofuran 3G@ 0.3-0.5kg a.i/ha.

Brij Bihari Sharma and Mahesh Kumar Dhakar Discipline of Horticulture, I.A.R.I. Pusa Campus New Delhi-110012 Email: brij9851@gmail.com

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INDIAN FARMERS are Charged Exorbitant Pesticide Price Due to Illegal Registrations and Rules

F

armers are looted from the year 2007 to till this date of more than Rs.12,000 crores by illegal imports of readymade pesticide formulations without registering its technical grade pesticide (active ingredient) which is against the central Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Rules framed there under. Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) filed a case in this regard and obtained stay order against granting "deemed registration". Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Agriculture is keeping silence on the subject.

This gives total monopoly to importers, mainly multinationals, to charge exorbitant prices from farmers for the pesticides imported, restricting Indian pesticide manufacturers to manufacture and supply these products to farmers locally. This is totally against the policy of our Prime Minister of "Make in India" and "Made in India", stated PMFAI. While the Government of India under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister is trying to promote "Make in India" and "Made in India", the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIB&RC) is encouraging "Imports of Pesticide Formulations without registering its Technical Grade Pesticides", which are kept under "deemed registration" status for 3 years. Even after the completion of 3 years period of "deemed registration", the Indian companies are not able to register and use the Technical Grade Pesticides due to the faulty registration system followed by the CIB&RC for the benefits of multi-national companies, who use malpractices to achieve their aims to block technical registration to Indian industries. The importers who required completing registration of technical within 3 years, does not completing the registration requirements and continuing to enjoy the monopoly by marketing of the product and farmers are made scapegoat in the process.

Till the year 2007 as per the requirements under Insecticides Act, 1968 and Insecticides Rules, 1971 all registrants were required to first register the Technical Grade Pesticides followed by Formulations. But from the year 2007 due to the inuence of some of the multinational companies and importers, the CIB&RC under Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture adopted new guidelines for granting registration for imports of readymade pesticide formulations without registering its technical grade pesticides in spite of strong opposition from industry associations representing Indian Pesticide industry.

All over the world no major agriculture nations like U.S.A., Europe, Australia, Brazil, China and others, does not allows registration of Formulation without registering its Technical Grade Pesticide. This is because when readymade pesticide formulations are allowed to be registered for imports, source of technical grade pesticide used in the formulation and its purity levels are unknown, it can be from any under-developed country where there are no proper registration and regulatory system is followed. This can also lead to imports of sub-standard and spurious products which could expose our agriculture, farmers and environment to great danger. krishiduniya.com

In view of the above reasons and being aggrieved by the faulty registration followed by the Government, PMFAI was compelled to file a case against Union of India, Ministry of Agriculture and CIB&RC at Gujarat High Court to stop this faulty registration system allowing imports of readymade pesticide formulations.

Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in its Order, dated 5th September, 2013 passed in the case (Special Civil Application No.2530 of 2011), given directions to the Ministry of Agriculture and the CIB&RC which clearly stated that the procedure evolved by the Registration Committee for grant of "deemed registration" cannot be sustained and therefore no further deemed registration may be granted till the matters are finally heard and proper guidelines are issued by the Government of India. The Hon'ble High Court also given directions that the guidelines may be made more transparent as well as more effective so as to provide equal treatment to the indigenous manufacturers as well as the importers who are importing such pesticides manufactured outside India.

In spite of above orders of the High Court, the Registration Committee of Central Insecticides Board misinterpreting the directions continue issuing registrations for imports of readymade pesticide formulations without registering its technical grade pesticides at all.

PMFAI have taken up the matter with various Government departments and has been continuously appealing to Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture; Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee; Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and the Prime Minister's Office.

In spite of consistent efforts, there are no positive action from the Government due to which Indian Farmers & Indian Pesticide Industry is continue suffering due to the reasons narrated above.

Pradip Dave President of Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association of India (PMFAI)

JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for Kharif Crops of 2016-17

T

he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all Kharif Crops of 2016-17 Season. Further, to incentivise cultivation of pulses and oilseeds , in the country Government has announced a bonus on these crops, payable over and above the approved MSP. The decision to increase MSPs is based on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) which takes into account the cost of production, overall demand-supply, domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the likely effect of the Price Policy on the rest of economy, besides ensuring rational utilization of production resources like land and water, while recommending MSPs. The CACP being the expert body, its recommendations are generally accepted as such. However, to incentivise cultivation of pulses and oilseeds, the Cabinet has decided to give a bonus, over and above the recommendations of the CACP, of Rs.425/- per quintal for kharif pulses, namely Arhar (Tur), Urad and Moong, a bonus of Rs 200/- per quintal for Sesamum and a bonus of Rs 100/- per quintal for other kharif oilseeds namely, Groundnut-in-shell, Sunowerseed, Soyabean, and Nigerseed.

There is an increasing gap between the demand and domestic supply of pulses and oilseeds and reliance on import is increasing. Government

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

has, therefore, announced this bonus on pulses and oilseeds to give a strong price signal to farmers to increase acreage and invest for increase in productivity of these crops. The increase in cultivation of leguminous pulses and oilseeds will also have additional environmental benefits as these crops are less water consuming and help in nitrogen fixation in the soil.

Food Corporation of India (FCI) will be the designated central nodal agency for price support operations for cereals, pulses and oilseeds. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will be the central nodal agency for undertaking price support operations for Cotton.

Besides increase in Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of Kharif crops, Government has taken several farmer friendly initiatives over the last one year. These, inter-alia, include the following: The Government had declared a bonus, over and above the MSP, of Rs 200 per quintal for Kharif pulses of 2015-16 season and a bonus of Rs 75 per quintal for Rabi pulses of 2016-17 marketing season. krishiduniya.com

The Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all Kharif Crops of 2016-17 season have been increased and are given in table below: Commodity

Variety

MSP for 2015-16 Season

MSP Recom-mended for 2016-17 Season

Increase Absolute

% age

Bonus

Rs/ Quintal

Rs/ Quintal

Rs/ Quintal

%

Rs/ Quintal

Paddy

Common Grade A

1410 1450

1470 1510

60 60

4.3 4.1

-

Jowar

Hybrid Maldandi

1570 1590

1625 1650

55 60

3.5 3.8

-

Bajra

-

1275

1330

55

4.3

-

Maize

-

1325

1365

40

3.0

-

Ragi

-

1650

1725

75

4.5

-

Tur (Arhar)

-

4625 (includes Rs.200/Bonus)

5050 (includes Rs.425/Bonus)

425

9.2

425

Moong

-

4850 (includes Rs.200/Bonus)

5225 (includes Rs.425/Bonus)

375

7.7

425

Urad

-

4625 (includes Rs.200/Bonus)

5000 (includes Rs.425/Bonus)

375

8.1

425

Groundnut-in -shell

4030

4220 (includes Rs.100/Bonus)

190

4.7

100

Soyabean*

2600

2775 (includes Rs.100/-Bonus)

175

6.7

100

3800

3950 (includes Rs.100/-Bonus)

150

3.9

100

175

4.8

100

Yellow

Sunower Seed -

Nigerseed

-

3650

3825 (includes Rs.100/-Bonus)

Sesamum

-

4700

5000 (includes Rs.200/-Bonus)

300

6.4

200

Cotton

Medium

3800

3860

60

1.6

-

Long Staple 4100

4160

60

1.5

-

Staple

*MSP of soyabean will be applicable to both yellow and black varieties The prices would be effective from 1.10.2016.

krishiduniya.com

JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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country. These will be renewed every two years. The card provides information on fertility status of soil and a soil test based advisory on use of fertilizers. As on May 31st 2016, 191,80 lakh Soil Health Cards have been distributed.  Under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY), the Government is promoting organic farming and development of potential market for organic products.

A new crop insurance scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana' has been launched by the Government. Under this scheme, the premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low - 2 % of sum insured for all Kharif crops, 1.5% for all Rabi crops and 5 % for commercial and horticulture crops. The new insurance scheme involves use of simple and smart technology through phones & remote sensing for quick estimation and early settlement of claims. The Government has also launched crop insurance portal and Mobile app “Crop Insurance” which will help farmers to find out complete details about insurance cover available in their area and to calculate the insurance premium for notified crops. During kharif 2016-17 season, 24 states have already intiated necessary action for implementation in their state. Out of which, 15 states have already completed the biding tendering process for selection of insurance companies.  The Government has also launched a scheme to develop a pan India electronic trading platform under 'National Agriculture Market' (NAM) scheme with the aim to integrate 585 regulated markets with the common emarket platform. Each State is being encouraged to undertake three major reforms - allow electronic trading, have a single license valid throughout the State and a single entry point market fee. It will also enable farmers to discover better prices for their produce. 21 markets in 8 states have already been brought on the e-NAM platform.  Soil Health Cards are being issued to farmers across the

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

 The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana is being implemented with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation 'Har Khet ko Pani' and improving water use efficiency 'Per Drop More Crop ' in a focused manner with end to end solution on source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities.  Government is focusing on improving production and productivity of crops such as rice, wheat, coarse grains and pulses under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).

For 2016-17, out of the total Central Share of Rs 1700 crore under NFSM, Rs, 1100 crore has been allocated to improve pulse production.  A dedicated Kisan Channel has been started by the Doordarshan to provide 24 x 7 information in the hands of farmers regarding weather updates, agri-mandi data etc.  Government is also encouraging formation of Farmer Producer Organisations.  To stabilize prices of pulses, Government is creating buffer stocks pulses through both domestic procurement and import.  A handbook for women farmers 'Farm Women Friendly Hand Book' containing special provisions and package of assistance which women farmers can claim under various on-going Missions/ Submissions/ Schemes of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare has been brought out. Women farmers/beneficiaries could approach the nearest Project Director (ATMA) / Deputy Director (Agriculture) office at District or Block Technology Manager/Assistant Technology Managers at Block level for instant help and facilitation for availing the benefits.

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NEW GMO CONTROVERSY Are the Herbicides Dangerous?

C

orn sold at grocery stores may be genetically modified. Although genetically modified organisms (GMOs) don't appear by themselves to have ill effects on human health, the herbicides used on these crops could be an overlooked health threat, some researchers say in a controversial new opinion piece.

People have been manipulating genes in plants for centuries, but arguing that this means GMOs are safe "misses the point that GM crops are now the agricultural products most heavily treated with herbicides, and that two of these herbicides may pose risks of cancer," Dr. Philip Landrigan, a professor of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Charles Benbrook, a crop and soil scientist at Washington State University, wrote in an opinion article published in the Aug. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

Most of the corn and soybeans grown in the United States are genetically engineered. This means that products made from these crops are also GM foods, everything from soda to tofu.

Many of today's GM crops have been engineered to be resistant to weed killers, and this has led to an overreliance on these chemicals, Landriganand Benbrooksaid. The authors argued that because some studies have linked cancer risk to the herbicides used on GM crops — in particular, a widely used herbicide called glyphosate (sold under the brand name Roundup) — the United States should reconsider creating labeling requirements for GM foods.

Labeling is essential for "assessing effects of chemical herbicides applied to GM crops," the two researchers wrote.

However, other experts disagreed with the opinion and

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Rachael Rettner krishiduniya.com

JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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O G AN O

M NG A E M PL N AND

R MU U A J P N E E E H TW

T

E

SB S O R

AC

T

he Purple Mango is obvious to attract one and that too if it is good for diabetes. Among the treats that summer has in store for us, we have the Mangoes, with bright yellow colour on one hand and the purple jamun on the other hand.

The colors of ripe mangoes can be bright yellow, green, pink, or red depending on the variety and season, colour alone won't necessarily tell you much about the ripeness of a mango. Instead, familiarize yourself with the different varieties of mangoes and the seasons in

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

which they thrive to learn more about what you're looking for. Since mangoes have different colours and slightly different avors depending on the current season and the region they come from, you may want to learn how to identify certain types of mangoes to heighten your overall experience with them.

The Uttar Pradesh Farmers has come out the purple variety of Mangoes hybrid variety by crossing with the Jamun after the 10 years research on this variety. The hybrid mango is from Brazil and the image used from 2013 posted in England`s largest Newspaper HOAXC. People in UP did a cross between mango and Jamun after a hard work for 10 years.

Mangoes may help regulate blood glucose levels and limit inammation in people who are obese, according to the results of a small study recently presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology in Boston. Percent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.

The research team had found that mango consumption had a positive effect on blood glucose levels in mice.

To evaluate the effect in humans, they provided twenty obese adults — 11 men and 9 women — with 10 grams of freeze-dried mango (equivalent to approximately 100 grams, or one half, of a fresh mango) each day for 12 weeks.

Mango was recently identified as a particularly useful food when it comes to the fight against diabetes, and a new study conducted in Australia concretes

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this. Furthermore, mango could also have a role to play in the treatment of metabolic disorders, although research is at an early stage.

Eating a mango every day could protect people against high cholesterol as well as diabetes. The study, conducted by PhD student Ashley Wilkinson at the University of Queensland, indicates that components within mango operate in a similar manner to some diabetes and cholesterol drugs.

Mango is the national fruit of India, known as the 'King of Fruits'. It is one of the most important and popular Asian fruits. Cultivation of Mangoes is deeply embedded in Indian history. Mangoes are mentioned in early Arialkrit literature. Mangoes are widely available year-round, as fresh fruit and in frozen and processed foods. Mangoes thrive in tropical regions, and are cultivated throughout India and even in home yards, along ďŹ eld boundaries and roadside avenues. It is believed that Mangoes originated in northeast India, northwestern Myanmar and Bangladesh. They, later spread to the rest of Asia by themselves and with the help of humans.

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T h e y have been cultivated, praised and revered since ancient times. More than 50 percent of world mango production is contributed by India (12.7 million tonnes from 2.1 million hectare). Uttar Pradesh tops in the productivity of mango (>10 t/ha) in India. India exported in 2011-12, 74 thousand tonnes of mango valued at over Rs 200 crores. More than 100 varieties of commercially marketed and preferred varieties of mango are brought to the market in the country.

Dasheri, langra, chausa, in the north, Bainganpalli, Rimani, Totapari, Neelam, Bamglora in the south, Alphonso, Bombay green, Kesar, Malgoa in the west and Baneshan, Kishanbhog, Gulabkhas in the east are some of the leading varieties. Some new varieties have also been bred in recent times like Amrapali and Mallika which have become popular. Recently, four new hybrids released by IARI are claimed to be able to double the mango productivity in the country These varieties are named as Pusa Pratibha, Pusa Peetamber, Pusa Shreshth and Pusa Lalima. According to A K Singh, the new mango varieties are expected to yield 20 ton per hectare.

India produces around 15 million tons and exports around 60,000 tons to UAE, UK, US and Bangladesh. India earns around $35 million every year with the exports of the mangoes alone. Some technologies to help increase productivity, expand the area and provide support to processing industry have also been evolved. Prior to export, in order to improve the shelf life and keeping quality of mango, ozone treatment has been found highly beneďŹ cial.

The jamun, or naval pazham. Its botanical name is Syzygium Cumini, with the centre of origin being India, from where it has spread to various tropical countries, sometimes courtesy the Indian indentured immigrants, and sometimes through colonisers such as the Portuguese. This can only be a measure of its worth.

The black plum, as the deep-purple ripe fruit is called, is eminently summer-friendly, given its nutritional proďŹ le: 100 g of jamun contains 84.75 g of water. Combined with minerals comprising 35 mg of magnesium, 15mg of phosphorus, 26.2 mg of sodium, it makes jamun laced with rock salt a perfect

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snack for a sweltering hot day, all the more so, given the sweet, sour and astringent tastes of the berry.

As per Ayurveda, jamun — fruit, leaves, bark and seeds included — has many therapeutic properties. The fruit is a coolant, increases vatta, balances pitta and improves digestion; the leaves too contribute to digestive as well as oral health; triggering constipation, they are effective in the treatment of diarrhoea.

As for the seeds, they are star performers in the control of diabetes, converting sugar into energy.

Coming back to the nutritional content of the fruit and various parts of the plant, we see that the leaves, the bark and the seeds are a good source of malic and oxalic acids, in addition to tannins, which are anti-malarial, anti-bacterial and gastro-protective. The fruit packs in 15 mg of calcium, 1.41 mg of iron, 18 mg of vitamin C, a certain amount of vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6, all of which are beneficial for bodily functions and building immunity. Besides these, the polyphenol compounds of jamun are effective against cancer, heart diseases, asthma and arthritis.

only for a brief period during summer; one can enjoy them, as such, or in a raita to which rock salt has been added, or even, as some innovative chefs have done, in the form of ice-cream.

The good news, however, is that, to stretch its usage beyond its season, human ingenuity has found various solutions. Of course, there is the vinegar, which means a wine too can be made. Jamun juice and syrup are also available. The pulp of the fruit can be canned or processed into jams and sauces.

Let us ensure the availability of this amazing endemic tree to future generations by planting some Jambu trees in the monsoon and truly earn our mythical pseudonym Jambudvipa, the Land of the Jambu tree, a symbol of the terrestrial world as per Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cosmologies.

The vinegar made from the fruit is equally full of benefits; it is high in vitamins A and C, two important elements promoting immunity, bone health and good vision. In traditional medicine, the vinegar is prescribed for digestive problems as well as spleen and liver health. Moreover, it is considered to be a blood thinner, and therefore, good for circulation, while its iron content ensures oxygen supply to the blood, thereby purifying it. Being diuretic, it helps people suffering from water retention ailments.

From the cosmetic angle too, the vinegar is deemed effective for both hair and skin, especially oily skin, given its astringent property, which does wonders to control acne, the bane of many a teenager.

This fruit, laden as it is with goodness, is unfortunately available

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Chander Mohan krishiduniya.com

The INDONESIA'S Only Dedicated Event to Agricultural & Forestry Machinery, Technology and Services Exhibition 2016 Kemayoran, Jakarta – Indonesia will be co-locating with INAGRICHEM 2016, INAFORESTECH 2016, and INAPALM ASIA 2016. It will be notably serving as one of the Indonesia's most prospective onestop exhibition for agricultural & forestry equipment, palm oil processing and agrochemical under one roof. The exhibition area will be expanded more than 10.000 sqm with over 300 exhibitors from domestic and international platform to show their new technology and machinery for agriculture & forestry industry.

Indonesia to Boost Agriculture Budget in Drive for Food Self-Sufficiency in 2016 Indonesia with a population of 250 million has been recognized as an agricultural country and also is the fifth most populated country in the world as a major producer of agricultural products. As tropical country, with its vast and abundant fertile soils Indonesia is a major global key producer of a wide variety of agricultural tropical products. In fact, Indonesia is now the world's largest producer of palm oil and the world's leading producer of coffee, rubber and cocoa. The agriculture is the pillar industry in Indonesia, it has evidenced by the agriculture reaches 60% of the total population. Reecting the expansion of agricultural land and optimization of crop production, the demand for agricultural equipment, vehicle and machinery also increase significantly.

The Indonesian government is setting aside plenty of funds for the Ministry of Agriculture in 2016, to be spent on agricultural machinery & equipment, seeds and fertilizer, to repair damaged irrigation systems and to open up new farm lands in order to help boost the production of rice, corn and soybean. According to the proposed state budget for 2016, the ministry will receive IDR 32.9 trillion - IDR 55.2 billion (USD 4.2 billion).

Indonesia to Boost Agriculture Budget in Drive for Food Self-Sufficiency in 2016 The resounding big success of INAGRITECH 2015 held along with INAPALM Asia 2015 and INAgriChem 2015, attracted 135 exhibiting companies from 9 countries and 6,978 trade attendees from over 12 countries, has further proved as the Indonesia's Most Comprehensive Trade Show for agricultural equipment & machinery. Most of exhibitors have expressed a proven opportunity to boost sales and gain exposure as well as meeting with key decision makers and potential buyers. After receiving the exhibitor's positive feedback, we decide to expand the exhibition space up to twice (around 10.000 sqm) and forecast to attract more than 250 companies in upcoming shows.

The 4th INAGRITECH 2016 taking place from 25–27 August 2016 at JIExpo krishiduniya.com

INAGRITECH 2016 is an ideal platform for agricultural equipment manufacturers to launch or introduce new machinery and technology. The exhibition is marketplace for meeting professionals working in the agriculture and agroindustrial business chain including palm oil and forestry chain.

For Stall Booking : PT. Global Expo Management Perkantoran Mutiara Taman Palem Blok C5 No.28 – 29 Jl. Kamal Outer Raya Ring Road Cengkareng 11730 – Jakarta Barat, Indonesia Tel : +62 21 54358118 Fax : +62 21 54358119 Email : info@inagritech-exhibition.net www.inagritech-exhibition.net www.gem-indonesia.net

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I

t provides access to weather forecasts, mandi prices, latest agricultural advisory, library of best practices, expert's advice, latest news and many more. This userfriendly app is available in eleven Indian languages with audio enablement for the convenience of less educated farmers' i.e English, Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Kannad, Telugu, Tamil and Gujarati. This “IFFCO Kisan” mobile app is working for rural empowerment.

Weather - This section provides five day weather forecasts of a particular district with temperature, humidity, possibility of rainfall, wind speed and direction for locations of interest set through preferences. Farmers may add or remove the locations for which information is required. The farmers can take informed decisions on farming related activities based on the forecasts.

At a time, two locations can be selected as a preferences in weather section.

Mandi/ Market Information Mandi section provides information on the prevailing prices in market yards.

Farmers can view the market price status, trends and take a decision on sale of their produce. Farmers may add, edit or remove the crops / mandi / locations for which information is required. They can also search for status of a commodity in a particular mandi, just for information. At a time, five crops

& mandi combination can be selected in the preferences.

format for the benefit of less educated farmers.

Contextualised Advisories - The crop specific advisories for various agro-climatic zones based on prevailing conditions are provided through this section. The advisories and alerts are based on research by experts, which can guide the farmers on actions required to be initiated under the prevailing weather conditions. The advisories and alerts are provided in audio format also for the benefit of less educated farmers.

Farmers may add, edit or remove crops / locations for which information is required. At a time, two crops can be selected in the preferences.

Market- It is a very important and center of attraction for Buyer & Seller. It will be a meeting place for Seller & Buyer. Its increases the chances of selling his produce in less time and maximize his income. Seller registered his produce with all required information including his contact details. Similarly, buyer can also register with his requirement. It also creates new business avenue for rural India societies and can be work as a bridge for direct consumer/ trader to source or purchase directly from farmer.

'Ask our Experts' - Quick Access to Experts -Farmers can send their queries / doubts to a panel of experts through this section. Those who find it difficult to write may take a photo of the plant part causing concern to them. The expert will study the issue and provide personalized solution. This section provides access to all the important information one may need to know on a specific crop. Farmers may add or remove crops / locations for which information is required. At a time, two crops can be selected in the preferences.

Gyan Bhandar- It is a library for the user, based on the set preferences user can get written information.

Information is also provided in audio

News- It might be hard to believe but our 'News' section of IFFCO Kisan mobile app is the most dynamic and most frequent updated section. We keep this section as a credibility indicator for the users and invite them to visit this section at least twice a day. Our news section is a collection of news from different sources and all news will be connected with rural India, agriculture and related things, social welfare, jobs & employment, government initiatives and many more.

Chat- It is a text-based communication which an IFFCO Kisan app user can do with other IFFCO Kisan app user that is in real-time. For example, any typed text is received by other participants immediately; it is an

AGRICULTURE APP AVAILABLE ON

MOBILE BY IFFCO KISAN 30

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Welcome Krishi Duniya

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SEED HARDENING TREATMENTS IN

VEGETABLE CROPS

S

eed hardening is the especial treatment by altering manipulate or regulate the physiological state of the seed or other propagule of plant to improve seed sowing, germination and seedling is called seed hardening.

Seed hardening is like as priming, steeping, hardening, pregermination, pelleting, encrusting, film-coating, tagging and others, but excludes treatments for control of seed borne pathogens.

Purpose of seed hardening  Seed hardening are primarily due to pre-enlargement of the embryo  Biochemical changes like total sugar contents and α-amylase activity  Improvement of germination rate particularly in old seeds  Early, vigor uniform germination and growth of seedling  Improve the tolerance to drought and cold etc.

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Why is need of seed hardening in the horticultural crops ? many horticultural crops are very poor in germination, viability, vigor, growth and performance in the field due to some physiological states like as moisture more or less, age, temperature etc. Many seed hardening methods is generally practiced in modern agriculture which given below: 1. Seed drying, seed wetting, or hydration dehydration, 2. Seed hardening with chemicals 3. S e e d h a r d e n i n g w i t h l o w temperature 1. Seed drying Seeds can be hardened for two purposes I) Drought tolerance ii) Cold tolerance The treatments are imposed to the seeds mainly to tolerate initial drought and cold. Cold tolerance treatment is given to germinated seeds, such treatments are given only to temperate crop and tree seeds. The most important factors to be considered while seed hardening are 1. Seed : solution ratio (1:1) 2. The duration of soaking 3. Method of drying.

The effectiveness of the treatment depends upon the conduct of seed hardening process. The solution amount never be higher than the amount of the seeds. A weighed quantity of seeds were soaked in tap water at 27 0C

for 12, 18 or 24 h followed by redrying to initial moisture under shade with forced air. There should not be any leftover solution as it causes leaching effect.

Once the seeds imbibe water, the germination process takes place. This hydration-dehydration cycle was repeated once or twice. After treating, the seeds were dried to original weight with forced air under shade. These seeds were then sealed in polythene bags and stored in a refrigerator for further use.

2. Seed wetting Hydration – Dehydration It is the process of soaking the low and medium vigour seeds in water with or without added chemicals usually for short durations to raise the seed moisture content to 25 – 30% and drying back the seeds to safe limits for dry storage.  The hydration -dehydration treatments should be given only to stored seeds.  is effective in low and medium vigour non- leguminous seeds.  The moisture equilibration and moist sand conditioning treatments in which moisture is taken up by the seed in a slow and progressive krishiduniya.com

manner, are recommended for relatively high- vigour seeds and seeds of pulses and leguminous vegetable crops.  Direct soaking of leguminous seeds should be avoided.  Would not make a seed germinable, which has already lost viability.

Types of H-D treatments The wet treatments include soaking- drying, dipping- drying, spraying-drying, stepwise hydrationdrying, moisture equilibration-drying, moisture equilibration soaking-drying, moist and conditioning-drying, etc. The choice of the treatment depends upon the characteristics of seed and initial vigour status of the seeds.

A. Soaking- Drying (S-D) Stored seed is soaked in water or solution of chemicals sufficient to cover it and kept at room temperature for 2-6 hour depending on the material with occasional stirring. The soaked seed is taken out and after surface drying in the shade for some time, dried back to the original moisture content Dilute solution of chemicals such as sodium or potassium phosphate (di and mono basic), sodium chloride, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, p-amino benzoic acid, oxalic acid, potassium lodide, etc can also be used at 10-4 to 10-3 M concentrations. Fungicidal and insecticidal formulations can also be incorporated in the soak water.

B. Dipping -Drying (D-D) Seeds are dipped in water or solutions of the aforesaid chemicals for only 2-5 minutes and the wet seed is taken out immediately and kept covered for 2 – 6 hours depending on the

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material, for absorption of surface water followed by drying back in S-D. This treatment is effective in most high and high-medium vigour seeds of rice, wheat, jute, summer and winter vegetables.

C. Spraying - Drying (S-D) Seeds are spread in a thin layer and then an amount of water (approximately 1/5 to ¼ of the seed weight) is sprayed on to it in two equal installments (turning over the seed layer after the first spray) and then kept covered by a polythene sheet for 2-4 hours before drying back. This treatment is similar to D-D in its efficacy and suitability.

3. Seed hardening with chemicals A day before sowing, seeds were soaked for three hours separately in water, and then imbibed in the solution of chemicals. Later seeds were air dried under the shade to bring back to their original moisture content and used for sowing. Seed hardening with chemicals is also called Halopriming or nutripriming. Chemicals can be used in hardening e.g. CaCl2 (1% and 2%), KH2PO4-1%, KNO3-100ppm, KCL 0.1%, Sodiummolybdate-100ppm, Zinc sulphate 100ppm, Cycocel-10000ppm, succinicacid-20ppm, Ascorbic acid20ppm 4. Moist sand conditioning It is a need based treatment the concentration can be increased upto 2-4 %. Amount of solution should be 1:1 ratio or slightly excess amount of water can be used. Protinaceous (e.g. beans) seeds should not be soaked in water etc. for these seeds, mix the seeds with moist sand @ 5 to 10% moist conditioning (MC). It should be kept for specified period of time. The method is known as moist sand hydration.

5. Seed hardening with temperature stratification - It is the process of treating stored or collected seed prior to sowing to simulate natural winter conditions that a seed must endure before germination. Some seed species undergo an embryonic dormancy phase, and generally will not sprout

until this dormancy is broken. The time taken to stratify seeds depends on species and conditions; though in many cases two months is sufficient.

Steps of seed stratification  The seeds should be cleaned of any additional material (fruit pulp, leaf and seed-pod fragments, cone scales, etc.), but the shells of nuts should not be removed.  Many sources recommend using peat, a combination of peat and sand , or vermiculite as the medium for cold stratifying seeds.

The medium must be sterile to prevent harm to the seed by pathogens including fungi.  Soaking the seeds in cold water for 6–12 hours immediately before placing them in cold stratification can cut down on the amount of time needed for stratification, as the seed needs to absorb some moisture to enable the chemical changes that take place.

0  Placing the seed at (1-4 c) upto 20 to 70 days depends upon species for cold stratification  Any seeds that are indicated as needing a period of warm stratification followed by cold stratification should be subjected to the same measures, but the seeds should additionally be stratified in a warm area first, followed by the cold period in a refrigerator later. Warm stratification requires temperatures of 15-20°C (59-68°F). In many instances, warm stratification followed by cold stratification requirements

Vidya Bhati Ph.D. (Horticulture) Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan Email: vids.bhati@gmail.com JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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L

ily, the king of ower bulbs, belongs to genus Lilium which comprises of around 100 species, 7 sections and ~ 10,000 documented cultivars.

Liles are wonderful ornamental plants with varied uses, grown in border, beds, pots, and are excellence cut ower of magnificent appearance and beautiful colours. Lilies are high demanded cut ower in international ower trade due to its wide diversity of ower color, attractive ower shape, long multi-owering stalk, and having long post-harvest shelf life.

Lilium is well distributed in mostly Northern Hemisphere i.e.

South-East Asia, North America, and Europe. Compared with other ornamentals, lily systematic breeding history is short and first Asiatic hybrid cultivar was developed in the 19th century.

The genus Lilium (Lilium michiganense) are herbaceous owering plants normally growing from bulbs. It is native from the northern temperate regions. The species in this genus are the true lilies while the other plants with lily in the common name are related to the other groups of plants. The majority of species form tunic less scaly underground bulbs from which they gives owers. The large owers have three petals along with three petals like sepals.

America, belongs to the family Amaryllidaceae. The spider lily is perennial bulbous ower crop and gives economic production up to 7-10 years. The owers of spider lily are largely used in garland and making Gajras, mandap and various ower decorations. Spider lily is now emerging as an important commercial ower crop in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The total area under lily cultivation in Gujarat is about 3209 hectare with production of 127779 bundles during 2010-11. Saurashtra have 79 ha area under cultivation of spider lily with production of 400 lakh bundles (Anon, 1).

The large bell shaped or lily like Asiatic lilies owers and their hybrids make excellent potted plants and they can also be used as cut owers. They're ideally suited for bed, rockery, window garden, shrubbery etc.

The owers along with stem are used in ower arrangement and vase decoration.

They have

Spider lily (Hymenocallis littoralis L.) is an important bulbous owering ornamental plant, native to South

IMPORTANCE AND MEDICINAL VALUE OF LILY 34

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2-6 owers per stick. Asiatic owers are 2 inch wide, 4-5 inch long. Most of the bulbs sold are either Dutch or South African grown hybrids. There are currently some 250 cultivars available commercially in a number of categories. They are available in various forms like trumpet owered, belladonna, leopoldio and miniature, double and single owers Description Lilies are tall perennials ranging in height from 2–6 ft (60–180 cm). They form naked or tunicless scaly underground bulbs which are their overwintering organs. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. Most bulbs are deeply buried, but a few species form bulbs near the soil surface. Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil,

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and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil.

The owers are large, often fragrant, and come in a range of colours including whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots and brush strokes. The plants are late spring- or summer-owering. Flowers are borne in racemes or umbels at the tip of the stem, with six tepals spreading or reexed, to give owers varying from funnel shape to a "Turk's cap". The tepals are free from each other, and bear a nectary at the base of each ower. The ovary is 'superior', borne above the point of attachment of the anthers.

The fruit is a three-celled capsule.

Seeds ripen in late summer. They exhibit varying and sometimes complex germination patterns, many adapted to cool temperate climates. Naturally most cool temperate species are deciduous and dormant in winter in their native environment. But a few species which distribute in hot summer and mild winter area (Lilium candidum, Lilium

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Lokeshwar Prasad, Dr. S. Saravanan and Deepak Lal Research Scholar, Associate Professor, SRF Horticulture Department of Horticulture Allahabad School of Agriculture Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad – 211007 Email: lokeshwar750@gmail.com

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Use of Molds in the Fruit & Vegetable Production

T

he art of modifying, arranging, or decorating food to enhance its aesthetic appeal is known as "plating", which usually involves stacking food in various displays.

Plastic molds are placed over immature fruit and it grows into the shape of the mold as it ripens. Originally started in Japan, growing shaped fruits and vegetables was done to conserve refrigerator space or make packaging easier. The square watermelon for example.

Why is a Watermelon Grown Square?

So where did the idea come from and why on earth would anyone think of a watermelon grown square? The idea of growing square watermelons began in Japan. Japanese farmers needed to find a way to work out the issue of traditionally round watermelons being too awkward by rolling around or taking up too much space in the refrigerator.

After playing around with different ideas, they finally came up with one that worked—a watermelon grown square!

So how did they get the square shaped fruits to grow this way?

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Simple. The square watermelons are grown in glass boxes, which encourage the cubed shape. To solve the issue of having them too big, growers remove the fruit from the container once it reaches about 19 square centimeters.

Then they simply package and ship them off for sale. Unfortunately, these unique square shape fruits can be a bit pricey at about $82 USD. No worries though, with just a basic square mold or container, you can grow your own square watermelon.

To begin growing your square fruit, choose a type suitable to your area. Start your watermelon seeds outdoors 2-3 weeks after the last frost. Seeds should be planted about an inch deep in welldraining soil, using about 2-3 seeds per hole. Then grow the watermelon plants as normal, giving them plenty of sun and water.

How to Grow a Square Watermelon

Caring for a Square Watermelon

With the use of square-shaped molds or square containers, you can easily learn how to make a square watermelon. Alternatively, you can use this same concept to grow many other fruits and vegetables, including:

Watermelons love water and sandy loam soil, so caring for a square watermelon will be much the same as for regular watermelon plants. Once your watermelons begin to develop on the vine and while the fruit is still small, you can gently place it into the square form or container. Watermelons have a long growing season, so you'll need to be patient. Don't expect to find a square watermelon overnight! As the fruit grows, it will eventually take on the shape of the square form. Once mature, simply remove the form or carefully lift the fruit from the container.

Tomatoes Cucumbers Pumpkins If you cannot find a suitable square container, you create a mold using concrete blocks, wooden molds or boxes. Build a cube or square box that will be strong enough to allow your

watermelon to grow, but make sure the mold or container is slightly smaller than the volume of the fruit's average mature size.

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A watermelon grown square is a great way to get your children interested in helping out in the garden and will be a tasty summer treat for them to enjoy as well. Watermelon is a popular summer fruit in Japan. People give watermelons as gifts and play "suikawari" which is like piñata, but with a watermelon. Depending on the size, a whole watermelon costs around ten bucks in Japan. Then, there are the luxury watermelons, which most people typically don't buy or eat. This is where watermelons get interesting, odd, and effing expensive.

Many of these watermelons took years of practice to get their shape right.

They are grown in special containers or molds. The heart-shape watermelon for example, took three years to get just right. Farmers fuss over these melons, which are usually grown in very small batches. They are supposed to taste delicious, too.

Next to the square melon, you are looking at a "jinmen suika" which literally means a "human face

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watermelon". The Japanese media discovered this watermelon in 2011, and it's priced at ¥50,000 and up, with some of the larger melons costing over a thousand bucks!

The watermelon is grown into a special clip-like model, which gives it the human-like face. The price isn't the only scary thing about this melon.

These melons are good examples of how preoccupied Japanese can be with not only food presentation, but imbuing that presentation with a sense of playfulness. Be aware that prices vary depending on the fruit vendor.

In California Tony Dighera a grower has invested hundreds of thousands developing molds and growing processes into a technology that sculpts edible fruits and vegetables to look like just about anything you want.

Tony sells his watermelons and pumpkins wholesale for $100 apiece and the demand is greater than he can supply. He receives orders from all over the world and most of his produce (8,000 pumpkins and watermelons) are sold before they have even finished growing. "A very large vodka company wants a watermelon in the shape of a vodka bottle, which we could do," says Tony.

He has lots of plans for new products, such as growing logos, and is thinking of licensing his technology to other growers to keep up with the demand.

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THE WORLD'S FIRST SEEDLESS MANGO

“

As the national fruit of India, the mango is not only an important commercial crop and precious commodity but is embedded in the culture of the world's second most populated country. Developing new varieties of the popular fruit has been the pursuit of many agricultural universities for decades, and continues to be so. At www.freshfruitportal.com, we spoke with the scientist Cross breeding and Sindhu's development behind breeding the very first variety of seedless mango in India The Sindhu mango – so named because more than 20 years ago, which is now going through an evaluation Gunjate's breeding program happened in the process to test for suitability in the state of Bihar.

W

”

hen sections of the Indian press reported that an agricultural university in the Indian state of Bihar had developed a new variety of seedless mango recently, this didn't exactly tell the whole story.

As scientists well know, the development of any new variety, least of all a seedless mango, takes years and the back story to the Sindhu variety dates to its original release in the state of Maharashtra in 1992.

Prior to that, a scientific team based at Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth Dapoli Agricultural University and led by Doctor Ramchandram Gunjate, had been working on a hybridization program for around 15 years.

“Developing a new variety is a long-term process; it takes about 12 to 15 years to release one variety, if you are lucky,” Gunjate told us.

“The development of mango varieties is a continuous process because people want new varieties all of the time with better taste, better avor, and better yield qualities.

Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra – is a finely textured, juicy fruit with a rich, sweet and distinctive avor at maturity.

What sets it apart from other varieties is the fact that it is virtually seedless – although it is referred to as being seedless in general terms – and is a hybrid of Alphonso, largely considered to be the best Indian mango, and another variety Ratna.

“We were hybridizing the Alphonso and crossing this with other varieties. We already had the hybrid named Ratna that was released some time ago in 1976-77,” he said.

“We wanted to get a better variety than Ratna but with all the qualities of the Alphonso so we hybridized the two so that more qualities from the Alphonso were incorporated into the new variety.

“So we were doing this new breeding hybridization work and during that process we “I was the leader of a great team of people and we all worked on this found this new particular hybrid had all the together and were very proud when it was approved, released and given to Alphonso qualities but the stone is very paper thin the farmers for plantation.” and light.

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Gunjate explained the stone of an Alphonso was around 25 grams (0.055lbs) in weight, compared with the 6-gram (0.013lbs) stone of the Sidhu creation.

“This seed does not have a viable embryo which means it doesn't germinate so it's referred to as a non-viable seed and the process by which these non-viable seeds are developed is called parthenocarpy.

“So we found this parthenocarpic new hybrid and named it Sindhu when we released it in 1992. Just like parents give names they like to their children, we like to give our mangoes names. That is the prerogative of the breeder and so we named it Sindhu.”

After going through the relevant approval and evaluation, much in the same way as Bihar Agricultural University experts are trialing now but with different parameters relevant to the growing conditions in a northern state, the Sindhu was released to farmers for commercial cultivation.

“The farmers began to grow the Sindhu variety because they knew it had all of the qualities of the Alphonso but practically seedless,” Gunjate said.

“With mango, because the stone is usually so big it cannot become totally seedless as it were otherwise the fruit will not grow. So scientifically it's parthenocarpic which in laymen's language is called seedless fruit.

“This was the first scientifically developed parthenocarpic mango variety. So since the early nineties many farmers have been growing the Sindhu variety in many

parts of India, especially in the Konkan region, the coastal area of Maharashtra, where it was developed.”

Bihar Agricultural University planted Sindhu cultivars three years ago and this year was the first time trees yielded fruit weighing around 200 grams (0.44lbs) and the stones were discovered to be very small and almost seedless.

“Bihar has obviously found this is a good variety for them also. They can't claim that they developed this variety but they can certainly inform their farmers how good it is and recommend them to grow it.

“It is going through a suitability evaluation process for profitability and I think it's a good thing they [Bihar farmers] grow it.”

Mango farmers take business in their hands

P

eeved at poor returns despite an annual export of over Rs.8,000 crore a year, over 700 small and medium mango farmers at Muthalamada have joined hands to oat an agri-business consortium to promote pesticide-free cultivation and valueadded products. The newly formed Muthalamada Mango Farmers Producer Company Limited (MMFPCL) is planning to approach the State and the Centre to initiate projects promoting rainwater harvesting and watershed management in the region.

The grama panchayat, which shares border with Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, has mango orchards spread over 45,000 hectares. Muthalamada varieties are the first to reach global

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markets, even before the produce mature in the gardens of Peru and Venezuela, the main competitors. Chief executive officer Sentil Natarajan said that farmers are getting less than 10 per cent of the total business every year. With climate change impacting production, the farmers are forced to look for survival strategies. So, we thought of forming a company.

On the allegations that the orchards use heavy doses of pesticides, the company has started teaching farmers to cultivate mango organically. It is keeping a strict watch on transportation of pesticides from Pollachi to the orchards.

Many government agencies, including Nabard, have extended support to the initiative. According to mango grower Arumugan Pathichira, Muthalamada produces almost all varieties of mangoes in India, Alphonso, Neelam, Mallika, Malgova, Chenthooram, which have good demand in the international market.

Muthalamada mangoes are also known for avour, taste, and juiciness. The panchayat has over 600 contractors, 36 registered exporters, and 20 mangoparking facilities and they together provide jobs to over 15,000 people.

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Native Indian Mustard vs GMO Mustard

R

umour has it that the GM mustard has tacitly being approved and pressure again has come from the “”Highest level”. The Indian public is still unaware of the biosafety implications of GM mustard. I wonder why, even at this stage the biosafety data is kept a guarded secret. What has the GEAC to hide, if GM mustard is safe.

But what does it mean for the India? It is simple our mustard is once again under threat, this time from genetic engineering of mustard for sterility and herbicide tolerance by Dr Deepak Pental, Delhi University’s former vice-chancellor. Not only do we not need genetically engineered mustard, the traits being introduced by genetically modifying mustard are known to be hazardous and are illegal under international and national law.

Dr Pental, who has spent time in Tihar jail for plagiarising a colleague’s work on mustard, is now blatantly violating laws that protect our biodiversity and farmers’ rights.

The genetically modified organism (GMO) mustard is based on what has been called the “Terminator Technology” to make the harvested seed sterile. The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity has banned the use of “Terminator Technology”. It is also illegal

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KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

under India’s Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001.

The patent for this technology is held by the US’ department of agriculture and Delta & Pine Land (a company now owned by Monsanto).

Dr Pental has used “Terminator Technology” based on the barnase gene which is lethal to cells. In addition to the terminator trait, GMO mustard has been engineered to be resistant to the herbicide Glufosinate, which halts photosynthesis, resulting in plant death. When Glufosinate is sprayed in fields, all other plants die except the herbicide resistant GMO. These are technologies for killing life, not for growing food. They must be banned.

In India, on our small farms, we grow mustard with wheat. Such mixtures increase productivity as well as farmers’ incomes. A herbicide-resistant GMO mustard will kill the wheat, lowering farm productivity and undermining our food security. Herbicide-resistant crops also put evolutionary pressure on weeds, contributing to the emergence of superweeds. In the US, due to increased herbicide use, 50 per cent of farmlands are over-run by superweeds.

The demand for pure organic mustard oil is growing in India since most edible oils are “blended” with GMO soya oil or GMO Bt cotton seed oil. The introduction of GMO mustard with terminator traits will deny Indian citizens the right to safe and pure mustard oil because of the risk of contamination.

The GM DNA can enter cells of unrelated species and be incorporated into the cell’s genome through horizontal gene transfer.

The genes involved are fatal.

Barnase is known to be harmful, if not lethal, to all cells, animal and human cells included. When perfused into rat kidneys, barnase causes kidney damage. When the recombinases used for gene splicing are expressed at high levels in the sperm cells of transgenic mice, the males become 100 per cent sterile.

Because we need independent assessment of the long-term impact of these technologies, in 2012, the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) of the Supreme Court recommended a 10-year moratorium on GMO trials to create a robust system for biosafety regulation. Such regulation cannot be left to those involved in risky experiments, people and companies who are also trying to push hazardous GMOs onto our farms and into our food.

In addition, the TEC recommended that no herbicide resistant crops be introduced in India because our farmers are small and herbicides will destroy our biodiverse food crops. It also recommended that we do not genetically engineer crops of which we are a “centre of diversity”. India is the home of genetic diversity of mustard.

Every law, every scientific principle of biosafety is thus being krishiduniya.com

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43

TOMATO VARIETIES DIFFERENT TOMATO COLOR

I

t may surprise you to learn that with different tomato varieties, color is not constant. As a matter of fact, tomatoes weren't always red. The tomatoes varieties that existed when tomatoes were first cultivated were yellow or orange. Through breeding, the standard color of tomato plant varieties is now red. While red may be the predominate color among tomatoes now, that doesn't mean that there aren't other colors of tomatoes available. Let's look at a few.

Red Tomato Varieties Red tomatoes are the ones that you will see most commonly. Red tomato varieties include commonly known varieties like: Better Boy Early Girl Beefsteak Beefmaster Commonly, red tomatoes have the rich tomato avor that we are accustomed to.

Pink Tomato Varieties These tomatoes are just a bit less

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vibrant than red varieties. They include: Pink Brandywine Caspian Pink Thai Pinks The avors of these tomatoes are similar to red tomatoes.

Orange Tomato Varieties An orange tomato variety normally has roots in older tomato plant varieties.

Some orange tomatoes include: Hawaiian Pineapple Kellogg's Breakfast Persimmon These tomatoes tend to be sweeter, almost fruit like in avor.

Yellow Tomato Varieties Yellow tomatoes are anywhere from a dark yellow to a light yellow color. Some varieties include: Azoychka Yellow Stuffer Garden Peach These tomato plant varieties are normally low acid and have a less tangy avor than the tomatoes most people are use to.

White Tomato Varieties White tomatoes are a novelty among tomatoes. Typically they are a pale, pale yellow. Some white tomatoes include: White Beauty Ghost Cherry White Queen The avor of white tomatoes tends to be bland, but they have the lowest acid of any of the tomato varieties.

Green Tomato Varieties Normally, when we think of a green tomato, we think of a tomato that isn't ripe.

But there are tomatoes that ripen green. These include: German Green Stripe Green Moldovan Green Zebra Green tomato variety is typically strong but lower in acid than reds.

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45

Role of Specialty Corns and their Specific Production Technologies to Enhance Farmers Income

M

aize is primarily grown as an energy crop, but the use of different specific types such as sweet maize, popping maize and white seeded maize is quite extensive. It is with respective quality parameters relating to tender ear characteristics, biochemical components relating to protein, sweetness, starch, oil and popping traits are considered as specialty corn. Compared to field corns, specialty corns possess additional and characteristic features. Their global spread, increasing demand and premium price make them an attractive option for the farmers in many countries including India. Specialty corns are amenable to numerous options pertaining to harvest time and various economical products. A great diversity of maize grain properties provides the alteration of the grain composition in relation to quantity and quality of certain components. Due to certain traits and the modes of genetic control of these traits, the mentioned specific types of maize require a special attention in the process of breeding, seed production, commercial production and processing.

Corn or Maize (Zea mays L.) is high-yielding, fastgrowing, highly adaptable and multi -utility cereal crop. Maize and wheat are the major source of carbohydrates and proteins for almost a half of the world's human population.

Benefits Accrued by Specialty Corn  Increase in Income  Increased Crop Intensity  Added fodder production  Promote livestock industry – increases milk & meat production  Check the migration  Value addition  Employment generation  Better Nutrition

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Different types of specialty corn

Production Technology

Baby corn

Cultural Practices

Recommendations

Baby corn is the ear of maize plant harvested young, especially before or just after the silk emergence. The dehusked ears are crisp, sweet, succulent, delicious and can be eaten as salad vegetable. Baby corn nutritional value is comparable to other vegetables. After harvest the plant by-products, such as tassel, young husk, silk and green stalk provide good cattle feed. It generates employment among the rural poor of all ages. Baby corn is a good option for crop diversification. It suits best to peri-urban agriculture. It offers great potential to earn foreign exchange through export of fresh/canned baby corn and its processed products. Currently early maturing maize cultivars originally developed for grain usage are also grown for baby corn purpose with assessment of specific baby corn traits. These cultivars can be used by growers for crop yield and duration advantage.

Soil

It can be grown in variety of soils ranging from loamy sand to clay loam. The field should have proper drainage, as maize is sensitive to excess soil moisture.

Time of sowing

Kharif- June- July Rabi – 25 October to 15 November South India- throughout year

Seed rate and Plant Geometry

8-10 kg/ha ; 75- 100 x 15- 30 cm

Varieties

Kharif and Rabi - HSC-1, Madhuri, Priya, Almora sweet corn, win sweet corn

Nutrient Application

150-180 kg N, 70-80 kg P2O5, 70- 80 kg K2O to be applied in five split doses

Irrigation

Light Soils – 7-8, heavy soil – 4-5 Critical stages – Flowering and grain filling In winters moisture must be maintained from 15th Dec to 15th Feb

Harvesting

About 45 days after emergence, the tassel emerges and 2-3 days later the silks emerge.

Corn will be ready for harvest approximately 18-22 days after completion of pollination (indicated by drying of silk). Corn is ready for harvest when the ear is full size for the variety, has a tight husk, and has somewhat dried silks.

Whether harvested by hand or machine, sweet corn should be collected at night or early in the morning, when the environment remains cool.

Every effort should be made to keep harvested ears cool and in shaded areas.

Post-harvest Handling

Sweet corn has a high respiration rate, the longer the delay, the greater the heating and conversion of sugar to starch with subsequent quality loss. Sweet corn must be moved quickly from the field to packing sheds, where it should be rapidly sorted, packed, and cooled.

Precautions

Isolation of "sweet corn" cultivar is necessary to prevent cross-pollination. Isolation can be obtained by planting at a different time, planting cultivars of different maturities, or providing barriers and border rows.

Desired traits of baby corn – 

Medium height and lodging resistance



Early maturing



Stay green



Harvesting within 24 hr of silk appearance when silk is 3-4 cm



Prolific (> 1 cob/plant)



Standing leaves



Length of cob should be <11 cm, radius 1-1.5 cm



3-4 picking

Production Technology The cultivation practices of baby corn is similar to grain crop except, 

Plant population - With seed rate of 22- 25 kg/ha, and plant spacing of 60 X 15-20 cm (plant X row), its plant population is 80,000- 100000.



Higher dose of nitrogen application Wi t h t h e i n c r e a s e i n p l a n t population, the nutrients requirement also increases. Nitrogen is applied @ 150-200 kg/ha in three

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equal splits as basal dose at the time of sowing, at knee high stage (20-25 DAS) and at pre-tasseling stage (4045 DAS). 



48

Choice of cultivars - Early maturing and prolific cultivars are preferred for baby corn cultivation. HM-4 is the first baby corn hybrid bred in India.

Hybrids are preferred over open pollinated varieties because hybrids are more uniform in owering. Thus they may require only 4-5 time plucking. Contrary to this non uniform owering of varieties leads to prolonged harvesting. Short stature materials can be well accommodated in higher plants densities.

Detasseling – It is an essential operation in cultivation of baby corn.

It is a removing of tassel as soon as it emerges from ag leaf. This is done to avoid contamination of unfertilized cob with pollens. Leaf/leaves should not be removed with tassel as it reduces 5-15% yield .Removed tassel is nutrient rich and should be fed to cattle.

KRISHI DUNIYA I JULY 2016

Practices

Recommendations

Field condition

Good drainage

Soil

Medium to coarse textured soils

Sowing time

South 1st June – 15th June North 25th June – 20th July

Seed Rate

12-14 kg/ha

Spacing

75-90 cm X 20- 25 cm, 50,000 to 67,000 plants per ha

Varieties

Kharif & Rabi - Amber popcorn, VL Almora popcorn & pearl Popcorn

Fertilizer

NPK : 80:60:40 per hectare N to be applied in 3 doses (33% at sowing, 33% after 25 days and 33% after 45 days)

Irrigation

Light Soils – 7-8, heavy soil – 4-5 Critical stages – Flowering and grain filling In winters moisture must be maintained from 15thDec to 15thFeb

Crop management

Seed treatment: Thiram @ 4 gm/kg and fipronil @ 4ml/kg seed Weeds: Atrazin @ 5 kg/hac. Mix with 500600 ltr water and spray just after sowing Insects: Stem Borer: Cartap hydrochoride/Fipronil @ 12- 15kg/ha , after 10-20 days of sowing.

Maturity

Popcorns mature in 85-90 days in rainy season (kharif) and 95¬-100 days in winter season (rabi). Since kernels are the economic product, harvest should necessarily be done on the attainment of physiological maturity, which is evidenced by the formation of a black polyphenol layer at the base of the kernels.

Harvesting

Moisture at harvesting for ear corn should be 18-20%, for shelled corn 16-18%. Grain may be delivered directly to the processing plant at harvest or stored on the farm until delivery is requested. If on-farm storage is required, storage facilities must be clean and good aeration must be provided. Aeration is essential for extended storage. Generally, the delivery of the grain is taken at 14-15% moisture, so the storage and aeration facilities must be able to remove some grain moisture. Relative humidity of 70% will maintain the grain at the proper moisture. Kernels that are too dry will not pop properly. Proper moisture level is the reason to store popcorn properly. Popcorn variety, the moisture content of the kernels, storage conditions, type of package inuence the quality of microwave popping.

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

Harvesting should be done after 1-3 days of silk emergence from the leaf sheath. Picking when silk comes out 2-3 cm from the top of ears, in morning or evening when moisture is highest and temperature is low.Kharifpicking should be done daily and in rabi on alternate days. In single cross hybrid, 3-4 picking may be obtained.



Post Harvest Management - Peel baby corn on same day in shady places with good ventilation and air circulation. Corn should not be heaped. Dehusked corn put in plastic containers or sacks and bags .Stored in cool and dry place. Transported to processing unit at earliest.



Intercropping- In rabi, as many as 20 crops, namely potato , green pea, rajmash for green pods, palak , cabbage ,cauliower ,sugar beet , green onion, garlic, methi, coriander, knolkhol, broccoli, lettuce, turnip, radish, carrot ,french bean, celery, gladiolus are grown with maize as intercrop. In kharif, cowpea for green pods and fodder purposes, urd, mung are grown.

Sweet Corn Sweet corn is a special maize variety in which it's tender, delicious seeds eaten as a vegetable. In contrast to traditional field corn, sugar corn varieties are harvested when their corn-ears just reached milk stage. Standard sweet corn at the immature, milky stage contains about 10 percent sucrose, while field corn in the same stage has about 4 percent sucrose. Its seeds or cobs either used immediately or frozen since sugar content in them quickly converted into starch. To compete and find a nearby niche (like restaurant or roadside stand) for sweet corn, entrepreneurs should explore the potentials of moving these corns to consumers within a day of harvest. These kernels at room temperature can lose as much as 50 percent of their sucrose by 24 hours after harvest.

Popcorn Popcorn is a popular snack food throughout the world. Kernels of popcorn range in colour from off-white to light gold, to red, black and many colours i n between. When kernels of popcorn are heated, they explode and produce large puffed akes (popping). Although conditions for growing popcorn are the same as for dent corn, special harvesting, drying and storage practices are necessary to maintain popping quality High Oil Corn High oil corn is a special type of corn that has been bred to have higher percent oil content than regular yellow corn. Typically yellow corn has 3.5 to 4.0% oil, high oil corn contain 7.0 to 8.0% oil. In addition to the higher oil content, high oil corn kernels usually have a slightly higher percent protein and, higher amounts of amino acids such as lysine, threonine, and tryptophan that are important in the diets of poultry and swine. Generally, corn having oil content of more than 6% is called high oil corn. In corn kernel, 80 to 84% of total kernel oil is present in the germ region followed by 12% in aleurone and 5% in endosperm. Utilisation of high oil corn in livestock feed improves amino acid balance and reduces the need for expensive dietary supplements. It is also recognized as an excellent source of antioxidants (tocopherol) and Vitamin E. Waxy Corn Waxy corn contains 100% amylopectin whereas normal corn contains 75% amylopectin and 25% amylose. Amylopectin is a form of starch which consists of branched glucose subunits whereas amylose is made up of unbranched glucose molecules. The waxy trait is controlled by a single recessive wx gene. Waxy corn is used by wet-corn millers to produce waxy corn starch which is utilized by the food industry as a stabilizer/thickener.

Waxy maize is preferred for food in some parts of East Asia and also utilized in industries as it produces starch similar to tapioca.

High Amylose Corn This corn has amylose content higher than 50%. High amylose corn is grown exclusively for wet milling. The extracted starch is used in textiles, candies and adhesives. Amylo maize is the generic name for corn that has amylase content higher than 50 %.

Nirupma Singh Scientist, ICAR-IIMR, Pusa Campus, New Delhi email: nirupmasingh@rediffmail.com

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Q

uinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), which is considered a pseudo-cereal or pseudograin, it is highly nutritious due to its outstanding protein quality and wide range of minerals and vitamins. It has remarkable nutritional properties; not only from its protein content (15%) but also from its great amino acid balance. The grain is used to make our, soup, breakfast, cereal and alcohol, while the our is utilized in making biscuits, bread and processed food. Quinoa starch having small grains and high viscosity can be exploited for various industrial applications. It is also been found to contain minor compounds like phytosterols and avonoids with possible nutraceutical benefits.

Quinoa starch has some functional (technological) properties like so l u b il it y, g o o d w a t e r- h o l d in g capacity, gelation, emulsifying, and foaming that allow diversified uses.

Besides, it has been considered an oil crop, with an interesting proportion of omega-6 and notable vitamin-E content. Quinoa starch has physicochemical properties (such as viscosity, freeze stability) which give it functional properties with novel uses.

Quinoa has a high nutritional value and has recently been used as a novel functional food because of all these properties. Quinoa's ability to produce high-protein grains under ecologically extreme conditions makes it important for the diversification of future agricultural systems, especially in high-altitude area of the Himalayas and North Indian Plains. The healthy lifestyle and appropriate nutrition are stressed nowadays. New foodstuffs are still investigated with the aim to improve the diet and conduce to a better health state of the population.

Quinoa (pseudo-cereals) is convenient for this purpose for their high nutritious and dietary quality meets the demands of the food industry and consumers. Thus, if more studies are conducted to show the particular properties of quinoa from specific areas, it would be possible in the future

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Success Story of

Quinoa Cultivation at Fathepur Dist (UP)

to coin the term “controlled designation of origin” and add commercial value to Indian quinoa seeds in the domestic and international markets.

Quinoa plays a significant role in ensuring livelihood food security and augmenting income level of farmers in peri-urban areas. Quinoa cultivation is gaining momentum in peri- urban areas due to its high demand. It has attractive cream to light yellow colour grain plant with desirable size 3 foot size with regular row arrangement. It is highly protenious and nutritive Super grain.

The green plant stalks also provides quality fodder to livestock. Additional income can be obtained through intercropping with other vegetable crops like carrot, cabbage, cauliower, pulse, coriander, ower crops etc.

Pradeep Dwivedi did B.Tech in food Engg and M.Tech In Chemical Engg and had 18 years industrial Experience of different food Industry keeping a view to do something for the upliftment of farmers and left job and start working with farmers keeping

motivating to farmers to do cash crop such as Quinoa ,Tulsi and Chicory keeping these aim Mr Dwivedi has established one Startup unit at Noida as a marketing channel for selling of cash crop for farmers now Mr Dwivedi is working as Chief Execrative Officer in the Prajana Agro Associates H.Q., New Delhi has introduced Quinoa cultivation in village Bauwa , Distt.

Fathepur , Utter Pradesh 2013. In the beginning, the farmers used to sow the seeds obtained from private companies at the rate of Rs. 300-350/- per kilo and the seed rate was 10-12 kg/acre. Thus, cost of cultivation was also quite high.

Mr Dwivedi found that Quinoa cultivation is much profitable in a peri –Urban village like Bauwa (UP) with Farmer Mr Hira Lal since the produce of quinoa is easy to bring in Delhi for marketing and selling of produce Quinoa to “ Nutrelis Agro Fodds Noida (UP) for its Export “ so others village farmers started its cultivation and its demand increased due to high protein content and mineral content in this grain have high demand in domestic and international market . Farmers earned net income of more than Rs. 3,92,500/per hectare/crop by investing about Rs. 45,000/-per hectare/crop within 120 days of crop duration. In Northern states one crops while in Southern states two crops can be taken in a year. Quinoa can be cultivated once in a year due to its profitable economics (Table 1). Other farmers in neighborhood also adopted the cultivation of Quinoa . Nutrelis Agro Food Noida also producing seeds of this and now making available to the farmers at Rs.110 per kg.

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Table 1. Economics of Quinoa Cultivation 1. Average yield of Quinoa (Kg/ha)

2,500

2

4,37,500/-

Market procurement price of Quinoa from the farmer @ Rs. 150-200 @ Rs. 175/- per kg. for 2,500 kg.

3. Expenditure on seed, ďŹ eld preparation, irrigation and cultivation pre crop/ha.

45,000/-

4. Total return from Quinoa (Rs.)

4,37,500/-

5. Net return (Rs./ha/crop)

3,92,500/-

Net income of the farmer from one crops in a year=Rs 3,92,500/- (ha/year) *Average market rate of Quinoa Seed sowing: October 1st Week @2.5 kg per acre.

Cost of seed per Kg.: Rs. 350/Harvest time of Quinoa: March 1st week.

Ploughing of Field+ leveling: Rs. 450/- per acre.

Fertilizer NPK@ 75kg: Irrigation (one water @ Rs. 400): 1000/Labour for 30x5 man days (@ Rs. 8000): Table 2: Chemical composition of quinoa and some cereals and legumes (g/100 g dry wt)

(Valencia-Chamorro 2003)

Components

Quinoa

Barley

Maize

Rice

Wheat

Bean

Lupine

Soya

Protein

16.5

10.8

10.22

7.6

14.3

28.0

39.1

36.1

Fat

6.3

1.9

4.7

2.2

2.3

1.1

7.0

18.9

Fibre

3.8

4.4

2.3

6.4

2.8

5.0

14.6

5.6

Ash

3.8

2.2

11.7

3.4

2.2

4.7

4.0

5.3

69.0

80.7

81.1

80.4

78.4

61.2

35.3

34.1

399

383

408

372

392

367

361

451

Carbohydrates kcal/100 g

a

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CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON INSECT DIVERSITY

G

lobal climate change, caused by increased emissions of greenhouse gases, is likely to affect to agro-ecosystems in many ways, outcome of which depends on the combined effects of climate (temperature, precipitation) and other global change components. With mean global temperatures increasing over the past 100 years by about 0.80C and projected to continue, widespread climate related changes in the biosphere can be expected. These changes may also affect insect pest occurrence. There are various ways by which the insects may react to climate change. Under changed climatic conditions, cropping pattern and intensity may be changed and to cope up with the situation, new varieties may be released which might have either positive or negative impact on insect pest. Some pest may expand to higher altitudes and latitudes and more extreme climatic disturbance will create more opportunities for pest colonization and establishment. Predator – pray and plant-insect interactions may be disturbed when interacting species respond differently to warming.

Global warming could pose a greater risk to tropical insects sensitive to slightest shifts in temperatures. They may become extinct with an increase of 2-40C rise in temperature. Ex: Pod sucking bug as a critical limit of 15320C and tropics maximum as already gone up to 330C. For such insects it may be difficult to tolerate rising temperature. Insects acting as a vectors of plant diseases could become serious with subtle change of climate. An attempt has been made to elaborately document the possible changes that might happen in

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insects under climate change scenarios and predictions in different parts of world as evidenced from literature. Insects are cold blooded organisms– the temperature of their bodies is approximately the same as that of the environment. Therefore, temperature is probably the single most important environmental factor inuencing insect behavior, distribution, development, survival and reproduction. Insect life stages predictions are most often calculated using accumulated degree days from a base temperature and biofix point.

Impact of rising temperature on insects: Climate change resulting in increased temperature could impact crop pest insect population in several complex ways. Increased temperature can potentially affect insect survival, development, geographic range and population size. Temperature can impact insect physiology and development directly or indirectly through the physiology or existence of hosts. Depending on the development strategy of an insect species, temperature can exert different effects. Reproductive biology of an insect may be affected both positively and negatively. Climate, temperature and

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precipitation in particular, have a very strong inuence on the development, reproduction and survival of insect pests and as a result it is highly likely that these organisms will be affected by any changes in climate.

Increased temperature could increase insect pest populations: Warmer temperatures in temperate climates will result in more types and higher populations of insects. Some insects take several years to complete one lifecycle. These insects (Cicadas, arctic moths) will tend to moderate temperature variability over the course of their life history. Some crop pests are 'stop' and 'go' developers in relation to temperature-they develop more rapidly during periods of time with suitable temperatures. Increased temperatures will accelerate the development of these types of insects, possibly resulting in more generations per year. Ex: Increasing mean annual temperature by 30C resulted in synchronous, univoltine populations transforming a non adopted thermal habitat into an adoptive thermal habitat for bark beetles in north America. Increase in number of generations can translate into need for additional controls and further results in to increased damage to the crops, loss to the farmers and increased cost on crop protection and would present challenges resistant management. Some secondary pests might become serious pest. Ex: The winter mortality of adults of Nezara viridula and Halyomorpha halys is predicted to be reduced by 15

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per cent by each rise of 10C. Migratory insects may arrive earlier or the area in which they are able to over winter may be expanded.

Temperature may change gender ratios of some pest species such that thrips potentially affecting reproduction rate. Insects that spend important parts of their life histories in the soil may be more gradually affected by temperature changes than those that are above ground simply because soil provides an insulating medium that will tend to buffer temperature changes more than the air. Rise in temperature in winter may help to continue the lifecycle of some pests. Lower winter mortality of insects due to warmer winter temperature could be important in increasing insect populations. Insect species diversity for area tends to decrease with higher latitude and altitude. Indicating that rising temperature could result in more insect species attacking more hosts in temperate climates. Based on evidence developed by studying the fossil record some researchers conclude that the diversity of insect species and the intensity of feeding have increased historically with increasing temperature.

Increased temperature could decrease insect pest populations: Some insects are closely tied to a specific set of host crops. Temperature increase that cause farmers not to grow the host crop any longer would decrease the populations of insect pests specific to those crops. The same environmental factors that impact insect pest can impact their insect predators and parasites as well as the disease organisms that infect the pests, resulting in increased attack on insect populations. At higher temperature, aphids have been shown to be less responsive to the aphid alarm pheromone they release when under attack by insect predators and parasitoids – resulting in the potential for greater predation.

Effects of rising CO2levels on insect: Generally CO2 impacts on insects are thought to be indirect and impact on insect damage results from changes in the host crop. Soybean grown in elevated CO2 atmosphere had 57% more damage from insects (primarily Japanese beetle, potato leafhopper, western corn rootworm and Mexican bean beetle). Measured increases in the levels of simple sugars in the soybean leaves may have stimulated the additional insect feeding. Insect sometimes feed more on leaves that have lowered nitrogen content in order to obtain sufficient nitrogen for their metabolism. Increased carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N) in plant tissue resulting from increased CO2 levels may slow insect development and increase the length of life stages vulnerable to attack by parasitoids.

Combined effects of temperature and CO2: Increased insect herbivore due to CO2 and temperature rise is evident from study of fossil leaves. Some studies have shown that temperature may not have as great an effect on insect development when CO2 elevation occurs at the same t i m e . Fo r e x a m p l e , i n c r e a s e d temperature allow moths (leaf miner) to develop a lot more quickly, but increased CO2 causes the nutritional qualities in the leaves to change, which results in smaller adult moths a lower rate of survival in the adults. In other words, when considering climate change, we must also consider that some factors may balance each other out.

Indirectly the efficacy is also going to be affected due to climate change.

D. N. Kambrekar, Aruna, J. and Prashant Natikar Dept. of Agricultural Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005 Karnataka *Email: kambrekardn@uasd.in JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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INDIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS INDIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY The biggest MAKE IN INDIA agro based industry, was neglected for decades and was meted out a step motherly treatment by both the States' and the Union Government for decades. Farmer bore the brunt of this neglect.

The levy sugar was a negative subsidy imposed on the sugar mills, for several decades, it was like the Government was robbing Peter( sugarcane farmers/sugar mills) to pay Paul ( the middle class and the poor). Ultimately it was the sugarcane farmers who indirectly subsidised the Government program of levy sugar collected at prices much below cost of production from sugar mills, and distributed through ration shops/public distribution system to the middle class and the poor, for several decades.

Since 1940's,until early 1980's, Levy sugar varied from as much as 60 to 70% of production of sugar , and averaged about 40 to 50 percent from 1986 to1992, and 30% during 1999-2000, and tapering off between 20% to 10% during 2001-02- to 2011-2012, when it was finally decontrolled in 2012.

Indian Government bans sugar exports, as and when it presumes rising sugar prices cause ination, as it did from June 2006 to January 2007. Similarly, Government bans exports of onions / cotton , leading to crash in their prices, affecting the farmers badly. Why should the farmers suffer from such bans, while the Government never bans export of

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Cars, Airconditioners, Refrigerators, Software, Apparel, Biscuits, Tea, Leather goods, sea food exports, manufactured goods, etc.

BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT One is reminded of the story of 8 blind men , who describe an Elephant, in different ways , but never describe the whole Elephant correctly. Similarly, Politicians have never been able to comprehend the problems of the sugar industry/sugar cane farmers. Economists/Mill Owners/sugarcane farmers/Journalists have been voicing their problems and suggesting solutions, but the Government and political parties act like those blind men who never get the whole picture, and do not solve the problems. The policy interventions by the Government are half hearted and often inadequate, and only postpone the problems of the sugar industry, but never solve them.

SYMPTOMS OF CRISIS IN SUGAR INDUSTRY Now consider these past events: A few years back, 2 MLA's took off their shirts in UP Assembly, protesting against the non payment of arrears to sugarcane farmers for a long time, and also the non payment of salaries to employees of sugar factories in their constituencies. Sugar Mills in UP refused to start crushing of sugarcane a few years back in 2012-13, and farmers protested that their sugarcane crop was drying in their fields, and diverted sugarcane to Gur manufacture, and begin to sow their next crop wheat. Protests

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By - M.Venkat Srinivas Reddy

by farmers/associations in A.P., and U.P., and sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra under Mr.Raju Shetty M.P., against the sugar mills for unremunerative prices. Similar is the story in other sugarcane growing states.

farmers demanded Rs 320 per quintal for sugarcane, however, the State Government fixed the State Advisory Price (SAP) of Rs 280 per quintal for cane for that season, mills protested that it would destroy them financially.

Last year 2015 , Mills “arrears” to sugarcane farmers crossed tens of thousands of crores. Fortunately, the NDA Government under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Minister Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, had extended the subsidy on raw sugar export last year, and increased the import duty on sugar import stabilising the sugar prices, and recently been considering giving subsidy directly to the farmers supplying sugarcane to mills which export raw sugar. These are good policy measures helping in the revival of the beleaguered sugar industry and also the sugarcane farmers.

Union Government in 2014 announced a package of over Rs 6000 crores to help sugar mills pay arrears to farmers. The Union Government in 2014 also announced a subsidy of about Rs 3,000 crores for export of raw sugar, benefiting sugar mills in Maharashtra/Karnataka. These were some relief measures to make up for their blunders earlier.

Political parties blame each other for the Muzaffarnagar communal riots in 2013. As per some news reports , it is alleged that the sugarcane farmers in that area were not paid “arrears” by mills , for over 2 years at that time in 2013, and their sugarcane crop was withering, since mills , facing financial problems, were refusing to crush cane. In such an explosive situation, it is alleged that some boys of one community teased a girl of another community. The powder keg was thus lit by this spark and the communal riots ensued.

Blame all policy makers for such a sad plight of the sugarcane farmers in UP/India.

A few years back, the UP State Government blamed the sugar mills for the crisis and threatened to take over the mills, and booked criminal cases against the management for non payment of arrears and not starting crushing operations. UP krishiduniya.com

Gayatri Sugars, has 2 mills in Nizamabad district, in Telangana., and their owner is a prominent Member of Rajya Sabha of the Congress Party for over 2 terms, and while their 2 mills are functioning, and ironically, the Nizamabad Cooperative Sugar Factory Ltd (NCSF) promoted by 21,000 farmer shareholders in the same district is closed for over 8 years, and no M.P. had raised this problem in Parliament.

Ban on Sugar Exports in 2006-07, A Big Blunder By Upa: In June 2006, reacting to a spurt in sugar prices to Rs 17 per kg, the UPA Government banned sugar exports, in spite of a huge carryover stock and a bumper crop expected in 200607. Prices crashed and mills suffered huge losses and arrears mounted and farmers shifted to other crops, leading to decrease in acreage of cane next season , resulting in decrease in sugar production, consequently, prices soared to Rs 45 per kg., and the “sugar bubble” was created . Mills made profits but farmers suffered. The export ban was lifted in January 2007, but by then world and domestic sugar prices crashed JULY 2016 I KRISHI DUNIYA

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has been filed by sugar mills and they will win , but it will take time. Meantime, Governments will sell the so-called “sick “ cooperative sugar mills like our NCSF, , and the farmers will be the losers. While they can be revived if Union Government paid “arrears” as per the above S.C. Order.

Ethanol Blending Program: The Union Government has announced that 10 percent Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) will be implemented soon. Sugar Mills have been protesting against unremunerative prices for ethanol .

and Government had to give export subsidy, because exports became unremunerative. Our Nizamabad Cooperative Sugar Factory Limited(NCSF) in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (presently new state of Telangana), suffered a loss of about Rs 6 crores, when sugar prices crashed from Rs 17 per kg to below Rs 11 per kg., between 2006 –07. NCSF could not pay arrears to farmers for several months, and due to losses, the Sate Government had to give loans to NCSF to pay arrears to farmers. NCSF is closed for over 8 years now. Most mills suffered similar fate during 200607. In 2007 on my representation to the then UPA Government for more subsidy to export at least 50 lakh tonnes of sugar to reduce the huge stocks of sugar, to avert a crisis, the UPA Government had only increased the buffer stock from 20 lakh tonnes to 50 lakh tonnes, thereby postponing but not solving the problem. A.P.High Court in the KCP sugar mills case declared in 1999, that State Advisory Price( SAP) as illegal, therefore we demand NCSF should be reimbursed SAP amount paid from 1982-83 to 2000, with interest.

UPA Government banned cotton exports a few years back, when the then Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi protested, the ban was lifted, but by then the cotton farmers suffered heavy losses with fall in prices. Exporters/Traders made huge profits. Similarly, Onion exports were banned a few years back.

Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills Case, 2008 Order Of Supreme Court: And most importantantly, in 2008, the Supreme Court (S.C.) passed an Order in the Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills Case, asking the Union Government to revise the Levy Price of sugar taking into consideration the SAP (State Advisory Price) paid by sugar mills, for a period of over 2 decades, and pay “arrears” , estimated by some as Rs 15,000 crores. Many cooperative sugar mills in India and mills in U.P., would gain from this Order. However, disregarding the above Supreme Court order, the UPA Government brought an Ordinance in 2009 to deny paying “arrears” ( by revising the levy sugar price), to sugar factories which had paid State Advisory Prices (SAP), over and above the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP), to farmers.

Brazil has been successfully implementing 25 percent EBP for many years now, and gained from exports of ethanol , by saving on oil import bill. India never learns from Brazil's success .

India can save billions of dollars in valuable foreign exchange in oil import bills by implementing 25 percent EBP, which can solve our nation's Current Account Deficit (CAD) problem also . This will also help the agro-based Rs 60,000 crore sugar industry, and millions of farmers.

Cogeneration of Power And “open Access” To Sell Power: Cogeneration of power by Sugar mills is not encouraged in many states, they do not get “open access” benefit to sell power at open market rates to anyone. They are forced to enter into agreements of power supply to State Government Po w e r U t i l i t i e s a t b e l o w m a r ke t a n d unremunerative prices, making them sick.

Recently in U.P., Mr.Narendra Modi said that Sugar Cooperatives is the answer for sugarcane farmers' problems. Alas, most sugar cooperatives are on the verge of becoming sick, and have huge arrears to farmers. Problems are numerous and need urgent attention, not speeches and good intentions alone.

SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF SUGAR INDUSTRY 1. Do not ban sugar exports. Bulk consumers like soft drink manufacturers and chocolate

Amendments to Essential Commodities Act in 2009-2010: UPA Government made Amendments to the Essential Commodities Act in 2009 and 2010, nullifying the Supreme Court Judgement in above mentioned Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills Case. An appeal for contempt of Court

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and biscuits and sweets manufacturers buy 60percent of production, common man will not be affected if sugar exports are allowed.

2. Enforce 25 percent Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) as soon as possible to save billions of dollars of oil import bill.

3. Announce remunerative prices for ethanol and sugarcane.

4. Encourage ethanol exports, after mills meet the domestic requirement.

5. Provide low interest long term loans to sugar mills for modernisation and for expansion and to set up ethanol and cogeneration plants and give them “open access” to sell power in open market.

6. Encourage cogeneration of power by sugar mills, a renewable energy , by subsidies if necessary.

7. Reform the sugar industry regulatory framework. It is over regulated .

8. Amend the concerned sections of the Essential Commodities Act and restore status quo ante 2009, and implement the Supreme Court Order of 2008 in the mahalaxmi sugar mills case , and pay “arrears” of Rs 15,000 crores by revising the Levy sugar price payable to all sugar mills , which had paid SAP. Cooperative sugar mills will be the greatest beneficiaries in most states, and they can easily wipe out their so-called “ losses ” and modernise and expand and the sugarcane farmers will benefit. Once The Farmers And Farm Workers P ro s p e r, T h e n T h e re Wi l l N o t B e A n y Muzaffarnagar Type Communal Riots In India.

Economic problems and hardship breeds violence and riots.

9. State Advisory Price (SAP) for sugarcane must be paid by the State Governments that declare it.

10. Encourage/subsidise drip irrigation to raise cane productivity to benefit farmers directly by way of more income. This will help mills indirectly.

11. Role of ISMA and NFCSF and Sugarcane farmers: Consider the suggestions of Indian Sugar Mills Association( ISMA) ,and also the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., and also take the suggestions of farmers organisations , including my suggestions, for necessary policy changes to help the sugar industry.

this wonderful success, and never encouraged ethanol manufacture in India!

SUGARCANE-NOT A WATER GUZZLING CROP Another popular misconception of the sugarcane crop as water guzzling, has been disproved by more than one expert, by veteran journalist Shri Harish Damodaran of formerly the Hindu newspaper, and Indian Sugar Mills Association Director General Shri Abinash Verma recently in Financial Express.

GOVERNMENT MUST ENCOURAGE INDUSTRY Also, Government must encourage industry , just as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have done, creating employment and shifting workers from the farm sector into manufacturing and service sector. Only then will farmers and people, and the nation prosper.

NDA Government under Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi , and Hon.Minister Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, have been tweaking the policy to solve the crisis in sugar industry since 2014, by giving subsidies for raw sugar export, increasing the import duty on sugar, etc, and succeeding in reducing the huge arrears of over Rs 20,000 crores payable to farmers by indian sugar industry in 2015 to only a couple of thousand crores now! A good achievement. The sugar industry is the biggest employer of MAKE IN INDIA! How can anyone neglect such an important sector of Indian economy.

BOLD DECISIONS NEEDED What is needed is bold decisions based on my recommendations mentioned in this article, if millions of sugarcane farmers and the sugar industry, a rural agro industry , can overcome the hurdles , and bring prosperity to rural India, where more than 60 percent of population live and are dependent on agricuture related economy.

All Political Parties may incorporate these suggestions in their National/States' Manifestoes to help the sugar industry and win the hearts and minds of millions of sugarcane farmers.

Jai Hind.

12. Learn From Brazil: Learn from countries like Brazil's successful sugar and ethanol policies. Did anyone know that an indian company PRAJ Industries, had supplied almost all the ethanol plants to Brazil for many years now. And Indian Government is blind to

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Muduganti Venkat Srinivas Reddy The author is Telangana Bureau Chief of News India Times, New York, USA. Mob.: +91-9849119234 Email: mvsr_99@yahoo.in

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SMART GRAVITY FLOW MICRO IRRIGATION SYSTEM INTRODUCTION It is said that Necessity is the Mother of Invention. One day when I thought of using the vacant land in my factory plot for plantation, a question of HOW TO WATER THE PLANTS after plantation came to my mind, considering the shortage of manpower which has been affecting the most of the industries and other businesses. Then I started considering installing Drip Irrigation System for the plantation and I went about looking for the information. On a detailed study, I was surprised to note the inadequacy of present day technology available which is completely unsuited for Indian Conditions.

We all are aware of the DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM being used in various countries including India for controlled and regulated watering of plants. The present Drip Irrigation System definitely improves the quality of farm produce but at the same time it has many operational and cost issues associated with itself which has prevented the Indian farmers to adopt this technology in a big way. The farms in India in general are of smaller sizes compared to USA, SA, or European countries may be because of the division of land owned by elders amongst siblings. The fully automated farming using modern technology is successful only in large size of farms due to very high break even points and very big capital investment involved.

In the existing systems, a device called EMITTERS play a vital role . The manufacturers are mostly recommending and supplying systems which works under pressure & need

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additional capital investment and higher operating costs and also is not as effective as a Gravity ow system due to leakages, disconnections, Flow rates unbalance and other related problems. The quantity of water fed to individual plant is not being measured directly and only a rough estimation is made by indirect methods.

Historically, men has been using Gravity Flow systems for all his water and sanitation based needs which is definitely many times superior to pressurised systems. With these concepts in the background, we started work for the development and finally arrived at a working model of the system which has MAJOR advantages over the existing systems.

We developed a low cost but scientifically designed, Good Engineered Product (GEP), mass produced with 100% interchangeability, effective and efficient Irrigation system without involving the problems associated with the locally available semi automatic Drip Irrigation Systems. This system proposed by us is SMART (SELF MANAGED AUTO REGULATED TRICKLE ) irrigation system which will permanently change the way the Gardens and farms are being irrigated in India and other tropical countries, to say the least.

MAJOR ADVANTAGES 1. Very Very Very Low Cost – as no special material or items are required. We have tried to make use , low cost PVC pipes and connectors, replacing very costly emitters with our own designed and being patented Sub Soil krishiduniya.com

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

DribblersR (SSD'S®'s), with amazing results.

The System is Modulr Having A Local Distributor and A Main Distributor - All connected only with gravity ow. The local distributor is connected to many individual plants through a network of PVC piping having number of SSD's connected .

Only Gravity Flow System is Used For Flow Distribution One Small Feeder Tank Per Module of approx.

2000 sft area. This Feeder Tank is equipped with a Float Valve at Inlet to maintain a constant level in the tank. A number of such Modules can cover a very large field for irrigation. All these operations are fully automatic but Only Mechanical with very simple components. No electricity, no manpower required which means ZERO operation and Maintenance Costs.

Measured Quantity of Water Fed to The Plants – Once the piping Network gets the water from the Feeder Tank, the SSD's connected on the pipeline start feeding water under the soil to the plants nearby in the form of drops. This metered and measured quantity of water supplied by the SSD's will be absorbed by the plant over a period of time and water supplies will be continuously being topped up by the SSD's. The quanity of water being supplied to the plants can be altered to meet the individual plants requirement by using suitably designed SSD's..

Combined dosing in the main distributor or a group dosing in local distributor or even individual dosing with fertilisers in the feeders is possible without any investment.

The watering sequence of the plants can be easily be set and adjusted as many times as required with little efforts No manual operation required for executing the sequential watering of plants, once the system is set as per requirement.

The local nodes will be created in all prospective user areas for manufacturing and marketing, and the piping material required for assembly will be locally arranged by these nodes with only few parts supplied by our company from our works.

10. The distribution pipe used is normal pvc pipe as very low pressure water is being handled.

11. The SSD'S®'s® (sub soil dribbler) are kept buried in the ground near the plant and will normally not require any maintenece. Each and every SSD'S®'s® will be checked for Dribbling Rate and then supplied to the customer and a continuous ow is guaranteed over a period of many years.

12. Reduction In Evaporation and Pilferage Losses – In our system, the SSD'S®'s® are directly buried under the earth very near to the plant and the water remains under surface for most of the time, unlike the present system where water moves from Atmosphere to Earth surface and then to Plant Roots. This present water transfer mechanism causes substantial evaporation losses.

13. The Drip Irrigation System uses very small size tubing and narrow emitters which can get choked very fast due to the collection of ants, insects and dirt near the water outlet on the surface. In our system, the water outlet is underground and the pipe size is many times bigger which takes care of above shortcomings.

We have carried out actual field trials with such systems and the results are truly amazing and unbelievable.

Patent application numbers: 1. 1316/mum/2014 2. 1444/mum/2014 3. 1758/mum/2014 Kamal Kumar Gupta M/s Suchirr Smart Watercare Systems Plot 214, Maha Gujarat Industrial Estate, Sarkhej - Bavla Highway, Moraiya Patiya, Sanand - Ahmedabad Ph : 9727373953 / 9409041260

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Next Generation Indian Agriculture Role of Crop Protection Solutions

T

oday, consumers expect to choose from an abundant supply of fresh, high quality foods that meet our nutritional needs, whilst being affordable and accessible all year-round. So it is critical to recognize that crop protection bring numerous beneďŹ ts and make a signiďŹ cant contribution to the lifestyles we have come to expect.

Global population is constantly challenging food production. Crop protection products offer a means towards meeting the challenges of more food, less land. Agriculture holds prime importance in the socio-economic fabric of India, with nearly 58 percent of the rural households relying on it for livelihood. Shrinkage of land area for cultivation, coupled with climate and evolving dietary patterns and the imperative of ensuring the national food and nutrition security are challenges. Crop protection and crop enhancement solutions, based on best global practices and the latest technologies available are the answer. Use of crop protection chemicals can increase crop productivity by 25-50 percent, by mitigating crop loss due to pest attacks. The use of pesticides without following proper guidelines, use of substandard pesticides and lack of awareness about pesticides use are key concerns in India.

Crop Protection Chemicals or Agrochemicals are an important input for facilitating pre & post-harvest management and thus ensuring national food security. The Agrochemicals sector has huge unrealized potential for

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growth, given the presently very low level of application as compared to global norms. Further, it is also highly export intensive, with more than 50% of production fully exported.

The sector faces many challenges & solution to same can lead to India becoming a global manufacturing hub of quality Crop Protection chemicals.

To bring a focus to the important sector of chemical industry and deliberate on the issues, FICCI is organizing the Sixth National Agrochemicals Conference - 2016 on July 19, 2016 at New Delhi. The theme of the Conference is 'Next Generation Indian Agriculture - Role of Crop Protection Solutions'.

India is second largest producer of fruits and vegetables and fourth largest producer of agrochemicals world wide, after America, Japan and China. Indian Agrochemical industry is valued at US $ 4.76 billion in the year 2014-15 and is estimated to grow a CAGR of 12 percent to reach US $ 8.38 billion by 2018-19. The domestic market is ~US $ 2.43 billion in 2014-15. In comparison the Indian Agrochemical consumption is one of the lowest in the world which 0.6 kg/ha where as India`s fertilizer consumption compared to agrochemical usage is ~144 kg/ha which is much higher than the global average of ~122 kg/ha. So, there is a large potential for agrochemical usage in India.

There are serious challenges for farmers and the food crops they grow. For example, crops must compete with 30,000 krishiduniya.com

species of weeds, 3,000 species of nematodes or roundworms, and 10,000 species of plant-eating insects. We know that despite the use of modern crop protection products, 20-40 percent of potential food production is still lost every year to pests. These losses can occur while the crop is growing in the field, when it is in storage and in the home. In short, an adequate and reliable food supply cannot be guaranteed without the use of crop protection products.

Therefore, chemical crop protection is used as a means to help farmers improve agricultural productivity, contribute to food security and alleviate poverty. These benefits are not confined to the users of pesticides, but reach the great majority of people across the world.

According to the Economic Survey of 2015-16, the Indian farm sector has experienced two years of low growth on account of two consecutive years of deficient south-west monsoon, the only fourth such occurrence during the last 115 years. However, further the production of food grains and oil-seeds is estimated to decline by 0.5 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. These indeed are challenging times. Keeping in pace with these growing numbers, the country will not only have to raise its

agricultural production but also the productivity to ensure food and nutrition security of the nation.

It is also noted that about 15-25 percent potential crop production is lost due to pests, weeds and diseases. Indian Agriculture will have to evolve manner to meet such challenges, sooner than

in a later.

The development of new pesticides with novel modes of action, improved safety profiles and combination of appropriate measures taken for safer and more effective pesticides application make the chemical crop protection as one of the most well established technologies in agriculture. The safety of pesticides for users, consumers, and environmental impact is carefully and highly regulated. Product registrations and permitting sale within a country are based upon comprehensive safety assessments and defined product uses. Each product has a specific application that is clearly indicated on the label. Whilst these regulatory aspects are carefully considered prior to commercial sale, the lifecycle approach to pesticide management dictates that manufacturers also extend their safety considerations through the entire lifespan of the product.

Crop protection products, commonly referred to as pesticides or agrochemical products, are both naturally occurring and man-made (synthetic) chemicals that play a vital role in controlling the diseases, insects and weeds that harm or destroy our food crops and threaten public health. With growing global populations that constantly challenge food production, crop protection products offer a means towards meeting the challenge of more food from less land.

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