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RESEARCH UPDATE

Promising Technologies

• Tuberose cultivars propagation 1

• Bio-engineering 2

Natural Resources Management

• Diversification of Horticulture 3

• Service reservoir for 4microirrigation

• Effective utilization of waterways 6

New Initiatives

• Juvenile fish excluder-cum- 7shrimp sorting device

Profile

• Indian Institute of Natural Resins 8and Gums

Spectrum

• Integrated farming of 12seaweed and shrimp

• Dhanauri Maize Sheller 13developed

• CHM 7: an early-maturing 16mango clone

• Enhancing production of 18medicinal mushroom Shiitake

• PCR-based Molecular 19Diagnosis of TransgenicPlanting Material

Impact of Technology

• Tomato farming in farmers' 23field school

• Quantitative techniques for 23Agricultural Policy Analysis

The Last Page 24

Volume 14 No. 2

Tuberose cultivars propagation

PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES

IARI, New Delhi. Tuberose MildMosaic Virus has been recognizedas the major problem in tuberoseplant, Polianthes tuberosa. Unlike

other bulbous flower crops, Narcissus,Lilium and tulip, for which in vitropropagation techniques are perfected,tuberose does not have enoughtulip, studies on its regenerationthrough tissue culture. Therefore,in-vitro shoot multiplication, rooting

and acclimatization protocolswere standardized for two elitetubersoe cultivars using differentexplants.

Aseptic culture

Pre-treatment of stem scales andaxillary buds with carbendazim 0.1%,mancozeb 0.1% and 8-HQC 200 mg/litre for 4hr gave minimum culturecontamination (10.86%) and (17.5%).Minimum contaminated cultures were

Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchKrishi Bhavan, New Delhi 110 001, India

www.icar.org.in

April-June 2008

Tuberose cultivars used for Prajwal

2 ICAR NEWS

PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES

observed in cv. Prajwal (8.3%) whenit was pre-treated with carbendazim0.1%, mancozeb 0.1% and 8-HQC200 mg/litre for 4hr, followed by cv.Vaibhav (13.2%).

With respect to explants surfacesterilization, stem scales and axillarybud showed minimum contaminationwith treatment HgCl

2 0.1% followed

by 0.1% NaOCl for 8 min. Cultivarsshowed significant difference withsurface sterilization also.

Shoot multiplication, rooting andacclimatization

Multiple shoot formation is the mostcrucial phase in large scalemultiplication of plants through tissueculture. Between two explants, stemscale and axillary bud, shootmultiplication was higher in stemscale in both the cultivars. BasalMurashige and Skoog's (MS) mediumsupplemented with 4 mg/litre BAP and4mg/litre BAP + 0.2 mg/litre IAA waseffective for shoot multiplication forboth explants and cultivars.

Rooting of shoots under in vitro isa time consuming and expensiveprocess in many recalcitrant species.In this study, maximum rootingand earliest root induction wasobserved in cv. Prajwal with halfstrength MS medium + 1 mg/litre IBA

(which was significant) followed bycv. Vaibhav.

Jam bottle with polypropylene capshowed maximum survival (93.3%)which was nonsignificantly followedby pots (90.0%); both were used ashardening strategies.

Both the cultivars (Prajwal andVaibhav) differed in their laboratoryresponse; Single type cv. Prajwalexhibiting higher regenerationand multiplication than Double

type cv. Vaibhav.

Drs Jyothi R1., A.K. Singh2 and KrishanPal Singh3 1,3Division of Floriculture and

Landscaping, 2Division of Fruits andHorticultural Technology

e mail: [email protected]

Grow brinjals withoutinsecticides in

net-housesIIHR, Bangalore. Promising

technology related to brinjalwas developed at the IndianInstitute of Horticultural Research,Hessaraghatta.

Brinjal shoot and fruit borerLeucoides orbonalis has becomeextremely difficult to control usingtraditional insecticides. A newmolecule, E2Y45 20 SC at 30 g ai/hawas effective against thepest.

Growing elite, oblong, large- fruitedvarieties of brinjal without insecticidesuse inside low-cost net house showed0 % infestation by Leucoides orbonalis.This indicates possibility of raisingeggplant without pesticides. Besides,there was no gall midge infestation andleafhopper infestation was reducedunder nethouse conditions.

Dr G S R Murti, Director, IIHRe mail: [email protected]

Bio-engineering for protecting river banks

CSWCRTI, Dehra Dun. Seasonal

rivers (torrents) cause a huge damage

to life and property due to flash floods

during monsoon season in Shiwaliks

and foothills of outer Himalayas.

Cost- effective bio-engineering

structures (spurs, protection walls and

embankments) have been developed

and locally adaptive flow-resistant

vegetative species identified for

training river flow, bank erosion

control and protection of agricultural

land and other properties along the

banks. The technology is being

extended to the development

departments. Recently State Forest

Department, Uttarakhand, under the

technical guidance of this Institute

undertook a project on Song river near

Dehra Dun (about 2.2 km stretch) that

was trained through construction of

93 spurs. The performance of the

structures was found very satisfactory

and other state agencies are also

approaching the Institute for similar

consultancy assignments.

Dr V N Sharda, Director, CSWCRTIe mail: [email protected]

Growth regulator effect on shootmultiplication tuberose

APRIL–JUNE 2008 3

Diversification of Horticulture

VPKAS, Almora. The VPKAS hasinitiated a project under HorticultureTechnology Mission (Mini Mission –I) in Bhagartola (inhibited by 32families having 0.4 ha average land)to improves their livelihood security

by diversifying farming system withvegetables and fruits in sustainablemanner. The emphasis was laid oncrop diversification to enhance farmincome as well as to increasefoodgrains production in the village.The activities include major farmingcomponents comprising, vegetables,fruits, cereal and pulses, protectedcultivation, fisheries and waterharvesting. Development of waterresources by harvesting surface runoffand perennial hill streams in LDPE-lined polytanks and protectedcultivation of off-season vegetablesutilizing harvested water helped intransforming economy of Bhagartola,where 26 low-cost polytanks wereconstructed with partnership offarmers. These tanks provide >12lakh litres water available at 10 daysinterval.

With the available irrigationfacilities, diversification of thetraditional farming incorporating

vegetable crops was possible. Theclimatic peculiarity of the area providesan opportunity for off-seasonvegetables cultivation. This nicheadvantage is being fully exploited bycultivation of tomato, Frenchbean,cauliflower, cabbage, and squash.Cultivation of off-season vegetablesresulted in a net returns of Rs 10,000 to12,000 per year from each polyhouseof 100 m2 size. The next objective ofvegetables cultivation was to enhancetheir productivity as well as qualitywith assured and timely production.Therefore, greenhouses using low- costlocally available structural materialand covered with UV- stabilizedtransparent plastic film wereintroduced. This activity was carriedout on a participatory basis.

The production of vegetablesincreased by >300% with introductionof these greenhouses. Fifty suchgreenhouses of 80 m2 average size havebeen constructed in the village. Theaverage gross income per unit is aroundRs 23,000. The earning of whole villagefrom protected cultivation was Rs 2.10lakh in 2006-07 and Rs 3.84 lakh in2007-08.

Emphasis was also given onplantation of superior cultivars of

The area that could not come undervegetables was covered with improvedvarieties of field crops that led to 35%higher productivity. Livestock is alsoan integral part of hill farming systemand scarcity of fodder in hills is wellknown. To alleviate this problemplanting of hybrid napier grass andother multipurpose trees was done.Fish cultivation is also being taken upin polytanks, which is providing anadditional income of Rs 6,000 perunit.

As a result of the technologicalinterventions by the VPKAS, Almora,the land-use pattern of the villagehas changed and area undervegetables and fruits have increasedby 7% and 3% respectively.Thisdiversification resulted in a significantincrease in farmers' income.

Dr H S Gupta,Director, VPKAS


Crop diversification

The agro-horti system of drumstick+ greengram – fennel has given netreturns of Rs 29,240/ha, whereas,lowest net rerturns of Rs 9,932/ha

was realized from tobacco crop. Theagro-horti system is 2.95 times moreremunerative than planting of tobaccocrop. It also reduces irrigation water

requirement of the region by 70%.


suitable fruit crops (peach, plum,apricot, kiwifruit and citrus) forproviding sustainability to farmincome. Around 6,000 saplings ofthese fruit plants were planted withan average survival of 62%.

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

4 ICAR NEWS


CIPHET, Abohar. Canal commandareas in arid and semi-arid regionsof India are facing acute shortage ofirrigation water due to huge demandof water for other non-agriculturalsectors. Since underground water isbrackish in nature and water supplythrough canal is not regular in theseregions due to one or other reason,water scarcity is becoming a seriousproblem to farmers.

A well-planned service reservoir(pond) is a valuable asset, whichprovides water for agriculturaloperations at minimum cost andconvenience.

Construction of service reservoir(water-storage tank)

The steps involved in theconstruction and lining of the servicereservoir are as follows:

Excavation of earth for pond• Level selected site and remove

grasses and other obstacles sothat demarcation line of the pondcan be drawn easily. Draw linesat the selected site according tothe design and dimensions of theproposed service reservoir.

• Start digging soil vertically frombottom area of service reservoir.Soil digging can be started fromthe centre of the pond. Removethe soil up to the required depth.When the soil from the bottomof service reservoir is removed,place the rope connecting to thecorner of bottom area and outertop corner; give desired slope atone corner of service reservoirby cutting soil. Shape sides ofreservoir with cutting rather thanfilling of soil, which will facilitatestable boundary. According to thealready maintained slope at theprevious point i.e. corner, give aprefect shape to the reservoir by

Service reservoir for microirrigation

cutting soil.• Sharp rock edges or concrete

pieces should be removed,otherwise they may damage orpuncture Agri-films.

Weedicides application• When sides of reservoir are finally

prepared, apply weedicide beforelining of agri-film to suppressgrowth of weeds. Weedicides likeBiodex-C, Grammaxone,Fenoxone etc, can be used by

mixing in water at relativelyhigher concentration (5 ml / litre);compared to specified foragricultural field use.

Laying of agri-film• Since black LDPE film, popularly

known as agri-film is availablein varying length and width, joinit in a way to make it one sheetso as to avoid any possibility ofwater leakage.

• Joining of agri-film should bedone very carefully. Beforejoining, side of the film shouldbe made dust-free. Two layers ofthe film, to be joined, are placedwith a 10-15 cm overlap all alongthe edge, thereafter, a Teflonsheet or 2-3 layers of newspapershould be placed over the film toavoid risk of film sticking toheating unit. Heated electricpress of heavy weight should be

Service reservoir connected with source of water supply of microirrigation system

Agri-film lined service reservoir

APRIL–JUNE 2008 5


moved slowly on the portion,which has been joined and sealdifferent lots so that agri-film canbe one unit.

• When whole agri-film is readyfor laying in pond, make a roll ofthe whole film and put it at thebottom of the reservoir and startspreading (de-rolling) roll in thepond uniformly. Put one end ofthe agri-film buried in the top ofthe reservoir and fix it.

• Remove wrinkles from the middleand film should be collected onthe corner of the pond wherethese wrinkles should be foldedand buried beneath the layer ofbricks.

• Make an outlet well at one sideof the top bed and pump waterfor pond from this outlet forrunning microirrigation system.The outlet is connected throughpipe from bottom of the servicereservoir.

• Cover agri-film with suitablematerial like surkhi lime, bricks orstone to prevent film from anydamage. The brick lining willgive strength and long-life tothe film with less maintenance cost.However, 15-20 cm thicksoil bed on the bottom portionof the reservoir as covering materialfacilitate aquaculture, if reservoiris to be used for fish production.

Maintenance of service reservoir:A periodical inspection is required forbetter life of service reservoir. Itincludes checking any damage andrepairing damages. An immediaterepair is desirable to checkdeterioration and to save furtherdamage. Periodical removal of silt andsediment is necessary for higherstorage capacity of water in the tank.

service reservoir has techno-economic viability in the canalcommand areas for cropdiversification with horticulturalcrops to enhance income of farmerof the areas. In guava, pomegranate,kinnow, strawberry, tomato, pepper,and potato, there was tremendoussaving of water, and increased yield.Saved water can be used forcultivation of additional area.

The canal command area of aridand semi-arid regions can bebenefited by use of microirrigationin conjunction with servicereservoir. Judicious use of storagewater can be efficiently utilized inproduction of fruits and vegetables,which can prove to be a boon forfarmers in these regions.

Drs Satinder Kumar, Rajbir Singh,R R Sharma, P R Bhatnagar and

R K Gupta,AICRP on Application of Plastics in

Agriculturee mail: [email protected]

Drip irrigated potato

Pomegranate fruits with drip irrigation

Drip irrigated kinnow

Tree root management for higher productivity

CSWCRTI Centre, Agra.Pearlmillet-wheat is the predominantcropping system in semi-arid regionof the Indo-Gangetic plains underirrigated conditions. Agri-horti systemhaving a fruit crop tolerant to thesestress conditions opens up anopportunity for the farmer to get moreassured income. Hence, a field studywas carried out to work out suitable

tree root management practices forber (Ziziphus mauritiana) to reducecompetition for moisture and nutrientsand obtaining optimum cropproduction of fields crops, as well as,ber fruit tree. It is feasible to growpearlmillet and wheat with ber. Thesuppression effect of ber tree wasnoticed on wheat and pearlmillet. Treeplanted in bottomless bitumen drum

produced significantly higher grainyield of wheat. The yields of ber,pearlmillet and wheat in bottomlessbitumen drum were found 7.4, 1.73and 3.18 tonnes/ha respectively. Netreturns of Rs 49,880 were recordedfrom ber, pearlmillet and wheat crops.


Feasibility of MIS in conjunctionwith service reservoir : Researchfindings have revealed that use ofmicro-irrigation in conjunction with

6 ICAR NEWS


Vegetative barriers for arable lands

CSWCRTI, Centre, Kota. Fourgrass barriers Vetiveria zizanioides(Khus), Saccharum (Munj), Cenchrusciliaris (Dhaman) and Dichanthiumannulatum (Karad grass) evaluatedfor their conservation value andcompatibility with rainfed sorghumand soybean on 1% slope at Kotaindicated that all grass species werealmost equally effective in reducingrunoff. About 20 to 22% of croppingseason rainfall is lost through surfacerunoff, which can be reduced to 15 to

16%. Similarly, about 1.5 to 2.0 tonne/ha/year soil is lost due to watererosion, which can be reduced toabout 0.9 to 1.1 tonne/ha/year withthe help of grass barriers.

The filtering effect of these barrierspromoted upstream deposition of soiland nutrient and in-situ moistureconservation. On an average, thestatus of organic carbon, N,P and Kwas 31.8, 40, 15.0 and 12.8% higherin upstream vicinity of grasscompared to no barrier plots. The

effect of improved soil moisture andnutrient status was reflected in yieldof crops in upstream vicinity of grassbarriers. About 20 to 23% increase inthe grain yield and 9 to 13% on strawyield of sorghum and soybean wasobserved. C. ciliaris and D. annulatumalso provided about 4-5 q/ha air dryforage.

Dr V N Sharda, Director, CSWCRTIe mail : [email protected]

Effective utilization of waterways

CSWCRTI, Dehra Dun. A large

tract of agricultural lands used as

natural drainage ways is being lost

to cultivation. To find the alternative

uses of these lands for the production

purpose, annual and perennial

vegetation species are being tried.

Among annuals, rice bean, millet in

kharif with Brassica napus, lentil in

rabi and Panicum maximum as

perennial grass have been found

promising, and lemon is also grown

on side slopes. These measures can

yield additional biomass of 10-20 q/

ha. Imposition of these treatments have

resulted in moderation of peak flows.

The treatments were effective in

trapping sediment and resulted in net

deposition of the sediment to the tune

of 15.41 cum and 25.40 cum in

segment II and segment III,

respectively. Water use was

monitored for different species—

evaportranspiration demand of

Panicum maximum was lowest

(145.5 mm), followed by lentil (153

mm) and Brassica napus (160.5 mm).

Dr V N Sharda, Director, CSWCRTI


Balanced nutrients for rainfed sorghum with pigeonpea

CSWCRTI, Centre, Kota. Sorghum

with pigeonpea intercropping is more

productive and remunerative than

other intercropping systems in

south-eastern Rajasthan. In a long

term study (15 years), the impact of

8 fertility treatments evaluated on

yield and soil fertility under this

intercropping system at Kota

indicated that miximum yield of

sorghum (2,231 kg/ha) was obtained

with recommended dose of nitrogen,

phosporus and potassium (NPK) and

farmyard manure @ 5 tonnes/ha/yr as

against 743 kg/ha under control plot,

whereas, pigeonpea recorded 711 kg/

ha yield for recommended dose of

NPK as against 489 kg/ha against

control plot. Pigeonpea only

responded to application of phosporus

in combination with nitrogen and

phosporus.

The organic carbon, available

nitrogen and phosporus underwent

reduction in control plot, whereas,

organic carbon and available N

improved under recommended NPK

with and without farmyard manure

application. And, the status of

available K remained unchanged.

This indicates that balanced use of

NPK not only gives higher yield of

sorghum with pigonpea but also

improves soil fertility status under

rainfed farming.

Dr V N Sharda, Director, CSWCRTI


APRIL–JUNE 2008 7

NEW INITIATIVE

Juvenile fish excluder-cum-shrimp sorting device

CIFT, Cochin. Juvenile fish

excluder-cum-shrimp sorting devicecombines shrimp bycatch reduction

function with conventional shrimpsorting mechanism. It was developed

and field tested under the project'Bycatch Reduction Devices for

Selective Shrimp Trawling'. It isdesigned to exclude non-target

juvenile fishes caught in trawl net.The design concept of this device

was proposed by the research teamthat has won the World Wildlife

Fund's International Smart Gear

Competition for 2004, in the category

of 'Other non-target species-includingfish'. The device is fitted by replacing

conventional cod-end of the trawl withan oval gril with a top opening which,

in turn, leads to an upper cod-endwith large square meshes. Shrimp

passing through grid are retained inthe lower cod-end made up of a square

mesh panel with 20-mm mesh size.Juveniles of shrimp and fish are

allowed to escape through upper andlower cod-end meshes.

The current initiative with the

industry participation by the Central

Institute of Fisheries Technology,College of Fisheries and Cameron

International is expected to bringabout a sea-change in the attitude of

fishermen and facilitate adoption ofconservation technologies in shrimp-

trawling operations, ultimatelyleading to sustainability of resources

and protection of biodiversity inIndian waters.

Dr K Devadasan, Director, CIFTe mail: [email protected]

Perspective view of JFE-SSD

On board demonstration of JFE-SSD at Harnd Pre-sorted shrimp (deck) and non-shrimp catch (basket)

8 ICAR NEWS

PROFILE

Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums

IINRG, Namkum, Ranchi. IndianInstitute of Natural Resins and Gums[formerly known as Indian LacResearch Institute] is a nodal Instituteat the national level for research anddevelopment on all aspects of lac andother natural gums and resins(excluding production), viz.harvesting/ tapping, processing,product development, training,information repository, technologydissemination and national/international co-operation.

The Institute has undergone astructural change and its prioritieshave been redefined, widening thescope and mandate of the Institute.The Institute mandate has beenexpanded in 2007 to look afterimportant issues related to all naturalresins and gums of Indian origin.Accordingly Indian Lac ResearchInstitute has been upgraded andrenamed as the Indian Institute ofNatural Resins and Gums on 20September 2007.

MANDATE

• To plan, conduct and promoteresearches on lac productiontechnologies.

• To conduct basic and appliedresearches on processing natural

resins (including lac), naturalgums and gum resins for farmersand industries.

• To develop value added productsof commercial use from naturalresins, gums and gum-resins,leading to pilot plantdemonstration.

• To act as repository and providerof information on lac productionand processing, productdevelopment, utilization of allnatural resins, gums and gumresins.

• To transfer technologies tofarmers, entrepreneurs andprocessors.

ObjectivesHarnessing science and

engineering by interfacing researchand extension initiatives for enhancedproductivity, quality, processingtechnology, use diversification andhigh value new product developmentfrom lac and other natural gums andresins for sustained growth of theindustry.

Organizational structureIINRG is a unit of the ICAR,

operating under Engineering Division.The Institute directly reports to the

Deputy Director-General (Engg.) andAssistant Director-General (PE) atICAR (headquarters).

Research Divisions and CoreProgrammes

The Institute addresses itsmandate through 3 Divisions. Allresearch projects andextension activities of the Institute arerun under the following nine CoreProgrammes.

1. Lac Production Division(i) Insect Improvement(ii) Host Improvement(iii) Crop Production

2. Processing and ProductDevelopment Division(iv) Synthesis and Product

Development(v) Surface Coating and Use

Diversification(vi) Processing and Storage

3. Transfer of Technology Division(vii)Human Resource Development(viii)Technology Assessment,

Refinement and Dissemination(ix) Liaison, Information and Advisory

Services

Old building of Indian Lac Research Institute New building of Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums

APRIL–JUNE 2008 9

PROFILE

ManpowerThe Institute has scientists from

various disciplines includingEntomology, Agronomy, PlantPathology, Biotechnology, PlantBreeding, Organic Chemistry,Physics, Engineering, andEconomics. The Institute has asanctioned strength of 232, including47 scientific, 60 technical, 36administrative and 89 supporting staff.

Infrastructure• The Institute campus is sprawled

over 49 ha, which includes offices,well equipped laboratories,residential quarters, Instituteresearch farms etc.

• The Institute research farm isspread over 36.5 ha with a goodcollection of lac-host plants. Thefarm has 1,540 trees ofSchleichera oleosa (kusum),2,840 trees of Butea monosperma(palas), 1,351 trees of Ziziphusmauritiana (ber) and 8,695 minorhost trees. The farm is wellequipped with tractors,implements, irrigation facilitiesincluding large rain-water ponds

• The Institute has also a gum andresin farm in about 3.1 acresplanted with different species ofgum yielding plants like Acaciasenegal, A. nilotica, Sterculiaurens, Commiphora weighttii,Boswellia serrata and Anogiessuslatifolia .

• It has a well organized andinformative lac museum.

• The Institute library has more than50,000 volumes of scientificjournals and 2,000 rare booksrelated to lac and allied subjects.

• A Processing and DemonstrationUnit for pilot scale study in forprocessing and productsdevelopment.

Germplasm collectionThe Institute is responsible for the

collection and maintenance of

germplasm of lac insect lines as wellas lac-host trees. The Institute hasbeen declared as the National ActiveGermplasm Site by the NationalBureau of Plant Genetics Resources.At present it holds 97 collections of47 species of lac hosts, includingthose of major lac hosts viz. palas(Butea monosperma), kusum(Schleichera oleosa) and ber(Ziziphus mauritiana). About 60districts of 16 states of the countryhave been surveyed for collection oflac insects. The 64 lines of lac insectswhich include 14 cultivated, 21 naturalpopulations, 22 cross bred/inbred/selected, 1 exotic and 6 uncoded linesare maintained live on potted plantsof bhalia (Flemingia macrophylla) inthe National Lac Insect GermplasmCentre.

LaboratoriesThe Institute houses several

laboratories for carrying out researchwork. Some important and wellequipped laboratories are qualityevaluation, surface coating, syntheticchemistry, biotechnology, environ-mental simulation, high voltage,storage laboratory etc. A number ofmodern and sophisticated laboratoryequipments including DSC, FT-IR,HPLC, HPTLC, etc. are available forresearch on all aspects of lac

production, processing and productdevelopment from natural resins andgums.

ISO 9001 Quality EvaluationLaboratory

The Quality Evaluation Laboratoryrenders services for collection,analysis, testing and reporting of lacand lac-based products, and abideby BIS specifications.

The laboratory is engaged in thequality evaluation of lac and lac-basedproducts for more than 50 years,catering to requests of lac processingindustries including samples meantfor export.

Pilot plantsThe Processing and Demonstration

Unit has a few pilot plants forresearch, refinement, training anddemons-tration on importantproducts. These are used forentrepreneurship development.

Pilot plant for lac dye: A pilotplant for preparation of technical aswell as pure grade lac dye has beendeveloped and installed. The plant canproduce up to 2 kg of technical/crudegrade lac dye from the washings ofabout 400kg of sticklac in a batch.

Pilot plant for aleuritic acid: Thealeuritic acid pilot plant (capacity: 2kg/batch) has been developed andinstalled for research, training anddemonstration to entrepreneurs.

Pilot plant for bleached lac: Apilot plant for bleached lac (capacity:40kg/batch) is installed for research,training and demonstration toentrepreneurs.

Small-scale seed lac processingunit : A small-scale lac processingunit (capacity: 100kg/day) has beendeveloped. The technology of themachines required for establishmentof the unit has been transferred to amanufacturer at Ranchi. Themanufacturer has started productionof machines and since June, 2006

10 ICAR NEWS

PROFILE

has sold 13 units in 7 states and gotorder for 5 more such units.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTSome of the salient research

achievements are:

Lac production• Lac host plant management for

increased lac production and plantpropagation.

• Identification and development ofpromising lac insect lines forimproved productivity and quality.

• Lac pest management techniquesviz. mechanical, cultural,phenological, chemical andbiological approaches.

• Identification of new as also fastgrowing lac hosts, viz. Flemingiasemialata, Albizzia lucida andAcacia auriculaeformis, forintensive lac culture andintegrating it with agriculture.

• Broodlac production technologieson major lac hosts like kusum andpalas, and sticklac productiontechnologies on palas and ber.

• Identification of productivity-linkedbiological parameters of lacinsects, lac host characterization,lac insect-host plant interaction,studies on systematics,geographical distribution andbiodiversity of lac insects.

• Development and fabrication oftools like tree pruner, phunkiplacement and removal hook,lac scraping-cum-gradingmachine to reduce drudgery inlac cultivation.

Processing and development• Development of barrel washing

techniques and identification ofchemical washing aids forobtaining washed lac (seedlac)for improved yield and colour.

• Machine for separating sand fromseedlac,

• Autoclave method for preparationof machine-made shellac,

• Industrial processes forpreparation of bleached lac anddewaxed decolourised lac.

• Preparation of hydrolysed lac andrebuilt lac.

• Evolution of storage parametersfor lac.

lacquers, adhesives, can coatings,FRP and particle boards etc.

• Standardisation of analyticalmethods for testing and qualityevaluation of lac and lac products.

• Development of BIS and ISOspecifications for lac and lacproducts.

Transfer of Technology and HRDThe Institute undertakes a wide

range of activities for promoting lacuse and for transfer of technologiesdeveloped at the Institute. Variousprogrammes include:• In-house (1 week) and on-farm

(1-3 days / flexible) training offarmers on ‘Improved Methods ofLac Cultivation’.

• Certificate courses on ‘ImprovedMethods of Lac Cultivation’ and‘Industrial Uses of Lac’

• Conducting one day ‘OrientationProgramme’ for farmers, students,trainees and others.

• Training international students,sponsored trainees etc.

• Transfer of technical know-how toentrepreneurs on lac-basedproducts and processes.

• Promotion of lac and lac-basedtechnologies through literature,mass media, exhibitions,seminars, symposia, museumvisits etc.

• Consultancy and technicalguidance on all aspects of laccultivation, processing andutilization.

• Technology transfer throughlinkages established withGovernment and Non-Government Organisations.

Technologies available

Lac production• Brood lac production on

conventional hosts• Rangeeni lac production• Kusumi lac production• Lac production on bushy hosts

• Isolation of major constituentacids of lac for improved yields,especially aleuritic acid, which isa major raw material for a numberof industrial applications.

• Enhancing recovery andutilization of byproducts of the lacindustry, viz. lac dye and lac wax.

• Fundamental studies on physico-chemical properties of lac andnatural gums, their constituents,including constitutional aspects,electrical properties,spectroscopic behaviour etc.

• Synthesis of novel, fine chemicalsincluding perfumery components,sex pheromonal compounds,PGR analogues, prostaglandinsynthon, mosquito repellent,nematicides etc. from aleuriticacid, the major constituent acidof lac.

• Formulation of lac-based insu-lating varnishes, primers, paints,

APRIL–JUNE 2008 11

PROFILE

• Lac insect pest and diseasemanagement

Lac-based productsFine chemicals for perfumery

industry• Aleuritic acid: Constituent acid of

lac resin used in differentindustrial applications.

• Isoambrettolide: The compoundused in perfumery industry as afixative.

Varnishes and lacquers• Spiritless heat and water-resistant

wood varnish: It is based onspiritless solvent system andpossesses superior heat andwater resistance.

• Melfolac: A spirit-based heat andwater-resistant wood varnishcomposition.

• Multipurpose shellac-basedglazing varnish: This is forapplication on metal surfaces,leather, rexin and plastics etc. Thecoating is fairly resistant to water.

• Water soluble lac: Useful forcoating earthenware, bambooproducts etc.; to make themhumidity resistant.

• Shellac-based can coatinglacquers: Useful for coating ofcans for packaging of foods.

Food and pharmaceutical industry• Dewaxed decolourized lac: Used

for coating capsules and tablets• Bleached lac: Used widely for

coating of fruits and vegetables• Lac dye: Used as colourant in food

and textile industry.

Electrical industry• Air-drying type insulating varnish:

This is suitable for coating of coilsof electric motors (includingceiling fan), transformers andmanufacturing of laminatedproducts.

• Shellac-based baking type highthermal resistant insulatingvarnish.

Adhesives and binders• Gasket shellac compound: It is

used in automobile industry.• Shellac/gummy mass and

synthetic resin fiberglass jute/

plywood composite.

Service provided• HRD to entrepreneurs on above

mentioned technologies.• On and off-farm training on lac-

cultivation.• Quality evaluation of lac and lac-

based products.• Pilot scale training and

demonstration of lac dye, aleuriticacid, seed lac processing, andbleached lac manufacturing.

• Project profile on lac and lac-based products.

The Institute has consistentlymaintained close collaboration withthe other ICAR institutes, StateAgricultural and General Universities,and national agencies like ShellacExport Promotion Council, IndianCouncil of Forestry Research andEducation, Bureau of IndianStandards, Tribal Co-operativeMarketing Development Federationetc. A number of external projects,funded by agencies, viz. Departmentof Biotechnology, NAIP, NABARD,Jharkhand and Gujarat StateGovernment are operational at theInstitute.

Dr Bangali Baboo, Director, IINRGe mail: bbaboo@@ilri.ernet.in

Coconut climberA device to make coconut harvest easy and create self-employment

KVK, Kanyakumari. The farmersand growers find difficult to harvestthe coconuts in time due to labourscarcity and high harvest cost.Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kanyakumariin Tamil Nadu introduced one Keralaand TNAU model mechanical deviceof coconut climber for the harvest ofnuts. The coconut harvesting deviceis very easy to handle and can beused even on rainy days. The ruralyouths, those who have purchasedthe coconut climbing device have

started their own service forharvesting coconuts on cost basis.

By using the coconut climbingdevice the rural youth are earning Rs4.00/tree and covering 100 to 125trees/day. The beneficiary farmers aresaving Rs 3.00/tree towards theharvest charges.

Dr S Prabhu Kumar

Zonal Coordinator, Zone VIIIe mail: [email protected]

Coconut climbing device: a selfemployment opportunity for rural people

12 ICAR NEWS

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Integrated farming of seaweed and shrimp

CMFRI, Cochin. Integratedfarming of seaweed and shrimptaking Gracilaria verrucosa asseaweed species with Penaeusmonodon was initiatedat experimental level atthe pond of KrishiVigyan Kendra,Narakkal. No whitespot-syndrome viruswas recorded duringthe farming practice for2 years consecutively.

The seaweed wasspongy and found to beaccumulating goodquantity of oxygen inits intercellular spaces.This has prevented todevelop anoxiacondition to the shrimpduring night. There was no waterexchange throughout the cultureperiod. Some quantity of waterwould have entered to the pond byseepage. The whole culture wasdone without any additionalexpenditure except for pondpreparation and purchase of seed.

In the field trial, done atPuduvayappu of Vypeen island,Penaeus monodon was integratedwith seaweed, Enteromorphaintestinalis. The farming was carriedout in water area of less than 0.40ha with low stocking density(15,000 seeds) of P. monodon isfrom December 2007 to March2008, with zero water exchange.E. intestinalis, which appeared after15 days of pond preparation, wasallowed to grow in the pond withthe shrimp. No feed was given tothe shrimp throughout the culture

period. The shrimp grew to a size of43 g within 60 days of culture periodwith a mean length of 20 cm. Further,it grew to 56 g on 75 days of the

culture period. Unusual summershower during March retardedgrowth of the shrimp but the averageweight was 55 g. A total of 150 kgshrimp was harvested from the pond.In this, silicate was 118.67 μ atom/litre, whereas phosphate showed avalue of 3.25 μ atom/litre. Nitratewas zero, nitrite content was 0.47 μatom/litre and ammonia value was14.625μ atom/litre. Excessaccumulation of silicate might bedue to zero water exchange andthese nutrient might not have beendirectly utilized by seaweed. Thistype of shrimp farming wasconducted for 2 years in the samepond. Nitrogen has been importantnutrient for the growth of seaweedin first year but may be a limitingfactor in the second year.

In the integrated farming, theoutput from one subsystem (Shrimp)

becomes an input of the other(seaweed) resulting in a greaterefficiency to create a favourableenvironment. Green algae in

general have goodantibacterial propertiesand highphotosynthetic activity.Thus the nitrogenouswaste released fromshrimp as nitrate, nitriteand ammonia afterbacterial mineralizationcan be utilized for thegrowth of seaweed,making the systemenriched with moreoxygen and lessnutrient load.

If the algae were ableto trap these nutrients,

the total nutrient retention of algaewould increase and the producedalgae could be used for animalfeeds or as a fertilizer. This methodnot only generates a potentiallyvaluable algal biomass in parallelwith aquaculture managementthrough uptake of inorganicnutrients by the algae, it will alsohelp to reduce environmentalimpact of shrimp aquaculture. Thisis a suitable eco-friendly andeconomically feasible method ofshrimp farming. Low and marginalfarmers having less than 0.40 ha offield should be encouraged to adoptsuch farming technology.

Dr Reeta Jayasankar,Principal Scientist

Central Marine FisheriesResearch Institute, Cochin



Easier detection of insects in stored grains

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upper container for grain samples,magnifying glass at the top lid, circularsieves of different sizes and insectcollecting chamber at the bottom. Thedesirable motion provided bymechanical unit is clockwise andanticlockwise semi-circular motion todetecting boxes. The peculiar andeccentric motion is agitate grainsamples. This particular motionseemingly frightens hidden insectsthat are then trapped in insectcollecting box. If there is any deadinsect present in the sample, this willalso sieve-out and be collected ininsect collecting box.

The device is tested for storedchickpea grains and detects adults ofCallosobruchus sp. However,immature and internal feeders could

CIPHET, Ludhiana. A mechanicaldevice for detection of insects instored grains has been developed andpatented by the Central Institute ofPost-Harvest Engineering andTechnology. The device detectsinstantly, and gives a fairquantification of insect infestation instored food grains. The devicefacilitates detection of presence orabsence of live or dead insects instored grains and it also allows tovisualize egg infestation in grainssample.

The mechanical device consists oftwo separate units, a set of insect-detecting boxes and a mechanicalsystem to provide desirable motionto the set of insect-detecting boxes.The insect detecting boxes have

not be detected. Further it was testedfor greengram, blackgram, rice andwheat to detect insect pest likeSitophilis oryzae, Rhizoperthadominica and Tribolium castaneun.The device also detects insects inflours by changing disk sieve size.

Grain stored for consumption, seedand trade purpose need regularmonitoring for the type and level ofinfestation to prevent damage.Detection and removal of internalinsects from grain kernels areimportant control measures for longerand safe storage, better seed qualityand food safety.

Dr R T Patil, Director, CIPHET,e mail: [email protected]

Dhanauri Maize Sheller developedGBPUA and T, Dhanauri.

Dhanauri maize sheller, a handoperated simple device to separatemaize kernels from dehusked cobs,was developed at the GovindBallabh Pant University ofAgriculture and Technology,Research and Extension Centre,Dhanauri, Haridwar.

This helps in reducing drudgeryof farm-women involved in maizeshelling operation by hand peeling.The machine has followingspecification:

(a) Overall dimension : 350 mm

x 175 mm x 150 mm, 45 mmdiameter of the pipe;

(b) Capacity: 20-25 kg of cob/hr;

(c) Power required: Hand-operated and its function is to shellkernels from maize cobs.

The salient features include easyto operate by hand, no grainbreakage, portable in structure, andcan be mounted on any table orbench easily. It is especially suitablefor seed purposes and dehuskedmaize cobs are to be used. Theefficiency of the unit is 100%. Thecost of the unit is Rs 200.

Er Minati MohapatraAssistant Professor


NRCWA, Bhubaneshwar. Mini-hatchery for production and rearingof carp seed has been installed atNRC on Women in Agriculture.

The features of this model makeits very convenient for handing by

women for small-scale backyardoperations as a family activity.The structure consists of threeseparate tanks for breeding,hatchery and collection of egg. Thelight-weight hatchery can be

dismantled, reassembled and easilytransported.

Dr Krishna SrinathDirector, NRCWA

e mail: dirnrcwa.org

Mini-carp hatchery installed

14 ICAR NEWS

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Government of Madhya Pradesh.The Jawaharlal Nehru KrishiVishwavidyalaya in MadhyaPradesh has developed varieties ofsoybean, wheat, chickpea, rice,groundnut, ragi, and kodo millet.

JS 97-52 Soybean

JS 97-52 soybean is widelyadaptable, high-yielding andmultiple resistant variety which hassecured top rank and is foundsuitable for 2 zones north-easternand central, providing at least 10%more yield than leading variety JS335 soybean. Its yielding potentialis 25-30 q/ha and it possessesexcellent germinability, fieldemergence and longevity duringstorage. Its maturity period is 98-102 days, categorized as mediumduration; plants are of mediumheight (58-60 cm.); and seeds ofmedium size (9-10g/100 seed).

The flower is white and hilumcolour of seed dark black. The podsand stem are pubscent with tawncolour and at maturity pods showlight straw colour. It has been foundresistant to Yellow Mosaic Virus,Root-rot, Bacterial pustules,Charcoal rot, Cercospora leaf spotand Target leaf spot and rated asresistant high-yielding on the basisof reaction to disease complex. Ithas been rated as resistant high-yielding against insect pests on thebasis of tolerance shown againststem-fly, girdle beetle anddefoliators. It is also tolerant toexcessive moisture stressconditions. It contains balancedamount of protein (40%) and oil

Varietal releases in Madhya Pradesh

(20%). This variety has beenidentified for north-eastern zone.

JW 3173 Wheat

Being a semi-dwarf JW 3173wheat has good yield potential (23-25 g/ha) and limited irrigation (37-40q/ha). It has lustrous and boldgrain, non-lodging plant- and non-shattering habit, resistant to droughtand rust, with good chapatti makingcoupled with other nutritionalattributes. It is new non-lodgingsemi-dwarf wheat variety for rainfedand limited irrigation areas ofMadhya Pradesh.

JG 14 Chickpea

JG 14 chickpea is an early, wilt-resistant, high-yielding variety underlate sown condition having bettermilling quality.

It is development from multiplecross [(GW 5/7 × P327) × ICCL83149]. Its plant is semi-erect havingattractive pods. Seeds are brown,angular, medium-bold (21g/100seed). It matures in 100-105 daysand gives an average yield of 18-19/ha under rate sown condition. It isbetter in milling due to its high dalrecovery rate. It is resistant toFusarium wilt, moderately resistantto dry root-rot and shows lessincidence of pod-borer. It has wideradoptability, and responded well torecommended agronomicmanagement practices.

JG 6 Chickpea

JG 6 chickpea has been developedfrom a double cross (ICCV 10 × K850) × (H 208 × RS 11) by bulk-

pedigree method as ICC × 33775.The variety has been tested underdrought condition in central andsouth zones of the country where,it has shown superiority in seedyield. It has given distinctly higheryield of 17, 20 and 56% overchecks, C 235, H 208 and RSG143-1in central zone and 5.91,22.76 and 84.94% over checks, JG11, ICCV 10 and C 235 in southzone, respectively. It poseses darkbrown large seeds of 24.9 g/100seeds with angular shape andsmooth surface. It matures in 113days with average seed yieldpotential of 2,000-2,100 kg/ha. Itis resistant to Fusarium wilt,moderately resistant to dry root rotand tolerant to Helicoverpa.

The variety bears semi-spreadingand semi-dwarf pubescent plantswith profuse branching; lowanthocyanin and pink flower. Thevariety is resistant to lodging andshattering. It responds well to20:60:20:20 kg NPKS/ha and itsseed rate is 90 kg/ha for a row-to-row spacing of 30 cm × 10 cm. Itposseses good nodulation statuswith native Rhizobia. It is highlyacceptable to farmers, consumersand traders due to its large darkbrown smooth seeds and betternutritional quality. It is suitable fortimely sown rainfed conditions ofMadhya Pradesh as well as centraland south India.

JRH 8 hybrid Rice

JRH 18 hybrid rice has beentested in AICRP trial and foundpromising under different situations.


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Its grains are long slender withintermediate amylase content.Grain quality is comparable withquality rice variety Pusa Basmatiand it matures early (105 days). Itis tolerant to stress. This is resistantto lodging and is responsive tofertilizer.

This is hybrid can be best suitedto the area where farmer aregrowing Kranti rice or IR 64 riceunder irrigated situations, and willbe helpful to enhance productivityin irrigated areas.

JGN 23 Groundnut

In Madhya Pradesh groundnut isgrown in around 0.2 million ha withaverage productivity of 1,000 kg/ha, and 90% of the area is underrainfed condition. Presentlyreleased variety JGN 23 is 15-19%higher yielder than existing varieties

coupled with bigger pod size (1.8-2.6 cm), and its pods are well filled,2 kernels in each pod. Kernels arecylindrical in shape with tan colourtesta. The average yield is 16 q drypod/ha and 11 q/ha kernel yield. Thisvariety is tolerant to groundnutdiseases.

Kutki 36 Ragi

Newly released Kutki variety(Kutki 36) has plant height of 91.7cm, matures in 76 days, 1,000 grainweight 2.1 g and tolerant to grainsmut and shoot fly.

This variety is suitable under soleas well as in intercropping andaverage yield is 10.13 q/ha. It has55.10% and 39.2% more yield overcheck varieties CO 2 and, OLM203, respectively. In farmers' fieldit gave 105.3 and 115.7% moreyield than the local variety.

Jawahar Kodo 106

The variety JK 106 (JawaharKodo 106) is the product ofselection from local variety andhaving average grain yield19.47q/ha.

This variety is suitable forMadhya Pradesh particularly tribalareas where kodo millet is undercultivation. It has 5.6 cm height,matures in 100 days, 1,000 grainweight 5.56 g, and resistant tolead smut and shoot fly. It hasbeen grown under farmers' fieldas a sole crop and in intercroppingand gave 43.5% and 45.2% moreyield than the check varietyrespectively.

Dr H B S Bhadoria

Dy. Secretary, Governmentof Madhya Pradesh

Yeast with biocontrol potentialRAU, Jobner. KEY-1 yeast, a strain

of Sporidiobolus pararoseus Fell &Tallman, has been discovered withgreat biocontrol potential againstpost-harvest rots of fruits andvegetables at the SKN College ofAgriculture, Rajasthan AgricultureUniversity.

Kinnow–a hybrid mandarin (Citrusnobilis Lour. × Citrus deliciosa Tan.)crop faces recurrent post- harvestlosses due to various fungalpathogens. Hence a novel yeast strainof Sporidiobolus pararoseus wasisolated from a kinnow fruit showingvariable efficacy in vitro againstPenicillium italicum (blue mould rot),Penicillium digitatum (green mouldrot), Botrydiplodia theobromae (stem-end rot), Geotrichum candidum (sourrot), and Alternaria alternata (core

not) and the same was whenevaluated for rot reduction, both bypre- and post-inoculation treatmentsexhibited efficacy in vivo as well. Ingeneral, the pre-inoculation treatmentproved more effective, perhaps byout-competing post-inoculated (post-harvest) pathogen(s) for space andnutrients.

The present yeast strain has beendesignated as KEY-1 strain ofSporidiobolus pararoseus with MTCCnumber assigned 8337 and culturepreserved in the microbial type culturecollection and gene bank of Instituteof Microbial Technology, Chandigarh.

This yeast species is also knownto produce killer toxins and itspresence on fruit surface of kinnow isnew and interesting. Its antagonisticpotential against post-harvest fungal

pathogens as well as rots incited bythem, thus, seems to be a new recordfrom Rajasthan, India. The biocontrolof various rots of kinnow fruits by thisyeast strain, may have the commercialimportance too, possibly after a largescale testing with convenientformulations. Two biocontrol products,Aspire (Ecogen, Langhore, PA), whichcontains the yeast Candida oleophilastrain I-182 and Bio-Save 110(EcoScience, Woreester, MA; formerlyBio-Save 11), which contains asaprophytic strain of the bacteriumPseudomonas syringae are currentlyregistered for post-harvest applicationto fruit.

Dr Rajendra Prasad MahrishiHead, SKN College of Agriculture,


16 ICAR NEWS

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CHM 7 : An early-maturing mango clone

CHES, IIHR,Bhubaneshwar. TheCHM 7 mango clonehas been identified atthe CentralH o r t i c u l t u r a lExperiment Station,IIHR, for extremelyearly fruit maturity, andfreedom from fruit flyunder coastal Orissa. Inthis clone, floweringstarts during mid-November and fruitsetting completes bythe end of December.Fruit growth takes placeduring December–January and requires lesser HeatUnit Submission (1500-1600

Growing degree days) for fruitmaturity. Fruit ripening in CHM 7mango clone starts by 20 Marchand completes by 20 April with ayield of 70-110 kg fruits/plant froma grown up plant of 8-9 years. The

have been supplied togrowers inJagatsinghpur, Cuttack,Dhenkanal, Puri,Nayagarh, Khurda,Jajpur, Balesore,Bhadrak andKendrapara districts ofOrissa and ResearchFarms of ICAR Institutesand progeny orchardsof Directorate ofHorticulture, Governmentof Orissa. With amodest estimate of 70kg fruit yield per tree,100 trees/ha plantpopulation and selling

price of Rs 25/kg, CHM 7 mangohas a potential of giving gross

fruits are attractive in appearanceand better in quality. Owing to itsextremely early ripening nature, ithas been observed to be free fromfruit fly incidence continuously for 4years (2005-08) underBhubaneshwar conditions.

The striking characteristics of CHM7 mango include fruit maturity,extremely early maturity (20 of March);yield potential, 70-110 kg fruits/plant;fruit colour, attractive yellow with redblush on shoulders; fruit size, 80-100mm long, 60-75 mm wide and 55-65mm thick; fruit weight, 200-250 g;pulp content, 50-25%; peel content,22-24%; seed content, 22-24%; andTSS, 18o to 22o Brix.

So far 3,000 plants of this clone

News from CSWCRTICSWCRTI, Dehra Dun. The project

"More crop and income per drop ofwater" under Farmers ParticipatoryAction Research Programmes fundedby Ministry of Water Resources, NewDelhi has been initiated at Dehra Dun

and its 8 Research Centres.A short course on "Watershed

Planning" under NWDPRA sponsoredby Divisional Soil ConservationOfficer, Hoshiarpur (Punjab) wasconducted at this Institute between

21 and 26 April 2008 in which,20 participants attended the course.

Dr V N Sharda, DirectorCSWCRTI


returns of Rs 175,000/ha undercoastal Orissa conditions.

Drs V Pandey, Vishal Nath,Dinesh Kumar, H S Singh and

Sudhamoy Mandale mail: [email protected]


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UPGMA tree based on Jaccard's Coefficient revealing clustering inmango accessions based on RAPD and ISSR data.

Genetic characterization of mango germplasm

CISH, Lucknow. Characterizationbased on agronomic traitsevaluation needs complementationwith molecular markers as they cancontribute better to the utilizationof genetic diversity throughdescriptive information of structureof genotypes, analyses ofrelatedness, the study of identityand location of diversity.Characterization of mango cultivarsand breeding lines maintained infield gene bank belong to easternand northern parts of India which

have been traditionally importantcentres for diversity and cultivardevelpment. Characterization data incombination with evaluation dataprovide most representative coresubset collection besides offeringadvantage of using marker aidedselection and distant hybridization.

The mango cultivars (46) werescreened using RAPD and ISSRmarkers. The 9 decameroligonucleotides and 11 dimplesequence repeats yielded 110 and160 discrete fragments respectively.

RAPD primers yielded 14monomorphic bands and 96displayed polymorphism. Per centpolymorphism generated by theseprimers was 87.3%. OPA 19, OPA20 and OPC 6 were highlypolymorphic primers.

Overall polymorphism detectedby ISSR amplification was 79.38%,14.5 band per primer. ISSR-5yielded 14 polymorphic bands and7 monomorphic band. UPGMA treeconstructed on RAPD data on thebasis of Jaccard's coefficientclustered accessions into 3 groups,one comprising majority of northIndian varieties and other havingeastern Indian and third clustercomprising accessions from bothregions. UPGMA clustering of ISSRdata alone could not arrangecultivars as per geographicseparation.

Cumulatively band data fromthese two methods preciselyarranged accessions from two eco-geographical regions in such a waythat inter-cultivar affinities werecongruent with our understandingof the group. Since geographicdistance between east India andIndia genotypes is very less, it islogical to have overlapping, ascultivar pool from these two regionsis considerably homogenous, it hasarrived at close pair-wise similarityvalues.

Drs Anju Bajpai, R Chandra andS Rajan

Scientists, Central Institute forSub-tropical Horticulture, Lucknow


18 ICAR NEWS

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Enhancing production of medicinal mushroom Shiitake

Chambagha t ,NRC onMushroom. Ani m p r o v e dtechnology forproduction ofShiitake (Lenticulaedodes) mushroom,was developedusing superiorstrains and sawdust(mixed sawdust from saw mill insteadof timber logs) which gives consistentlyhigher yields (65-76% BE againstcurrent level of 20-30% BE) withassured profit to the growers.

In this technology, termed assynthetic logs, mixed sawsustavailable in plenty and cheap from thesaw mills is used. Sawdust-basedsubstrate supplemented with wheatbran (20-25%), gypsum (2-3%),calcium superphosphate (0.5-1%),sugar (1.5-2%) was developed andused for production of spawn andsubstrate for cultivation. The sawdust-based spawn proved advantageousover cereal grain spawn as it reducedthe spawn run period from usually 4-5months to about 3 months and broughtdown the cost of spawn productionsubstantially. The supplementedsubstrate is pre-wetted for 18 hr andsterilized at 22 p.s.i. at 126oC in anautoclave in polypro-pylene bagsfitted with non-absorbent cotton in theplastic necks. For spawn productionhalf kg substrate and for cultivation 2kg (wet weight) substrate was foundthe most suitable. The fresh growing

mycelial culture is inoculated insterilized substrate on clean-air station(laminar flow) and incubated at 22o-27oC in incubation chambers incomplete darkness for 2-3 weeks. Thesubstrate for growing is then inoculatedby thorough spawning and taken toincubation chambers maintained at 22o-27oC for 3 months. During this periodfour different stages are observed.

Stage 1. Mycelium growth stage:During this period whitish shiitakemycelium begin to grow on thesubstrate, till colonization is complete,which takes 2-4 weeks after spawningdepending upon the strain used.

Stage 2. Mycelial coat formation:towards the later stage of spawn run, athick mycelium coat forms on the outersurface of the colonized substrate.

Stage 3. Popcorn stage: Themycelium coat begins to aggregate aspopcorn-like bumps after about 2months of spawning.

Stage 4. Browning of mycelium: Thewhitish mycelium starts becomingbrown between 2.5 and 3 months. Thetiming of bag opening is crucial; theyield is adversely affected if bags are

removed too earlyor too late.

After spawn runis complete, thep o l y p r o p y l e n ecover is removedand kept inenvironmental lycontrolled growingrooms. Thesubstrate blocks aresprayed with water

twice a day at 25oC for 18-20 days.Now the mycelium recedes and darkbrown bark is formed resemblingcolour of wood. At this physiologicalmaturity stage, each substrate block issubjected to chilling treatment withice cold water for 15-20 minutes andthe growing room temperatures arereduced from 25oC to 15o–18oC toinduce pinhead (primordia) formation.During this period, a delicate balanceof physical growth parameters iscrucial for pinhead formation growthand maturity: RH 60-95%, CO

2 <1000

ppm with fresh air exchange for 4-8hr/day and exposure to light 500-2500Lux. The maintenance of aboveparameters reduces need andexpenditure on repeated chillingtreatments after each flush, regularnormal fruiting is achieved and thecrop is harvested for two-and-a-halfmonths. The technology gives 650-750g/kg mushrooms dry weight of thesubstrate.

Drs S K Singh, M C Yadav, R D Raiand R P Tewari

e mail : [email protected]

Mycelia growth stage of mushroom Popcorn stage of mushroom Browning of mycelium of mushroom

Shiitake hybrid grown at NRC on mushroomBark formation stage of mushroom


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PCR-based Molecular Diagnosis of Transgenic Planting MaterialNBPGR, New Delhi. The global area

under commercial cultivation ofgenetically modified (GM) crops isincreasing rapidly. In India too, therehas been dramatic increase incommercial cultivation of Bt cotton.There is an urgent need for upgradingthe analytical methods for GMdetection, to check the authorized GMcrops being cultivated and to solve thelegal disputes as well as to meet thelabelling and international traderequirements. DNA-baseddetection strategies are basedon polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and hybridization. Thevarious PCR strategies currentlyused for GM detection areQualitative PCR, MultiplexPCR, Quantitative CompetitivePCR (QCPCR) and Real TimePCR (RT-PCR), whereasSouthern Hybridization andDNA Chip Technology are usedas hybridization baseddetection techniques.

targeting junction between theadjacent elements of the construct,e.g. a region spanning the promoterand the gene of interest; and

(iv) Event specific methods, the mostspecific, targeting the junctionbetween the host genome and theinserted DNA.

The National Bureau of Plant GeneticResources (NBPGR) has been designatedas a ‘Referral Centre for Molecular

transgenic lines are also regularly testedfor the specific transgenes/ promoters/marker genes using PCR-baseddetection methods. These includeCaMV 35S promoter, nos terminator,marker genes and endogenous genesin different transgenic crops such as Btcotton (MON 531 with crylAc gene,MON 15985 with crylAc and cry2Abgenes, Widestrike with cry1F),Roundup Ready cotton (MON 1445

with CP4epsps gene) andRoundup Ready Flex cotton(MON 88913 with CP4 epsps);Bt brinjal, Bt cauliflower, Bt riceand Bt okra with crylAc gene;transgenic tomato with osmotingene; transgenic mustard withbarnase and barstar genes.

PCR-based diagnostic kitshave been developed atNBPGR for the five GM crops,as shown in the table.

The diagnostic kits arereliable, sensitive and efficient,as more than one target

Corresponding to the differentlevels of specificity, the PCR-basedGM detection techniques can becategorized as:

(i) Screening methods, targetingthe control elements present inGMOs e.g. CaMV 35S promoter, nosterminator;

(ii) Gene specific methods,targeting the gene of interest;

(iii) Construct specific methods,

Diagnosis of Transgenic PlantingMaterial’ by Department ofBiotechnology, Government of India.Thus, all the seeds of importedtransgenic materials received at NBPGRare tested to ensure the absence ofterminator technology (embryogenesisdeactivator gene) using PCR analysiswith the primers for cre-lox system.Plasmid cloned with cre sequence isused as positive control. The imported

sequence can be detected in a singleassay. The sensitivity of the kits is upto 0.1 %. These kits were releasedby Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Ministerfor Science and Technology and EarthSciences at Press Information Bureau,Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi on 7April 2008.

Dr Gurinder Jit Randhawa, NRC on DNAFingerprinting, NBPGR, New Delhi

Email : [email protected]

PCR-based Crop Transgene/promoter/ TraitDiagnostic Kit endogenous gene

Cot-boll I Cryplex Cotton Bollgard I crylAc/CaMV 35S/Sad 1 Insect resistance

(MON 531event)

Cot-boll II Cryplex Cotton Bollgard II crylAc & cry2Ab/CaMV Insect resistance

(MON 15985 event) 35 S/ Sad 1

Brinjal Cryplex Bt brinjal crylAc/CaMV 35 S Insect resistance

Cauli Cryplex Bt cauliflower crylAc/CaMV 35 S/ SRK 1 Insect resistance

Mustard Starplex Mustard barnase & barstar/CaMV 35S/ HMG Cytoplasmic male sterlity

Tomato Osmoplex Tomato osmotin/CaMV 35 S/ LA T 52 Salinity and drought

tolerance

20 ICAR NEWS

MPKV, Rahuri. Five new varietiesof agronomic and horticultural cropsalong with twenty eightrecommendations of MPKV, Rahuriwere released during the JointAgricultural Research andDevelopment Committee Meeting-2008 of State AgriculturalUniversities of Maharashtra atCollege of Agriculture, Nagpur.

Sorghum : Phule Anuradha (RSV458) is recommended for cultivationduring rabi exclusively on shallow soilsof Maharashtra. It has given on anaverage 1,034 kg/ha grain yield and2,846 kg/ha fodder yield, which is 35.7and 23.3% higher than the checkSelection 3. In addition, it has higherear excertion, better physiological traitsassociated with drought.

kg/ha), which is 21.6% higher thanthe check MSFH-17 (1,476 kg/ha). Thishas synchronized flowering of maleand female parents. It has big headsize (16.98 cm) with 34.5% seedcontent oil. It is tolerant to budnecrosis, Alternaria, pests likecapitullum borer.

Cotton : Phule 688 (RHC 0688), avariety of Gossyplum hirsutum cottonis recommended for summer irrigatedconditions of western Maharashtra.

It is high yielding (1,791 kg/ha)which is 22% higher than nationalcheck LRA 5166 (1,469 kg/ha). It hashigh ginning out turn (37.3%), betterfibre strength (22.1 g/tex), as per therequirement of modern textile mills.

Further, it is tolerant to sucking pestsand being early maturing (160 days),

and is suitable for crop rotations likecotton-wheat/gram-sugarcane inirrigated tracts of westernMaharashtra.

Acid lime : Phule Sharbati isrecommended for cultivation inwestern Maharashtra. It has recordedbetter plant growth, better fruitquality (52% juice content) andhigher yield (52.19% tonne/ha)particularly higher yield (25.42%)during summer (11.28% higher overcv. Sai Sharbati) and lower disease,pest reaction especially to citruscanker (9.09 PDI) and tristeza (0.90flecks/leaf).

Sweet Orange: Phule Mosambi isrecommended for cultivation inwestern Maharashtra. It has recordedvigorous plant growth, high yield

New varieties of

cereals, oilseeds and horticultural crops

Niger : Phule Karala (IGPN 2004-1) is recommended for its cultivationduring kharif in WesternMaharashtra. It has given 24.28%higher yield (485 kg/ha) than thecheck IGP-76 (391 kg/ha). It has boldshining black seeds; early maturingwith high oil content (39.00%). Aswell as it is resistant to leaf spot.

Sunflower : The hybrid Phuleraviraj (KSFH-437) is recommendedfor release in kharif in westernMaharashtra. It high yielding (1,795

potential (72.95 kg/plant) coupledwith thinner rind (0.33 cm),medium-sized higher number offruits (303/tree), better fruit quality(47.37% juice with 9.66 Brix TSSand 62.31 mg/100 g ascorbic acidcontent) and less pest and diseasereaction (e.g. 2.42% greening and2.07% tristeza).

Dr Kiran KokateDirector

Extension Education, MPKV, RahuriE mail: [email protected]

RSV 458 sorghum crop

RHC 0688 cotton crop

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Pest control in Frenchbean

IARI Regional Station, Katrain,Kullu. Farmers of Kullu area arefacing problem in Frenchbeancultivation as April-sownFrenchbean does notgerminate owing to lowtemperature and diseases,and resulted in rotting ofseeds. Research, therefore,was undertaken to find outthe possible cause ofinterference in thegermination of this crop.

April-sown Frenchbeanseeds, which did notgerminate and had startedrotting, were collected fromthe field. They were found infestedby the maggots. The InternationalInstitute of Entomology, Londonconfirmed these as Delia platuraMeig pest. Further, pesticides wereevaluated to determine the role ofthis insect and diseases in thegermination of bean seeds. Thus,

identity of French bean seed maggot,D. platura as a pest of April-sownFrench bean crop was confirmed as it

responded to the application ofinsecticides. Unlike insecticides,however, the antibiotics did notsuppress the rotting of seeds. Amonggranular formulations, application ofcarbofuran-3G @ 5 g/m row waseffecitve. Soaking of Frenchbean seedsin chlorpyriphos (1.0%) for 4 hr before

sowing was found effective in themanagement of this maggot. Thoughcarbofuran granules could be used

against this maggot in theFrench bean seed production,it could not be recommendedin the production of itsvegetable crop due to theproblem of residues in theproduce. Thus, for theinsecticide-free production ofvegetable French bean in thesummer, the method of soakingof seeds for 4 hr inchlorpyriphos (1.0%) beforesowing was recommended.The April- sown crop,

therefore, was advanced for 1 monthand did not need application of anyother pesticide as compared to thelate season crops.

Dr R N BarwalPr. Scientist (Agric. Ento.)


Bioremediation of wastewater

CSSRI, Karnal. In recent years,due to scarcity of good quality water,the use of wastewater in agriculturehas increased manifold. Thewastewater, particularly fromindustries contains high concentrationof heavy metals, which enter intohuman beings and animals throughfood chain. Therefore, it is desirableto remove these heavy metals fromwastewater through low costtechnology before its use inagriculture. Many microbes act asadsorbent to remove heavy metalsfrom wastewater through low costtechnology before its use inagriculture. Many microbes act asadsorbent to remove heavy metals

from waste water. The ability toremove heavy metals fromwastewater varies greatly amongmicrobes. The microbes efficient inremoving heavy metals need to beexploited. In laboratory, 93 bacterialand 81 fungal isolates tolerant toheavy metals (25 ppm of Pb, Cd, Crand Ni) were isolated from sewageand sludge samples collected fromKarnal, Panipat and Sonepat districts.There efficient organic matterdecomposing fungi namelyAspergillus awamorii,Phanaerochaete chrysosporium andTrichoderma viride were procuredfrom Division of Microbiology. IARI,New Delhi. Out of bacterial isolates,

14 were tolerant to Cd, 8 to Cr. 44 toPb, and 29 to Ni and from fungaltolerant to Cd, 8 to Cr. 44 to Pb, and29 to Ni and from fungal isolates, 9each were tolerant to Cd and Cr, 34to Pb and 29 to Ni. Majority ofmicroorganisms were able to tolerateheavy metails up to 400 ppm.

In laboratory removal of lead fromliquid medium containing 50, 100 and400 ppm of lead was studied usingfour fungal isolates (F2, F3, F7, F8)and three fungal cultures (A awamorii,T. viride and P. chrysosporium). Themetal uptake from liquid mediumdepended on concentration of lead inthe medium. There was less uptakeof lead by fungi at lower concentration

SPECTRUM

22 ICAR NEWS

IINRG, Ranchi. Lamp cappingcement (LCC) is used in bulbindustry to adhere the lamp base tothe lamp glass. It is used in GeneralLighting System (GLS i.e. bulb), TubeLight (TL), and Compact FluorescentLamp (CFL). A ring of the cappingcement is mounted on the inside ofthe cap shell, in the vicinity of itsrim. Its consumption is huge as lightis required everywhere. Accordingto Indian Electrical and ElectronicsManufacturers Association (IEEMA),around 1150 Million bulbs and tubelights are produced in India annuallyby organized, unorganized and smallsectors. Approximately 1.5 - 4.0g ofthe capping cement is used in eachGLS, TL and CEL. Total cappingcement required for GLS, TL and CFLis around 2225 tonne/year. Thecapping cement is manufacturedusing 4-5 ingredients i.e. shellac,synthetic resin, rosin, marblepowder, pigment and thinner (mostlyalchol). Shellac is the mainconstituent of the capping cement(about 60% of the total cost). Morethan 150 tonne of shellac is

• Lack of required flow i.e., noproper application around the cap.

• Fails torsion test i.e. looseadhesion.

• Drying of paste before application.

• These also result in cracking ofcapping cement resulting in fusingof lamps early i.e. reducing life.

The problems were thoroughlyanalyzed and short studies werecarried out at the institute. It wasdetected that polymerized/degradedlac was the major cause of theseproblems.

These problems were ratified byusing fresh and good quality ofshellac, without any adulteration,meeting IS:16(Part II)-1991specifications. It was found by theindustry that the problems werealleviated as the capping cement,thus modified, passed all the standardspecifications and tests. The institutewas well appreciated by the industry.

Drs M F Ansari, B Baboo and S K PandeyIndian Institute of Natural Resins

and Gumsemail: [email protected]

Capping cement used in electrical lamp industry

consumed annually by this industryitself in the capping cement.

A request was received from aleading firm, engaged inmanufacturing the capping cement,for help in solving the leading firm,engaged in manufacturing the cappingcement, for help in solving theproblems faced by the firm. The firmsupplies the LCC to most of the bulbmanufacturing factories. They alsoexport LCC to Bangladesh and Iran.

Two scientists from the institutevisited the firm to understand theproblems thoroughly faced by the firmin manufacturing LCC. The problemswere recorded as discussed here.

of lead in the medium. Maximumuptake of lead by different fungi wasobserved at 400 ppm concentrationof lead and was in the range of 12.76to 113.08 mg/g dry weight of fungus.The maximum uptake of lead at 400ppm concentration was by isolate F3followed by T. viride Growth of fungiat 100 ppm lead in potato dextrosebroth. The dried biomass (500mg) ofTrichoderma viride and fungal isolateF2 removed 89.8 and 68.6 percent oflead from water cotaining 100 ppm oflead at pH 5.0 after 6 hours of contact.

Similarly, in another adsorptionstudy, fungi. A. awamorrii and A. flavusremoved 25.1 and 44.4% of Cd fromwater containing 100 ppm of Cd at

500 mg does of fungal biomass.Encouraging results were abtained

for removal of heavy metal by someof the bacterial isolates from liquidmedia containing 50 ppm of heavymetal i.e. 2.4 mg/g of Cd of isolateBCd-4, 1.9 mg/g of BCd-10, 28.8 mg/g of Pb by BPb-14, 5.4 mg/g of Ni ofisolate BNi-16 and 2.1 mg/g of Cr byBCr-23. Some of the bacterial isolates(BS-15 and BS-26) and fungalisolates (FCr-08, FCd-09, FNi-27, FS-21, FS-22, FS-23, FS-26) and fungi(T, viride, A. awamorii, P.chrysosporium and A. nidulans) werefound tolerant to liquid containing 12.5ppm each of Pb, Cd, Ni and Cr.

Growth of efficient bacterial and

fungal isolates/culture ofbioremediation of heavy metals isdepicted in Figures C and D. Theabove results indicate potential ofsome of the fungal isolates/cultureand bacterial isolates for removal ofheavy metals like Pb, Cd, Ni and Crfrom liquids through adsorption.These can be used for removal oflead from wastewater at low cost andin eco-friendly way. Further workregarding bioremediation of industrialwastewater for heavy metals usingthese micro-orgnisms is in progress.

Drs P K Joshi, Raman Kumar andSonu Maheshwari, CSSRI, Karnal


SPECTRUM

Tomato farming in Farmers’ Field School

IIHR, Bangalore. The tomato-growers (15), from Agrahara, who hadat least 5 years experience in tomatofarming were involved in Farmers'Field School. An IPM team consistingof expert scientists from divisions ofplant pathology, entomology,vegetable crops, soil science andagricultural extension activelyparticipated in this programme.Weekly classes were conducted inthe field itself. The study focused on

the impact of IPM in terms ofreduction in pest and disease levels,on usage of chemicals and reductionin cost of cultivation compared tofarmers' practice. The impact analysisstudy indicated that there wassignificant reduction in use ofchemicals. Data on pests anddiseases were recorded by farmersthemselves. Farmers became awarethat by following IPM practices, themarketable yield can be increased.

The frequency of insecticides camedown to 2.5 in IPM compared to 8.5and fungicides to 3 from 4.5 underthe training of IPM in farmersperspective. There was 23.3%increase (from 41.6 to 51.3 tonnes/ha) in marketable yield of tomatofollowing IPM.

Dr G S R Murti, Director, IIHRemail: [email protected]

Quantitative techniques for Agricultural Policy Analysis

New Delhi, 13 June 2008. NCAPorganized a programme on'Quantiative Techniques forAgricultural Policy Analysis'. It wasintended to strengthen the analyticalskills of agricultural economists inagricultural policy analysis especiallythose working in National AgriculturalResearch System. About 30participants from different institutes/

universities of National AgriculturalResearch System participated in thisprogramme. The major emphasis inthis programme was given on the useof multi-market and simulation ofdynamic models to assess the roleand impact of different policyinterventinos at different levels of theeconomy. Experts of national andinternational repute were the resource

persons for this programme. One ofthe important featuers of thisprogramme was more emphasis onhands on practice on the applicationof quantitative techniques. The greaterinteraction between resource personsand the participants further helped inbetter understanding of the contents.

Dr P K Joshi, Director, NCAPemail: [email protected]

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY

IIHR, Bangalore. Sixty-threeaccessions belonging to 40 specieswere collected from Western Ghatsand are being maintained. Someimportant species collected wereAlpinia galangal, A. purpurata,Barleria cristata, B. grandiflora, B.longiflora, Brownia grandiceps,Clerodendron infortu-natum, C.paniculatum, C. viscosum, Heliconiapsittacorum, lxora coccinea, I.parviflora, Moullava spicata,Mussandea frundosa, and Ochnaobtusata.

An indigenous climber Jasminummalbaricum with white fragrantflower was collected from northernparts of Western Ghats (Amboli

forest, Kolhapur) and establishedsuccessfully.

The new accessions in medicinalcrops added to germplasm fromdifferent parts of the country include10 in Ashwagandha, 20 in Mucuna,besides seeds of A. coleus, S. asocaand Oroxylum.

A Project on ex-situ conservationof RET medicinal plants waslaunched with IIHR as the lead centrewith 9 other collaborating centres inKerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu andAssam.

Dr G S R Murti,

Director, IIHR

email: [email protected]

New accessions in Medicinal plantsEDITORIAL BOARD

Chairman

Dr Mangala RaiSecretary, DARE and DG, ICAR

Members

Dr P Das, DDG (Agric. Extn)

Dr S Ayyappan, DDG (Fisheries)

Dr K M Bujubaruah, DDG (Anim. Sci)

Dr S P Tiwari, DDG (Education)

Dr P L Gautam, DDG (Crop Sciences)

Dr Nawab Ali, DDG (Agric. Engg.)

Dr A K Singh, DDG (NRM)

Dr H P Singh, DDG (Horticulture)

Dr Mruthyunjaya, ND (NAIP)

Dr J P Mishra, ADG (Co-ordination)

Dr T P Trivedi, Member-Secretary

Published by Dr T.P. Trivedi, Project Director, Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch, New Delhi 110 012. Lasertypeset by M/s Print-O-World, Shadipur, New Delhi 110 008, and printed in India atM/s Royal Offset Printers, A-89/1, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110 028.

Editorial Incharge : Dr Sudhir Pradhan; Production : V.K. Bharti and Punit Bhasin; Art : Narendra Bahadur

NDIA with a production of over 6.8 million tonnesof fish occupies third position in the world in the totalannual fish production and second in inland fishproduction, accounting for nearly 5% of the world’sfish. Our share is to the extent of 2.5% in the global fishmarket valued at Rs 70,000 million.

In the diverse aquatic resources there is a notableshift in the composition of the fish production. Thepresent day production of inland fish is almost 17-foldmore than production level in 1950-51.

The ICAR has been taking a number of steps to reorientand strengthen the institutional capabilities to addressthe emerging issues. The fisheries research instituteswere reorganized on the basis of reasource specificityto undertake focused research in marine, coastal, inlandfisheries, freshwater aquaculture, coldwater fisheries,fish genetic resources, harvest and post-harvesttechnology and conduct post-graduate education. Themandate of respective institutes were revisited duringthe formulation of the Vision-2025: Perspective PlanDocuments. Divisions/Centres were reorganized at theInstitutes to enable effective disciplinary approach toproblems. In a major decision during the XI plan, theNational Research Centre on Coldwater Fisheries atBhimtal, Uttarakhand has been made a Directorate ofColdwater Fisheries, to develop location, situation andsystem specific technology by utilizing/augmentingresources in all the Himalayan States from Jammu andKashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. InfrastructureDevelopment in terms of farms, hatcheries, aquaria, feedmills, world-class laboratories and students’ hostels wasgiven a major emphasis.

Capacity building of researchers was taken up on amission mode. Establishment of a Referral Laboratory forfishery products at Kochi provided fillip to qualityassurance in the country’s exports.

Networking of researchers at various levels receivedmuch attention. A project on aquatic biodiversityundertaken during the NATP brought out 31 new fishspecies, mainly from the north-east and Western Ghats.Likewise, other network projects are on to exlorepossibilities of incorporation of salt-tolerant genes fromhalophytic bacteria of marine system and genes fromtiger shrimp into plants, and evaluation of seaweeds asa dietary component of cattle. Production of quality fishseed for different environments has been a unique effortunder the ICAR seed project on ‘Agricultural crops andfisheries’. In a similar attempt at harnessing the potentialsof the microbes from different ecosystems, the Nationalproject on ‘Application of microorganisms in agricultureand allied sectors’ provided a platform for addressingmicrobial diversity from aquatic habitats and aspects ofhealth and biopreservation. Taking the process forward,three outreach activities on Fish feeds, Fish geneticstocks and Nutrient profiling of fishes have been initiatedduring the XI Plan.

The Last Page

Education and training are the key inputs in buildinga competent human resource to address the new R&Dneeds. The Council has taken steps to ensure quality ineducation through the Deans’ committee set up for thepurpose as also the accreditation process.

Steps are being continuously taken to expand areasof specializations in fisheries at CIFE, Mumbai. Mariculture,freshwater aquaculture, post-harvest technology, fishgenetics and biotechnology, fish nutrition andbiochemistry and fish pathology and microbiology,fisheries business management and aquatic environmentalmanagement specializations have been launched in thelast few years. Similar disciplines are available at theDoctoral level also. Besides certificate courses are alsorun to develop entrepreneurship as well as to improvethe knowledge and skills of officials and workers. Further,to provide scientists trained in relevant aspects at thefeeder level, the eligibility criteria for ARS examinationhave recently been modified to include post-graduatesin specialized disciplines of fisheries.

Public-private partnerships have been growing strongin all aspects of agriculture and particularly so in fisheries.This is going beyond the borders of the country, as canbe seen from the interest of several overseas agenciesseeking our collaboration in different segments of fisheries.

With increasing pressure on land and land-based foodproduction systems, it is appropriate that we look at thewaters, the seas all around this subcontinent. Theparadigm of ‘look to the seas’ is awaiting our attentionto utilize this vast resource for various products, startingfrom drinking water to high value compounds apart fromthe fish wealth. Our efforts in this direction need to beenhanced, with coordination between various agencies,along with constant vigil and introspection. We mustendeavour to realize the potentials fish farming andensure a smile on every fish farmer of our country.

(Mangala Rai)e-mail: [email protected]

I

Dr Mangala Rai, Secretary (DARE) and Director-General (ICAR)

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