Dr NK Krishnakumar, Deputy Director General (Horticulture), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has asked scientists to find solutions to mahali or fruit rot disease and yellow leaf disease affecting arecanut.
He was speaking after launching of centenary celebrations of Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) at Kasaragod in Kerala. He said, “Farmers’ problems are similar everywhere in India. The farmers should form groups and join hands with private-public-partnership ventures for marketing of their produces.”
He emphasised on identification tools for arecanut smuggled from different countries to Indian market and a detailed study on the effects of components of arecanut on humans and mechanisation of farming for arecanut growers. CPCRI Director Dr P Chowdappa said value addition is the essence of properity of farmers.
CPCRI former directors Dr KV Ahmed Bavappa, Dr KUK Namboothiri and Dr George V Thomas, who spoke on the occasion, felt that cropping system research, breeding for high-yielding crops, bio control and genetic diversity for varied climates are the plus points of CPCRI research.
Hundred coconut seedlings, belonging to 18 released varieties of CPCRI, were planted by farmers at the ‘Centenary Coconut Park’. Books titled ‘CPCRI-A Century of Service to the Nation’, ‘Empowering Stakeholders’ comprising 100 planned programmes across the nation and ‘Diseases of Field and Horticultural Crops’ were released.
A sensitisation programme on ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’, soil health card, production of organic inputs and water use efficiency were part of the Kisan Mela held on the occasion. About 3,000 farmers participated in the function.
