The Hindu : Karnataka News : Agricultural research station to celebrate silver jubilee

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Friday, Oct 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Agricultural research station to celebrate silver jubilee

Staff Correspondent

It will be on October 23 and 24

Brahmavar (Udupi District): The Zonal Agricultural Research Station in Brahmavar will celebrate its silver jubilee on October 23 and October 24. The station, which was set up in 1982 to take up research in the coastal zone, is affiliated to the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore.

S.D. Sampath Samrajya, chairman of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations Committee and member of Board of Regents of the UAS, told presspersons here on Wednesday that a “Krishi Mela” would be held. The station has been aiming at identifying location-specific problems of farmers and orientating research towards a multidisciplinary approach. Its main functions include tackling problems regarding coastal farming and verification and testing of varieties of rice, sugarcane, oilseeds and pulses. Plantation and vegetable crops too come under the purview of the station, besides research in fisheries.

As many as 12 high-yielding rice varieties have been released by the station for the benefit of farmers of the coastal zone.

Cultivation of varieties such as Champaka, KCP-1 and Mahaveera is also picking up. The “Kaje Jaya” rice variety, which has been found to be promising, is being tested in the fields.

Three high-yielding varieties of groundnut, one each of sesamum and cowpea (TVX-944-02E) and four of sugarcane have been recommended for cultivation. Among fruit crops, the “ratna” variety of mango, the cricket ball variety of sapota, the Coorg honey dew and the CO-3 variety of papaya have been found to be suitable for cultivation in the zone.

Various cashew varieties also have been released to the farmers. Ginger varieties such as “nadan”, “maran” and “Wayanad local” and turmeric varieties “Suguna”, “Sudarshana” and “Suvarna” have been identified as high-yielding varieties. High-yielding varieties of ladies’ finger, brinjal, tomato, amaranthus, bitter gourd and vegetable cowpea have been found to be promising.

Other areas of research conducted by the station include crop production, soil management, organic farming and pest and disease management aimed at getting higher yield through maintaining soil fertility.

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