ICAR-NRC for Banana licenses and transfers Farmers’-friendly Macropropagation Technology to Gujarat-based Jarvi Nursery
08 February 2022, New Delhi: The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu along with its associate partner – Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat has licensed and transferred a Farmers’-friendly Macropropagation Technology to the Gujarat-based Jarvi Nursery.
Dr. S. Uma, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli & Inventor of the Technology stated that before commercialization, the technology was tested in Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar representing the different agro-climatic zones for its viability. She underlined that the Technology’s success has been witnessed and technological knowhow has been provided to the farmers of all the States.
For the requirement of roughly 3,500 Million Plants, the Tissue Cultured Industries contribute only 15% and the remaining 85% is catered through the conventional suckers. With the presence of dreadful diseases like viral, wilt and nematodes, the higher demand of quality planting material could be fulfilled by the adoption of alternate technologies. Therefore, the ICAR-NRC for Banana developed low-cost and Farmers’-Friendly Banana Nursery Technology is a boon to meet the planting material demand.
Dr. S. Backiyarani and Dr. M.S. Saraswathi, Principal Scientists And Co-Inventors of the Technology outlined that the minimum of 25 healthy, true to type, disease free plants may be obtained from the single sucker within the period of three to four months and throughout the Year without any seasonal barriers.