Good news for vegetable farmers in the State.
Availability of grafted vegetable seedlings will be substantially
increased as grafting technology, hitherto restricted to a few Kerala
Agriculture University scientists, has been passed on to field officers
of the VFPCK (Vegetable and Fruit promotion Council Keralam) and VHSE
(Vocational Higher Secondary Education) teachers.
The
KAU has started its training programme on vegetable transplant
production and grafting. The objective is to increase vegetable
production.
KAU Vice Chancellor P. Rajendran stressed
the importance of quality of planting materials in qualitative and
quantitative enhancement in vegetable production.
“Having
progressed from the use of seed to seedlings and other planting
materials, grafted vegetable seedlings is the best and the most
important step we have taken in technology development. The technology
developed by KAU scientist Narayanan Kutty is simple but efficient and a
breakthrough in the development of wilt-resistant grafts of
commonly-cultivated and popular vegetables. Immunity to bacterial wilt
means a significant enhancement in vegetable production. The technology
of combining the yield of hybrids and wilt resistance of selected
varieties has become a blessing for the farmers and a vital step towards
self-sufficiency in vegetable production,” he said.
He
felt highly optimistic on the popularisation of grafting technology
through VFPCK officers from all districts and VHSE teachers.
Resistant to wilt, drought
“Once
this becomes popular, each household will have vegetable plants
resistant to wilt and drought, enhancing the quality and quantity of
production, leading to a welcome change in the current scenario where we
spend substantial sum on procuring vegetables from across the border.
Safe-to-eat food and nutritional security will become a reality,” he
said.
P.B. Pushpalatha, Director of Extension,
appreciated the move to train VFPCK field officers and VHSE teachers in
grafting technology and said more cohesive collaboration between the
KAU, the technology provider, and line departments and PSUs in the field
would help effective popularisation of technologies.
Technology, restricted to a few KAU scientists, passed on to field officers and VHSE teachers
Source : The Hindu
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