Annual Research Meet On Horticulture
“Initiate bio-chemical studies to assess the factors influencing off-season bearing in mango, which would support the other studies in the university’s farms,” C. Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said here recently. Speaking at a two-day annual research meet on horticulture, the Vice-Chancellor highlighted the importance of developing off-season mango varieties, which would have great economic significance both in the domestic and export market, according to a release from the university.He told scientists that similar research should be pursued on issues with maximum level of economic importance. “Developing new turmeric varieties with high curcumin content, evolving new sweet melon hybrids to meet export demand, finding control measures for mango nut weevil, developing transgenic Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), etc., are some of the priority areas of research,” the Vice-Chancellor said. He said according to National Sample Survey statistics, there was a decline in per capita consumption of cereals, whereas there was an increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables at the national-level. “This calls for increase production of horticultural products. The new management technologies such as high density planning, fertigation and precision farming are quite promising.”
While stressing the need for separate crop-specific centres for carrying out focussed research, the Vice-Chancellor pointed out the need for establishing an exclusive Mango Research Station and a Banana Research Station in the university. D. Veeraragavathatham, Dean (Horticulture), TNAU, said the university proposed to develop banana hybrids that are tolerant to fusarium wilt disease and nematode attack.
