There are multiple initiatives of the Government of India such as the Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge launched by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy in partnership with the Startup India programme, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA), etc. which aim to encourage entrepreneurship in …
MANGO: Known as the king of fruits, India is blessed with mango diversity. Wild forms of Mangifera indica (mango) can be found in the peninsular tract, the evergreen forests in the Northeast and the terai regions. Wild forms of the allied species, M sylatica, are also found in the evergreen …
Besides diversity in minor fruits like aonla, ber, bael, custard apple, jamun, phalsa, tamarind and karonda, there are other tropical fruits that are yet to be exploited and their genetic base explored and enhanced. These include barhal (Artocarpus lakoocha), chironji (Buchanania lanzan), dillenia (Dillenia indica), makhana (Euryale ferox), manasari (Mimusops …
Conservation is a positive step towards preservation, maintenance, sustainable utilisation, restoration and enhancement of the natural environment with its diversity. However, conservation of fruits certainly needs more government attention than what it currently gets. Research institutes lack funds for establishment of gene banks or to carry out conservation programmes. "Through …
• The war of words, and weapons, aside, legend has it that during one of the better phases in Indo-Pak relation-ship, the fate Zia ul-Haq sent a crate of mangoes to the late Indira Gandhi. The taste caught Indira's fancy and she immediately sought information on the mango only to …
A mechanical harvester with nylon arms is being tested by the US-based orange growers. The machine gently shakes ripe fruit off the tree. The growers are using the technique originally developed for picking blackberries. If the machine is found successful, it would help orange growers in the US to compete …
A tiny "hazardous' insect, weevil, considered a major threat to horticulture and floriculture sectors, is being successfully used to clear the weeds from Harke reserve lake in Amritsar. Ram Kishan, director of the Irrigation and Power Research Institute (IPRI), Amritsar, says that the insects do no allow the water hyacinth …
studies have shown that when some common blood pressure-reducing drugs are taken with the juice of the grapefruit, the impact of these drugs significantly increases as compared to the conventional way of taking them with water. There are other drugs besides the blood pressure ( bp) regulators that are affected …
genetic tinkering can produce plants that can be made to bloom as and when required. Doused with the correct chemical trigger, they spring into bloom within days. George Coupland and his colleagues at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, say that if plants could be persuaded to flower as and when …
An horticulture development document worth US $6.5 million has been signed by the government of Bhutan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to improve the livelihood of its rural people who comprise about 85 per cent of the population. The UNDP will assist by providing technical assistance, training equipment, …
Fruits stay fresh for longer durations in tin cans compared to plastic packaging in hot conditions, says William Porter, food chemist at the Army Soldier Systems Command in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. This was discovered in 1991 during the Gulf War, when the caterers had problems with fruit turning brown and …
a low-cost cooling chamber that increases the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables has been developed by Susanta K Roy and his team at the Division of Fruits and Horticulture Technology at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi ( Science Reporter , Vol 34, No 6). Even though …
the garden city of India, Bangalore, is fast earning another name, that of being the biotechnology capital of south Asia. At the sixth international exposition and conference on biotechnology held here recently, C S Prakash, professor and director of the Centre for Plant Biotechnology Research at the University of Alabama, …
Researchers at Nottingham university UK, have identified 35 different kinds of inheritable genes responsible for a frnit's colour, taste and ripeness through hormonal control. Experts will soon be able to produce a fruit with two to three different colours by reconstructing the inherited genes. Thereafter, people will be able to …
Dates are making a comeback in the international market. Gulf countries, till now solely reliant on oil exports, are seeking to diversify into agricultural industries through the use of modern horticultural and food -processing techniques. Omanis are taking renewed interest in dates, which is the largest agricultural product of the …
Fruits and vegetables that turn brown within minutes of being bruised or sliced may soon be guaranteed against discolouration, if ongoing field trials in The Netherlands and Australia on genetically-engineered potatoes succeed (New Scientist, Vol 145, No 1961) The browning occurs because of an enzyme called polyphenol oxiclase (PPO) reacting …
A UK power company, Eastern Electric, has pioneered a technique to prevent fresh fruit from ripening and decaying in storage. Normally, fruits stored in refrigerated warehouses continue to ripen because the warehouse is not quite air tight. Moreover, whenever the warehouse is opened, the sudden increase in oxygen accelerates decay. …
NOT SO long ago, Ladakhis would have laughed at the idea of growing vegetables in winter when the mercury nosedives to about -300 C. Not any longer. The greening of the Ladakhi winter market has begun, as defence scientists successfully grow fresh green vegetables in greenhouses. Scientists believe greenhouse cultivation …
SHORTAGE of space is a familiar lament of city folk fond of gardening. But now, architect Gosta Nilsson has found a novel way to make walls using hollow concrete blocks that could be filled with sand and manure for plants to grow in. These "growing" walls would be ideal around …
SCIENTISTS of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries have recommended exchanging the germplasm of fruit, vegetables and potatoes; trials of popular potato varieties in different parts of the SAARC region, and organising training programmes on potato breeding. At a meeting on horticulture held recently in Shimla, the scientists …
WHEN GOD forbade Adam and Eve from eating the apples from the Tree of Knowledgehe probably had environmental interests in mind. But Eve couldn"t resist the temptationand neither could Adam. Too bad. The price for their folly is still being paid. The Indian governmenttooit seemscan"t fight temptation. Encouraged by successes …
