The ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Fruits organised its X Group Discussion from 28th February – 3rd March 2023 in virtual mode. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Anand Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Hort. Sci.), in the august presence of Dr. V. B. Patel, Asst. Director General (F & PC), Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, Asst. Director General (FVS & MP), Prof. (Dr.) Sanjay Kumar Singh, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Dr. Prakash Patil, Project Coordinator (Fruits) Acting, Dr. Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, Dr. R. Selvarajan, Director, ICAR-NRCB, Dr. Kaushik Banerjee, Director, ICAR-NRCG, Dr. Bikash Das, Director, ICAR-NRCL, Dr. T. Damodaran, Director, ICAR-CISH, Dr. Jagadesh Rane, Director, ICAR-CIAH, ICAR special invitees – Dr. M. R. Dinesh, former Director, ICAR-IIHR, and Dr. P. Padmanabhan, former Director (Acting), ICAR-NRCB.
In his inaugural address, the Chief Guest, Dr. Anand Kumar Singh, DDG (Hort. Sci.), ICAR alluded whether increase in production and productivity in horticulture is vis a vis the increased cost of production and safety of produce. He further emphasised on reorientation of programmes for gender inclusiveness, and issues like deterioration of soil health and citrus decline. He also added that safety standards need to be met for both domestic and international markets.
The guest of honour, Dr. V. B. Patel while commending the excellent work of the project, laid stress on the timely registration of germplasm and to increase the publications. He appended that the technology should be disseminated through field days during the peak crop season. Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, the guest of honour, sought the attention on wilt disease complex in fruit crops. In his presidential remarks, Prof. (Dr.) Sanjay Kumar Singh, accentuated for more support in terms of finance and human resources for the germplasm maintenance under National Active Germplasm Sites. He prioritised on the production of clean planting materials and strict plant quarantine to curtail soil borne problems. Dr. Prakash Patil, Project Coordinator (Fruits), presented the project achievements for the period of the report (2021-2022) during the inaugural session.
During the four day deliberations, six crop production technologies viz., alleviation of soil moisture deficit stress in banana, nutrient management under HDP for sweet orange and acid lime, organic nutrient management technique in mandarin, bagging of litchi bunches for quality fruits and irrigation scheduling in guava. And five crop protection technologies viz., biological control of tea mosquito bug by Beauveria bassiana in guava, management of mango hoppers and thrips by oil-based formulation of Metarhizium anisopliae, sucking pest complex with botanicals, integrated management of pre and post-harvest diseases of mango fruits, episomal BSMYV tissue culture banana cv. Poovan were recommended. Also planned two new MLTs (one each in avocado and mango) in crop improvement, three in crop production (one each in guava, mango and sapota) and Artificial Intelligence powered decision support system in banana for leaf spot disease.
In the farmer’s interaction meeting, the issues related to Sigatoka leaf spot and wilt in banana, fruit drop in grapes, tea mosquito bug, canker and stylar end rot in guava, hoppers and powdery mildew in mango, viral diseases in papaya besides increased cost of potassium fertilizers and mango irregular flowering were discussed.
During the event, one book, five technical bulletins and six factsheets were released. Nearly 180 delegates from 49 participating centres across the country including farmers from southern states participated in the deliberations. The event was organised by Dr. Prakash Patil, Project Coordinator (Fruits) Acting with the support of Dr. S. Priya Devi, Principal Scientist and Dr. Sridhar Gutam, Senior Scientist and the staff of the Project Coordinating Unit.
(Source: Project Coordinator (Fruits), ICAR-AICRP on Fruits, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Karnataka)