Israel to help revive kesar's appeal
TNN | Jun 25, 2016, 05.58 AM IST
Rajkot: Israel's famed agriculture techniques that have turned deserts green will now help Junagadh farmers revive kesar mangoes, whose production is on a steady decline over the last few years.
These cultivators will soon get hi-tech expertise from Israel to improve their yield and rejuvenate their old mango trees from the Centre of Excellence for Mango (CEM) that will shortly be inaugurated in Talala, the hub of kesar mango trade. The centre has been established at government seed farm under Indo-Israel Work Plan with Rs four crore fund under Union government's Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna.
Constant bouts of unseasonal rainfall and climate change have forced many farmers in Junagadh and Amreli to quit mango cultivation and shift to other crops that are more resistant to vagaries of weather. Junagadh horticulture department officials said that mango cultivation in more than 300 hectares has been destroyed by the orchard owners in the last three years.
In fact, experts from Israel have already conducted some demonstrations of systems that help increase in the crop yield and improve the quality too. "They will teach farmers to use techniques like mulching and drip irrigation that can potentially save 70% water for irrigation while yielding more and better crop at the same time," said a senior official.
"The demonstration systems have already been put in place. Farmers will be shown post-harvest technologies and how to rejuvenate old mango trees along with high-density plantation and growing fruits that are free from pests and diseases under greenhouse conditions. This will be mainly done in Talala, Vanthali, Mendarada, Una and Junagadh in the coming days," the official said.
According to the horticulture department, mango orchards are spread in nearly 1.50 lakh hectare in the state with an average yield of 8.13 metric tonnes per hectare.