ICAR - Sugarcane Breeding Institute organizes campaign for school children!

 ICAR - Sugarcane Breeding Institute organizes campaign for school children!

As part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute organized an awareness campaign for the school children on the theme, “Agriculture and Environment: the Citizen face”. Scientists of the Institute visited 'Premier Vidyaa Vikaash Higher secondary school' in the outskirts of Coimbatore and interacted with them on 25 November 2021.

Dr G. Hemaprabha, Director (A), ICAR-SBI speaks

Dr. G. Hemaprabha, Director of the Institute in her address highlighted the rising opportunities in India and abroad in Agricultural Education. She also mentioned about 'start-ups' in the agricultural sector, which will serve as employment generators and play a pivotal role in agricultural development in future. School students should keep such options as well in mind, while choosing their careers, she said.

Dr. R.Viswanathan, Head, Crop Protection, speaks

Dr. R.Viswanathan, Head, Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-SBI spoke on the academic avenues in the field of agriculture and opportunities in the agriculture sector for employment. He listed out the educational institutions in the country that offer certificate courses, diplomas and degrees in agriculture and their employment opportunities. He also recalled the names of several persons, who had their education in agriculture and went on to excel in other fields.

Dr. D Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist, conducts the quiz

Quiz programme

The quiz conducted by Dr. D. Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist of the Institute , for two groups of school children viz., the 'Dr Norman Borlaug' team & 'Dr. M.S.Swaminathan' team, focussed on topics such as popular terms used in various fields that had their origin in farming (such as ‘broadcast’), famous personalities who made a mark in agriculture in the region (such as Shri. C. Subramaniam, the former Union minister), geographical divisions with agricultural significance during the Sangam age, Geographical Indicators relevant to agriculture and the names of harvest festivals across countries.

Interactive session

Enthusiastic participation of children was witnessed throughout the quiz programme.

Quiz prizes being distributed

During the interactive session that followed, scientists answered the queries raised by the school children and teachers on career opportunities in agriculture for Higher Secondary students of Biology stream. Over 150 students and teachers who participated in the campaign, expressed their gratitude to the Institute for enlightening them on various aspects concerning agriculture and environment.

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 Cane-ovate workshop organized at ICAR - Sugarcane Breeding Institute

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Interpersonal communication among the sugarcane farmers is a significant means by which farmers obtain information related to innovations in sugarcane farming leading to improvement in sugarcane productivity and profitability, said Shri. Harmandar Singh IAS., Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Sugar, Government of Tamil Nadu in his valedictory address at the Cane-ovate workshop held at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore.

ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, in association with the Society for Sugarcane Research and Development (SSRD) organized ‘Cane-ovate’ (portmanteau of Cane + innovate), a National-level workshop for innovative sugarcane farmers of the country, on 26 October 2021 in ‘hybrid’ mode.

Giving away the awards to the innovative farmers, the Commissioner of Sugar in his address, congratulated ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute for organizing this important workshop whose major aim is ‘listening to the farmers’.

Referring to the innovative farmers of Tamil Nadu and other states participating in ‘Cane-ovate’, as the ‘brand ambassadors’ of sugarcane farming, the Commissioner mentioned that their experiences need to be necessarily shared among other farmers who lag behind in achieving higher yields. Farmer-to-farmer communication is the most effective way to ensure adoption of scientific technologies compared to scientist-farmer or administrator-farmer communication, he added. This would fasten the pace of dissemination of technologies and ensure improved productivity and income, he said.

Once the pandemic is over, exposure visits and study tours need to be organized for the sugarcane farmers of Tamil Nadu to gain from the experiences of the farmers of other states of the country and vice-versa, he suggested. In spite of the constraints and limitations such as poor soil conditions, water shortage, high cost of inputs and machinery, the innovative farmers who are participating in the workshop, had excelled in sugarcane farming through their innovative approaches, which should be emulated by other farmers, he added.

Referring to the receipt of good rainfall in Tamil Nadu, marginal increase in sugar price, increase in cane area and the introduction of new ethanol policy, the Commissioner was optimistic that these factors could help in improving the sugar sector and the profitability of the sugarcane farmers in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Highlighting the need for the conduct of similar workshops for farmers, Dr. Bakshi Ram, former Director, ICAR-SBI and President, SSRD in his address said that ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore along with its regional centres has been making tremendous impact in the lives of sugarcane farmers with its varieties and technologies over the years. The Co 0238 variety developed at the Institute alone was instrumental in improving the average sugarcane yield by 20t/ha at regional level and about 10 t/ha at national level. The farmers of Uttar Pradesh could improve their income by Rs.62921/ha by growing this variety. The ‘participatory seed production’ programme of the Institute had doubled the income of the seed farmers, he added. A publication of the profile of the workshop participants would be brought out shortly, he added.

Dr. G.Hemaprabha, Director, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute in her Presidential address mentioned that over 78 % of the cane area in the country is occupied by the ‘Co’ varieties developed at the Institute. Informing the house that a farmer from Satara district, Maharashtra has named his new house as ‘86032 Chi Krupa’ (Gift of Co 86032 variety) she said that the Institute -developed Co 86032 still dominates the sugarcane scene in the tropical states while Co-0238 variety dominates the sub-tropical states of the country. Referring to the case of one of the workshop participants, Shri 'Bullet' Pulavendran, a visually-challenged innovative farmer from Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu who had to discontinue his 20th sugarcane ratoon due to wild boar menace and that of another young innovative farmer , Shri N Nataraj, from Sathyamangalam, Erode district, who has fabricated a mobile-based acoustic device to ward off wild boars, Dr Hemaprabha advised the Erode farmer to commercialize his repellent device and make it available in the market so that all farmers would be benefitted. Dr. C.Palaniswami, Head, Division of Crop Production, Shri S.K. Sachdeva, Vice-President, SSRD, Dr.K.Hari, Principal Scientist and Dr. R.Karuppaiyan Principal Scientist & Secretary, SSRD also spoke on the occasion.

Presenting the workshop report during the valedictory session, Dr. D Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute and Workshop co-ordinator informed that 36 innovative farmers from different parts of the country [Karnataka (5), Andhra Pradesh (5), Odisha (2), Telangana (5), Uttar Pradesh (2), Madhya Pradesh (1), Punjab(1), Bihar (1) ,Maharashtra(1) and Tamil Nadu (13) ] had participated in the workshop and shared their valuable experiences in developing and practicing innovative methods in sugarcane agriculture. A few farmers had demonstrated their innovations at the workshop venue, he said. These farmers had successfully practised ‘process’ innovations, ‘product’ innovations, reinventions and ‘marketing’ innovations (entrepreneurship) in eight aspects of sugarcane farming such as, Organic cultivation, mechanization, Micro-irrigation/Drip fertigation, Technology package for higher yields, Ratoon management, Vertebrate pest management & bio-control, Seed production/entrepreneurship and Intercropping, he added.

The participating farmers were taken on field visits, exposed to ICAR-SBI technologies which had been commercialized and given seed material of the popular variety, Co 11015.

 

Training on Sugarcane Cultivation

The Mera Gaon , Mera Gaurav  team (MGMG : Team-9) from ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, conducted a training programme on ‘Sugarcane cultivation’ in A.S.Kulam village, near Idigarai, Coimbatore district on 19 August 2021. 

Joint Director of Agriculture, Coimbatore district and staff of State Agriculture Department with the scientists of ICAR-SBI

Four scientists from the Institute viz., Dr. P. Govindaraj, Principal Scientist, Dr. D. Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist, Dr. T. Ramasubramanian, Principal Scientist and Dr. P. Geetha, Scientist conducted the training, which was organized as part of ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) of Sarkar Samakulam block.

ICAR-SBI scientists interacting with a sugarcane farmer in A.S.Kulam, near Idigarai, Coimbatore

Introducing new cane varieties: ICAR-SBI scientists conducting a training on sugarcane cultivation 

The team also visited the sugarcane fields and offered advisories to the farmers. Samples of recently released sugarcane varieties viz., Co 11015, Co 12009, Co 0212 and Co 09004 were displayed and a demonstration of the Institute – developed Soil Moisture Indicator (SMI) was organized. Extension literature on sugarcane cultivation, SMI and parthenium management were distributed during the training.

Demonstration of the Institute-developed Soil Moisture Indicator

Smt. R.Chitradevi, Joint Director of Agriculture, Coimbatore district, Smt.E.Nirmala, Asst. Director of Agriculture, SS Kulam block and officials from Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd., spoke on the occasion, in which over 50 farmers from A S Kulam and nearby villages participated and benefitted.

 

 In conversation with sugarcane seed farmers..(Video in Tamil)

விதைத் திட்ட விவசாயிகளுடன் ஒரு கலந்துரையாடல்

 Soil Moisture Indicator

(Developed by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore. Device designs (4 nos.) of SMI ,registered with The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, The Patent Office, Government of India under The Designs Act, 2000 and the Designs Rules, 2001)

List of licensees

1. KSNM MARKETING, SF No. 29/1B, Ona Palayam,, Vadavalli to Thondamuthur Road,, Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 641 109, India,, http://www.ksnm.co.in/,, Phone: 93632 61175, 93603 88900, Email: info@ksnm.in.

 Call for Papers

CaneCon - 2021

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUGARCANE RESEARCH

Sugarcane for Sugar and Beyond

19-22 June 2021

Venue: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore- 641 003. India

Organizers:

ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, India

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India

Society for Sugarcane Research and Development, Coimbatore

Important Dates:

Last date for submission of extended summaries : 30 APRIL 2021

Last date for early bird registration : 30 APRIL 2021

Visit: https://sugarcane.icar.gov.in/index.php/en/canecon-2020 for details.

Download Second Circular of CaneCon-2021 here.

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