This blog was created by the 'Centenary Publicity Committee' constituted in connection with the centenary celebrations of Sugarcane Breeding Institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in 2012.
100 Glorious years of Sugarcane Breeding Institute
Sunday, 19 September 2021
Training on
Sugarcane Cultivation
The Mera
Gaon , Mera Gauravteam (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.
Thursday, 10 June 2021
Saturday, 15 May 2021
In conversation with sugarcane seed farmers..(Video in Tamil)
விதைத் திட்ட விவசாயிகளுடன் ஒரு கலந்துரையாடல்
Thursday, 18 February 2021
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
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.
National Water Award for Scientists of ICAR-Sugarcane
Breeding Institute
A team of scientists from ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Dr
K. HARI, Dr D. PUTHIRA PRATHAP, Dr P. MURALI, Dr A. RAMESHSUNDAR and Dr B.
SINGARAVELU has been awarded the FIRST
Prize in the National Water Awards-2019 for their work on “Soil Moisture Indicator (SMI) and
its application in irrigation water management” in the Best Research/
Innovation/ adaptation of New Technology for Water Conservation category by
Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, river development &
Ganga rejuvenation, Government of India. Hon’ble Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu
inaugurated the Award Distribution Ceremony of National Water Awards, 2019 on
11-12 November 2020 in the august presence of Union Minister of Jal Shakti,
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan
Lal Kataria, which was streamed online.
‘Cost
effectiveness of the innovation’, ‘replicability of the technology’ and
‘increase in water-use efficiency’ were the criteria on which the award
applications were evaluated. The award carries a
Cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs and a citation.
The scientists had developed a user-friendly, simple device
named as ‘Soil Moisture Indicator’ (SMI), which helps the farmers to assess
soil moisture levels while scheduling irrigations, thus ensuring considerable
saving of irrigation water.
In most of the farmers’ fields, particularly in sugarcane
fields, efficient irrigation management practices such as
irrigation-scheduling, based on soil moisture status are rarely in practice. In
an effort to save water and to facilitate irrigation-scheduling, this handy,
electronic moisture – indicating device was developed in participatory mode,
said Dr. K. Hari, Principal Scientist and principal inventor.
This
soil moisture indicator has been designed to objectively indicate the soil
moisture status in the soil and can work on a variety of soil types. It works
based on the principle that electrical conductivity of the soil is directly
proportional to soil moisture or soil electrical resistance is indirectly
proportional to soil moisture content. When conventional irrigation method was
followed, a sugarcane yield of 55.8 tonnes/acre/year was obtained, as against
60.4 tonnes/acre/year, obtained by following SMI-driven irrigation scheduling,
he added.
Initially
a prototype of SMI was developed and tested under various levels of soil
moisture conditions in farmers’ fields of five districts of Tamil Nadu
(Dharmapuri,
Krishnagiri, Cuddalore, Erode & Coimbatore) belonging
to three
agro-climatic zones, and a refined version was
launched during 2010, said Dr D Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist and
Co-Inventor. Women farmers were also involved in evaluating the device. Through
the participatory action research project, it was found that sugarcane farmers
could conserve about 15% of irrigation water by saving about six irrigations
following SMI-driven irrigation scheduling, Dr. Prathap added.
Expressing
gratitude to those involved in the design & development of the device, the
award-winning scientist-team informed that the SMI technology was evolved with
the active participation of farmers and sugar factory personnel through the
Farmers’ Participatory Action Research Project (FPARP). The project was
monitored by the Central Water Commission, Ministry
of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India, the team added.
(Watch FPARP Video film hereunder)
The scientist-team informed
that considering the versatility of the technology, several ICAR-KVKs (Farm
Science Centres) had demonstrated its use in different crops such as groundnut,
brinjal, bhendi, coconut, banana, paddy, sesame, black gram, green gram, tomato
and mustard besides sugarcane. It had also found a place in the Union Ministry
of Agriculture’s publication – New
steps, progressive steps: A glimpse of PM’s achievements. State
Governments viz., Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana have already included
the soil moisture indicator for purchase and distribution to farmers and other
stakeholders under various schemes. It is also noteworthy that the Agriculture
Skill Council of India and National Skill Development Corporation have included
this in the National Occupational Standard of a Sugarcane Cultivator. At
present the unit price of the device is around Rs. 1,500/-, the team added.
Dr Bakshi Ram, Director of
ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute highlighted that, with the fast depletion of water resources in agriculture
being a serious cause of concern, widespread use of versatile devices such as
Soil Moisture Indicators would go a long way
in achieving the objective of obtaining ‘More crop and income per drop of
water” resulting in sustainable gains to farmers across the country.
While
congratulating the multi-disciplinary team of scientists, Dr Bakshi Ram stated
that using such devices across the country would ensure huge benefits
in terms of conserving water and reducing drudgery while saving money and
electricity. Twelve firms from the
states/UTs of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have been granted licence for commercial production
of SMI. Further information is available at https://sugarcane.icar.gov.in/index.php/en/home/1157-soil-moisture-indicator
and https://caneinfo.icar.gov.in/Gallery/SMI%20web%20bulletin%20for%20CaneInfo.pdf
, Dr Bakshi Ram added.
===============================================
Tuesday, 8 September 2020
Call for Papers
ICAR - SUGARCANE BREEDING INSTITUTE
COIMBATORE 641 007
Call for Papers : 51st Sugarcane R&D Workshop of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry
