The Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD) hosted a special training programme to introduce new technology for planting material production in ginger and turmeric for farmers as part of the ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari’ campaign under Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav here on Thursday. Over 200 farmers and scientists from different parts of the State took part in the event.
Introducing the topic, DASD Director Homey Cheriyan said micro-rhizome technology through tissue culture methods would offer a solution to the problem of disease incidence and help improve production and income of farmers. He said the same model could be taken up on a cluster basis involving farmer producer organisations for mass multiplication of disease-free seeds which could revolutionise ginger and turmeric cultivation.
Sharon Aravind, scientist at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode, made a detailed presentation on micro-rhizome technology and scientific practices to be followed for field cultivation. He said the micro-rhizomes could be produced in vitro with simple tissue culture facility and polyhouse cultivation could be used for seed production to assure zero-infected seed material. A question and answer session was also part of the event to clarify the doubts of participants.
