The University of Horticulture Sciences-Bagalkot (UHS-B) is extensively promoting jujube (botanical name Ziziphus) in north Karnataka, mainly in Vijayapura and Bagalkot, because of the suitability of climate for this tasty fruit.

A blend of sweet and sour tastes, jujube is a tropical fruit and best suitable for dry land areas. Keeping this in mind, the university’s centre located at Tidagundi village of Vijayapura taluk has been promoting and popularising some eight varieties of jujubes in the region.

“This fruit is cost-effective and can be cultivated in areas that have limited water resources. Since Vijayapura and Bagalkot have limited access to irrigation, this crop comes as a boon to farmers there,” said Siddanna Thoke, Assistant Professor, Department of Fruits of the university. Having set up a stall in the Krishi Mela which started on the premises of Regional Agriculture Research Station at Hittanahalli village of the taluk on Sunday, Mr. Thoke said farmers who have limited land can cultivate this crop for higher earning. Around 110 saplings could be planted in an acre and the total cost per acre comes to around ₹20,000.

Fruit bearing starts in the first year itself but the quantity increases only from the second year.

The plant could last for at least two decades and it gives fruits till these many years. “Each acre could produce about 10 tonnes of fruits, and a farmer could earn at least ₹1.5 lakh/annum from an acre of plantation.”

Mr. Thoke said that the university is promoting varieties such as Chuhara, Mehroon, Dondon, Ilachi, Kadaka, Umran, and Apalbare. The most popular among them are Mehroon and Kadaka.

Claiming that the crop has minimum pest problem and needs limited water, that too only for the first two years, Mr. Thoke called it as a “future crop” as it does not require spaying of chemical pesticides.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Firoz Rozindar / Viyayapura – January 10th, 2018

Hassan district has emerged as one of the major districts in the State in silk production.

This year alone, 392 farmers got into sericulture. “In sericulture, farmers do not face losses, provided they give constant attention and work hard,” said H.D. Shivananjaiah, Deputy Director (Extension) of Sericulture in Hassan.

The department had set a target of bringing 250 hectares more into sericulture in the district in the current fiscal year. By November itself, the department succeeded in extend sericulture to 243 hectares.

With that, the total sericulture area in the district has gone up to 1,404 hectares and number of farmers producing silk is 2,244.

“A few years ago, the number of farmers in sericulture in the district was very high, but the production was low. In the recent years, the production has gone up owing to advances in technology. Many people gave up this as it demanded constant vigil and hard work,” the official told The Hindu.

In the current year, silk production in the district has reached 425 tonnes as against the annual target of 700 tonnes. The department is sure of reaching the target by the end of March 2018.

“The factor that attracts people to sericulture is the price they get in the cocoon market. Last year, the price per kg went up to 3,200,” the official said.

The department has chosen a few places to produce basic seed cocoons required for the production of disease-free layings.

Hassan is also one such area designated for production of bivoltine seed cocoon. Sericulturists from Hassan and neighbouring districts approach the cold storage unit at the grainage (seed production centre) for the eggs. “Farmers are advised to carry eggs in evening or early morning hours as eggs should not be exposed to high temperature. We have a cold storage unit, where we store eggs for next four-five months. We have already stored eggs required up to March 2018,” said Annaji Rao, Deputy Director in-charge of production of seed cocoons.

The cold storage unit was set up in 1985. Eggs are kept in compartments with temperatures varying from 25C to 2.5C.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Hassan – December 02nd, 2017

Forty-year-old S.S. Paramesha of Chelur village in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district is proud that his jackfruit tree “has made it big.” Planted 35 years ago by his father S.K. Siddappa, it produces a unique variety of jackfruit, with deep, coppery red flakes that are not only tasty but also have high nutritive value. Now it turns out it also has a high market value.

“All of us knew that it was a unique variety as there was a great demand for the fruits from this tree from all our friends and relatives. But we always gave them away as gifts. We never sold a single one,” recalls Paramesha. But now the farmer is set earn ₹10 lakh from this tree over the next one year.

Since Paramesha does not have the wherewithal to multiply this variety, the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with him under which its scientists will multiply it through grafting. IIHR will not only sell these saplings under its banner but will also provide 75% of the proceeds to the farmer. It has also nominated Paramesha as “the custodian of genetic diversity” for this particular variety, and named it ‘Siddu’ after his father.

According to IIHR Director M.R. Dinesh, the institute has already received an order for 10,000 saplings, and the formal sales will commence in two months. Paramesha stands to earn over ₹10 lakh from the sales of these 10,000 saplings. According to Karunakaran, head of IIHR’s Tumakuru-based Central Horticultural Experimental Station (CHES) and the scientist who identified this unique tree, the biggest advantage of this variety is that it yields very small fruits with an average weight of 2.44 kg, as against the 10-20 kg of normal varieties. “The main problem with normal jackfruit varieties is that the fruit is difficult to carry owing to its weight. But it is easy to carry ‘Siddu’ as it is lighter,” he says.

While the health benefits of ‘Siddu’ jackfruit are still being analysed, the bio-chemical analysis has revealed that it has high lycopin content of 2 mg per 100 gm of pulp, as against 0.2 mg in normal varieties. It is also rich in anti-oxidants, the scientist points out.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by B.S. Satish Kumar / Bengaluru – December 04th, 2017