27th June 2023, Coimbatore
ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, and the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), New Delhi signed an MoU and launched a project in the Institute premises today, for identification of location- specific & climate- resilient varieties with high yield & quality potential for both tropical and sub-tropical regions of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Aditya Jhunjhunwala, President of ISMA said that the project, to be implemented with a financial outlay of Rs.7.5 crores, will help in identifying varieties with better yields that would benefit the farmers. Mentioning that investment in R&D in the sugarcane sector is very minimal in the country, he felt that this and similar projects would help the Indian sugar industry in meeting the sugar and energy needs of the country.
Delivering the Presidential address, Dr. G.Hemaprabha , Director, ICAR-SBI said that it is for the first time a project of this magnitude is being taken up by the Institute with the support of ISMA. The project involves the evaluation of elite sugarcane clones in the various sugar mills located in different zones of the country with an objective to achieve a cane yield of 100 tonnes/ha and sugar recovery of about 11.5 %. The evaluation trials in the identified sugar factories will be conducted for five-six years wherein 40-50 superior clones will be tested for their yield and quality potential, she added.
Dr. Sushil Solomon, Former Vice-Chancellor, C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur and Former Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (ICAR-IISR), Lucknow, said that the project , being operated in Public-Private-Partnership mode , would ensure long-term sustainability and profitability of the Indian sugar industry. The project would be operated in about 30 sugar mills in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he added.
Dr. R.Viswanathan, Director of ICAR-IISR, Lucknow mentioned that there is an urgent need to retain the farmers in sugarcane cultivation by making it more profitable and projects like these would help in this direction.
Shri. Pankaj Wadhwa, Deputy Director General, ISMA said that ISMA felt honoured to be associated with the 112-year-old ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute and hoped that it would ensure in a win-win situation for both the agencies.
Shri. Silvester Goldwin, Vice-President, South Indian Sugar Mills Association-Tamil Nadu hoped that identification of improved sugarcane varieties through this project would help the farmers as well as the sugar industry
Over 150 scientists and staff of ICAR-SBI participated in the MoU exchange ceremony.
(Source: ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore)
Like on Facebook
Subscribe on Youtube
Follow on X X
Like on instagram