According to the estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture, the total requirement of planting material of fruits, coconut, cashew, black pepper, tree spices, areca nut, etc. was around 1,400 million by 2002, which has been projected as 2,000 million by 2012. This will encourage mushrooming of new nurseries, rural entrepreneurships and joint ventures.
Renewed efforts for production of quality seeds were initiated under the National Seeds Project during the VII Plan. As a result, seed production technologies for over 120 open-pollinated high yielding varieties of different vegetables have been well established in the country. The annual seed requirement for vegetable crops is expected to be more than 185 MT of Breeders’ Seed, 2,600 MT of Foundation Seed and 60,388 MT of Certified Seed.
Approximately 41MT breeders’ seed is being produced annually under NSP-vegetables. In vegetables, F1 hybrids are fast spreading, with bulk of the demand being met by private companies. Therefore, these units are required to be brought under regulation through proper certification and also there should be some mechanism to bring down the cost of hybrid seed, which is very high at present. At present only CPRI is producing breeder seed to meet the requirement of potato seed for the entire country.
A new technology for raising commercial crop of potato using 'True Potato Seed' (TPS) has been developed and standardized as supplementary technology to the traditional tuber grown crop. Three TPS populations, TPS-C-3, 92-PT-27 and HPS-I/13 have been developed and recommended for commercial production in Bihar, Gujarat, Tripura and West Bengal.
Some efforts on certified multiplication of seed in plains have also been made by the CPRI Regional Centres at Modipuram (UP), Jalandhar, Patna, etc. Micropropagation protocols have been developed in potato, banana, strawberry, pineapple, oil palm, black pepper, ginger, etc. Seed gardens of Tall (T) x Dwarf (D) and D x T hybrids have been established for production of coconut hybrids and seed gardens established for producing oil palm seeds and seedlings.
Near Self sufficiency in cashew plant multiplication by adopting soft-wood grafting has been achieved.
There is a great diversity in floriculture products consequently production and sale of both asexually and sexually grown plant material has emerged as the most important and powerful business world over. Cultivation of flowering annuals for seed production requires constant attention, in-depth knowledge, skill and specialization. In Europe, the climatic conditions during winters are unfavorable for seed production, resulting in higher cost.
Therefore, many seed companies from USA, UK, Holland, Germany and France have started their seed production in India which in turn, is getting seeds produced on contract basis from farmers in different regions having favourable climate conditions. Mostly open-pollinated cultivars have been adopted by the growers. In India, about 600–800 ha area is under seed production. Of the total production, Punjab alone contributes 45–50% area, Sangrur, Ludhiana and Patiala being major seed-producing centres. The rest is being contributed by Karnataka (Bangalore and Ranebennur), West Bengal (Kalimpong and tarai areas), Bihar (Ranchi), Maharashtra (Pune), Haryana (Panipat and Sirsa), Himachal Pradesh (Kulu Valley) and Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar Valley). The NHRDF under NAFED deals with production and supply of planting material of onion and garlic.There is a need to improve the quality of seeds and bulbs produced in India. The value of flower seeds and bulbs traded in international market is about Rs. 1.5 crores annually.
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Despite these successes there are still several gaps in availability of plant material in different horticultural crops. Hence, this sector needs total transformation to develop a network of sale points of improved varieties/hybrids/rootstocks produced both by the public
and private sectors at a reasonable cost and of assured quality.
4.10.1 Fruit Crops
Although India is the second largest producer of fruits in the world, production and productivity of different fruits is low. However, the demand of fresh fruits has consistently increased in the domestic as well as international markets. Therefore, efforts need to be made to produce more quantity of better quality fruits so as to capture the emerging national and international markets. India's farmers suffer from an aversion to fruit growing as this requires high initial investment and long gestation period. Poor quality planting material available affects the yield of fruits and thereby returns to the farmers. In the absence of Nursery Act and nursery standards, there is little control on the quality of the planting material produced. Moreover, there is an ever increasing demand for the planting materials and the existing nurseries in the public and private sector fail to meet the requirements. The success rate is also low in the absence of certified packaging standards and storage. Most of the planting material is produced on seedling stocks which gives variable performance under field conditions. The clonal stocks are not commercially produced and are also not available. All these aspects require consideration so that true to type planting material on certified rootstocks is produced in sufficient quantity. The crop-wise requirement of planting material for fruits as estimated by a modest expansion rate of 4% per annum is given in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4 Projected demand of planting material (in 000’) in fruit crops during XI Plan period
Crop 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Apple 4,990 5,188 5,395 5,610 5,834
Banana 14,83,450 15,42,788 16,04,500 16,68,680 17,35,428
Citrus 33,894 35,251 36,660 38,127 39,652
Grapes 3,900 4,056 4,218 4,388 4,563
Guava 1,403 1,459 1,517 1,578 1,641
Litchi 521 542 563 586 609
Mango 1,35,758 1,41,189 1,46,830 1,52,710 1,58,819
Papaya 20,160 20,966 21,805 22,675 23,584
Pineapple 54,54,600 56,72,760 58,99,680 61,35,660 63,81,120
Pomegranate 4,867 5,062 5,264 5,475 5,694
Sapota 2,298 2,390 2,486 2,585 2,688
Total 7,145,841 7,431,651 7,728,918 8,038,074 8,359,632
4.10.1.1 Establishing National Horticulture Nurseries
These will be the dedicated centers responsible for large-scale production and distribution of genuine quality seeds and planting material for the entire country. These nurseries will work in the not work mode as resource base for plant material. This initiative would help in meeting the requirement of planting material for bringing additional areas under improved varieties of different horticultural crops.
Infra-structure suggested to be developed at the national nurseries would include the following:
• Establishment of scion banks of genuine improved varieties/hybrids. These are to be maintained under extreme hygienic conditions with proper fencing, poly cover/ shade nets to protect the stock plants from adverse weather conditions and recommended agro-techniques. These centres would also maintain block of recommended rootstocks.
• Big size field beds for raising rootstock seedlings under net-house/ poly-house conditions.
• Grafting/budding/stooling blocks for large-scale vegetative propagation, packing and shade nets for hardening (500 m2). Developing vector proof net-houses for
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maintenance of plants. Facilities like fogging and sprinkler irrigation systems for improving success in propagation and plant survival.
• Hardening units (2,000 m2) with 50% shade net with fogging / sprinkler systems.
• Pump house and pucca channels to supply irrigation water along with high volume storage tank.
• Facilities like soil preparation machines, power driven tillers, soil sterilization system, soil mixing pits.
• (vii)These centres will multiply the main crop assigned to these along with other crops (70 % + 30% basis).
i.) Mango
These centres would be responsible for large scale production of genuine and healthy quality plant material of the released/recommended varieties in sufficient numbers. Following will be the activities of these centres:
• Maintenance of mother blocks of specific varieties for collection of scion sticks.
• Maintenance of blocks of recommended rootstocks like Muvandan, Vellaikolumban, etc. in southern states, use of H-13-1 and Kurukkan for in central and northern India.
• Large scale net house facilities for maintenance of rootstocks and grafted plants.
Table 4.5 Centers identified for establishing National Mango Nurseries are as listed hereunder
Sl. No. Centers S.No. Centers
1. CISH, Lucknow 6. IIHR, Bangalore
2. GBPUA&T, Pantnagar 7. APAU, Sangareddy/Kodur (AP) 3. IARI, Regional Station,
Karnal
8. RAU, Samastipur 4. BSKKV, Dapoli/ Vengurla 9. BCKVV, Halda 5. GAU, Paria
ii.) Grape
Most of the varieties are so far being propagated from rooted cuttings on their own roots. In recent years grafted plants on rootstocks have become popular in Karnataka and Maharashtra states. Facilities for production of grafted plants on specified root stocks need to be strengthened at NRC, Grape, Pune and IIHR, Bangalore. The different centre identified for propagation of material are listed hereunder.
Table 4.6 Centers identified for establishing national grape nurseries are as listed hereunder
Sl. No. Centers
1. a. NRC on Grapes, Pune 2. c. IIHR, Bangalore 3. d. APAU, Hyderabad iii.) Banana
Wide scale adoption of tissue culture plants, high density plantings, use of micro-irrigation and fertigation have shown significant improvements in banana yields wherever followed.
However, with use of traditional planting material, i.e. suckers there have been cases of spread of infected material causing Fusarium wilt. Following centres are identified for large-scale multiplication of superior banana genotypes through both traditional and tissue culture methods and provided with tissue culture laboratories along with hardening facilities.
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Table 4.7 Centers identified for establishing national banana nurseries Sl. No. Centers Sl. No. Centers
1. NRC on Banana, Trichy 3. UAS, Bangalore
2. MPKVV, Rahuri 4. RPRC, Bhubaneswar
iv.) Pomegranate
It is also fast emerging as a potential crop in several states. As a result, quality pomegranate is also being exported to different countries. Hence, keeping in view the potential expansion of area under this crop there is a need to establish at least two national nurseries in the country.
Table 4.8 Centers identified for establishing national pomegranate nurseries Sl. No. Centres
1. MPKVV, Rahuri
2. UAS, Bangalore v.) Litchi
Following centers can be identified for undertaking large scale production of air-layers and grafts of recommended varieties.
Table 4.9 Centers identified for establishing national litchi nurseries Sl. No. Centers
1. RAU, Samastipur
2. GBPUA&T, Pantnagar
3. HARP, Ranchi
vi.) Guava
Following centers are proposed for large scale production of quality guava plants.
Table 4.10 Centers identified for establishing national guava nurseries Sl. No. Centers
1. RAU, Samastipur 2. MPKVV, Rahuri
3. CISH, Lucknow
vii.) Walnut
This is one of the most potential crops for growing in higher hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Sikkim. The following two locations are suggested for rational nursery.
Table 4.11 Centers identified for establishing national walnut nurseries Sl. No. Centers
1. SKUAS&T, Srinagar
2. YSP UH&F, Solan (H.P.) or any other place viii.) Apple
Different delicious group cultivars are very popular in India but there is a dearth of standardized rootstocks for different intended use, i.e. establishment of HDP, Wooly aphid resistance, drought tolerance etc. Hence, it is felt that different rootstocks which are recommended should be made available in large numbers and grafted with improved varieties and then supplied to the growers of the region. Therefore, the focus during the XI plan would be to support centres in temperate region creating facilities for large-scale multiplication of different recommended clonal rootstocks and grafting. Following centres can
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be supported during the plan period.
Table 4.12 Centres identified for establishing national apple nurseries Sl. No. Centres
1. SKUAS&T, Srinagar 2. YSP UH&F, Solan (H.P.) 3. HETC, Chaubattia (Uttrakhand) ix.) Papaya
At present, it is the most popular fruit among the health conscious urban populace. However, due to paucity of pure seeds, spurious seeds, random varieties mostly of poor quality are dominating the markets. In recent years some varieties from abroad are gaining popularity.
Many private seed producers are in the market, which do not follow proper isolation norms or the proper seed production systems by sib mating or selfing in dioecious and gynodioecious varieties. Even the seed produced under the public institutions like NSC, ICAR institutes, SAUs etc. are inadequate. Hence, it is proposed that high quality seeds after proper certification be imported from Taiwan to meet the demand for seed and seedlings. For quality seed production and multiphase of indigenous varieties can continue at various centers of their developed following centres be entrusted.
Table 4.13 Centres identified for establishing national papaya nurseries
Sl. No. Centres Sl.
No.
Centres
1. IARI, RS Pusa, Samastipur 3. TNAU, Coimabatore
2. CHES, Chettali 4. BAU, Ranchi
x.) Passion fruit
It has emerged as a highly remunerative crops for the NE states and is fast gaining popularity. Many farmers are using seedlings which should be discouraged and vegetative propagation should be employed for making available the planting material. ICAR Complex for NE Region, Meghalaya can be engaged in multiplication of plant material in large number with a proper budgetery support.
xi.) Kiwifruit
There is an increasing demand for plant material in Kiwi fruit in Mid and Lower hills of the Himalayan states. Hence, YSP University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan may be entrusted to establish the national nursery in Kiwifruit. Necessary financial support for this may be provided during the XI plan.
xii.) Ber
Genuine planting material of ber is mainly supplied by private nurseries in Rajasthan and Haryana but still there is dearth. There is no proper source to obtain material of high yielding genotypes. Following centres are therefore recommended for propagation of ber genotypes in large numbers.
Table 4.14 Centres identified for establishing national ber nurseries Sl. No. Centres
1. CAZRI, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 2. HAU, Hisar, Haryana
4.10.1.2 Establishing Regional Fruit Nurseries
The regional nurseries are proposed to be set at other SAUs centres, which would be on the pattern of the above National Nurseries. These nurseries should act as Model nurseries with
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