Trichy: Post-harvest value-addition with modern market technologies is the only way to enhance banana export potential and to triple farmers’ income, said A K Singh, deputy director general (horticulture science), Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), New Delhi. While addressing the 28th Foundation Day of the National Research Center for Banana (NRCB) Trichy, he stressed on taking the banana cultivation to next level by including the latest technologies.
Chief guest at the event, S K Malhotra, agriculture commissioner, government of India, said that the banana has nutritional importance for human health and there is a need to increase the banana export potential by promoting the ‘Cluster approach’.
“Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat, the importance of branding has been gaining momentum for all the products besides the ‘One district one product’ (ODOP) programme. The development of small and medium-scale industries is also being given importance. Trichy and Theni districts were covered under ODOP for banana development. Further, tissue culture plants were promoted for uniform growth and development to attract lucrative prices in the export market in banana cultivation,” he added.
S Uma, director of NRCB, in her presidential address, said that the institute brought a change in banana cultivation by introducing banana improvement, production, protection and post-harvest technologies.
Source:thetimesofindia.com