ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore has been organizing a series of events to mark World Soil Day 2024 on the theme “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage”. As part of the celebrations, a World Soil Day lecture was organized on 29 November 2024 in hybrid mode, at the Institute.
Dr G. Byju, Director, ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram delivered the WSD lecture on “Role of Plant Nutrition in Food Security – Achievements, Aspirations and Action Plan”. His lecture traced the history of usage of plant nutrients and fertilizers in general, and the role of chemical fertilizers in green revolution in meeting the food demand of ever-increasing population, in particular. Dr Byju called upon the researchers for concerted efforts on increasing the nutrient use efficiency and to develop location- specific responsible plant nutrition strategies.
Dr P. Govindaraj, Director, ICAR-SBI in his Presidential address, emphasized on sustainable soil management which is the key to achieve food security, ecosystem sustainability and human wellbeing. Earlier, Dr. C. Palaniswami, Principal Scientist, welcomed the gathering. The programme ended with Vote of thanks by Dr K.Kannan, Head, Crop Production Division, ICAR-SBI. Scientists & staff of the Institute and students of agricultural colleges had attended.
#WorldSoilDay #agrigoi #soilhealth #farmers #Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR-CTCRI ABI Tuber Crops Business IncubatorICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore, is organizing a series of events to celebrate World Soil Day 2024 on the theme “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage”. In this connection, an awareness camp was organized on 03rd December 2024 for the Second year B.Sc (Agri) students of Nalanda College of Agriculture, Tiruchirappalli. Dr V Kasthuri Thilagam, Senior Scientist (Soil Science), elaborated on the history and importance of celebrating World Soil Day. She also explained the World Soil Day – 2024 theme and the role of youth in maintaining soil health. She also described various sustainable soil health management practices for increased sugarcane production at the Institute Museum. Totally 54 students and 3 staff of the Nalanda College of Agriculture, Tiruchirappalli participated in the awareness programme.
ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore, is organizing a series of events to celebrate World Soil Day 2024 on the theme “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage”.An awareness camp was organized at Kumaraguru Institute of Agriculture, Erode (dt) to create awareness among the youth and students. Dr V Kasthuri Thilagam, Senior Scientist (Soil Science) briefed on the origin and importance of World Soil Day celebrations. She also explained this year’s World Soil Day theme to the students. An essay competition was conducted for students as a part of the celebration. The First and Second year B.SC (Agri) students actively participated in the competition. The competition was conducted in both Tamil and English. Dr. S. Hemalatha, The principal In-charge and the staff conducted the competition. The first three winners will be given certificates and mementoes by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore, during the World Soil Day celebrations on 5th December 2024.
ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, organised a field day for the newly released sugarcane variety, ‘Co 14012,’ today in Mathur village, Anthiyur, Erode, in collaboration with Sakthi Sugars Ltd., Appakudal.
The event began with a tour of the Frontline Demonstration (FLD) plot of ‘Co 14012’ at Shri T. Thirukumaran’s farm. Sakthi Sugars Ltd. also showcased new cane varieties and related inputs during the event.
Dr P. Govindaraj, Director, ICAR-SBI, outlined the challenges facing the sugarcane industry, such as declining cultivation areas, underutilized factory capacities, and stagnant farmer incomes. He stressed that for sugarcane farming to remain profitable, farmers need to achieve a yield of at least 70 tonnes per acre. Dr Govindaraj expressed optimism that ‘Co 14012’ would serve as a viable alternative to the older variety, Co 86032, which was released in 2000. He also distributed Co 14012 seed material to all attendees.
Shri V. Thiruvengadam, Vice-President, Sakthi Sugars Ltd., urged the need for developing versatile cane varieties suited to local conditions to boost farmers’ incomes.
A total of 80 farmers and officials from ICAR-SBI, Sakthi Sugars Ltd., and the Agriculture Department attended the programme.
The ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI) in Coimbatore organized a workshop on ‘Management of Crown Mealy Bugand Pokkah boeng in Sugarcane’ on November 12, 2024. The event, held in collaboration with the Society for Sugarcane Research &Development (SSRD), The workshop was prompted by the increasing reports of Crown Mealy Bug (CMB) and Pokkah Boeng (PB) incidences in sugarcane across several districts of Tamil Nadu. It was specifically designed to benefit sugarcane development personnel from districts including Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri, and Erode. Dr. P. Govindaraj, Director of ICAR-SBI, in his presidential address, expressed concern over the declining cane area in the state and highlighted the challenges faced by sugarcane farmers. He noted that there had been no significant increase in the net income of sugarcane farmers in Tamil Nadu for over 15 years, and that the recent CMB and PB incidences could further discourage farmers from sugarcane cultivation. The Chief Guest of the Inaugural function, M. Silvester Goldwin, President, SISMA-TN (South Indian Sugar Mills Association, Tamil Nādu) & Whole-time Director, Kothari Sugars and Chemicals Ltd., released publications on managing Pokkah boeng and Crown Mealybug and delivered the Inaugural address. In his address, Silvester highlighted the plight of sugar sector in the state of Tamil Nadu since 2018. The area and production of sugarcane in the state has been witnessing a declining trend since 2018. With low capacity utilization of factories, sugar production has also been reduced drastically in the recent years. Those factories in the Central and Coastal parts of Tamil Nadu have been severely affected by CMB/PB incidence, he added. Lauding ICAR-SBI for organizing the workshop in this juncture, Shri Silvester hoped that the Workshop would come out with fool-proof solutions for managing them. Earlier, while welcoming the gathering, Dr. D. Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist, mentioned that 65 cane development personnel belonging to private sugar factories viz., EID Parry (I) ltd., Kothari Sugars & Chemicals Ltd., Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars (VV Sugars),
Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Ltd., Dharani Sugars & Chemicals, ShriAmbiga Sugars, Ponni Sugars, Bannari Amman Sugars, Sakthi SugarsLtd., Thiru Arooran Sugars, and public sector/ Cooperative Sugar factories viz., Chengalrayan Co-op Sugar Mills, MRK Co-op Sugar Mills,
Kallakurichi 2 Co-op Sugar Mills, Kallakurichi -1 Co-op Sugar Mills, Perambalur Sugars Ltd., Salem Co-op Sugar Mills, Arignar Anna SugarsLtd., Subramaniya Siva Co-op Sugar Mills Ltd, and Dharmapuri District Co-op Sugar Mills are participating in the workshop. During the Technical session that followed, Dr. T. Ramasubramanian spoke on ‘Crown mealy bug in sugarcane farming and its management, Dr. R. Selvakumar, spoke on ‘Managing Pokkah boeng in sugarcanefarming’, Dr. R. M. Shanthi spoke on ‘Varieties for managing biotic stresses’, while Dr. P. Malathi spoke on ‘Using Sett Treatment Devices for effective disease management’. Dr. A Ramesh Sundar and Dr. B.Singaravelu co-ordinated this session. This was followed by an Interactive session, wherein the cane development personnel clarified their doubts on pests and diseases. Following this, Dr. P. Govindaraj, Director, ICAR-SBI in his concluding remarks, read out the recommendations of the workshop, for effective management of Crown Mealybug and Pokkah boeng. Dr. A Ramesh Sundar, Head, Crop Protection, ICAR-SBI proposed a formal vote of thanks towards the end.
