Golden Jubilee Sugarcane R&D Workshop of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry organized

23^rd October 2019, Coimbatore

Shri M.C. Sampath, Minister for Industries, Government of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the “Golden Jubilee Sugarcane R&D Workshop of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry” today.

Releasing the “Compendium of Research Articles & Status Papers”, Shri Sampath applauded the ICAR- SBI for developing the Co 11015, a promising high-sucrose variety suitable for Tamil Nadu. The Minister opined that the variety will be helpful in improving the sugar recovery in the state.

Workshop_Compendium_release Varietal_exhibition_Director_SBI

Shri Doraikannu, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu briefed about the measures taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu for the sugarcane farmers of the state. He also highlighted the PMFBY’s (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’s) benefits for the sugarcane farmers.

Smt. Reeta Harish Thakkar, I.A.S., Commissioner of Sugar, Government of Tamil Nadu & Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Sugar Corporation (TASCO) Public-Sector and Co-Operative Sugar Mills’ efforts in multiplying the seed material of the newly released variety - Co 11015.

Dr. Bakshi Ram, Director, ICAR-SBI emphasized on the various challenges being faced by the Sugarcane Agriculture in Tamil Nadu for the past 5 to 6 Years. He stated that the Sugar production in the state is expected to be around 7.5 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 Season as against 8.60 lakh tonnes which is expected to be produced in the 2018-19 Season. The Co 11015, which has been identified for commercial cultivation in the state, has been found to be capable of accumulating high sugar content by 240 days, steadily increasing to 360 days.

TN_Industries_Minister_speaks Director_ICAR_SBI_speaks

He mentioned that the cultivation of such promising varieties would go a long way in improving the sugar production of Tamil Nadu which has been seeing a sharp decline in the last few years compared to the other sugar producing states.

Around 300 Delegates comprising Scientists from various ICAR Institutes and Government of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry participated in the Workshop.

(Source: ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore)