- As many as 24 new varieties of oranges and citrus fruits are being developed at the Centre of Excellence for Citrus Fruits at Nanta near Kota in Rajasthan.
- The project, launched in 2014-15, has helped graft nearly 50,000 plants every year.
- The prominent varieties of citrus fruits developed at the centre are Clementine, Michale Daisy, Kinnow, Nagpur Mandarin, Nagpur Seedless and Jaffa.
- Spread over 6.8 hectares, the state-of-the-art centre also supplies fruits for export.
- The technology adopted at the centre, such as mulch, drip and ridge bed system for irrigation, is based on Israeli scientific inputs.
Also Read: Indian Agriculture- Problems and Reforms Needed
Irrigation management
- The centre has largely achieved its objective of producing disease- free and high- quality planting material.
- In addition to promotion of mechanization in orchard operations, the centre aims at spreading awareness about post- harvest and value addition technology and developing irrigation management techniques.
- The potential of post- harvest processing projects would be explored by investors at the Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM) beginning in Kota on May 24th, 2017.
- At the event, the centre is likely to draw attention to its services to the region’s citrus fruit industry.
- The Agriculture Department is considering marketing the centre’s produce as “ Raj Santara”.
Read in Hindi: कोटा केंद्र में 24 प्रकार के खट्टे फलों का उत्पादन किया गया
- Since the Jhalawar district in Kota is the largest producer of oranges in the State, there was an immense scope for packaging and branding operations of locally sourced fruits.
- The centre has a primary nursery for plant grafting, a second nursery for budding, a protected mother block for nurturing mother plants.
