ICAR Organizes Chrysanthemum Week in Pune, Maharashtra

Deputy Director General (Horticultural & Crops Sciences) ICAR, Dr. A.K. Singh inaugurated the “Chrysanthemum Week” at the Research Farm of the ICAR-Directorate of Floricultural Research in Pune. He admired the ornamental wealth that being collated by ICAR-DFR in terms of number of roses, chrysanthemum, marigold, specialty flowers, foliage ornamentals & annuals. He also examined the promising lines of Chrysanthemum (16) and Tuberose (12) that are developed by the ICAR-DFR and inquired about their novelty and utility.

Dr. Singh also reviewed the Institute’s research programmes and comprehended about the research efforts being made by the crop specific scientists.

Dr. K.V. Prasad, Director, ICAR-DFR outlined the research initiatives being taken up in terms of developing the novel Tuberose varieties that are dwarf, new media compositions for utilizing the industrial (fly ash and press mud) and agricultural waste (ground nut shells, rice husk, soybean and cotton waste) for the nursery industry in sync with the priorities of the Government of India for converting the waste-to-wealth initiative.

He also highlighted the mutation breeding work being carried out using the electron beam radiation in collaboration with the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. Dr. Prasad outlined about the nano-silver coated lining cloth for flower packing and unique bio-degradable pro-trays and pots being developed in collaboration with the ICAR-Central Institute for Research in Cotton Technology, Mumbai for reducing the footprint of plastics in the nurseries.

The Institute has been organizing the crop specific weeks in respective cropping seasons for the last 3 years to showcase the technologies to the stakeholders. With an aim to seek the valuable inputs, the stakeholders including farmers, researchers, traders, nurserymen, ICAR-Sister Institutes and academia visit the Research Farm on different days.