In last three years, Rajasthan produced spices, Aloe Vera, olive, crop seeds and horticultural plant varieties in abundance. Now the state looks forward to a ‘juicy’ future ahead. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Kota, which came into existence in 2014-2015, develops 24 new varieties of citrus fruits today. Spread over an area of 6.8 hectare, Kota CoE has set commendable milestones in plant management and orchard development—a technology borrowed by our Israeli partners. Rajasthan is set to reap juicy citrus fruit harvests in next few months.
Oranges, lime, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, does it ring a bell? For those who don’t know, citrus fruits are tropical fruits containing citric acid in it. They’re pulpy, juicy and rich in vitamins.
About 50,000 young samplings of different citrus fruits are grafted in the state-of-the-art center at Kota. Kinnow, Clementine, Michale Daisy, Nagpur Seedless, Nagpur Mandarin and Jaffa are among 24 superior varieties of citrus fruits produced here—a fact provided by Ms. Neelkamal Darbari, Principal Secretary (Rajasthan Agriculture & Horticulture). The chief objective behind this step is to develop new varieties with the help of intensive horticulture technologies.
Why is Rajasthan Investing in Citrus Fruits?
If Mr. Vijay Pal Singh, the Director of Horticulture is to be believed, the geography and climate of Rajasthan is favorable in terms of citrus fruit production. Citrus plants survive on temperatures higher than 27°F and require limited moisture for growth. Thus, Kota’s climate is suitable for culturing citrus plants.
Today, the Kota division contributes to 98% of the total Nagpur Orange production in Rajasthan. Horticulturists are experimenting with new varieties of oranges like Daisy, Valencia and Jaffa.
Israeli Technologies have Revolutionized Agriculture, GRAM 2017 will Accelerate its Growth!!!
Rajasthan has borrowed various irrigation technologies like mulch, ridge bed and drip system for agriculture. They’ve used Israel’s broad-ranging horticultural potential for producing high-quality, disease-free plant varieties inside mechanized ‘smart farms’.
Kota Centre of Excellence has advanced facilities for plant grafting, budding and nurturing mother plants. There are separate demonstrations for primary, secondary and protected mother block/open mother block plant, root stock and inter space.
GRAM 2016—a 3-day global agritech meet held in Jaipur last year had stressed on the importance of value addition to agriculture, post-harvest, irrigation management and fertilization.
The second phase of GRAM—Kota GRAM 2017 will draw attention to agricultural potential of farmers in Kota. The main focus will be at post-harvest processing, horticulture and agro-marketing to achieve a stable, long-term income for farmers.
