Articles – Page 3 – Abhinava Krishi

Posted on 19 January, 202119 January, 2021 by

Facilitating Rural Farmers through Perishable Cargo Centre: An initiative by ITC

***Pic #1.Tomatoes and Capsicum stored inside Perishable Cargo Centre at Varanasi,UP.***

INTRODUCTION

In India Agriculture and allied sector is the largest source of livelihoods. 70 percent of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. The rural communities lack electricity and thus face serious problems of storage and preservation during harvesting periods, particularly, at seasons of increased yields. Huge losses can result from poor storage of fruits and vegetables. The level of losses depends on the storage structure, method of storage and the storage environment. Due to the high perishable nature about 35% of fruits and vegetables are lost their fresh forms in storage in the rural areas.

Importance of fruits and vegetables in human diet is well recognized. Man can’t live on cereals. Fruit and vegetables are essential for balance diet and good health. Nutritionists advocate 90 g of fruits and 360 g vegetable per capita per day in addition to cereals, pulse, egg etc. Fruits and vegetable are good source of vitamins and minerals without which human body cannot maintain proper health and develop resistance to disease. They also contain pectin, cellulose which stimulates intestinal activities and energy giving substances like oils, fats, and proteins. Many fruits have medical purpose. Proper food storage helps maintain food quality by retaining flavor, color, texture and nutrients, while reducing the chance of contracting a food-borne illness.

What is the Problem:

Poor storage of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables by the rural farmers have resulted in huge losses due to lack of knowledge of useful information on the methods of preservation and storing these perishable agricultural produce. It is astonishing that the losses in fruits and vegetables have been quantified as 30-35% accounting for an economic drain of Rs 2.40 lakh crore annually.

Fruits and Vegetables Losses among the major producing state:

Rank	State	Total Loss (Rs. Crore)
1	Maharashtra	10100
2	Andhra Pradesh	5633
3	Tamil Nadu	8170
4	Gujarat	11398
5	Karnataka	7415
6	Uttar Pradesh	10312
7	Bihar	10744
8	Madhya Pradesh	5332
9	West Bengal	13657
	All India	212552

#Source : ASSOCHAM Report, May,

Present status of India’s cold chain storage sector:

As per available information, there are 8186 number of cold storages with capacity of 374.25 Lakh MT is available in the country for storing perishable horticulture produce like fruits and vegetables. In their report on cold storage infrastructure in India, Emerson Climate Technologies estimate that in 2012, 6300 cold storage facilities were installed in India with a total space of 30.11 million metric tons. The report further notes that this number is required to double if current levels of food wastages are not to increase further. Also intra-country differences with regards to cold storage capacity stand out: 60%, i.e. 10.187 metric tons, of cold storage space is located in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab alone.

Whereas the disparity between supply and demand for cold storage is at 20% in Uttar Pradesh, this gap amounts to staggering 97% in Tamil Nadu, where in 2010 merely 0.0239 million metric tons of cold storage had been installed. The National Horticulture Board estimates that investments in the dimension of about INR 550.74 billion till 2015/16 are required to keep up with growing vegetable and fruit production of vegetables. Currently, 95% of total cold storage capacity in India is in the hand of private players. Due to the ubiquitous lack of cold storage, small-scale farmers are eager to sell their produce as close as possible after the time of harvest since the market value of vegetables decreases by 25% to 40% daily. A report by the World bank states that 10% of this loss occurs in farmer’s markets driving down prices in times of excess supply and in the worst case leads to price crashes resulting in prices that do neither cover production, harvesting or transportation cost.

Perishable Cargo Centre by ITC : A gift to the rural farmers of India

The Perishable Cargo Centre initiative by ITC for availing cold storage facility is a wonderful gift for farmers who can store their extra produce and can sell any time when they get good prices for their commodity. By the help of cold storage farmers can avoid the losses and get higher net return by selling their produce in the market .

Advantage of Perishable Cargo Centre : Storage of fresh vegetables

Fresh leafy vegetables can be kept fresh in storage for 4-6 days when sprinkled with water and covered with polythene sheet. In cool weather, the root of the fresh leafy vegetables were cut off and washed off with clean water. Test conducted with fresh tomatoes reveals that the system could store tomatoes for 25 days at average temperature and relative humidity between 14-20°C and 82-98% respectively. The cooling efficiency achieved with the storage system ranges between 93-98% and a temperature drop of 8^oC below ambient was achieved.

How Farmer’s are getting higher return through availing the benifit from Perishable Cargo Centre

A flower grower from Varanasi named as Sri Amit Singh Patel(50) who used to grow marigold he stored his flowers for 1 week in diwali and sold his flowers on diwali date. Normally he was selling his one garland of marigold in 7-8 rupees. But on diwali day he sold the same garland in 25-30 rupees and earned upto 17 rupees extra on an average. In another case one more farmer who stored his pea in cold store when it was 10 Rs /kg which was the price before one week where as after one week he was able to sold the same pea at 17 Rs / kg.

Conclusion:

Our farmers of different parts of India mostly produce specific kinds of vegetables in bulk at shot time and mostly suffers from its distress sell due to lack of storage facility. From the above case studies it was found that the Perishable Cargo Centre by ITC is helping our farmers by solving the major issue of preventing the distress sell .

Rishi Kant Yadav

mob:9793064466

Center Incharge (Perishable Cargo Center – ITC, Varanasi,UP)

M.Sc.(Vegetable Science) Horticulture,

SHUATS, Allahabad, India

Posted on 20 November, 202022 November, 2020 by

Different Processed Food Products from Palmyrah Palm :A fruit tree with high genetic diversity

***Pic.1# A view of Palmyrah Palm Tree***

Palmyrah (Borassus flavallifer) palm is perhaps the most under-utilized and backline fruit among those belonging to the ‘Palm family’. The fruit is abundantly available in the country side areas but couldn’t sustain in the regular fruit markets, unlike the other fruits of the family palmae such as the coconut, arecanut, date palm, etc. Palmyrah palm, popularly known as “Toddy palm” is a drupe containing 2n =36 number of chromosome. The toddy palm fruits are formed in regular clusters developed into big roundish balls, weighing about an average weight of 2 kg. The trees are exceptionally taller which creates hindrance to the manual harvesters and also blemishes the senescent fruits dropped from the plants. Usually the people dwelling in tribal localities or semi-urban areas exploit great privileges out from the palm products frequently throughout the year for domestic consumption as well as small sales.

The palm fruit has a fascinating characteristic of having acquired multiple edible forms of the fruit with correspondence to its developing stages. All of them are uniquely palatable and differ in both physical forms and textures from one another. Apart from the raw consumption, Palmyrah fruit is a huge contributor of extensively prepared sugar-based products such as Neera (a delicious drink), palm jaggery, palm sugar, palm candy, etc., which are exceptionally sweet in taste with distinct flavors.

***Pic.2# (A fully Mature and Ripened Fruit of Palmyrah Palm,Deogarh,Odisha)***

At tender stage, toddy palm fruits are light green in color and shiny from the periphery. The fruit exocarp gradually turns black as it ripens with its stalk end covered with yellowish green caps of about 5 to 8 in numbers. The unripe matured fruits, if cut into halves, the translucent jelly-like lobes filled inside sockets, usually three in number in a single fruit is revealed. These are nothing but the developed embryo and endosperms of the fruit which is composed of nearly 80% water along with sugar and some vital mineral compounds. This is perhaps the reason behind the fruit acquired the name of “Ice- apple” in many regions. The succulent locules are covered with a thin layer of white testa that should be removed off while consuming or else it imparts a bitter taste to the fruit. In course of development of the fruit, the icy succulent locules acquire a milky white cork-like spongy texture. However, the size of the locules is retained even after the development. A hard woody endocarp is formed at this stage that surrounds the succulent parts that are consumed at the last stage.

Moreover, the mesocarp of the fruit gets filled with thick juicy golden yellow sap having distinct flavor and aroma, thus rendering the fruit to have attained its utmost maturity. There is a simultaneous conversion of the epicarp or rind from light green to orange and eventually into dark brown or black colour. This is the significant stage where toddy palm encounters the highest exploitation and preferably it is so called as well. Most often, the ripen fruits are not harvested and left for senescence. The villagers believe that the fruit imparts better taste when drops naturally. The statement being a myth is refuted by the fact that the fruit must have obtained cent percent assured maturity along with highest sugar and pulp with maximum softness after its natural falling.

***Pic.3# Palm Batter prepared from Ripened Fruit Pulp mix with Rice.***

Unfortunately, the fully ripened fruits generally get ruptured on striking the ground from a larger height. However, these are later on picked up randomly by the local people and carried to their homes for pulp extraction. In fact, this is actually the material that the consumers awaited for. Irrespective of its demand in the urban markets, the toddy pulp seems to be no less worthy than a gold fluid to the local regular exploiters. Therefore, the golden pulp from toddy, after extraction from its bulky fibres is probably utilized in various ways. A large portion of the pulp is cooked for the manufacture of jaggery and sugar crystals and the rest is used in preparation of home-made stuffs like buns, cakes and sweets along with rice-flour or corn-flour as supplements. Due to high sugar content in the fruit pulp itself, usually lesser amounts of the same is involved from external source during the process of preparation. Popular food recipes of cakes, locally called as “Pitha” are prepared out of toddy palm pulp, made into a batter along with the use of grated coconut stuffing followed by steaming or deep frying.

**Pic.4# Different kinds of Pitha prepared from Pulp of Palmyrah Palm (Ripened Fruit Pulp)**

Right after extraction of the pulp, the hard kernels i.e. the woody endocarps with a blanket of ciliary fibers is left out which is usually washed and sun-dried for about 15 to 25 days rather than being disposed of. Interestingly, this kernel holds in the soft endosperm which is prominently observed when the hard kernel is spitted into halves after the excessive moisture is lost out. This again turns out to be another edible matter which can be assumed as the non-emerged sprouts of the seed and is also considered as the store house of large number of vital nutrients. The soft corky texture, along with milky white color and sweet pleasant taste makes it a perfect choice for fruit lovers. This palm endosperm is an essential component of fruit salads and custards.

*Pic.4#Edible soft endosperm inside hard Kernels*(Jajpur, Odisha)

Palmyrah palm is perhaps the only fruit having more number of processed food recipes made out of it in comparision to its direct consumption. Existence of the strong flavor and aroma makes the fruit inelegant for direct consumption. However, sweet lovers can resist with few slices of it. Although, facts pertaining to the stages and forms of consumption of the fruit are usually observed to be non-descriptive in texts and encyclopedias, it is as significant as other aspects of it, for the reason being it carries vast comprehensive touches on the peculiar stages of development, their broad utility and consumers’ acceptance of the fruit.

Bimal Prabhat Dash

Master in Horticulture, Fruit Science

bimaldash.ar@gmail.com

Posted on 14 November, 202019 November, 2020 by

Black Rice: The New Age Super Food

pic.1# Black rice Manipuri Cha Khao

In late 90s after the invention of genetically modified (GM) crops people have a craze towards the use of GM crops. But very soon due to certain demerits of GM crops, organic farming is again trending in 21^st century. Now-a-days people are in search of high nutritional and chemical free food. One of the best example of organic food is black rice, a type of the rice species Oryza sativa L. which is black in colour, glutinous, packed with high level of nutrients and mainly cultivated in Asia. As we all know rice is a staple food of many developing countries.

About half of the world population consumes white rice as their major source of carbohydrate, but what if we replace this white rice with black rice which is not only a good source of carbohydrate but also rich in some essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidant. Many of us gets confused when it comes to comparison of two healthy foods but it can be done easily with biochemical analysis.

COMPARISON OF BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS BETWEEN A BLACK RICE VARIETY AND A WHITE RICE VARIETY :

Control rice variety – Kusumkali ( white rice var.)

Test rice variety – Manipuri Cha-Khao (A black rice var.)

Kusumkali is an indigenous white rice variety of Western Odisha. It is a high yielding as well as having medium rice grain, glutinous in nature.

***pic.2# KusumKali(Popular Indigenous white rice var. of Western Odisha)***

Manipuri Cha-Khao is a very popular black rice variety cultivated in all the states of North East India and also in some parts of Western Odisha. It is an indigenous black rice variety of Manipur and has recently got GI tag (GI Reg. No. 602) in 2020 due to it’s unique color and aroma (1).

Unharmed seeds of both Kusumkali and Manipuri Cha-Khao are collected from Badturang (21º27ʹ27.4ʺN 84º9ʹ14.2ʺE) village of Padiabahal ,Sambalpur, Odisha. Some samples of both rice varieties were taken and nutritional values like sugar, starch, protein, anthocyanin and flavonoids are measured.

Results:

PARAMETERS	Kusumkali (White Rice)	Manipuri Cha-Khao( Black rice)
Starch (mg/g)	290.1	408.7
Sugar (mg/g)	161.7	208.3
Protein (mg/g)	17.14	51.55
Anthocyanin (µg/g)	16.5	50
Flavonoid (µg/g)	20.1	97

Table.1.Comparative data of various biochemical parameters between Kusumkali(Normal White Rice) and Manipuri Cha-Khao(Black Rice)

CONCLUSION:

Rice is a staple food because it is easily cultivated and gives higher energy as compare to any other food, Manipuri Cha-khao contains high amount of carbohydrate which makes it a good source of energy, high Protein content which can make this food as a cheap and reliable source to replace animal protein, it also contains higher amount of anti-oxidants like anthocyanin and flavonoids compare to Kusumkali which provides protective mechanism to our body from Reactive oxygen species (ROS), free radicals and thus prevents any modification on cellular metabolism as well as premature cell death. People these days who are searching for good quality organic food to add in their diet must try Manipuri Cha-Khao(Black Rice) and take advantage of its nutritional as well as medicinal values.

(The Manipuri Cha-Khao Black Rice is available at our Farm (Bolangir,Odisha), People can order online from our Product section of this site)

Aliza Priyadarshini

Msc(Botany)

Sambalpur University, Burla ,Sambalpur.

email@ priyadarshinialija@gmail.com

Posted on 29 October, 202014 November, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Strawberry cultivation for the farmers of Odisha and Chattishgarh

**pic.#1 Strawberry cultivation using black polythene mulching.**

Strawberry (Fragaria annanasa Dutch) is an important temperate as well as sub-tropical fruit crop and can be commercially grown in states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh with subtropical climatic condition. The fresh ripe fruits of strawberry with 98% edible portion are rich source of Vitamin C and iron making it a very nutritious fruit. Apart from fresh consumption, these fruits can also be processed into various value-added products like canned strawberry, jam, jelly, ice-cream, wine and other soft drinks. Due to its increasing demand in urban India, its potential area of cultivation is on a hike in plains and southern hills of India. In India it is mostly grown in Haryana, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar. As per NHB data 2016-17, Haryana is having highest area and production of strawberry cultivation in India followed by Mizoram and Meghalaya. But Odisha and Chhattisgarh are the states having great potential for growing such an export oriented and high value fruit crop provided by proper scientific package and practices which are given below. All parts of these two states mostly hilly areas of Odisha (Kandhamal, Koraput, Eastern ghats and other hills) and Chhattisgarh (Ambikapur, Bastar) are very much suitable for cultivation of strawberry.

PACKAGE AND PRACTICES

Climate and Soil:

A temperate to sub-tropical climate is suitable for strawberry cultivation, requiring a temperature range of 15-25^oC for better growth of the plants. Although strawberry grows well under temperate climate but some cultivars are also suitable for growing under sub-tropical climate. Daylight period of 12 hr or less and moderate temperature are important for flower-bud formation. Sandy loam soil with a pH range of 5.7-6.5 is suitable for this cultivation.

Suitable varieties:

Winter Down and Cheema Rosa is the most suitable cultivar of strawberry under the agroclimatic conditions of Odisha and Chattisgarh where as other varieties such as Fortuna, Florida Beauty, Festival, , Sweet Charlie, Sweet Sensation, R-1, R-2, Nabila are some of the suitable varieties can be grown in Odisha and Chhattisgarh under both open field as well as protected cultivation.

Planting material:

Strawberry is commercially propagated by runner plants. For large scale cultivation tissue culture plants can be used. Planting material requirement of strawberry is 20-25 thousands per acre.

Land preparation and Planting:

Soil is ploughed repeatedly during summer to make soil friable followed by removal of weeds and stubbles. Soil fumigation with a mixture of methyl bromide and chloropicrin helps to increase root system, reduce fertilizer requirement and control the weeds. In the climate of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, its commercial cultivation is done in the month of September to March in the open field condition, whereas inside the protected structure it can be grown round the year except from April to July. Within this period, crop can be harvested 5-6 times.

A spacing of 30 cm x 60 cm or 30 cm x 30 cm with a population of 20,000 to 22,000 plants per acre can be adopted. Planting can be done in two rows or three rows on a 1 m wide, 30-35cm raised bed with 90-120 cm spacing between beds. The raised beds are fitted with drip lines for irrigation and covered with polythene or straw mulch. Mulching is very much essential as it conserves the soil moisture, prevents any weed growth ultimately reducing labour cost for weeding and prevents the fruits from touching the ground and getting damaged.

Irrigation and Fertiliser dose:

Strawberry being a shallow-rooted plant requires more frequent but less amount of water in irrigation. Excessive irrigation can lead to growth of leaves and stolon at the expense of fruits & flowers and also increases the incidence of Botrytis rot.

A fertilizer dose of 25-50 tonnes farmyard manure, 75-100 kg N, 40-120 kg P₂O₅ and 40-80 kg K₂O per ha can be applied according to soil type and variety planted.

Flowering and Fruiting:

Flowering occurs at 40-60 days after planting. Gibberellic acid (GA) @ 30-50 mgL^-1 is sprayed 4 days after flowering along with Malic hydrazide@ 0.01-0.03% during flowering for better fruit growth and increase in yield by 31-41%. Morphactin@ 50 mgL^-1 increases the fruit size. Fruiting comes after 60-70 days of planting and takes about 20-22 days for physiological maturity. Albinism (lack of fruit colour during ripening) is a physiological disorder in strawberry where fruits remain irregularly pink or even totally white and sometimes swollen, less firm having acid taste. This is very rare in this climatic condition.

Harvesting and Yield:

Strawberries are generally harvested at a stage of >75% skin colour change (for distant market) and 90% colour change (for local market) from apex to the base of the fruit. Picking is done along with the stalk 1-2 inches from the calyx and collected in small trays or baskets usually in the early morning hours on every second or third day. Fruits should be kept in a shady place to avoid damage due to excessive heat in the open field and pre-cooled at 4^oC within 2 hr of harvesting. After pre-cooling they can be shipped in refrigerated vans for storage or to distant market. Fresh fruits can be stored in cold storage at 0-2^oC and up to 7 days. 90-95% optimum humidity is maintained to prevent water loss and avoid shrivelling. Don’t wash the berries until just before eating or preserving. Average fruit yield is 700-1000 g per plant.

Marketing:

The fruits can be sold in local as well as national and international market in a profitable price. Fruits are washed properly and graded as per their weight, size and colour. For long distance markets fruits are packed in small plastic packets of 200-300g capacity. These fruits generally fetch a market price of Rs. 150-200 per kg in Indian markets.

We offer support in providing planting materials and marketing of the produce except any logistic supports. This is prepared after thorough analysis of research data from different research scholars of India.

References:

https://www.abhinavakrishi.com/blog/2020/04/04/strawberry-farming-in-western-odisha-a-highly-remunerative-crop-for-small-and-marginal-farmers/
http://nhb.gov.in/report_files/strawberry/STRAWBERRY.htm
Harris L J and Mitcham E. 2007. Strawberries: Safe Methods to Store, Preserve and Enjoy, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu

Sonalisa Behera

M.Sc. in Fruit Science

Contact:

Mail Id- contact@abhinavakrishi.com

Contact No-8457887721

Website-www.abhinavakrishi.com

Posted on 28 October, 202017 November, 2020 by

Indigenous black rice (Manipuri Cha-Khao) cultivation in India.

**pic 1.#Black rice (Manipuri Cha Khao) cultivation at Deogaon, Bolangir, Odisha**.

Health and purity are the two basic food needs of the current urban as well as rural life in this pandemic era. India is the home of many indigenous, very much healthy and organically grown food crops. Whenever people search for a food with these qualities they always choose something indigenous in origin and organic in production. While looking at the rice, one of the staple foods of India, the famous black scented rice of Manipur has come out as a very good option for being nutritious and organic. This Indian Black rice cultivar of Manipur, locally known as Cha-Khao (Oryza sativa L.) has recently got the GI tag (GI Reg. No. 602) in 2020, due to its unique aroma and attractive colour. This is a very popular black rice variety cultivated in all the states of North East India and constitutes around 10% of Manipur’s total rice production. Now-a-days this variety is also grown organically by the farmers of Western Odisha. The origin of Cha-Khao in Manipur is believed to be linked with the first Manipur inhabitants, may be the Meiteis or the Buddhist monks in 400 BC. Cha-Khao Poireiton and Cha-Khao Amubi are the two main types of this rice cultivar.

**pic 2.# Black rice after milling using rubber seller at our farm location (Bolangir,Odisha)**

The dark purple coloured outer bran layer and the unique aroma are the distinct characteristic features of Cha-Khao while being cultivated in the soil of Manipur over centuries. As the high-yielding variety of this black scented rice seeds got introduced, this could emerge as a gluten-free super food rich in fibre, vitamins and antioxidants. It owes an attractive colour due to a natural black colouring pigment called anthocyanin, which adds an excellent anti-oxidant quality and other health benefits to this rice variety. In addition to reduction of inflammation level in the body it also prevent and manage the problems like atherosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, arthritis, allergies, aging signs and even cancer.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE (per 100 g)

Total crude protein	12.15%
Total carbohydrate	72.43%
Amylose	8.27%
Total fat	4.8%
Ash	1.57%
Curde fibre	0.71%

pic.3#Normal rice having 5-6% protein where as black rice having richest source of protein(10-12%) among all other rice varieties.

MINERALS

Calcium	24.06 mg
Magnesium	58.46 mg
Manganese	1.03 mg
Copper	4.30 mg
Cobalt	0.43 mg
Iron	23.34 mg
Total anthocyanin (Cyanidin 3-glucoside)	69.2-74.0 mg
Total phenolic (Gallic acid equivalent)	500 and 577 mg

pic.4# it contains essential mineral nutrients and its also rich in iron, calcium and magnesium and antioxidants like anthocyanin which acts as protector against different diseases.

USES AND PROCESSING OPPORTUNITIES:

Cha-khao is consumed mainly after being cooked as rice or kheer. In Manipur, it is served during communal feasts and ceremonies as Cha-Khao kheer. Some value added products that can be prepared are powder rice, suji (flour), syrup, chocolate, beer, wine, cake, bread, flattened rice, paratha, ladoo, other sweetened food and cosmetic items.

Being a potential source of anti-oxidative phytochemicals and useful ingredient for nutraceuticals, Cha-khao rice extracts can also be used in medicinal purposes. Some of the nutraceutical compounds present which can be extracted economically from this rice are tocotrienols, gamma amino butyric acid, oryzanol, rice bran saccharine, lutein, zeaxanthin, butylate hydro anisole, phytosterol, etc. This rice extract can also be used as natural colour to efficiently substitute the toxic synthetic ones.

PACKAGE AND PRACTICES (ORGANIC )

**pic.6#Black rice cultivation in medium type lan***d (Mal Jameen) at Bolangir,Odisha* during kharif season(2020).

Climate and Soil:

A moderately cool climate is suitable for the cultivation of Manipuri Cha-Khao black rice. Other than the north-eastern regions of India, it has also been grown successfully in western districts of Odisha. So it is very much suitable for cultivation in plateau and hilly places with medium and upland fields and a varied soil type like loamy, laterite and red.

Seed sowing and transplanting:

For 1 acre of land the seed requirement for sowing is 10 kg in line transplanting method and 5 kg in SRI method of rice cultivation.

Seed availability: Seed is available between December to January*.

(*Due to high demand the seed availability duration is quite less. So, please confirm your order amount for the black rice seeds as early as possible)

The seed has a self-life of 6-8 months. So sowing can be done in January (Rabi crop) or can be stored for 4-5 months to sow during May-June (Kharif crop). For better yield, transplanting method is adopted which can be Line or SRI method. Here the seeds are sown in a nursery for raising seedling and then transplanted to the field at 18-21 days after sowing.

Cultivation in field:

Manipuri Cha-Khao is a medium duration paddy crop taking 120 days for maturation. So, two crops can be grown in a year. The crop grows to a height of 4-4.5 feet. Growing organically makes this crop more authentic and valuable in terms of its unique values, demand and delicacy. So use of Jibamrit, vermicompost and Biofertiliser as nutrients for the crop is advised in the place of any chemical fertiliser. Its panicle initiation and grain filling are same as the common paddy.

Harvesting and Yield:

The paddy is harvested after 120 days of transplanting. It gives an average yield of 12-15 quintal per acre.

Marketing:

For easy marketing of this highly demanded and valued rice, we provide support with prior agreement with individual farmer or NGOs or farm Producers Company or SHGs. But our support will be there only if the party should follow the procedure of organic package and practices developed by Abhinavakrishi Research Organisation, Sambalpur, Odisha.

REFERENCES

Sonalisha Behera

M.Sc (Fruit Science)

Contact:

Mail Id- contact@abhinavakrishi.com

Contact No-8457887721

Website-www.abhinavakrishi.com