BHUBANESWAR: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has set its sights on Orissa to make it a hub of groundnut production. The premier agency has said it is focussing its seed and technological research to tap the unexplored resources of groundnut production in the State. The groundnut productivity in Orissa is very high but there is scope for further increase. Presently, Tamil Nadu enjoys the highest productivity at 1,800 to 1,900 kg, while the national average ranges from 1,000 to 1,100 kg during kharif and 1,400 to 1,500 kg in rabi. Groundnut is grown over 2.5 lakh hectare in the State. “The climate of Orissa is conducive for groundnut. At present, production during rabi is 1,800 kg per hectare which can be increased up to 2,400 kg. The availability of seed in rabi is the major problem for the farmers. We are coordinating with State Government agencies to make high yielding and low duration seeds available to farmers as there is potential to increase productivity over 1.5 times,” Dr JB Mishra, Coordinator, All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Groundnut, said at a meet of AICRP here. Mishra is also Director of Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagarh, Gujarat. Mishra stressed the need for developing technologies to advance sowing in certain States such as Orissa to escape high temperature stress at the later stages of the crop growth and to protect the crop from unseasonal rains. Dean of Research, OUAT, Prof SS Nanda said that the non-adoption of improved technologies, non-availability of quality seeds and submergence of the crop due to high rainfall in certain kharif groundnut areas are the major factors reducing the yield. On the occasion, Associate Director of Bio-Medical Group of Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) SF D’Souza spoke on applications of radiation in different fields, including food and agriculture. Former Director of Agriculture and Food Production RN Mohanty called for technologies that cut down the cost of cultivation. He suggested that mechanisation in groundnut may help in this area. The AICRP meet was attended by 85 scientists of groundnut from 23 groundnut research centres spread across the country.
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