IIIM initiative bears fruit as Jammu gets banana farming

Chatta (Jammu), December 4

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Barely few miles away from Jammu city, Chatta farms boom with banana plants as the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine’s biotechnology-driven project to grow the fruit in the region has become successful.

The project has brought commercial cultivation of banana in J&K for the first time. The state is endowed with all kinds of fruits and is a net exporter to the rest of the country and abroad, but banana is imported here to the tune of Rs 200 crore per year.

“It is a big development for Jammu and Kashmir,” said Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) director Ram Vishwakarma.

“We have created a big economic opportunity for this region. If we can generate production of Rs 50 crore for the next two to three years out of the annual Rs 250 imports, it will be a big thing. It will create an economy and create employment opportunities,” the director said.

In the 2-acre area of Chatta farms, 2,000 plants of Bhim Grand Naine (G-9) banana variety are blooming, bringing happiness to a group of scientists led by Dr Rahul, who toiled hard for over a year for the commercial production of banana in Jammu.

“It was a dream come true for us. After facing many challenges and huge hurdles, we have been successful. It has opened a new economy opportunity for the region,” Rahul said.

To bring commercial cultivation of banana to J&K, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-IIIM jointly conceived a new biotechnology-driven programme. This work was jointly done by the CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, and Cadila Pharmaceutical, Ahmedabad.

After a full trial and established tissue culture and agriculture practice, the IIIM director launched the J&K-grown banana fruit last week.

The director said the productivity in Jammu was more than the rest of the states in the country and it was bigger in size and very good in flavour too.

“There is huge land available in Jammu. If people go for cultivation here, it will not only generate revenue but will also reduce prices of bananas. We will try to introduce it as a social forestry in the Shivalik ranges in Jammu with consultation with the forest department. It will also help check monkey menace in Jammu,” he said.

Giving details of experimental work in growing banana by the tissue culture technique at IIIM, Vishwakarma said the samplings of the Bhim Grand Naine (G-9) variety were brought from the agro division of Cadila Pharmaceutical Limited, Ahmedabad.

“This first cultivation trial was done by planting 2,000 samplings of banana plants with the narrow spacing 2 x 2 metre in August 2016 and the fruit setting commenced in July-August 2017 while the maturity and harvesting was attained in 13 months,” the director said.

“The plant grew to a height of 6.5 to 7.5 feet and gave a yield 20-30 kg per plant and 20-25 tonne per acre. In term of the economy involved, as per market analysis, the price of banana in Jammu is about Rs 20 per kg. Thus on an average, 20-30 kg yield per plant gives Rs 250-300 per banana plant,” he said.

“The crop is particularly suited for the Jammu region,” Vishwakarma said.

He said the IIIM would next introduce banana cultivation in the Kashmir region through modern biotechnology approach (polyhouses) in 2018. —- PTI

Commercial cultivation 

• The Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine project has brought commercial cultivation of banana in J&K for the first time. 
• Barely few miles away from Jammu at the Chatta farms, 2,000 banana plants are now blooming, courtesy a group of scientists who toiled hard for over a year for the commercial production of banana in Jammu.