Rajkot : Efforts intensified to officially recognize best quality dates Raw, The best varieties will be registered in the name of the farmers concerned, which will enable them to earn grafting royalty from the agri-companies.
There are about two million date palm trees in Kutch and 17 lakh of them are indigenous, of which 60 percent are grown from saplings. Kutch is probably the only region in India that has great diversity in date and there is no official recognition of date grown naturally in Kutch anymore. For their convenience, farmers informally use names like Dawoodi, Yakubi, Ghanshyam for their varieties.
The Date Palm Research Station Mundra (Part of Dantiwada Agricultural University) and Central Institute of Arid Horticulture in Bikaner will help farmers to identify good quality dates in their fields and get them registered with the appropriate authority. A decision in this regard was taken in the national level consultation meeting held in Kutch in the second week of July.
Research Scientist CM Muralidharani, who also heads the research center in Mundra, said: “If a farmer has 1,000 plants, it is possible that 10 of them have extraordinary qualities. We will assess the quality on parameters like sweetness in fruits, minimum fruit weight of 25 grams, fiber content, and rain tolerance. We will go to the fields, do tests and evaluate the diversity.”
Once a variety is registered in the name of the farmer, he will earn royalty from the grafting. The registration will be done by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, a statutory body under the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to scientists, dates are grown in Maharashtra, Rajasthan. Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kutch but the quality of fruit is best in Kutch. In Tamil Nadu, farmers get fruits at an interval of two to three years. “There is a shortage of good quality dates in the country and Kutch has the capacity to provide it. We will evaluate and find good indigenous variety, which can be cultivated in other parts of the country,” Muraleedharan said.
India is dependent on imports for dried dates. Dates produced in Kutch are mainly used for direct consumption. But if the Kutch dates can be dried and sold as dates, then the value addition will also help the farmers. Dried dates can be used as a mouth freshener, date flavored ice cream, in sugar-free items with the natural sugar of dates, and in making chocolates.
There are about two million date palm trees in Kutch and 17 lakh of them are indigenous, of which 60 percent are grown from saplings. Kutch is probably the only region in India that has great diversity in date and there is no official recognition of date grown naturally in Kutch anymore. For their convenience, farmers informally use names like Dawoodi, Yakubi, Ghanshyam for their varieties.
The Date Palm Research Station Mundra (Part of Dantiwada Agricultural University) and Central Institute of Arid Horticulture in Bikaner will help farmers to identify good quality dates in their fields and get them registered with the appropriate authority. A decision in this regard was taken in the national level consultation meeting held in Kutch in the second week of July.
Research Scientist CM Muralidharani, who also heads the research center in Mundra, said: “If a farmer has 1,000 plants, it is possible that 10 of them have extraordinary qualities. We will assess the quality on parameters like sweetness in fruits, minimum fruit weight of 25 grams, fiber content, and rain tolerance. We will go to the fields, do tests and evaluate the diversity.”
Once a variety is registered in the name of the farmer, he will earn royalty from the grafting. The registration will be done by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, a statutory body under the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to scientists, dates are grown in Maharashtra, Rajasthan. Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kutch but the quality of fruit is best in Kutch. In Tamil Nadu, farmers get fruits at an interval of two to three years. “There is a shortage of good quality dates in the country and Kutch has the capacity to provide it. We will evaluate and find good indigenous variety, which can be cultivated in other parts of the country,” Muraleedharan said.
India is dependent on imports for dried dates. Dates produced in Kutch are mainly used for direct consumption. But if the Kutch dates can be dried and sold as dates, then the value addition will also help the farmers. Dried dates can be used as a mouth freshener, date flavored ice cream, in sugar-free items with the natural sugar of dates, and in making chocolates.