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Vol 6 No. 2 October 2008 – March 2009

Research Highlights

• A low cost zero energy cool chambers were found most effective for storage of apple and pomegranate. The shelf life of the fruits increased significantly and fruits were found fresh even after 3 months of storage with very little input cost.

• For reviving indigenous apple cultivar Ambri having long shelf life and high quality, a medium high density planting system has been established along with Lal Ambri on clonal and seedling root stocks.

• A protocol for in-vitro mass multiplication of lilium has been developed and for strawberry, cherry, apple and saffron the work is in progress.

Contents

Research Highlights

: 1

Meetings/Trainings/events

: 2-4

Workshops/Seminars etc.

: 4-5

Extension activities

: 5

Appointments / Joining

: 6

Distinguished visitors

: 6

• Different water harvesting and conservation structures suiting to rainfed

farming in almond have been created which are giving very promising results.

• Placement of honey bee hives 5-6 ha-1 in apple and almond have been found to increase fruit set and yield by 12-15 percent. To harvest the benefit of increased pollination, fruit set and honey production a complete apiary unit with 30 bee hives has been established.

• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been found premising in control of Dematophora necatrix and Chomatosporum Coniothecium in apple.

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Meetings/ Trainings IRC Meeting

Institute Research Council Meeting was held on 4.10.2008. Project-wise presentations were made by respective scientists. The salient achievements along with the activities to be taken up next year were presented. The

Director who is also the Chairman of IRC, gave critical inputs on experimentation for obtaining realistic and reproducible results. New Institute projects were proposed, which were approved by the house.

Sixth Research Advisory Committee meeting

The 6th RAC meeting was held on 14TH October 2008 at main campus, Srinagar under the Chairmanship of Dr D. S. Rathore, Ex Vice Chancellor, CSKHPKV, Palampur. The other

members of RAC who attended the meeting were Dr. K. K. Jindal, Ex-Director of Research, Dr. YSPUHF; Dr. I. D. Tyagi Ex-Head, Vegetable Research Station, Kanpur; Dr R. P. Kaushal, Prof. Plant Pathology, CSK HPKV,

Palampur, Prof. M. A. Masoodi, Registrar, Islamic University, Srinagar, Dr. B.N. Choudhary, Ex. ADG (Extension) New Delhi; Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director CITH, Srinagar and Member Secretary Dr. R. K. Verma, Pr. Scientist (PP), CITH. The Committee visited the experimental farm and had detailed discussion with the scientists and suggested recommandations after reviewing all the ongoing projects.

Institute Management Committee Meeting The IMC meeting was held on 13th March 2009 under the chairmanship of Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director, CITH, Srinagar. The other members who attended the meeting were Shri. M.S. Qasba Director Horticulture,

Srinagar; Dr. Mohd. Shafi Wani, Prof. Fruit Breeding SKUAST(K), Srinagar; Smt. Kamlesh Sharma, Finance and Accounts Officer, CPRI, Shimla; Shri Ab. Aziz Bazaz, Progressive farmer, Srinagar, Dr. M. K. Verma, Senior Scientist, CITH, Srinagar, Shri. Javid Iqbal Mir, Scientist, CITH, Srinagar and Shri. Y. S. Dhanik, AAO, CITH, Srinagar. The committee discussed and approved all the agenda items including the recommendations of 2nd QRT for further consideration and approval of Competent Authority. National Level Model Training Courses One week National level Model Training Course on “Enhancement of temperate fruit and nut crops productivity through modern technological interventions” was organized at Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (ICAR), Rangreth, Srinagar from 15th – 22nd

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Dec., 2008, under the leadership of Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director CITH as Course Director, Dr. M. K. Verma as Course Coordinator and Mr. Shiv Lal as Course Facilitator. The training programme was sponsored by Directorate of Extension and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, New Delhi. Twenty five officers viz Horticulture Assistants, SMS-SDL, Research Assistants, Farm Managers, Agriculture Extension Officers, Junior Agriculture Assistants etc who came from Jammu, Pulwama, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Anantnag, Shopian, and Budgam attended

the training programme. In the training, more emphasis was given on imparting practical knowledge on the latest technologies for improving the productivity through expert Scientists of CITH and SKUAST-K. During the training, participants thoroughly interacted with the speakers and the problems encountered during fruit production were discussed and provided solutions. The participants were also taken on study tour and showed private and Govt. Horticulture Departmental farms in Kashmir. Prof. Anwar Alam, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, who was Chief Guest on valedictory function released the compendium consisting of all lectures delivered by various speakers and distributed certificates among the trainees. One week Model Training Course on “Hybrid Seed Production of Vegetable Crops” was also organized at Central Institute of

Temperate Horticulture (ICAR), Rangreth, Srinagar from 16th- 23rd March, 2009 under the leadership of Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director CITH as Course Director, Dr S. R. Singh as Course Coordinator and Mr. J. I. Mir

as Course Facilitator. The training programme was sponsored by Directorate of Extension and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, New Delhi. Forty two officers viz Horticulture Assistants, SMS-SDL, Research Assistants, Farm Managers, Agriculture Extension Officers, Junior Agriculture Assistants and Rehabber-e-Zirrat who came from Delhi, Jammu, Pulwama, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Anantnag, Shopian, Budgam and Bandipora attended the training programme. In the training, the participants were provided practical

knowledge on vegetable hybrid seed production and its commercialization at the gross root level through expert Scientists of CITH, SKUAST(K), Shalimar, IARI, New Delhi and NBPGR, Srinagar. The participants were also taken to private and Govt. seed production farms around Srinagar. A compendium consisting of all lectures delivered by various speakers was also released and distributed by Prof. Anwar

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Alam, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Shalimar who was the Chief Guest of the valedictory function organized at the end of the training programme on 23rd Mar. 2009.

Events organised/participated • CITH, RS, Mukteswar organised a Kishan

Ghosti on 3rd March, 2009 and demonstrated different technologies like quality planting material production, clonal apple rootstock production , high density apple and peach plantations and training and pruning and technologies on gerbera production.

• One day farmer training on “Training and pruning of temperate fruit crops” was conducted at Hartula, Nainital on 05.02.09where Dr. B.L. Attri and Dr. B. Das delivered lectures, on importance of training and pruning and gave practical demonstrations to the farmers.

Meetins/Visits of Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director, CITH • Attended the meeting of HTM projects at

SKUAST (J) with Director Research and concerned PI’s from 6th to 8th October 2008.

• Delivered lecture in winter school on “Strategies and initiatives to overcome chilling and frost injury in horticulture crops” at CIAH, Bikaner from 21st to 23rd November 2008.

• Attended and presented a paper on “Indian apple industry and challenges from imported apple” at Indian Horticulture Congress at OUAT, Bhubaneshwar from 6-9, November 2008.

• Accompained Hon’ble Deputy Director General (Hort.) to CITH Regional Station, Mukteshwar and participated in interaction meeting with scientists and staff on 27th and 28th December, 2008.

• Attended and organised QRT meeting of CITH chaired by Hon’ble DDG (Hort.) at SKUAST(J) from 7th to 11th January 2009.

• Attended Directors Conference at NASC, New Delhi besides HTM meeting on 17th January 2009.

• Attended 4th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture jointly organised by ICAR and NAAS from 4th to 7th Feb. 2009 at New Delhi.

• Attended symposium on leafy vegetables, group meeting on vegetables and meeting on network project on temperate fruits, onion and garlic at TNAU, Coimbatore from 11th Feb. To 17th Feb. 2009.

• Visited Udampur to explore the possibility and selection of site for KVK along with Deputy Commisioner, Udhampur from 28.02.09 to 1.03.09.

• Attended review meeting of HTM with PI’s and Director Research at SKUAST (J) on 9th March, 2009.

Workshops / Seminars / Symposiums Attended § Dr R. K. Verma Principal Scientist Plant

Pathology, attended 3rd Indian Horticulture Congress from 6th – 9th Nov. 2008 at OUAT, Bhubaneswar.

§ Dr. B. L. Attri and Dr. Biswajit Das attended workshop on HTM(MM-I) at VPKAS, Almora on 28.01.09 and Dr. Biswajit Das (PI) presented the progress report of the project on “production of quality planting material of temperate fruit crops”.

§ Dr. B. L. Attri and Dr Hare Krishna attended Women Farmer’s Forum organized by CHIRAG, an NGO, on 08.03.09.

§ Dr. B.L.Attri attended National Conference on engineering for food and bioprocessing from 27.02.09 to 01.03.2009 uner TEQIP (a World Bank Project) at GBPAUT, Pantnagar.

§ Dr D. B. Singh attended National Seminar on cold chain management of horticultural commodities for better qualities, increased food supply and export from 27- 28 Feb. 2009 at CIPHET, Ludhina.

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§ Dr. S.R.Singh, Senior Scientist (VS), attended All India Agriculture Engg Workshop at CSKHPKV Palampur from 2-4 Feb. 2009.

§ Dr. K. K. Srivastava, Senior Scientist, (Hort.) attended workshop on Developing DUS procedures for Agri-Hort-Grass crop species on 25th March 2009 at NASC complex, New Delhi.

§ Dr. S.R.Singh, Senior Scientist(VS), attended All India Coordinated Group Meeting of Vegetable Crops at TNAU, Coimbatore from 12-15 Feb. 2009.

§ Dr H. Chaudhary attended the training programme on “ Advances in Commercial Agriculture” from March 18, 2009 to April 07, 2009 at GBPAUT, Pantnagar.

§ Dr. J. K. Ranjan attended “XXVII AICRP Meeting of All India Co-ordinated Research Project (Vegetable Crops)” from February 12-15, 2007 at TNAU, Coimbatore

§ Dr J. K. Ranjan attended the winter school on “Integration of molecular and classical tools for plant breeding for enhancing crop productivity” from 3.02.2009 to 23.02.2009 at GBPUAT, Pantnagar.

§ Dr. pragya attended the Winter school on “ recent advances in rainfed horticulture based farming system in plateau & hilly regions” from 11 November – 01December 2008 at HARP, Ranchi

§ Dr. Pragya attended National conference on Floriculture for Livelihood and Profitability, 16-19 March, 2009, organized by Indian Society of Ornamental Horticulture, New Delhi.

§ Mr Javid Iqbal Mir, Scientist plant biotechnology, CITH, Srinagar attended International training programme on “In-vitro Conservation and cryopreservation of plant genetic resources” from 17 to 29th November 2008 at NBPGR New Delhi.

§ Dr Hare Krishna attended National training programme on “Hi-tech Horticulture in Relation to Fruit Production”, at Center of Advance Studies

in Horticulture (Fruits), MPKV, Rahuri from 16.09.08 to 06.10.08.

§ Dr Hare Krishna attended National Training Programme on “Novel and Innovative Biochemical and Molecular Tools for Characterization of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms” from 12.01.09 to 01.02.09 at NBAIM, Mau.

§ Shri B.K. Pushkar, (T-5) attended training programme on “Technical and administrative support for consortia based research in agriculture” from December, 8-17 at MANAGE Hyderabad

Extension activities • During the period under report more than

400 orchardists / farmers from different parts of J&K and Uttarakhand visited the Institutes along with officers from Development Departments. They were taken around the Institutes farms and other units and demonstrated various technologies being developed including propagation and raising of root stocks of walnut, apple and other fruit and nut crops and also provided bud wood and planting material of elite varieties to farmers for popularization.

• Advisory services/Technical advice was rendered to different farmers coming from various regions of state on scientific cultivation of temperate horticultural crops for higher production and farm income.

• Six demonstration plots have been laid out in different areas of J&K and Uttarakhand for demonstration of elite varieties and high density orcharding in almond, apple, walnut and apricot for obtaining higher vertical productivity and quality.

• Agriculture Extension Officers of Directorate of Agriculture, New Delhi were demonstrated on different production technologies in temperate horticulture on their one day exposure visit to CITH, Mukteshwar on 6th Nov, 2009.

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Appointments / Joining

• Dr. D. B. Singh joined CITH, Srinagar as Principle Scientist, Vegetable Science, on 10.11. 08. Before that he was serving as Senior Scientist at CIPHET, Abohar

• Dr. D. K. Singh joined CITH, Srinagar as Principal Scientist, Pomology, on 14.11.08. Before that he was serving as Senior Scientist at CHES, Bhubaneshwar

• Dr. B. L. Attri joined CITH, Regional Station, Mukteshwar, Nainital as Principle Scientist (Pomology) on 17.11.08. Before that he was serving as Senior Scientist at NRCWA, Bhubaneshwar

Distinguished Visitors

• Hon’ble DDG (Hort.) Dr. H. P. Singh, visited CITH, Regional station, Mukteshwar on 27-28 December 2008. During his visit he reviewed the research and infrastructural works being carried out and provided valuable guidance to Scientists and staff for developing field oriented eco-friendly technologies and varieties.

• Dr D. S. Rathore, Former, Vice Chancellor, CSKHPKV, Palampur and Chairman RAC (CITH) visited CITH and conducted 6th RAC meeting along with other RAC members on 12.10.2008.

• Dr. V. K. Sharma joined CITH, Srinagar as Senior Scientist Soil Science on 18th December 2008. Before that he was serving as a Scientist/Asstt. Prof. at SKUAST (K), Srinagar.

• Dr. S.R. Singh, joined CITH, Srinagar as Senior Scientist, Vegetable Science, on 20th December 2008. Before that he was serving as a Scientist/Asstt. Prof. at SKUAST (K), Srinagar

• Dr. K. K. Srivastava joined CITH, Srinagar as Senior Scientist, Pomology on 20th December 2008. Before that he was serving as a Scientist / Asstt.Prof. at SKUAST-K, Srinagar.

Sad Demise A sincere, honest and most dedicated worker, Shri. Irshad Ahmad Mir SS Gr-II, left to heavenly abode on 09-10-2008. The Director and Staff members of CITH condoled the untimely and premature death of their beloved, noble and very sympathetic colleague.

Published by : Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Director, Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Rangreth, Srinagar–190005, J&K, India Phone: 0194-2305044, Fax 0194-2305045 Email: cith@nic.in

Compiled and Edited by : Prof. Nazeer Ahmed & Sh. J.I. Mir.

Type setting by : Tariq A. Mir & Ms Syed Mubeena