Jodhpur, Dec 4 Pomegranate growers in Rajasthan are filled with fresh hope of a likely spurt in their income, riding on the launch of two fresh varieties by the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI).
The Jodhpur-based institute has taken up intensive R&D work to discover new solutions and ways to increase the productivity of fruits, thereby benefiting the farmers financially.
The two new varieties of pomegranate - saffron and super saffron, recently developed by the institute, have inspired fresh hope of a substantial increase in income generation from pomegranate cultivation.
The CAZRI institute is conducting various training programs to train the farmers in new techniques and also introduce them to advanced cultivation techniques.
Dr Om Prakash Meena, a senior scientist at CAZRI, told IANS that research on the pomegranate has been ongoing since 2010 under a special project.
He explained that pomegranate cultivation is steadily expanding in western Rajasthan, providing farmers with profits many times greater than traditional crops. In many places, farmers' income has increased multi-fold.
He explained that pomegranate yields are particularly good in areas with saline water. Varieties like Saffron and Super Saffron have been developed using radiation technology, while the demand for tissue culture-based plants as planting material has increased rapidly.
Dr Meena said that pomegranate is called "red gold" because it has become a strong source of income for farmers by producing high-quality produce at low input costs.
As a government organisation, CAZRI's goal is to reduce farmers' costs and improve their produce quality. To achieve this, experts provide detailed information on water management, nutrient management, and other agricultural practices, so that farmers can adopt these techniques and achieve higher production.
These initiatives by CAZRI have given a new identity to pomegranate cultivation in Western Rajasthan and opened new avenues of economic empowerment for farmers.
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