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- ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
- ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi (IASRI)
- ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack (NRRI)
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal (IIWBR)
- ICAR-Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur (CICR)
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi (IIVR)
- ICAR-National Research Centre on Banana (NRCB)
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal (IISS)
- ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur (NBSS&LUP)
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneshwar (IIWM)
- ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal (CIAE)
- ICAR- Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana (CIPHET)
- ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal (NDRI)
- ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai (CIFE)
- ICAR- Central Inland Fishery Research Institute, Barrakpore (CIFRI)
- ICAR- Central Institute of Fresh Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar (CIFA)
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Aim/Agenda
About us:
ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana was established on 21st August 1993 at Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu by ICAR, New Delhi with an aim to increase the production and productivity of banana and plantains through mission mode basic and strategic research approaches.
The Centre works on four major thrust areas of research viz., Crop Improvement, Crop Production, Post-Harvest Management and Crop Protection. It has well-equipped laboratories for tissue-culture, bio-technology, soil science, nutrient management, physiology, biochemistry, entomology, nematology, fungal, bacterial, viral pathology and post-harvest technology research.
In late nineties, 10 collection surveys through explorations were made. Wild banana germplasm from the North-Eastern states, Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and also exotic banana accessions from International Transit Centre (ITC), Belgium through NBPGR, New Delhi were introduced. The Centre has completed seven in-house research projects and eleven are in progress in the 11th five-year plan. In addition to Centre’s in-house projects, 26 externally funded projects by AP Cess fund of ICAR, NATP, DBT, NHB and INIBAP were completed. The Perspective Plan and Vision 2030 documents on the research priorities and also inputs from the QRT and RAC were published. The Centre conducts two meetings of Institute Research Council to review the on-going research projects and also to incorporate the RAC recommendations. The vision of the center is to increase the production and productivity of bananas and plantains to meet the growing need in India.
What we do:
ICAR – National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy serves as the national repository for banana and plantains, with a core collection with 310 accessions representing entire banana diversity. The entire germplasm is conserved in field gene banks and also maintains DNA and cell lines in-vitro and cryo gene banks are being maintained in collaboration with ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi. The centre has released three high yielding varieties namely Udhayam, Kaveri Saba and Bangrier which are known for leaf spot resistance, tolerance to drought and salt stress and short duration respectively. The centre has established ECS for major commercial varieties and a Bioreactor to multiply the ECS. With international collaboration, the Centre has developed biofortified bananas enriched with vitamin A and iron transgenic lines which are under confined field trials. DUS guidelines have been developed and notified in the gazette.
The production technology group have developed high density planting system which increases the productivity by 40% and saves 30% water and 25% nutrient requirements. Using STCR approach, exact requirement of the fertilizer for different varieties of banana has been developed and it has been validated for commercial varieties. ‘Banana Shakti’ a mixture of five major micronutrients developed by the centre is very popular for increasing the fruit quality and productivity by 15-20%. The Centre has standardized phenotyping protocol for drought and salt stress. Drought and salt stress mitigating technologies have been developed.
ICAR-NRCB has developed integrated pest and disease management strategies for their effective management of weevils and other pests and nematodes .The centre has made a complete documentation of important insect pests and their natural enemies and established an Insect Gallery. The centre has developed a microbial consortia to manage fusarium wilt race 1 and management package for Sigatoka leaf spot disease. To ensure the production and supply of virus free quality planting material, ICAR-NRCB has developed molecular diagnostic kits like ELISA, PCR, LAMP, and NASH based techniques for easy identification and eradication of major viruses affecting banana.
The Centre has developed a pre and post-harvest package of technologies for handling with mechanized handling through conveyor belts for field transportation of bunches and extension of shelf life. Process for more than 18 different value added products from ripe banana have been developed and many have been commercialized by the centre. Protocols have been standardized for extraction of banana fibre from pseudostem and peduncle which are being widely used in handicrafts, textile and paper industry.
Objectives of the sub-project:
- Validation of digital soil mapping on NPK fertility status of banana grown regions.
- Soil sensor based precision irrigation in banana production for higher water use efficiency.
- Optimizing fertigation in banana production for higher nutrient use efficiency.
- Characterization of environmental factors to predict the disease development in banana and mapping of banana diseases through satellite images.