As many as 14 varieties of garlic have been identified for cultivation under different agro-climatic conditions, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Answering a query on the steps taken to make rabi season garlic suitable for kharif crop cycle, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said planned research on genetic improvement of garlic for identification of varieties suitable for cultivation under different seasons and agro-climatic conditions in India is being carried out by the ICAR - Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Pune, and the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation, Nasik.

Location-specific adaptive trials are being taken up at different locations of the country through ICAR - All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic, Pune, he said.

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Suitable climate

Stating that the agro-climatic conditions of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are suitable for garlic production during the kharif season, he said 14 varieties of garlic have been identified for cultivation under different agro-climatic conditions, comprising 11 varieties for plains and three varieties for hill areas. Another land race named “Gadag local” has localised adoptability in Karnataka.

Of these garlic varieties, ‘Bhima Purple’ and ‘G282’ has been identified for cultivation in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (Ooty) during kharif, whereas ‘Gadag local’ land-race is ideal only for Karnataka. He said ‘G282’ and ‘Bhima Purple’ produced 40-50 quintals of garlic per hectare during kharif season.

One advance breeding line of garlic, namely ‘G389’, has been observed suitable for kharif (40-60 quintals per hectare) in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh as well as for rabi (60-70 quintals per hectare), he said.

Digital infra to be open source

In another reply, Tomar said the Government has proposed to build Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture as an open source, open standard, and inter-operable public good to enable “inclusive farmer-centric solutions” and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.

For this, the Government has proposed initiatives such as the development of the Central Core of the DPI, and the development of Krishi Decision Support System (KDSS).

Registries (farmers, crop sown registry, and geo-referencing of village maps and crop sown registry), unified farmers service interface, agri data exchange, and consent manager will be part of the development of Central Core of the DPI, he said.

Fodder FPO

In a separate reply, Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said around 100 fodder-plus FPOs (farmer producer organisations) will be registered during 2023-24.

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had designated National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as implementing agency to form and promote 100 FPOs, primarily fodder-centric FPOs, during 2022-23.

While Gujarat has been allotted 16 fodder-plus FPOs, Karnataka has been allotted 11. Other States such as Bihar and Kerala have been allotted nine fodder-plus FPOs.

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