In 1947 British left India as a starving nation and State of Punjab bleeding from partition. Plagued the successive droughts and starvation deaths lead to some adventurous decisions by the Govt of India. Thanks to the then PM Smt. Indira Gandhi, Sri C Subramaniam Minister of Agriculture for their leadership and political will to allow foreign bred seeds into India for adoption on mass scale. (Today we continue to dither on GMOs). The green revolution started in mid 1960s with introduction of high yielding of Paddy verity (IR-8) ex IRRI Philippines and Wheat(K-68) ex Mexico. Both the varieties were dwarf in height compared to crops traditionally grown in India and faced farmers reluctance in adoption. Scientific endeavors of Dr M S Swaminathan and Norman Borlaug, backed by Innovative Extensions Methodologies invented by Dr K N Singh to roll out quickly new verities to selected hard working and innovation guzzling farmers of the then Punjab through National Demonstrations. This meth
LOWER POTATO PRODUCTION EXPECTED THIS YEAR IN NORTH INDIA: Inclement Weather in most growing areas be responsible
Potatoes are the most staple diet of India. It is grown in abundance in northern India. Being a staple diet, it is the most grown vegetable in India. The best season to grow potatoes is between October and December. This year could witness sharp fall in production of Potatoes and prices could remain firm through the season. 2 Major Factors are; Factor1: Low temperatures Winter of 2021-22 has been very harsh in North India for long stretches. Comparison minimum of temperatures for last 7 years which represents major producing districts can be seen from chart below: Temperatures in 2021-22 have persistently be lower than that of corresponding period in 2020-21 An Ideal temperature for growing potatoes is between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius. Anything lower or higher than this range means the potato growth gets affected. When temperatures drop drastically the potato grows at a slower rate. And this happens due to lower oxidation levels which invariably leads to lessened tubular growth. F