Meet Saudi-return farmer cultivating Gulf-like dates in India using tissue culture
In India there is a presumption that good, juicy dates are procured only in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Little do we know that similar quality dates can be grown in India too.
Though the Kutch region in Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan are two major date-growing states, with Gujarat alone home to 2 million date palm trees, Tamil Nadu in south India is fast catching up.
Despite India being the one of the largest importers of dates in the world – around 3.5 million metric tons every year – there is good market for homegrown dates both locally and abroad.
Farm-cum-nursery
Meet Nizamuddin S., who cultivates 32 varieties of the luscious fruit as well as date palms. His farm-cum-nursery at Ariyakulam in Dharmapuri district in western part of Tamil Nadu literally bears fruits of hard labor and innovation.
The dangling cluster of dates on date palms at his farm are feast for the eyes. Owner of Saliah Dates, Nizamuddin got the idea of cultivating dates while working in Saudi Arabia.
Finest Saudi dates
Responding to emails from Al Arabiya English, Nizamuddin said: “Saudi Arabia has the finest dates in the world. One fine day I thought why such dates cannot be grown in India? It seemed possible and I bought 100 plants for testing and the idea blossomed”.
There has been no looking back since then as his nursery-cum-farm now has more than 32 varieties of date palms. One of them is the Barhee dates, which costs Rs. 300 per kilogram. Barhee is the best variety and yields more than 200kg per plant.”
Tamil Nadu is an important state for dates in southern India. Here climate, soil and irrigation facilities in some coastal regions like Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Ramanathpuram districts favor date palm cultivation.
Tissue culture technology
Over decades of cultivation practices followed in different regions, regenerating dates either by seeds or offshoots and trying different imported cultivars, have led to the present date fruits of great variations in size, shape, color, weight, taste and astringency.
Moreover, controlling date palm diseases using methods, which do not pollute soil, plant and products, has not been easy.
The obvious solution was to produce date palms by adopting tissue culture technology, which enables farmers to select only the best trees as every plant produced from the cut stem is genetically identical to the parent tree.
Transforming technology
Nizamuddin is aware that tissue culture can do wonders to the plantation. So he started to import tissue culture plants from abroad where such technologies have been developed.
“Twenty years ago first we tried seedlings. But there was an issue in the sense that we could not differentiate between a male and female plant. Only the female date palm can bear date fruits. But with tissue culture the plant is 100 percent female and we can get yield by 2 1/2 years”, says Nizamuddin.
“We import such plants from Abu Dhabi and sell all over India. We are soon planning to introduce new varieties. Ajwa dates are our first priority. Depending on how successful the yield is we will go for further new varieties. On the anvil are making different types of food products with dates like date syrup, chocolates, etc.”
courtesy: english.alarabiya.net
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TMC backs 'tukde-tukde' gang that threatened to snap Siliguri Corridor for appeasement politics: PM
Siliguri (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged the "tukde-tukde" gang had threatened to snap the strategic Siliguri Corridor to cut off the Northeast from the rest of the country, and the TMC gave them support from "the streets to Parliament" to serve its "appeasement politics".
Addressing an election rally at the Kawakhali ground in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri, he described the TMC as an "anti-tribal, anti-women and anti-youth party".
Its appeasement politics have caused untold misery to the state, Modi alleged.
"The country has a 'tukde-tukde' gang, and it threatened to cut off the Siliguri Corridor. They wanted to separate the Northeast from the country.
"The TMC, which indulges in appeasement politics, supports such people from the streets to Parliament. That is the real face of TMC," he alleged, addressing his eighth rally in the state since assembly elections were declared.
The Siliguri Corridor, also known as the 'Chicken's Neck', is a narrow stretch of land in the northern part of Bengal, not more than 20-22 km wide, acting as the only land link between mainland India and its eight northeastern states.
It is a critical and highly vulnerable geopolitical bottleneck bordered by Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and is barely 130 km from the China border.
Terming it "the nation's corridor of defence as well as prosperity", Modi said the Centre was working round the clock to strengthen and develop the region on a massive scale, citing the under-construction Sevoke-Rangpo railway line, connecting Sikkim with Siliguri.
"The project will strengthen trade and tourism in the region, directly benefiting the youth of Darjeeling," he said.
Urging people to vote for a 'double-engine' government, Modi said Bengal will witness development at double the speed once the BJP assumes power in the state.
Harping on the TMC's "appeasement politics", the PM alleged that while the Mamata Banerjee government has earmarked Rs 6,000 crore in the state budget for the development of Madrassas, the fund allotted for the entire north Bengal region is "nowhere sufficient".
"The people of Bengal are now seeking answers from the TMC for every moment it spent in power over the last 15 years," Modi said, asserting that when the BJP comes to power, it will make the Mamata Banerjee-led party "pay for its misdeeds".
He alleged that the TMC has destroyed the state during its 15-year tenure and halted the implementation of Central schemes like the one for providing piped drinking water to remote tribal areas.
As a result, less than 25 per cent of the work could be completed so far, the prime minister claimed.
Terming the Mamata Banerjee government 'nirmam' (cruel), an obvious antonym to the chief minister's name, the PM said the people of the state have had enough of the TMC's "reign of fear", accusing its dispensation of bringing sufferings to the fledgling tea gardens of north Bengal.
Modi called the TMC an "anti-north Bengal and anti-tea garden party", and alleged that unbridled illegal entries caused by its "appeasement policies" are causing major demographic changes in the region, disrupting social balance and fostering unwanted changes in language and culture.
"Infiltrators are eating into local jobs. It will be too late if the menace is not stopped right away. That's why mantra is 'Kamal khilao, ghuspetia bhagao' (vote for lotus and drive infiltrators away)," he said, referring to the BJP's election symbol.
The PM highlighted the Centre's infrastructure and connectivity development initiatives for north Bengal, while alleging that the TMC government is putting up hurdles before those projects.
"A crucial stretch of the Porbandar to Silchar East-West corridor passing through Bengal is yet to be completed," he said,
Modi also underlined the BJP's promises of a special development package for north Bengal, which comprises modern engineering and medical colleges, a cancer treatment hospital and a fashion design institute.
While stating that Bengal has already given the Congress, the Left and the TMC chances to rule the state, Modi urged the people to give the BJP an opportunity to "revive its development trajectory".
"Give Modi a chance to ensure the security of the daughters, to save Bengal from infiltrators and to provide jobs to youth within the state.
"Give Modi a chance to resurrect investment, establish the rule of law, to ensure free healthcare and homes for the poor, to elevate the state from a rule of fear to a climate of trust and rescue Bengal's culture from the TMC's appeasement politics," the PM said.
Modi said the energy he had been witnessing among the people of Bengal has convinced him that the TMC's defeat is certain in the upcoming elections.
"My short travel from the Badgodra airport to the hotel on Saturday ended up becoming a 15-km roadshow as thousands of people, including children and senior citizens, lined up. It blew my mind and humbled me," he said.
"As a return gift to the blessings you have showered on me, I promise to dedicate my life to you and will keep fighting for you till my last breath," he said.
The PM was campaigning for BJP candidates in Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, where polling will be held in the first phase on April 23. The second phase of polling is on April 29, and the votes will be counted on May 4.
