Dhenkanal: In a bid to draw farmers towards banana cultivation, the state horticulture department has established a tissue culture laboratory at Kamaning under Sadar block in the district at an outlay of Rs 3 crore, a report said Wednesday.
The laboratory established with the help of a private agency will produce high quality banana saplings that will be supplied to various states and exported to various countries.
The horticulture department will provide all sorts of assistance and subsidies to farmers to encourage them to take up banana cultivation in their areas, deputy director Digambar Panda of district horticulture department said.
At present, the laboratory is producing raw, Bantala and G9 varieties of banana saplings and aims to produce over 50 lakh saplings per year, he said.
The laboratory also plans to produce high quality pineapple saplings from this unit with a similar aim to encourage farmers for pineapple cultivation.
The department, in its bid to attract farmers towards banana cultivation, has raised banana plantation over 100 acres on an islet of Brahmani river at Malpura under Kamakhyanagar sub-division.
Panda said his department is doing every bit to encourage farmers to take up banana cultivation. Senior officers of the department and horticulture experts have visited this laboratory and expressed satisfaction on its functioning
Banana plantation over 100 acres in Brahamani river islet and the establishment of the tissue culture laboratory are a few initiatives in this direction, Panda added. PNN