Annual Report 2009-2010 - Department of Agriculture & Co-operation

7677.46 lakhs for Rabi 2009-10, to be supplied
to the farmers free of cost, to harness the soil
moisture for Rabi crops and seed multiplication.
4.44 National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oil
Development Board: The National Oilseeds and
Vegetable Oils Development (NOVOD) Board
was constituted on 8 March 1984, under the
National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils
Development Board Act, 1983 (No. 29 of 1983),
as a statutory body for the integrated
development of the oilseeds and vegetable oils
industry.
4.45 The development of elite planting
material and model plantation of important Tree
Borne Oilseeds (TBOs) in Government/
institutional land in rain-fed areas through various
programme implementing agencies, namely,
state departments of agriculture, horticulture,
forestry, forests, state agricultural universities,
Research and Development (R&D) institutions of
ICAR, CSIR, ICFRE, etc., is the mandate of the
Board. A total of 18,912 hectares have been
covered under various TBOs, consisting of
12,907 hectares (jatropha), 1,814 hectares
(karanja), 1,730 hectare (neem) and 2,461
hectares (other TBOs) in 27 states. These model
plantations will provide quality planting material
for future propagation and oil extraction. A backended
credit linked subsidy programme is also
being implemented with a 30 per cent subsidy,
50 per cent bank loan, and 20 per cent beneficiary
share of the total project cost. The scheme
comprises of nursery raising and commercial
plantation, establishment of procurement
centers, and installation of pre-processing and
processing equipment.
4.46 The board has constituted two national
networks, namely, the National Network on
Jatropha and Karanja and the National Network
on Wild Apricot and Cheura, by involving 75 state
agricultural universities, institutions of ICAR,
CSIR, ICFRE, CFTRI, TERI, and IITs, to address
various researchable issues. Major researchable
issues are, the identification of elite planting
material for tree borne oilseeds; seed resource
assessment, collection and storage;
phenological and chemical evaluation for
characterisation; tree improvement for
developing high yielding varieties with better
quality of reliable seed sources; progeny trials,
zonal trials, and national trials of elite planting
material for evaluating genotypes of tree borne
oilseeds; development of propagation
techniques through seeds and cuttings; intercropping
trials with suitable intercrops;
development of suitable packages of practices;
post-harvest tools and technology; detoxification
of oil meal of important TBOs; value addition of
tree borne oilseeds; seed certification and
standards of tree borne oilseeds; tissue culture
for jatropha curcas; DNA fingerprinting and
molecular characterisation of TBOs; and
awareness programmes.
4.47 The progress made by research
organisations under R&D programmes are being
reviewed annually. These programmes have
obtained encouraging results. The participating
Crops
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