Port Blair, Dec 06: ICAR-CIARI conducted a field day on “Marigold and gladiolus cultivation for livelihood security in Andaman and Nicobar Islands” at farmer’s field at New Bimblitan in collaboration with Directorate of Floriculture Research (DFR), Pune. About 32 farmers from nearby villages of South Andaman attended the programme. Dr. A. Kundu, Director, ICAR-CIARI briefed about the various avenues and scope of cultivation of flower crops in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Dr. Augustine B. Jerard, Head, Division of Horticulture and Forestry, ICAR-CIARI explained in brief about the benefits of growing flower crops for sustainable income throughout the year and the various marketing strategies to be followed for sustainable income. The coordinators of the field day, Dr. V. Baskaran, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIARI and Dr. K Abirami, Scientist, ICAR-CIARI dealt in detail about the production technology, post harvest management and seed production of marigold and gladiolus. The corms of three varieties of gladiolus namely Yellow Shine, Chandani and Punjab Dawn, procured from Directorate of Floriculture Research (DFR), Pune were distributed to the farmers by Dr. A Kundu, Director, ICAR-CIARI. The method of planting the corms in the field and corm storage was demonstrated to the farmers by Dr. V. Baskaran. The farmers showed keen interest for taking the seed material of gladiolus and gaining technical expertise on cultivation of flower crops like Marigold and gladiolus. During his earlier visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dr. T. Janakiram, ADG (Hort), New Delhi visited the field of Mr. Arulandu, a progressive farmer in New Bimblitan. Appreciated by his integrated farming system and his interest in growing flower crops, Dr. Janakiran, coordinated the procurement of gladiolus varieties from DFR, Pune for the benefit of Island farmers. The programme ended with the vote of thanks proposed by Mr. Niranjan Das, Department of Agriculture, Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
