DATE PALM DEVELOPMENT MISSION OF ATUL LTD. IN INDIA

K. Rajmohan, B.N. Mohanan, A.M. Batra
Atul Ltd. has made long strides in translating its date palm dream - to transform India from the status of a major importer of dates to a major exporter of dates - through a mission mode project. It aims at the massive greening of the deserts of the Western border of India, using date palms, through systematic and scientific approaches, in a phased manner. A well knit strategy is adopted for the effective implementation of the project, on a participatory, public private partnership mode. There are five phases for the implementation of the project. The first part envisages the establishment of model demonstration plantations in key locations. A plantation consisting of seven superior varieties, has been established in an area of 100 hectares at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Farm development work on another 40 hectare site at Bikaner, Rajasthan is under progress. The second phase aims to mobilize quality planting materials of superior varieties, consisting of tissue culture plants, for the establishment of plantations. More than 47,000 primary hardened tissue culture date palm plants of four varieties have been imported from Arab nations and subjected to secondary hardening in the newly established nursery at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The third phase is targeted at capacity building for the generation of tissue culture date palm plants in India, adopting the best protocol available. A joint venture company, Atul Rajasthan Date Palms Ltd. (ARDP), between Atul Ltd. and the Government of Rajasthan, has been established to set up a Tissue Culture Laboratory at Jodhpur. The objectives of the fourth phase include large scale scientific cultivation of date palms in the arid regions of Western India. The fifth phase envisages marketing of fruit and setting up processing industry.
Rajmohan, K., Mohanan, B.N. and Batra, A.M. (2010). DATE PALM DEVELOPMENT MISSION OF ATUL LTD. IN INDIA. Acta Hortic. 882, 289-292
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.882.31
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.882.31
date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, tissue culture, cultivation, India, Atul
English

Acta Horticulturae