Message From Director

The Andaman & Nicobar group of Islands in Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep Islands in Arabian Sea is well known for its unique biodiversity and unexplored flora and fauna which have created interest at National and International level. The Islands have about 50000 ha under all the agricultural crops with major area of over 20000 ha under coconut. The territory has a major coast line highlighting the importance of fisheries and typical coastal climate. The diverse flora and fauna having horticultural importance, unique breeds of domestic animals sustaining the livelihood of tribal population, diverse settler communities & tribal population with typical food habits, posing challenges to sustain the fragile production systems makes this as topic of interest among the researchers. The horticulturally based integrated farming system of the Islands has enormous potential for providing livelihood options and can play a significant role in supporting agro-tourism based economy.

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Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI emphasized to promote livelihood, employment and entrepreneurship development

    ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (CIARI) conducted an awareness programme on “Mud crab fattening” on 25th October, 2021 at ICAR-CIARI, Marine Research Laboratory, Marine Hill.

While speaking as Chief Guest, Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI emphasized the importance of mud crab fattening to harness the brackishwater resources and to promote livelihood, employment and entrepreneurship development in the Islands. Team scientific team comprising of Dr. Y.Gladston, Dr. R. Kiruba Sankar, Dr. K. Saravanan, Mr. J. Praveenraj and Ms. Deepitha, R.P spoke on aspects of mud crab fattening such as collection, handling of water crabs, health management, feeding and water quality management were sensitized to the farmers by the.

The programme was organized by ICAR-CIARI in collaboration with NABARD, Port Blair and KVK, South Andaman in which a total of 28 farmers participated and got benefitted.

Star jasmine (Jasminum nitidum) – a potential loose flower

    Star jasmine or shiny jasmine (Jasminum nitidum) is a potential loose flower and known for its year round production. The origin of this species is Admiralty Islands of Papua New Guinea. Since the geographical origin of the species is from Island, this is well adapted to grow in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The flowers are very attractive, mild fragrant and produced in clusters. The flower buds are dark purplish in colour when immature and the colour is changed to pinkish purple as they mature. Opened flowers are snow white and star shaped flower with 10 petals which are leaner, longer and spread out. Open sunny situation is best for cultivation of this flower crop for quality flower production. This crop can be grown in open field and also in pots. The spacing to be adopted is 75 cm between plants and 1.0 m between rows. The plant is propagated through air layering and cuttings. Flower buds will initiate six months after planting, however, the economic yield will be obtained from second year onwards.The yield per plant is 2 -2.5 Kg per plant (two years after planting). Heavy bloom is produced during summer in Island conditions. The harvesting stage is the matured bold bud stage with pink tinge.

Benefit:Jasminum nitidum is a versatile crop with wide commercial utilities and hence will be one of the potential crop to exploit in the Island.

Source: Contact person with Name, Designation e-mail and phone no: Dr. V. Baskaran, Principal Scientist Email:V.Baskaran@icar.gov.in Phone: 9933292110