Bengaluru to get Centre of Excellence for dragon fruit

The Union Ministry of Agriculture on Friday said that the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for dragon fruit will be set up at Bengaluru.

The CoE will come up at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR)'s experimental station in Hirehalli, Bengaluru. It is being set up under the centrally sponsored Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme, said the ministry in a statement.

“The vision of this Centre is to develop the latest production technology as per the international standard & off-season production and demonstration of these technologies for high yield production. The Centre will aim to achieve self-sustenance in dragon fruit production, value addition and enhancing economic development of the farming community,” said the statement.

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The Centre will focus on the development of high performance variety with improved yield, nutrient use efficiency, nutritional quality, tolerance against biotic & abiotic stresses, standardisation of propagation techniques, distribution of quality planting material through public participatory approach, development of protocol for post-harvesting handling and storage to reduce post-harvest losses and promote export to distant markets, development of value-added products and processes for product diversification & higher revenue realization, dissemination of developed technologies to the farmers & other stakeholders through training and field visits, said the statement.

The ministry also sanctioned the setting up of Centres of Excellence for mango and vegetables at Jajpur in Odisha and vegetables and flowers at Ponda in Goa.