India: New groundnut seed types to be developed

To develop high-yielding seed varieties of groundnut, the State government has roped in scientists from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), with support from scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). During a meeting held with scientists and higher-ups in the Agriculture Department on Friday, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy announced that Rs 9 crore would be spent for the development of new varieties of groundnut which would be high in oleic content and free from aflatoxin.

Observing that the groundnuts produced in Telangana were of a much superior quality than those from Gujarat, he said that steps needed to be taken to increase groundnut cultivation locally to speed up establishing groundnut processing units and mechanisation done through the collaboration of Rythu Bandhu Samithis, PJTSAU and Agriculture Department.

Putting the onus of providing all facilities needed in the Groundnut Research Centre being established in Wanaparthy on the PJTSAU, he said that the foundation stone for the institution would soon be laid by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. To make Telangana the seed bowl for groundnut in the country, he said that the State government was encouraging oilseeds production in the near future.