NRCB looks at northeastern States to boost production

The Department of Bio Technology (DBT) has extended funds for a major project to give a push to banana cultivation and commercial exploitation of the fruit in the northeastern States.

The DBT has sanctioned Rs. 4.30 crore to the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Tiruchi, an institution under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, for the project, “NER- Banana programme for North Eastern Region, ” said S. Uma, Director, NRCB.

“Banana is cultivated in more than 20 States of India and is an energy rich food with loads of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim are major hotspots of banana diversity besides the Western Ghats of India. While banana is cultivated on a commercial scale in southern and western States, in the northeast they are grown only in homestead gardens without any commercial exploitation leading to steady genetic erosion,” said Dr. Uma, explaining the rationale behind the project.

NRCB being the nodal centre for banana research has taken up various research projects and developed new technologies covering different spectrum of banana cultivation, pre and post harvest management and crop conservation.

Scientists of NRCB have been entrusted with the task of developing new technologies which could be used by the research institutes and impart training to researchers and entrepreneurs in the northeastern States. This is likely to strengthen nutritional security and improve livelihood opportunities for the tribal farming community there. It will also boost banana production and help tap the export market in South East Asian countries, she said.


In the northeast they are grown only in homestead gardens without any commercial exploitation leading to steady genetic erosion

S. Uma

Director, NRCB

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