When it comes to cut roses, Bengaluru is the biggest exporter in India. Pune is a close competitor. But Bengaluru roses are of better quality, says M Vishwanath, joint director, horticulture, Karnataka.
Category: Green Products
* Experts recall success story of CFTRI’s infant food from buffalo’s milk
The story behind the formulation of infant food (Amul) from buffalo’s milk using the technology developed by the scientists from CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) was retold during a webinar organised on Monday, in commemoration of 80 years of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Under the title “80 years and 80 success stories”, experts, including present and former CFTRI directors, former senior official of Amul and others brought to light how the infant food using buffalo’s milk was formulated and the efforts put in by the scientists of CSIR-CFTRI decades ago when resources were in scarce.
* Bengaluru-based biotech lab develops tabletop papaya variety ‘Dawn Delight’
Developed by Thomas Biotech Lab, the papaya variety, christened ‘Dawn Delight’, grows only up to three or four feet and is best for cultivation on the terrace, balconies, and kitchen gardens.
* Techie-turned-farmer teaches kids about forgotten flora
He is a storehouse of knowledge on Indian trees, plants and herbs, and in his farm, which is nothing like the traditional setup, the flora grows wildly and naturally.
The farm has over 300 species of plants and trees, all either edible or used for medicinal purposes.
Srivathsa Govindaraju, a software engineer-turned-farmer, started his farm 13 years ago with the intent of “respecting nature as it is and to understand how it functions”.
* BMTC launches electric bus services in Bengaluru
The first service will be to Kengeri
In a green milestone, the first fleet of electric buses and BS-VI diesel standard buses hit the city’s road on Monday. With this, the long wait for green public transport of seven years has come to an end.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai flagged off the State’s first batch of these buses deployed on a long-term basis on Monday morning and the buses hit the streets making their maiden trips later in the day.
* Spreading innovation
Joseph Lobo, a 44-yr-old farmer, is popularising the hydroponic method of cultivation and is growing the famous Shankarapura jasmine.
They say a farmer is a magician who makes his living from the mud. But that is not true in the case of Joseph Lobo, a 44-year-old farmer from the coastal district of Udupi.Lobo hails from Shankarapura, a tiny nondescript village sandwiched between the mighty Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. Shankarapura is called the jasmine capital of the Karnataka coastline and is famous for its Shankarapura mallige (mallige in Kannada means jasmine flowers). And like the majority of the residents of the village, Lobo too cultivates Shankarapura mallige. A passionate farmer, Lobo has been growing the Shankarapura mallige — which was accorded GI tag in 2008 — for the last 15 years.
But what sets him apart from the rest of the growers is that he has attempted to grow his prized possession without soil! Yes, you read it right. Lobo became the first grower in the region to adopt the novel hydroponic method of cultivation, which in layman’s language is soil-less cultivation.Lobo says he was inspired after attending a workshop at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, and started experimenting on the new method of cultivation. Lobo has 32 jasmine plants already, including the three grown using the hydroponic technique.
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* Woman Farmer Feted
Outstanding woman farmer Chandrika of Hunsur village in T. Narasipur taluk was felicitated during the press meet at Jaladarshini.
Chandrika has taken up farming in her 8-acre agriculture field for the past eight years following the death of her husband, growing a variety of crops.
World Farmers Day Celebration Committee President Dr. Shivarajappa, Dr. Mahadevaiah, retired Principal N.M. Nayak, Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association office-bearers Attahalli Devaraj, Somashekar, Hallikerehundi Bhagyaraj, Kiragasur Shankar and others were present.
* The Royal Route
On the 156th birth anniversary of GH Krumbiegel, Ganesh Shankar Raj, a city-based filmmaker captures the life and times of the botanist in The Maharaja’s German Gardener
Though Bengaluru was always a green city, it earned the title of Garden City because of one particular person – Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel. And city-based filmmaker Ganesh Shankar Raj’s latest documentary, The Maharaja’s German Gardener, is based on the story of this German botanist. The movie released on YouTube channel, Mindia
* Mangaluru: Nitte University receives international recognition for green initiatives
Nitte (Deemed to be University) has been ranked 253rd in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings in 2021.
These international rankings recognize the contributions of universities across the world to policies and actions related to green campus and environmental sustainability.
NitteDU participated in this ranking survey for the first time in 2021.
* NASI recognition for Bengaluru scientist
Dinesh A. Nagegowda, Senior Principal Scientist and scientist in-charge of CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Research Centre, Bengaluru, has been elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, for his significant contribution in plant science, particularly in the area of molecular biology and biotechnology of specialised metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants.