Image credit : Illustrative Image

Coimbatore : The city-based ICAR-Sugar Cane Breeding Institute Director Dr Bakshi Ram has been presented with Best Agricultural Scientist award for his outstanding contributions in the field of sugar.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh TOmar, presented the ‘Outlook Best Agricultural Scientist award during the Outlook Agricultural Conclave held at New Delhion February 24.

The sugarcane variety Co 0238 developed by Bakshi Ram, a breeder of international repute, has paved way for sweet revolution in the country, in the northern states, in particular.

The variety now occupies around 77.2 per cent of sugarcane area in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar.

With increase in the area of Co 0238 during 2018-19, the average sugarcane yield of these states had increased from 60 tonnes/hectare to 79 tonnes/ hectare and the average sugar recovery had also increased from 9.21 to 10.70 per cent during the corresponding period, an institute release said Wednesday.

In Uttar Pradesh alone, the variety has brought about a significant increase in the state average yield from 61.6 tonnes/hectare to 80.5 tonnes / hectare.

With an additional profit of Rs. 54,810 per hectare, Co 0238 has contributed immensely to double the income of farmers, the flagship programme of Government of India.

At present, Bakshi Ram is working towards improving the cane yields and sucrose content of sugarcane varieties in the southern states and is hopeful that there would be a remarkable improvement in sugar recovery in the next three years in Tamil Nadu, it said.