Coimbatore, July 8: The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI) and Madras Fertilisers Ltd (MFL) have joined hands to implement ``development of acid tolerant azospirillum for tea''.Azospirillum are nitrogen-fixing organisms which produce plant growth promoting substances increasing the root biomass and vigour of the crop. The nitrogen fixed by the organisms are directly available for the tea crop.``The increased use of organic fertilisers is slowly gaining acceptance in the tea industry. More such projects would be pursued by us,'' A Abdul Kareem, vice-chancellor of TNAU told The Financial Express. The vice-chancellor was previously associated with UPASI and a closer tie-up between the University and plantation industry has been high on his agenda.
A time-frame of three years has been set for the programme to develop azospirillum for tea and is being financed by MFL. UPASI would provide facilities, mainly land, for conducting experimentsby TNAU.
``We have screened 100 isolates from Walparai and Nilgiris. These would be tested in the coming season,'' said P Santhanakrishnan, Head of the Agri Microbiology Department of TNAU. The nursery trials would be done by mid-1999 and mainfield applications in the terminal year, he claimed. The scientific community claim that at least 20-25 per cent of inorganic nitrogen can be saved with the supplement and the tea produced could command a high premium. Azospirillum is more helpful for dryland conditions.
The objectives of the private agency scheme are:
To isolate acid tolerant azospirillum cultures from tea growing areas of Tamil Nadu and screen them for nitrogen fixation and growth promoting ability. To identify the elite strains of azospirillum based on their characters. Estimate the growth enhancement by the elite azospirillum strain in tea and determine the fertiliser saving in the field. To find out the efficacy of the combined inoculation of the elite azospirillumisolate and P solubilizer in tea.This is the second such programme to be taken up by TNAU for the tea industry, the first being ``research on the effect of coir compost and bio-fertilisers on soils health, growth, productivity and quality of tea'' in collaboration with Parry Agro Industries Ltd, Iyerpadi. The objective of the programme included formulation of an integrated nutrient management practice involving inorganic fertilisers, coir compost and bio-fertilisers for tea.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
