Farmers who need betelvine rooted cuttings can approach the Sugarcane Research Station of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Sirugamani to get them. The station had released betelvine varieties of ‘Sgm 1’ and ‘Sgm (bv) 2’ in 1994 and 2004.
“We continue to make the varieties available to cater to the needs of the farmers,” said R. Nageswari, Assistant Professor of Agronomy, who has been maintaining the betel vine farm at the station.
Apart from these two varieties, the Station has been conserving cultures of 11 other varieties got from different parts of the country. The varieties included ‘Bangla’ from West Bengal; ‘Guljedu’ from Andhra Pradesh; ‘Jaipur’ from Rajasthan; ‘Karpoori’ ‘Pachakodi’ and ‘Vellakodi,’ all from Tamil Nadu.
These cultures were raised at the Station as part of the research programme taken up decades ago. “However, we continue to maintain these cultures with a view to ascertaining the possibility of evolving vegetative behaviour and for arriving at new culture,” Ms. Nageswari added. The station has been supplying the rooted cuttings of ‘Sgm 1’ and ‘Sgm (bv) 2’ to the needy farmers and those interested in raising betel vine.
