The scientist, who played a key role in developing the country’s famed high-yielding tomato variety Arka Rakshak, was honoured with a national award on the occasion of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru’s 50th Foundation Day celebrations here.
A.T. Sadashiva, head of vegetable crops division of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, who headed a team of researchers which developed Arka Rakshak variety, was presented with the Dr. Kalayya Krishnamurthy National Award for the Best Agricultural Research Award of the UAS-B.
The variety has created waves in the horticultural sector as several farmers have got yields ranging from 19 to 20 kg a plant, under open-field conditions. According to Dr. Sadashiva, this variety reduces the cost of cultivation by 10 to 15 per cent in terms of expenses of fungicides and pesticides, as it has resistance to leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt and early blight.
Arka Rakshak has been getting inquiries from the U.S., France, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia and Taiwan, he told The Hindu . It is learnt that the Centre has decided to ask the National Seed Corporation to get the seeds from the IIHR and supply to these countries.
