Haryana Agricultural University will lead cane cultivation in Haryana: VC

Hisar, July 25

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with M/s Saraswati Sugar Mills Limited, Yamunanagar, at the HAU, Hisar, today.

HAU Vice-Chancellor Prof BR Kamboj during the signing of the MoU said new varieties such as COH 188, COH 176 and COH 179 developed by Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University would lead sugarcane cultivation in the state in future. The HAU varieties, COH 56 and COH 119, had been very popular in their time. While COH 160 was popular not only in Haryana but also in neighbouring states. These varieties had brought a revolution in sugarcane cultivation, he said.

The MoU was signed by the Director, Human Resource Management, Dr Atul Dhingra, on behalf of the HAU, and senior vice-president DP Singh on behalf of the mill in presence of the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Sugar Mills SK Sachdeva.

Kamboj said sugarcane was a very important cash crop of India and Haryana. It was grown in an area of 5.17 million hectares in India with a production of 439.4 million tonne and productivity of 849 quintals/hectare. In Haryana, sugarcane was grown in an area of 1.07 lakh hectares with a production of 88.82 lakh tonne and productivity of 819 quintals/hectare. He said the crop played a very important role in the economy of the farmers, state and country by providing raw material to the sugar industry. The crop and sugar industry had become even more important in the emerging scenario as sugarcane would be the main crop for ethanol production which was used for blending petrol. He said the university was striving to develop technology partnerships with sugar mills for rapid development, multiplication and distribution of new sugarcane varieties to the farmers of Haryana. Mill testing was also an important parameter in introducing new sugarcane varieties for farmers, he said.

Sugar Mills chief executive officer SK Sachdeva said the farmers were cultivating sugarcane, sugar mills were processing the crop and the government was providing favourable policy support. There were 14 sugar mills in the state. The mills processed sugarcane to produce sugar, ethanol and electricity. M/s Saraswati Sugar Mills Limited was one of the largest sugar mills in the country, which had a high crushing capacity. The MoU would go a long way in promoting partnership between research institutes and the sugar industry.

The Regional Director of Regional Research Centre, Karnal, Dr Rajbir Garg, gave detailed information about the contribution of the HAU in growing of sugarcane crop.On the occasion, media adviser Dr Sandeep Arya, Dr Renu Munjal and IPR Cell in-charge Dr Yogesh Jindal were present.