Tomato, mustard may bloom in saline regions

NRCPB research likely to help Kutch farmers.

How about growing high-yield tomatoes and mustard in saline areas of arid Kutch region in Gujarat?

New Delhi-based National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) is working on developing varieties of tomato and mustard for saline areas. Farmers may have new varieties of tomatoes and mustard, which could be grown in saline areas.

"We are currently developing transgenic varieties of tomato and mustard, which the farmers will be able to grow in saline areas. The new varieties that the institute is working on will be drought and salt tolerant making them suitable for growing in areas having lower water availability," said Kailash Bansal, professor of biotechnology at NRCPB.

The new varieties will also be made frost tolerant. High amount of frost in winter especially in the month of November and December sometimes damages the plants.

However, it will take around three years for these varieties to reach the farmers. Currently, testing of these varieties is under way and NRCPB is busy collecting more data for analysis. These varieties will also have to be sent for approvals, he added.