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Dragon Fruit

● Dragon Fruit is a herbaceous perennial climbing cactus widely

known as Pitaya. It has its origin in Southern Mexico, Central
America and South America.

● Its flowers are hermaphrodites (male and female organs in the

same flower) in nature and open at night.

● The plant sustains yield for more than 20 years, is high in

nutraceutical properties(medicinal effects) and good for value-
added processing industries.

● In India, the cultivation of Kamalam Fruit is done in Karnataka,

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha,
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
Mizoram and Nagaland.
Climate Conditions

● As per the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the fruit plant

doesn’t need much water and can be cultivated on dry land.

● The cost of cultivation is initially high. but the plant doesn’t need
productive land, it gives maximum production from the non-
productive, less fertile areas.

Related Steps taken by the State Governments

●The Gujarat Government recently renamed dragon fruit as kamlam

(lotus) and announced an incentive for farmers who cultivate it.

● The Haryana Government also provides a grant for farmers who are
ready to plant this exotic fruit variety.
Benefits of Dragon Fruit

● It is a rich source of vitamins and minerals and

antioxidants.
⑨
● Dragon fruit as rich source of vital nutritional ingredients
viz. carotene, calcium, fiber, vitamin B, vitamin C, and
phosphorous.

● The dragon fruit regulates digestive process, prevent

colon cancer, diabetes, neutralize toxic substances, reduce
cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and can help against
asthma and cough.
Regenerative agriculture

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming and land

management approach that focuses on improving soil health,
increasing biodiversity, and reducing the carbon footprint of
agriculture. and pollution

It involves a range of practices, including reduced tillage, cover

cropping, crop rotations, and integrated livestock management.

Regenerative agriculture seeks to create a healthy and

productive ecosystem that supports sustainable food production
and rural development.
Multiple benefits: Regenerative farming can
improve:
● Crop yields
● Volume of crops produced
● Health of soil
● Soil’s ability to retain water
● Reducing soil erosion.
• Integrated farming system is a sustainable
agricultural system. that integrates livestock, crop
production, fish, poultry, tree. crops, plantation
crops and other systems that benefit each. other.
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

● Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZNBF) means raising crops without

using any fertilizers and pesticides or any other external materials.

● The word Zero Budget refers to the zero cost of production of all
crops.

● ZBNF guides the farmers towards sustainable farming practices thus

helps in retaining soil fertility, to ensure a chemical free agriculture and
ensure low cost of production (zero cost) and thereby enhancing the
farmers income.

● The concept was promoted by agriculturist & Padma Shri awardee

SubhashPalekar, in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green
e
Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides and
intensive irrigation.
National Mission on Natural Farming IPN

● The Government of India has launched the National

Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a separate and
independent scheme to promote chemical-free and climate-
smart agriculture.

● NMNF will cover a 7.5 lakh hectare area by developing

15,000 clusters.

● The farmers willing to implement natural farming on

their field will be registered as cluster members, each
cluster shall comprise 50 farmers or more with 50-hectare
land.
● Under NMNF, farmers will receive a financial
assistance of ₹15,000 per hectare per year for three
years for the creation of on-farm input production
infrastructure.

● The Centre intends to set up 15,000 Bhartiya

Prakritik Kheti Bio-inputs Resources Centres
(BRCs) to provide easy access to bio-resources
-
National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming

● Recently, National Centre for Organic Farming has

been renamed as National Centre for Organic and Natural
Farming (NCONF).

● It is a nodal organization for promotion of organic

farming under Department of Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare,

● It was established in 2004. It is located at

Ghaziabad,UP.
PM-PRANAM

-⑰
● PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and
-
Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM-PRANAM) was announced in
Union Budget 2023-24. The PM PRANAM Scheme was launched
under the GOBAR DHAN Scheme.

● Objective: To reduce the subsidy

- burden on chemical fertilisers.

● There will be no separate budget for the PM PRANAM scheme.

It will be financed through the – “savings of existing fertiliser
subsidy” provided by the department of fertilisers under various
schemes.

● It will be launched to incentivise States and Union Territories to

promote alternative fertilizers and balanced use of chemical fertilizers
To encourage the balanced use of fertilisers in
conjunction with biofertilisers and organic fertilisers.
Permaculture

-
Permaculture is a design system that seeks to create sustainable and
self-sufficient ecosystems by mimicking natural patterns and
processes.

It involves the integration of plants, animals, and people to create a

closed-loop system that provides for the needs of all components.

Permaculture design principles include observing and interacting

with nature, using renewable resources, maximizing diversity, and
using small-scale, decentralized systems.

Permaculture systems can be applied to both rural and urban

environments.
we
Chlorpyrifos & Dechlorane plus

● The 18th meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP)

Review Committee (POPRC-18) to the Stockholm Convention
has included chlorpyrifos and dechlorane plus as POP's.

● Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide & Dechlorane plus is a flame

retardant. This proposal to list chlorpyrifos as POP was resisted
by India.

● Chlorpyrifos was approved for agricultural use in 2021, which

includes its use as a pesticide against pests affecting Bengal
gram, rice and cotton.

● It is one of the ten pesticides banned by Punjab and Haryana

governments in August 2022.
Initially
-
I 12
pollutants
covered

Dirty Bosch
Glyphosate ⑭
● The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has restricted
the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, citing health
hazards for humans and animals.

● Glyophosate is an Herbicide, developed in 1970. Its scientific

name is N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine

● Herbicide is chemical agent, for killing or inhibiting the growth

of unwanted plants, such as residential or agricultural weeds and
invasive species.

● It is applied to the leaves of plants to kill weeds.

·
Harmfull effect on Mealty

· won selective
Liquid Nano Urea

● the Prime Minister inaugurated the first Liquid Nano Urea

(LNU) plant at Kalol, Gujarat.

● It is Indigenous Urea, introduced firstly by the Indian Farmers

Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for farmers across the
world.

● It is urea in the form of a nanoparticle. It is a nutrient (liquid) to

provide nitrogen to plants as an alternative to the conventional
urea.

● Urea is a chemical nitrogen fertilizer, white in colour, which

artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants
Benefits of Nano Urea

● It contains 40,000 ppm of nitrogen in a 500 ml bottle which is

equivalent to the impact of nitrogen nutrient provided by one
bag of conventional urea.

● The conventional urea is effective 30-40% in delivering

nitrogen to plants, while the effectiveness of the Nano Urea
Liquid is over 80%.

● Liquid nano urea has a shelf life of a year.

● According to IFFCO, liquid nano urea contains 4% total

nitrogen evenly dispersed in water.

● The size of a nano nitrogen particle varies from 20-50 nm.

-
The Coffee Board of India

● It is a statutory organization that was constituted under Section

(4) of the Coffee Act, 1942.

● It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of

Commerce and Industry

● The Board comprises 33 Members including the Chairperson,

who is the Chief Executive and it functions from Bangalore.

k]
● The Board mainly focuses its activities in the areas of research,
extension, development, market intelligence, external & internal
promotion for coffee.

● It is headquartered in Bengaluru.

● The Board has a Central Coffee Research Institute at Balehonnur

(Karnataka)