Coimbatore: MDMK leader Vaiko on Saturday condemned the Centre's move to merge Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow.
Pointing out that it was a pioneer in sugarcane research, he requested Niti Aayog to reconsider the decision. "The BJP government is planning to open the agricultural market to the multinational companies and the move to close/merge SBI is part of this hidden agenda. This is condemnable. The union government should allow the institute to function in Tamil Nadu," Vaiko said in a statement.
Sugarcane Breeding Institute was established in Coimbatore by the British government in 1912 with a 250 acre farmland. Later, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research was set up in Lucknow by the central government. More than 200 people, including 75 scientists, are employed with SBI. Sugarcane Breeding Institute had released a new variety of sugarcane 'Co 0238' a few years ago. Using it, Uttar Pradesh had topped the country in sugarcane production.
Agricultural Research Service Scientists Forum had earlier shot off a letter to union agricultural minister requesting him to make SBI headquarters post the merger process.
"The sugarcane varieties developed at SBI or allied varieties with inputs from the institute occupy about 99% of the cultivated area in the country. Sugar production has increased from 1.1 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 25.5 million tonnes in 2015 -16. The move to merge this 105-year-old globally renowned institute with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, will only help SBI loose its distinct identity. In the event of merger, SBI should be accorded the status of headquarters," the letter read. The scientists at SBI, it further said, strongly feel that the move is unjustified as Tamil Nadu will lose a prominent central institute catering to the needs its industrious farmers.
The ministry of agricultural and farmers welfare had constituted a revised expert committee led by Dr T Ramasami, former secretary, Department of Science and Technology, to take a decision on whether to merge or close the SBI. The panel has submitted its report to the ministry but the details are yet to be made public.
Pointing out that it was a pioneer in sugarcane research, he requested Niti Aayog to reconsider the decision. "The BJP government is planning to open the agricultural market to the multinational companies and the move to close/merge SBI is part of this hidden agenda. This is condemnable. The union government should allow the institute to function in Tamil Nadu," Vaiko said in a statement.
Sugarcane Breeding Institute was established in Coimbatore by the British government in 1912 with a 250 acre farmland. Later, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research was set up in Lucknow by the central government. More than 200 people, including 75 scientists, are employed with SBI. Sugarcane Breeding Institute had released a new variety of sugarcane 'Co 0238' a few years ago. Using it, Uttar Pradesh had topped the country in sugarcane production.
Agricultural Research Service Scientists Forum had earlier shot off a letter to union agricultural minister requesting him to make SBI headquarters post the merger process.
"The sugarcane varieties developed at SBI or allied varieties with inputs from the institute occupy about 99% of the cultivated area in the country. Sugar production has increased from 1.1 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 25.5 million tonnes in 2015 -16. The move to merge this 105-year-old globally renowned institute with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, will only help SBI loose its distinct identity. In the event of merger, SBI should be accorded the status of headquarters," the letter read. The scientists at SBI, it further said, strongly feel that the move is unjustified as Tamil Nadu will lose a prominent central institute catering to the needs its industrious farmers.
The ministry of agricultural and farmers welfare had constituted a revised expert committee led by Dr T Ramasami, former secretary, Department of Science and Technology, to take a decision on whether to merge or close the SBI. The panel has submitted its report to the ministry but the details are yet to be made public.
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