Telangana Governor calls for research in immunity-boosting crops and Palm trees

Hyderabad, June 25:  Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday called upon the agricultural scientists to carry out research in immunity-boosting crops so as to prevent the ill-effects of viral outbreaks on the humankind.
“Despite the fact that our older generation ate rice and lived longer, our younger generation is distancing away from consuming rice saying it as the diabetic-prone food. We need to come up with new varieties of rice that are low on sugar and maintain our traditions, especially in South India, associated with rice,” she added

The Governor was reviewing and interacting with the functionaries of the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University through a video conference from Raj Bhavan, here. She said that there must be greater emphasis on research on improvised fine quality rice varieties like Telangana Sona, which is considered a low sugar variety.

Exhorting the agricultural scientists to carry out intensive research on Palmyra trees (Thaadi chettu), which the Governor termed as the Kalpa vriksha of a kind, she stated that every part of the Palmyra tree also known as the Palm tree is useful and added that this particular tree given its traditional importance has been made the official State Tree of Tamil Nadu.

“As its medicinal and nutritional value, the Palmyra trees must be protected from the diseases and grown in large numbers to process different parts of the tree. The Neera, tender palm water, is one product that is highly nutritious and we need to come up with technologies that preserve the Palmyra-based Neera product for longer periods and for its packaged selling,” Dr. Tamilisai added.

The Governor stressed that we must not lose our traditional assets that date back to times immemorial and we must protect these trees so as to help our future generations to enjoy its fruits, and other benefits.

Referring to the use of lot of oils in our traditional cooking, Dr. Tamilisai said that most of the health issues emanate from the excessive use of some unhealthy oils and this calls for increased research on the part of the agriculture and horticultural scientists to come out with special crops that give healthy oil.

As the food patterns are changing at a rapid pace in this viral pandemic-era, she said that it was the responsibility of the agricultural scientists to create awareness and educate people on the traditional and healthy food habits that contribute to our well-being.

She appreciated the PJTS Agricultural University for coming out with new varieties of crops and for producing healthy oils through the research.

Secretary K. Surendra Mohan, University vice-chancellor Prof Praveen Rao and other senior officials were present.