My Stevia Diary by Pankaj Oudhia : Heat Tolerant Stevia Varieties

Heat tolerant Stevia varieties are need of the day in Chhattisgarh and Odisha :My Stevia Diary

My Stevia Diary by Pankaj Oudhia

Severe heat during summer and moderate heat during most of the part of year are curse for Stevia cultivation in Chhattisgarh and Orissa. There is need to screen the suitable Stevia varieties available in different parts of the world. Unfortunately not much work is in progress in this direction. The Agricultural research organizations in these areas have yet not started systematic research on this aspect. Certain private companies are claiming that they have developed new Stevia varieties but without systematic trials and scientific studies they are claiming that these varieties are capable of performing in these areas. It is cheating with the farmers interested in Stevia cultivation. Many farmers when presented me these so-called new varieties I found through initial observations that these are established varieties and private companies are naming it as new varieties. The similar trend was there when Safed Musli farming was at peak. The private companies claimed the development of new Safed Musli varieties and charged extra from the farmers. After nearly ten years these so called Safed Musli varieties are still far from scientific trials. The experts say that it was open fraud to the farmers.