Kerala-based Poabs Group commissioned a state-of-the-art laboratory complex at Nelliampathy in Palakkad district on Thursday to produce organic inputs. The group is one of the largest producers of biodynamic coffee in the world.
Poabs Organic Estate at Nelliyampathy is one among the two estates in the world certified by the German agency Demeter for the production, processing and export of organic pepper, tea, coffee, cardamom and vanilla.
The products of the new lab would include azospirillum, azotobacter, rhizobium, phosphorous solubilising micro organisms and bio control agents like trichoderma, pseudomonas and bio pesticides like beauveria, verticillium and metarhiziu, Poabs director Abraham Jacob said.
?The most important role of the lab would be to serve as a centre to impart training on all aspects of organic farming ranging from fundamentals to advanced application of organic methods to people connected with organic farming activities,? he said. Besides handling production of quality inputs like organic manures, bio-fertilisers, biocontrol agents and bio pesticides, the lab would also help intensify studies on microbial bio diversity as the resource for production and processing of bio-fertilisers and bio pesticides necessary for organic farming.
The lab, he said, would take special care to describe microbial bio-fertilisers and demonstrate its applicability for educating farmers as well as extension research workers, besides serving as a centre for joint R&D efforts for the various centers of learning in Kerala in particular and the country in general.
Effectiveness of bio products on crop production and quality would get top priority under the lab facility, which would have the approval of the central and state funding agencies like the Department of Bio Technology (DBT) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), Jacob said.
