Arka Sahan is a variety of custard apple which weighs between 800 grams and 1.2 kg and can be scooped up like ice cream and eaten while Arka Bheem is a hybrid of onion having a shelf-life of up to three months. These hybrids, which have characteristics that sound as fancy as their names, have been developed by the city-based Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR).
IIHR has developed more than 18 hybrids of vegetables and fruits as well as flower and medicinal plants. These are touted as being large sized, resistant to drought and pests, seedless and having long shelf lives. Some even have more than one of these unique characters.
Seeds of vegetables such as tomato, chilli, onion, French beans, field beans, cowpea, green peas, brinjal, coriander and pumpkin and ornamental crops like China aster and marigold are sold at IIHR, National Seeds Corporation and Karnataka State Seeds Corporation. Many private nurseries are already using these seeds to cater to farmers.
Fruit crops like Arka Prabhath (papaya), Arka Kiran/Arka Mridula (guava) and Deanna (fig) as well as ornamental crops such as Arka Ambara/Arka Kanak (crossandra), Arka Kesar (gladiolus), Arka Flame (carnation) and Arka Parimala (rose) are sold as planting materials (grafts, bulbs and seedlings).