LUCKNOW (PTI): Inspired by an educational program on television, a young graduate from Allahabad has developed the expertise for mass fresh water pearl culture a technique not much tried in India.
Putting to use his “inborn character” of a scientist, Ajay Kumar claims to have Succeeded in mass fresh water pear) culture in two ponds in Naini industrial area off Allahabad in the north Indian Uttar Pradesh state.
Cultured pearls are priced from Rs 100 to thousands of rupees depending upon the size and quality with a market the world over.
Inspired by the program which described how pearls are cultured in fresh water in Japan, China and the USA, he got further information from the Allahabad based National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources and the Central Institute of Fresh Water Aquaculture.
A natural pearl is formed when a foreign body such as sand or a parasite accidently lodges itself in the Soft issues of the pearl oyster.
The oyster protects itself by secreting a nacreous substance that cis deposited over the foreign body. In thin micro layers forming the ‘pearl.”
For producing artificial pearls, a piece from another mussel (a foreign body) and a nucleus are introduced into the body through a surgical operation and the pearl is formed around it, naturally.
Though Japan and China dominate the pearl industry, India can be more successful as the climate is more suitable here, he says.
In the low temperatures in Japan. And China, a pear! Takes about three years to form, while in India it would take only four to six months.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 25, 1993
