Trichy: Hundreds of farmers from Trichy district have opted for samba cultivation using paddy seeds. These paddy seeds are available with private agencies claiming that varieties like Karnataka Ponni help them get more yield than the one available with agriculture department. They also claimed that these varieties would be pest-resistant.

To carry out samba paddy cultivation as part of a mission to enhance grain production, the agriculture department has earmarked one lakh acres out of 1.71 lakh acre of farmlands in Trichy district.

Farmers are busy preparing their lands and many of them have already raised nurseries 10 to 15 days old, following the release of water in Cauvery. The farmers said, the transplant would take place within 15 days.

More than 30 per cent of the farmers have raised nurseries using Karnataka Ponni, even though the agriculture department has asked the farmers to use certified paddy seeds.

Though Karnataka Ponni is not a certified seed, farmers are ready to take any risk, according to them as it would give good yield compared to the certified seeds prescribed by agriculture department.

Farmer would be able to sell the paddy for Rs 1,200 a bag weighing 60 kg, if the farmers harvest the crop successfully after ripping. Farmers says they can easily secure a yield of 40 bags per acre and sell them for Rs 48,000. However, the normal variety would fetch only Rs 1,000 per bag.

To raise paddy crop for an acre, the total expenditure would be Rs 25,000. The crop period would be more or less the same for both the varieties.

The state organizer of the farmers' wing of Tamil Manila Congress, Puliyur A Nagarajan, said that farmers are cultivating Karnataka Ponni without knowing the risks involved in raising the variety. Blast disease would affect the crop during rain or fog season and inflict heavy losses on the farmers.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/