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Sugar beet included in water-efficient crops programme

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 13. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today announced that the Government decided to include sugar beet along with sweet sorghum and jatropha in its new programme to promote water-efficient crops to help farmers diversify and get better net income, leading to rural prosperity.

In a statement here, she said as sugar beet was also included in the programme, the date for filing the Expression of Interest (EoI) would be extended from July 17 to July 23. Recent research and development resulted in an improved strain of sugar beet, which was fully suitable for tropical climates and all soils. The crop was better than sugarcane, duration-wise, yield-wise and sugar content-wise. It required moderate management, had low susceptibility to pests, its green foliage was good fodder for cattle and the crop's pulp residue could be used as a high-value cattle feed. Unlike as in the case of sugarcane, the advantage of sugar beet, being a year-round crop, was that the sugar mills could be operating throughout the year, she said.

"The farmer stands to gain immensely with sugar beet. Being a shorter duration crop, it will provide a net income of Rs.12,000 in six months. The crops of sugar beet or one crop of sugar beet followed by another of sweet sorghum can result in a net annual income of Rs.22,000 per acre per year."

Industrial houses could file the EoIs already called for, in their own format, together with their development plans indicating the approximate location before the Secretary (Agriculture) before July 23, Ms.Jayalalithaa said. The Government would provide a comprehensive package of support for this programme, promotion of efficient water use, agro-processing and rural industrialisation, she reiterated.

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