The Hindu : Kerala News : New paddy varieties yield bumper harvest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 12, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

New paddy varieties yield bumper harvest

G. Prabhakaran

Lower production cost is another spin-off for farmers

Pest and disease-resistant variety
Lower quantity of fertilizers needed

PALAKKAD: Two new pest and disease-resistant dwarf and short-duration paddy varieties of the PC series have helped farmers get record yields at low costs of cultivation in the State.

These had been developed from the traditional Thavalakannan and Chenkazhama varieties and are best suited for cultivation in Kuttanad and the Kole land of Thrissur.

The rice produced tastes good.

With a height of 1 metre less than that of other varieties, the plants record reduced loss of grain.

Organic manure

K.K. Surendran, farmer at Chittur in the district, has obtained a bumper harvest of 6,250 kg a hectare, using organic manure and not chemical fertilizers.

Less tolerance to major pests and diseases and the higher nitrogen requirement that the IRRI varieties demand are major problems faced by farmers.

P. Chandrasekharan, former Dean and Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, who developed these varieties and cultivated them in various parts of the State during the past 10 years, says the Santham (PC-5) variety has brought down the costs.

A farmer who has farmyard manure need spend only Rs. 1,500 a hectare for the new varieties.

The cost of fertilizer (90:45:45 NPK) recommended by the Kerala Agriculture University for tall varieties comes to Rs. 3,200.

Thus, with the new varieties, the farmer saves Rs. 1,700 a hectare in fertilizer and Rs. 300 in pesticides, a total saving of Rs. 2,000, Dr. Chandrasekharan says.

The Kerala Agriculture University (KAU) has advised that dwarf varieties, such as TKTM (PC varieties), need only 40:20:20 NPK for medium duration of 135 days.

The tall varieties cannot make use of excess nitrogen for higher grain yields.

“The varieties I have developed, that is the PC series, do not require more than 40:20:20 NPK.

As a precaution, I would suggest to all the farmers to grow them first with five tonnes of farmyard manure an acre [0.4 hectare] and watch the growth of plants. Maximum that he needs to apply is only 35 kg of urea in two split doses,” Dr. Chandrasekharan says.

Mr. Surendran obtained the seeds of PC-1 from the Kerala Agriculture University and treated the germinating seeds as recommended by it.

Coarse varieties

Dr. Chandrasekharan says that another important aspect is that coarse varieties, such as this, yield one tonne more a hectare than fine varieties do.

In addition, the starch quality is excellent.

Rice-procurement agencies prefer coarse varieties with bold grain and red endorsperm (Matta), which can fetch an extra Rs. 300 a cartload (500 kg) over white rice, he adds.

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