Andhra Pradesh - Warangal   

New groundnut variety improves production

WARANGAL: The efforts of Agricultural Research Station (ARS) and agricultural department to improve both declining quality and quantity of groundnut product appear to have paid dividends if the response from farmers is any indication.

ARS assistant director L. Jalapathi Rao said ASI introduced one Kadiri-6 variety of groundnut in the district last year which was found superior to the local TMV-2 variety. On experimental basis, the ARS distributed about three tonnes of seed last year and having found economically viable, more farmers approached the ARS. “We distributed 18 tonnes of seed this year. We will buy it back and redistribute to spread the seed in the district,” he explained.According to him, the area under pulse production has drastically reduced in the district over the years. Efforts were being made to motivate more farmers to opt for pulses.

To begin with, the ARS has procured the Kadiri-6 variety from Anantapur and had been distributing it to farmers in Warangal district.

The statistics indicate that, the area of groundnut which was 11, 470 hectares in 2005-2006 had decreased to 9,380 hectares in 2006-2007. The production of ground nut was 1,070 kg per hectare in 2006 which had declined to 980 kg per hectare in 2006.

“This Kadiri-6 variety of groundnut will yield 3,000 kg per hectare. Each plant is bearing an average of 50 kernels which means about 50 quintal per hectare roughly,” Mr. Jalapathi explained.If the farmers adopted the technology such as sprinkler systems, they could harvest more using less quantity of water in drought prone mandals like Jangaon, Cheriyal, Dharmasagar and Maddur, he pointed out.

The officials were urging the farmers not to sell the groundnut in open market and instead sell the produce to ARS enabling them to pass it onto the other farmers and thus increase the area of cultivation and production.

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New groundnut variety improves production

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