The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Ryots warm up to green manure cultivation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 03, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Ryots warm up to green manure cultivation

S. Harpal Singh

Insufficient supply of seed hampering spread of this practice

— PHOTO: S. HARPAL SINGH

Season of plenty: The jute crop in the vast paddy fields in the Godavari river belt has converted the area into a sea of bright yellow.

ADILABAD: With the chances of green manure cultivation in Adilabad district going as bright as the yellow of the jute flowers, the government needs to enhance the quota of seeds supplied on subsidy. Deficient supply of seeds will not help the case of the agricultural community which is fast waking up to the relevance of farming of green manure crops like Sun hemp (jute) and Diancha (jeelugu).

Paddy farmers in the mandals of Nirmal, Laxmanchanda, Khanapur, Kadem, Jannaram, Dandepalli and Luxettipet are taking to cultivation of green manure before the second regular crop. However, insufficient supply of seedto the farmers is hampering the spread of this best practice. The Agriculture Department is able to meet only about 20 per cent of the demand.

Increased yield

“Green manure crops can increase the paddy yield by as much as 1 quintal per acre. The crops increase physical properties and microbial activity in the soil besides improving the water holding capacity of the land and solving its salinity problem,” points out C. Narsingu, Adilabad Agriculture Officer. “Cultivated twice every year, the crop raised now are utilised by the farmers for making seed and the one raised after the Rabi harvesting is used as green manure,” he adds.

The mature jute crop in Rabi is incorporated into soil as it is crushed while standing. Jute, like any other traditional green manure plant, easily assimilates in the soil to spur all the positive changes in the soil. The incorporation of green manure crop into the soil requires good quantity of water and hence is generally undertaken in areas that are irrigated. Paddy is cultivated in about 60,000 hectares in Adilabad district and only a small portion of it comes under the green manure crops. Nonetheless, the increasing enthusiasm of farmers towards raising such crops is very encouraging and needs to be carried further. From the nearly 1,100 hectares under jute and jeelugu cultivation in 2004-2005, the area has increased to about 1,800 hectares in 2008-2009. The subsidy component has almost doubled from the Rs. 9 lakh in 2004-2005 to Rs. 17 lakh in the current year.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh