LONG LASTING: The leaves, after harvesting can be kept fresh at room temperature for five days in the hills and two days in the plains. — Photo: HRS

FARMERS IN and around Nilgiris have been traditionally growing tuber crops and greens as an intercrop or as a pure crop.

In the past two decades, most of the small and medium farmers switched over to tea.

The present fall in the price of tea and an unstable market, have driven farmers to desperately seek out alternative crops.

A high yielding, short duration green variety named Ooty (CK)1, also called Chakravarthy keerai in Tamil, developed by researchers at the Horticultural Research Station (HRS) of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Udhagamandalam seems to have met their expectations — which would provide them with a quick and regular income, in addition to meeting their nutritional needs.

Suitable areas

The crop is suited for growing both on hills and in plains. It has recorded a yield of about 29 tonnes of green leaves per hectare on the hills, under farm conditions, which is 59 per cent higher than the local varieties, according to Prof. N. Selvaraj, Head, Horticulture Research Station, Udhagamandalam.

In the plains, the variety has recorded a yield of about 17 tonnes per hectare, he said.

The plants grow to a height of 35-40 cm and bear pinkish green leaves of excellent cooking quality.

"The leaves after harvesting can be kept fresh at room temperature for five days in the hills and two days in the plains," said Prof Selvaraj.

"The crop can also be grown as a pseudo-cereal crop as it produces good quantities of seeds. In about 145 days, it can yield about 1.2 tonnes of seeds per hectare," he said.

The plant extracts can be used as a medicine for people suffering from gastritis, hyperacidity and peptic ulcer, according to Prof. Selvaraj The crop is found to be resistant to white fly infestations and aphids. It is also resistant to drought and frost, and can be cultivated all through the year in the hills and the plains.

Seed requirement

About 20 kg of seeds are needed for sowing in one hectare. The seeds are sown on raised nursery beds of 15 cm height and 35-days-old seedlings, should be transplanted to the main fields at a spacing of 30 x 30 cm.

A nutrient dose of 25 tonnes of farmyard manure, 25 kg each of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, and 25 kg of magnesium sulphate are recommended for getting good results, according to Prof. Selvaraj. Since the culture is resistant to pest and diseases, no plant protection measure is necessary. "Farmers can produce their own seed stock and from a single plant, 20-25 gms of seeds can be harvested.

The seeds are used as feed for poultry and livestock," he said.

The seeds can be stored without loss in germination up to 14 months. The variety comes to harvest in 55 days in the hills and 50 days in the plains.

For more information readers may contact the Professor and Head, Horticultural Research Station, Vijayanagaram, Udhagamandalam: 643 001, Phone: 0423-2442170, email: hrsooty@tnau.ac.in

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