Tuesday 2 June 2015

Producing seeds to enrich soil fertility

Summer showers have facilitated the prospects of production of green manure seeds this season at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute at Navalur Kuttapattu near here.
A sprawling area of 20 acres had been brought under the seed cultivation technique under the National Agriculture Development Programme (NADP) with a view to supplying green manure seeds to needy farmers.
The institute has cultivated daincha on its fields and is all ready for supplying daincha seeds to farmers in course of time. “Nitrogen fixation is the main advantage of the daincha in its root nodules,” says P. Pandiyarajan, Dean of the Institute, showing sharp nodules at the end of the roots of the plant where nitrogen has been fixed. The utilisation of the daincha seeds minimises the use of chemical fertiliser to a great extent.
On the advantages of the seeds, T. Eevera, Assistant Professor of Seeds Science Technology of the Institute, says that the use of daincha seeds would enrich soil fertility.
The growth of earthworm would be further strengthened through the seeds. The recent showers have stabilised the growth of the plants on the campus of the institute.
S.K. Ganesh, Professor and Head of Plant Breeding and Genetics, said that the duration of the plant to produce seeds was 110 days.
The Dean said that the institute would supply the seeds to the needy farmers during the middle of June. On an average, the production would be 200 kg an acre. Farmers would require about 8 kg an acre.
Source : The Hindu

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