Swarna Paddy Variety Fetching Higher Yields & Higher Net Income for Andhra Farmers

A team of ANGRAU scientists evaluated the effects of the Swarna paddy variety in the Godavari zone. According to the study, farmers who grew the popular paddy variety Swarna had greater yields (846 kg/ha/Kharif season) and higher net income (Rs 12479.88/ha/Kharif season) than those who grew the BPT 5204.

The variety contributes 1.09 percent and 0.99 percent, respectively, of the total income from the Swarna variety to the Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) and Agriculture Gross Value Added (AGVA) of the Godavari zone.

In 2019–20, this variety will contribute 0.63, 0.22, and 0.20 shares, respectively, to AGVA, Gross Value Added (GVA), and Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), according to KN Ravi Kumar, one of the scientists engaged in the study.

The first "mega" paddy variety is called Swarna. Dr. V. Rama Chandra Rao notified this variety in 1982, and in 2019–20, 1.69 lakh hectares of it would be farmed in the Godavari zone.

Despite planting more than 20 different types of paddy, the survey found that Swarna was the most popular kind among farmers during the Kharif season. Swarna variety is followed by Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204) and Sampada Swarna (Nuziveedu seeds).

Despite having a thick grain, he told The New Indian Express that Swarna has been the most popular variety among farmers and millers for the past forty years. He said that he, together with his coworkers S Hyma Jyothi and V Sitarambabu, carried out the impact study and discovered the reason why farmers favour the Swarna type over other varieties during casual conversations with the farmers.

The Swarna variety, he continued, "is adaptable to a wide range of production technologies, including Semidry, Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), transplanted, and dry direct sowing, in addition to its ability to withstand a variety of climatic conditions and still guarantee the minimum guaranteed yield.

Swarna variety grains have a two-week period of dormancy, which allows them to withstand coastal rains that coincide with harvest and reduce in situ germination. The Swarna variety became increasingly well-liked in the region as a result of additional assured yields even under unfavourable climatic conditions, etc., on a prioritised basis.

Due to its lower proportion of broken rice and ability to withstand sortex machine modernization, even the millers choose this variety.