Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute urges Farmers to cultivate new blackgram variety

The Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute in Aduthurai recently hosted a "field day" for farmers to educate them on the benefits of growing a new blackgram variety.

Farmers were brought to on-farm trials in the Kudavasal taluk's Soraikkavur and Ennakkudi hamlets, where a live specimen of the rice fallow pulse variety AD (TR) BG 14003 was cultivated.

V. Ambethgar, the Institute's Director, explained the benefits of the new variety, which will be launched shortly, and urged farmers to use organic fertiliser to increase soil productivity and to cultivate rice fallow pulses to harvest more value with less expenditure.

Joint Director of Agriculture-Thanjavur A. Justin urged farmers to sow rice fallow pulses before January 15 every year, praising the character of more amount of pods in the blackgram community AD (TR) BG14003. The problem could be solved by raising the seed rate by two to four kilograms per acre, according to Joint Director of Agriculture-Tiruvarur P. Sivakumar, who said that machine harvesting of paddy and motorised bundling of straw had resulted in a reduction in the area of rice fallow pulses cultivation.

Progressive farmers Murugesan of Soraikkavur, Sivakumar and Murugan of Pozhakudi, Baskar of Kiliyur, Balu of Pasam, and Sivavadivel of Ennakkudi gave a brief presentation on the different varieties of rice fallow pulses they cultivated and the practices they used to boost yield. The yield characteristics of AD (TR) BG 14003 were also described.