A group of farmers of Poongudi village near here have been awaiting the procurement of ‘TNAU Rice TRY 3’ variety introduced by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University – Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute here.
The rice variety, suitable for ‘idly’ flour, was popularised by the college at Poongudi and about 30 farmers have raised this crop.
Thanks to the crop protection technique and close follow-up by the college scientists, farmers could harvest an average 30 bags of paddy (60 kg per bag).
S. Narayanasamy, organiser of the People’s Welfare Committee, says 30 farmers, who were conventionally cultivating ‘BPT 5204’ variety till 2013 had switched over to this ‘idly’ variety in September-October 2014.
About 10 acres was brought under the variety and farmers had registered an average 1.5 tonnes an acre.
About 15 tonnes had been stocked in the village, he said.
With paddy suitable for “idly,” a large number of traders had been making a beeline to the village to purchase the price. But, the farmers said that the price offered by traders was not attractive.
“We have planned to market the paddy at Rs. 900 a bag of 60 kg.; but the traders offered just Rs.800,” says Mr. Narayansamy.
P. Pandiyarajan, Dean of the college, said the institute, as part of popularising the variety, was taking steps to popularise the rice which has a milling percentage of 71.30 and head rice recovery of 66 per cent. The variety was resistant to diseases, including leaf folder, stem borer, brown spot, sheath rot, and sheath blight, Mr. Pandiyarajan said.
G. Chitrarasu, Senior Regional Manager, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, said that he would ascertain the quality of paddy before making arrangements for the procurement of the crop.
Farmers who had harvested the paddy said that it was a tough task for them to protect the stock. Mustaffa (43), another farmer, said that he had shifted his harvested produce by tractor from Poongudi to Navalur Kuttapattu, about 2 km away, where he had a threshing floor.
For dearth of space, a few other farmers had stocked the paddy on the grounds of Sri Varasidhi Vinayagar temple in the village.
30 farmers in the village switched over to new variety under TNAU guidance
The new variety is said to be resistant to many diseases
