KARAIKAL: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) experts in Karaikal succeeded in experimenting with a couple of pulse crop varieties among farmers in about a hundred acres across the district. Banking on its success, officials from the agriculture department are planning to promote pulse cultivation in Karaikal district.
Earlier this year, KVK experts led by programme coordinator Dr S Jayasankar, distributed seeds of WGG-42 variety of Green Gram to 50 farmers and VBN 8 variety of Black Gram to 50 farmers in Karaikal district under the Cluster Front Line Denomination Scheme.
The farmers cultivated the seeds in about an acre each in villages such as Pandaravadai, Seller, Sethur, Kurumbagaram and Vadakattalai. The experiment is proving to be successful in many areas, KVK experts said. Dr V Aravinth, an agronomist from ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra said, "We had experimented in around 50 acres across Karaikal district. This year, we experimented in around 100 acres.
The varieties we tried are high in yield, resistant to diseases and mature in synchronization. The farmers can try these varieties and achieve good results." P Vaithiyanathan, a farmer from Sethur said, "I tried cultivating pulses for the first time. I cultivated green gram in about an acre and got around 320 kilos of yield. I am satisfied with the harvest."
The agriculture department has been promoting various other crops in a district dominated by paddy and cotton cultivation. Pulse cultivation is currently on a decline and is under 1,000 hectares across Karaikal district. J Senthilkumar, Additional Director of Agriculture said, "Pulses are crops that can be cultivated using residual moisture and minimal amount of water. We can project successes and promote the varieties and crop cultivation among farmers in Karaikal district."