NELLORE: The Agriculture Research Station (ARS), Nellore, has developed 28 paddy varieties so far. ARS, comes under Acharya N G Ranga Agriculture University, developed BCP1 and BCP 2 way back in 1948. Nellore Masuri (NLR-34449), developed by the ARS in 2006 and introduced in the market after successful trials a few years ago, is popular in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Farmers prefer cultivating Nellore Masoori because of its high yield.
One quintal of seed is enough for the cultivation of five acres. Nellore Masuri has good qualities of slenderness and traders mix it with much popular BPT varieties for good returns. This variety, which is similar in quality to BPT 5204 Samba Masuri, is suitable for any season.Scientists in the ARS developed BCP 5 in 1950-51, BCP 6 in 1956 and Bulk H in 1965. Further, they developed a variety of Molagolukalu in 1977 and another variety of new Molagalukalu in 1977 and introduced them in the market.
Tikkana NLR 27999 was developed in 1988, Simhapuri NLR 28600, Sri ranga NLR 28523, Swarnamukhi NLR 145 were developed in 1991 and Bharani NLR 30491, Sravani NLR 33359, Swathi NLR 33057, Penna NLR 33365 in 1996.
The ARS developed Somasila NLR 33358, Vedagiri NLR 33641, Apoorva NLR 33654 varieties in 1999, Parthiva NLR 33892 in 2002, Nellore Masoori (NLR 34449) in 2006, Swetha NLR 40024 in 2009, Nellore Dhanyarasi 3354, Nellore Siri NLR 4001 in 2012 and Nellore Sugandha NLR 40054 in 2002.
“We focus on the requirements of local farmers. It takes a long time to introduce a new paddy variety into the market as it takes a lot of trial runs. Scientists have been developing the new varieties to provide quality and good yield to farmers,” said Senior Scientist U Vineetha of the ARS.ARS scientists have also been creating awareness among the farmers on the new inventions.
“We are getting a chance for interactions with the ARS scientists. They have been updating us with their latest inventions for good yield. In fact, they are suggesting less cultivation cost methods,” said K Narayana Reddy, a farmer from Kodavaluru.