TIRUCHY: With Samba cultivation kicking off in most parts of the district, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department under the Union government’s Seed Village Programme (Beej Gram Yojana) has achieved about 60 per cent of the annual target of -- distributing at a subsidised cost -- 440 metric tonnes of paddy seed of different varieties to farmers this season.
Farmers, however, say the seeds distributed do not match their expectations of returning a high yield, and being pest resistant, among others. While an agriculture department official mentioned the distribution of 20-kg worth of certified seeds of rice varieties such as Trichy-3, KO-r50, TKM 13 and VGD1 per farmer under the scheme, N Rajendran, a farmer leader from the Tamil Maanila Congress said,
"The agriculture department while distributing seeds does not consult us to know of our needs and expectations. The varieties they provided us with are least preferred because they don’t return high yield.” Farmers, on the other hand, ask traders for the varieties they prefer so that they can purchase them from private shops and sell it the latter and factories, he added.
Ayalai Sivasuriyan, another farmer leader, said, "We need to be supplied high-yielding varieties that are resistant to pest attacks and the like." When enquired, a senior agriculture official said farmers use different paddy varieties for different purposes.
As far as bold varieties are concerned, Trichy-3 tops the list, the official said. Those who cultivate for selling it off to direct purchase centres (DPC) prefer bold varieties like TKS5, Cr1009 and AST16, the official added. Fine varieties on the other hand are largely cultivated for the purpose of selling it off to private buyers.
Earlier we had only white ponni rice for a popular fine variety, as compared to bold varieties that are more popular. We later supplied them with BBT and NLT varieties from Andhra Pradesh which yielded 30-35 bags of rice per acre. The yield, however, later began to drop.
However, in Andhra Pradesh, two other high-yielding varieties have been introduced, which our government doesn’t promote. Private seed sellers on the other hand head directly to Andhra Pradesh and purchase the varieties that yield 35-40 bags of rice.
When contacted Department Joint Director M Murugesan said, "It is true for the past two years we didn't supply any high-yielding fine variety but this year, we developed a variety from Aaduthurai in the State -- ADT54 -- which can yield 40 rice bags. We are popularising the variety.” Our officials are in regular touch with farmers to know of their needs, he also said.