TIRUCHY: Amid complaints of private traders supplying poor quality seeds which, in turn, are blamed for recent episodes of early flowering of paddy in Tiruchy, the agriculture and farmers’ welfare department, and scientists, advise farmers to procure only government-certified seeds. They not only are reliable in quality but are also tolerant to climate-induced pressures, they add.
A senior agriculture official blamed farmers for taking unnecessary risk and purchasing uncertified seeds from private dealers even when the government offers reasonable prices for paddy varieties cultivated by purchasing the seed from its agencies like primary agricultural cooperative credit societies (PACCS). They believe that the so-called fine quality varieties sold by private dealers will fetch fair prices without sensing the risks involved in it, the official said.
Explaining their side, S Karunakaran, a farmer from Tiruchy said, "Private traders persuade farmers to raise a limited selection of seed varieties available with private dealers, promising them to purchase the produce directly from the fields. Though the price they offer is lower than that at direct paddy purchase centres, some farmers choose private traders to avoid the long wait at DPCs.”
Encouraging farmers to purchase seeds from government agencies, A Sugumar, assistant director of agriculture (Lalgudi), said, "We are distributing ADT 54, a self-resistant crop variety which is well-suited to withstand current environmental changes. The fine quality variety is comparable to white ponni, known for its fine quality. In addition, we are distributing Trichy 3, CoR 50 and Co 52, which are popular common varieties." Mentioning factors like overuse of pesticides and fertilisers also contributing to crop stress, scientists said a majority of the seeds are susceptible to them.
Certified seeds, however, are a far reliable option in such cases, they said. C Raja Babu, programme coordinator of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Sirugamani told TNIE, "Generally, samba paddy is somewhat vulnerable to the stresses mentioned. To mitigate the risks, farmers should use rice bloom - a paddy tonic recommended by the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, especially for samba paddy. The tonic contains a mixture of macro and micro nutrients, and plant growth regulators. It reduces the sterility rate and increases yield up to 15%.”