Cauvery delta farmers should go for hybrid paddy

Thanjavur:Farmers in the Cauvery delta should go for cultivation of hybrid varieties of paddy to get a higher yield, said V. Muralidharan,Director, Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai.Speaking at the inauguration of a training programme for farmers on cultivation of CORH-3, a hybrid paddy variety, here on Tuesday, Dr. Muralidharan said that CORH-was a short-term `kuruvai' variety that matured in 115 days. The fine variety of rice got from CORH-3 would fetch a good price. It gave an yield of 1.5 tonnes more per hectare, compared to normal variety of paddy. If cultivated using System Rice Intensification method, 12 tonnes was possible, he said.

M. Jothi, Joint director of Agriculture, Thanjavur district, said that 50 samples of CORH-3 were given to farmers and tested. They took a higher yield. Alternate crops had been raised on 12,000 hectares in the district. Out of this, pulses had been raised on 3,000 ha, gingelly on 1,500 ha, groundnut on 900 ha and maize on 200 ha.

The training programme was conducted at the Rural Training Centre (RTC) of the Indian Overseas Bank. R. Vaidyanathan, Deputy General Manager, IOB, said that 57 training programmes were conducted since the inception of the centre on August 29, 2005. The programmes were jointly conducted with Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries departments.It was necessary to increase productivity taking into consideration the population explosion. The centre would act as a link from lab to land, Mr. Vaidyanathan said. He distributed CORH-3 seeds to some farmers on the occasion. G. Jaganathan, Director, RTC, and M.Valayapathi, Chief Manager, IOB participated.