The day was drawing to a close but a group of inmates of the Vellore Central Prison were busy at field harvesting the groundnut crops that they had carefully cultivated over the last three months.
This week, groundnut cultivated on 4.5 acres of land by the Vellore Central Prison was ready for harvest. The TG 37-A variety of groundnut, which was developed and released by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), was sowed during the end of August.
The Prisons Department had brought in the initiative to reform and rehabilitate prisoners. Those with an agriculture background were engaged in these agricultural activities, said V. Karuppannan, Superintendent of Vellore Central Prison.
BARC had distributed 350 kg of the groundnut variety to the prisons at Sivagangai, Madurai and Palayamkottai.
“The Palayamkottai prison harvested the groundnut crop in June. They had received 140 kgs of seeds and harvested 5,600 kgs in 102 days. These seeds were again distributed to the prisons at Coimbatore, Salem, Cuddalore, Vellore and Puzhal in Chennai for cultivation,” J. Daniel Chellappa, senior scientist, Technical Coordination Wing, BARC said.
BARC had developed 42 varieties of seeds, including oil seeds and pulses, considering various factors such as environment, climate and soil condition. “The TG 37-A variety of groundnut is rich in oil and protein. The pod filling is good,” he mentioned.
He said that the Vellore Central Prison had worked hard to convert an almost barren land into a cultivable one.
The prison had taken up cultivation of the groundnut variety with technical assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Vellore. G.C. Singh, assistant director of Agriculture, Vellore said they had tested the soil and found that it was suitable for cultivating groundnut.
“The seeds were treated with pseudomonas, a bio pesticide, before sowing to prevent diseases. It was then sowed using seed drill machine. Basal fertiliser was applied to the soil as per the recommendation of the soil test lab and micro nutrient mixture was also applied,” he explained.
The seeds were already three to four months old when it came to Vellore for sowing, he said, adding that no water was applied and there was no pest attack. “This is a rain-fed crop. The prisoners had cultivated red gram and horse gram as intercrops,” he said.
Sixty-six-year-old Natarajan, an inmate of the prison, said a total of 44 prisoners were working in the field and all were farmers. “We have cultivated red gram, lady’s finger, coriander, cholam and vegetables in the surrounding area of the prison,” he said. They spend eight hours at the field from 8.30 a.m.
Mr. Karuppannan added that once the groundnut was harvested completely, they will approach government for direction on what to do next with the seeds.
