The Agriculture Ministry has decided to extensively promote the new transplanting system for cultivating tur in the State. The new method is believed to have better result and help save time and money.
Speaking to media persons at a farm in Atharga village of Indi taluk on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that after successful trials, the department has decided to introduce the system in around 500 hectares of land in the State, mainly in North Karnataka region where tur is extensively cultivated.
About the differences between the traditional method and the transplanting system, he said that in the former, seeds are sown directly in the land for cultivation. But in the transplanting system, saplings of tur are developed in the nursery. When they reach a height of up to 10 inches, they are planted in the earth.
“The advantage of this system is that the output is about 15 quintals per acre, while in the traditional system, the yield is around five quintals per acre. The new system, however, needs drip irrigation method for better results. Drip irrigation supplies water uniformly to each plant which helps fetch a higher yield,” Mr. Byre Gowda said.
He said that in the transplanting system, sowing could be delayed even by a fortnight, which cannot be done in the traditional method. The Minister said that the government is offering ₹ 4,500 incentive for each hectare of tur cultivated under this new method.
Peerappa Gulagi, a farmer from Atharga village who has adopted this new method to cultivate tur, said that he decided to adopt it after officials from the Agriculture Department gave him guidance. “I am sure that the new method would give me higher yield,” he said.
Cloud seeding
In Bagalkot, Mr. Byre Gowda said that the government has decided to carry out cloud seeding in the first week of August by using three radars and two aircraft.
He said told presspersons on Wednesday that the aircraft would operate from Hubballi and Bengaluru during the exercise.
