Co 51, a short-duration drought-resistant paddy variety recently developed by Paddy Breeding Centre in Coimbatore and notified by the Centre last month, topped the list of five paddy varieties being introduced in the district as breeder seeds to benefit the farmers.
Since the Central government wants farmers to cultivate certified paddy and millet seeds of less than 10 years, the Department of Seed Certification and Organic Certification has decided to introduce the five paddy varieties — Co 51, TKM 13, Co 50, Anna (R) 4 and NLR 34449, suited for the district to help farmers in the long run. Presenting a PowerPoint presentation at the Farmers’ grievance redressal meeting here on Friday, S.S. Shaiek Abdullah, Assistant Director, Seed certification, explained to the farmers the salient features of the paddy varieties and procedures to be followed to meet seed certification standards.
Co 51, a fine variety, had 110-day duration but would be ready for harvest four or five days ahead. The department proposed to raise the five varieties on 568 hectares of seed farms this year and procure 2,270 tonnes of paddy seeds for certified seed purpose. Drought-resistant Anna (R) 4, also best suited for the district, would be distributed to farmers both as foundation seed and breeder seed. The TKM 13 variety could be a good substitute for BPT and NLR 34449, he said.
Besides, the department proposed to grow two varieties of millets, cumbu (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet) on two hectares and procure three tonnes of seeds. As the Centre insisted that the farmers should cultivate pulses and oil seeds of less than 15 years, the department decided to raise three varieties of Black gram, VBN (Bg) 5, 6 and 4 in 30 hectares of seed farms and procure 17 tonnes of seeds, Mr. Abdullah said.
In case of oil seeds, the department proposed to raise two varieties of groundnut TMV (Gn) 13 and K6 on 30 hectares of seed farms and procure 44 tonnes of seeds, he said. The seeds would be procured 20 per cent over and above the target to make good any adverse condition.
