A. Govindarajan is a happy paddy farmer. His happiness has to do with his shifting from the paddy variety ADT 43 to Co 51.
In his farm in Puthagaram in Mannargudi, Tiruvarur district, he was able to harvest more after having saved on fertilizers and water.
“As against 90 bags of 60 kg each a hectare from ADT 43, I harvested 112 bags from Co 51.”
That is not all.
He also says that Co 51 gives higher income as lesser grains go into 1kg — 24 marakkal (a measure) make a kg as against 27 marakkal for a kg from the ADT 43.
He is not the only one to see success with the variety, though.
Tiruvallur farmer D. Deivasigamani says that he too has seen increase in yield while spending less on pesticides and water.
Tamil Nadu Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor K. Ramasamy said that so good has been the reception among farmers that 40 per cent of the Kuruvai season or roughly two lakh ha in the Cauvery Delta came under the Co 51 variety.
The university released the variety more than a year ago.
Another advantage with the new variety is that the rice recovering rate from paddy is 5 per cent to 10 per cent higher compared to a other varieties.
Farmers have reported 65 per cent to 70 per cent rice recovery, he adds.
Head of the Rice Department, TNAU, S. Robin says that studies have shown that the Co 51 variety has better resistance to brown plant hopper pest and paddy blast disease.
The university started developing the variety around 10 years ago to replace the popular ADT 43 and ADT 45 varieties, give a superior variety that was resistant to pest and required less fertilizers.
In the 10 years, the university chose ADT 43 and RR272-1745 varieties as parents to bring out the new variety.
It chose the latter because of its disease-resistant capabilities.
From the 5th to the 10th year, the university developed fifth and sixth filial generation of the variety — fifth and sixth generation plants to study the uniform line of production.
Mr. Ramasamy says that the next stage is to take the new variety to the government for distribution of seeds through the Agriculture Department, across the State.
I harvested 112 bags from Co 51
Govindarajan
Farmer, Tiruvarur district
About 2 lakh hectares in Cauvery Delta cultivate Co 51
K. Ramasamy
Vice-Chancellor, TNAU
The TNAU released the Co 15 last year
It has high pest resistance, require less fertilizers
