: For a group of students of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, it was a happy occasion on Thursday when they harvested paddy on a plot of four acres.
The students raised the 135-day medium term ‘TNAU Rice TRY 3’ variety, suitable for the alkaline soil of Manikandam block where the college is located. The college has been taking steps to popularise the rice, which has a milling percentage of 71.30 and head rice recovery of 66 per cent. The variety was resistant to diseases, including leaf folder, stem borer, brown spot, sheath rot, and sheath blight.
“Luckily, the harvest is more than last season’s yield,” says P. Pandiyarajan, Dean of the college, who has been guiding the students on crop protection techniques for registering a higher yield. From 2.4 tonnes last year, the harvest has shot up to 3 tonnes an acre this season. He said that timely onset of the North East monsoon, prompt application of green manure, close follow-up for nitrogen management using leaf colour chart and application of azola had all helped to increase the yield.
M. Raju, Assistant Professor of Agronomy, who coordinated the cultivation, said that the crop accounted for productive tillers numbering 25 and 30, indicating the good yield. The application of dhaincha further enhanced the yield. The variety was free from pest attack or disease, another advantage for the achievement. “Students kept an eye on protecting the crop all through the cultivation” the Dean added.
Sodic-specific variety
The college has been conducting research programmes for evolving and releasing paddy varieties suitable for sodic soil. Manikandam block accounts for the largest area of about 50,000 hectares affected with sodic soil.
