The Tamil Nadu Senior Agro Technologist’s Forum, Thanjavur, has suggested increase in the area of direct sowing in the district during the coming kuruvai season.
Talking to reporters here on Monday, the Forum’s Thanjavur branch office-bearers said a conservative estimate of water required for kuruvai followed by samba and thaladi would be around 250 tmcft if the cultivation process was to be taken up under the traditional manner of raising nursery and transplantation.
The water availability and other data collected and analysed by the Forum put the quantum of water that would be available to take up the three crops would be around 232 tmcft, which would be insufficient. Hence, the normal cultivation practice of raising nursery and transplantation could be taken up at places where groundwater potential could be tapped and the area of direct sowing be increased considerably.
For instance, during the last kuruvai season the direct sowing technique was adopted in about 22,000 hectares, which could be increased by around 3,000 hectares this season, they added.
Further, they also urged the farmers to complete the ‘kuruvai sowing process by June end, samba by September first week and thaladi by September end by choosing long-term variety for ‘samba and medium-term variety for thaladi cultivation in order to avoid the crop getting damaged in rain like in the last season.
