A large number of farmers in Ariyalur and Perambalur districts have registered an increase in the yield in sugarcane after adopting precision farming technique.
This season, about 16,100 hectares were brought under sugarcane cultivation – 11,000 in Ariyalur and 5,100 in Perambalur. Most of the farmers had raised Co 86032 variety. Of it, precision farming was applied in 500 hectares - 240 in Ariyalur and 260 in Perambalur.
A total of 521 farmers adopted the technique in these districts. B. Rajeswari and her husband Balasubramanian of Guruvalappur village near here, registered a maximum yield of 78 tonnes per acre.
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The average yield in these districts using the precision farming and conventional practices ranged around 35 tonnes an acre. The average yield in the precision farming stood at 65 tonnes an acre.
“Apart from the rise in the yield, the quality of the cane in terms of its size and its recovery percentage has increased to a great extent,” says S.Sivakumar, Joint Director of Agriculture, Perambalur.
He said the formation of clusters for promoting precision farming technique; exposure visit to places such as Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri where the precision farming had proved successful in horticultural crops; and a sustained follow-up on crop protection methods paid the dividends.
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The ‘fertigation' method - an integrated programme of supplying fertilisers with irrigation waters - was the most important component of the precision farming. “We supplied fertilisers such as ‘All 19', soluble in water, which proved its efficacy,” he says. He appreciated the cooperation extended by the banks and sugar factories for the implementation of this subsidy-based programme.