Certified potato seeds from Punjab for Hassan farmers

Certified seeds are better in terms of both quality and quantity of the yield.

Farmers purchasing certified potato seeds at Arkalgud on Sunday.

As many as 150 farmers of Arkalgud taluk have procured certified seeds of potato from Punjab under the guidance of the Potato Club in Arkalgud, even as the district administration failed to make arrangements for sale of certified seeds. Nearly 400 bags of certified seeds were distributed among farmers in a programme organised by the club at Arkalgud on Sunday.

The certified seeds are priced at Rs. 2,335 per quintal, including transportation charges. However, the non-certified seed potatoes being made available for farmers by the district administration are priced at around Rs. 1,400 per quintal.

H. Yoga Ramesh, president of the club, told

The Hindu on Sunday that certified seeds are better in terms of both quality and quantity of the yield. “In case of normal seeds, the yield is up to 10 to12 bags as against one bag of seeds, while in case of certified seeds, the yield is up to 20 bags per bag of seeds”, he said.

The Potato Club started the exercise to procure certified seeds from Punjab three years ago. “Slowly people are getting attracted to certified seeds as the yield is good. Of course, certified seeds are costlier than the normal ones. The government should have made arrangements in the interest of farmers and provided subsidy for the seeds”, he said.

Potato cultivation has a history of over four decades in Hassan. All these years, merchants of Hassan have procured table potatoes from Punjab and sold them as seeds to farmers.