More farmers in Karur, Salem and Namakkal districts are to get seed material for the drought-resistant Sree Athulya variety of cassava or maravalli kizhangu.
Farmers in Salem, who got 18 tonnes of cassava per acre in place of their usual 12-15 tonnes, said they did not at first believe this variety would be bug resistant.
M. Subramanian, a farmer of Goodamalai in Salem said he had also planted the popular Thailand variety in another plot and that pests had attacked it. However, the variety provided by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, had proved to be more pest-resistant and had also brought in a bountiful harvest.
“It did not require much work either. A spell of rain helped me with the pest attack and I managed without much loss,” he said.
This was the first harvest of the Sree Athulya variety in Salem district and the seven farmers, who had agreed to plant it, were able to get higher yield but spent considerably less than what they would usually since they saved on pesticide, explained D. Jaganathan, Senior Scientist, ICAR-CTCRI.
R. Muthuraj, Principal Scientist, said the stem of the plants that grow up to 10 feet would now be divided into smaller pieces and given to more farmers. Recently, in Karur district 10 farmers were provided the seed material of this variety that is heat-resistant, can survive drought conditions and can give good harvest despite soil not being very fertile.
P. Prakash, a scientist, said this variety had starch content of 34% and was well over the threshold limit used by the buyers.
“The local varieties have starch content of up to 24%, which means the farmer would get paid only 80% of the market rate. This can also be grown in coconut groves and fruit groves since it requires watering only once a week. Similarly, vegetables can be grown alongside this crop since a lot of space is left between plants,” he said.
Apart from 10 farmers in Karur, 20 in Salem and another 20 persons in Namakkal would now benefit from the free inputs under the scheme. “Farmers are initially hesitant to take up this crop since they are not familiar with it. However, in one village if a few farmers are convinced, they will take it. And once it brings them a good harvest, more people catch onto it. We have seen success in Pachamalai area where 50 farmers grow this variety,” he added.
