Drought resistant groundnut variety can improve the yield
Kudankulam nuclear power plant. (PHoto: DC/File)
Chennai: After facing stiff protests from anti-nuclear activists and local villagers over the commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, nuclear scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) are all set to give back some of the benefits of nuclear technology to the local farmers.
On Thursday, a farmer from Indira Nagar in Kudankulam village will receive seeds of a high-yielding, drought resistant groundnut variety developed by Barc in an effort to significantly improve his yield this season.
According to J. Daniel Chellappa, senior scientist at the technical coordination wing, Barc, this high-yielding variety, called TG-37A, was developed by the research organisation in 2004 and tested successfully across the country as well as in several prisons including Palayamkottai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
“We are now taking the seeds that have been harvested by prisoners at the Palayamkottai prison to hand over to a progressive farmer who is willing to try them out in his farm. We are particularly keen on trying this out in Kudankulam village as there has been a lot of misinformation about nuclear science and atomic energy in general. We hope that this farmer will popularise these seeds among the local community,” Chellappa said.
T. Selvaraj, the farmer who will be receiving the first set of seeds from Barc officials, said that he was satisfied with the demo given by the state agriculture department and Barc. “We hope that this seed variety catches up across Kudankulam and surrounding areas. It will also help in changing people’s attitude towards the nuclear plant,” he said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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