Kurnool: Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) at Nandyal has been making rapid strides in developing new varieties of seeds that can withstand drought conditions and improve yields. New seed varieties of Green jowar NJ 2646, white jowar NJ 2647 were released during the year 2018-2019 .
The two-day review meeting that began on Monday took stock of the new hypothesis being developed in seed research.
V. Jayalakshmi, principal scientist at RARS, said that Telugu farmers were quick to adopt new seeds and have high seed replacement rate. Chick Pea varieties developed by RARS, in co-ordination with ICRISAT, had helped the country to become self-sufficient in Pulses.
She said that the state’s average yield is the highest at 1,153 kg per hectare, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 1,055 kg per hectare. Within Andhra, Prakasam district leads with an average yield of 1,710 kg per hectare, followed by Kurnool at 1,143 kg per hectare.
In Kadapa district, the average yield is 847 per hectare. The national average is 910 kg per hectare. It is noteworthy that these yields have come from varieties with abridged maturity period.
Average annual production of chickpea has risen from the annual average of 4.88 million tonnes during 1970-80 to 7.38 million tones, during 2005-15.
This is a reason for India achieving sufficiency in pulses, Jayalakshmi explained.
