Paddy and other cultivation in saline soil possible, say scientists at KVK
KAKINADA: Scientists at Krishi Vignana Kendra in Undi of West Godavari district have succeeded in evolving a method for cultivation of paddy, jowar, ragi and other cereals even in saline lands.
Many of the tail-end areas in east and west Godavari districts as also Undi constituency have saline soil and farmers faced difficulty cultivating paddy and other varieties of crops.
The KVK, established 25 years ago at Undi, has been undertaking research in different crops including paddy, cereals as also horticulture like papaya, sapota and in floriculture. The institution is promoting aqua culture in organic methods on the demonstration platforms.
“Many of the lands in the delta area in Undi and other areas have become saline. We have worked on finding a solution. We used gypsum and other micro-nutrients and drained out the saline water via other channels,’’ said Dr N Mallikarjuna Rao, the senior scientist and programme coordinator at Unid Krishi Vijnana Kendra (KVK).
He said different varieties of paddy are being cultivated on 20 acres of land. “Jowar, ragi, papaya, drumstick etc are being grown in organic ways and we are getting good yield. Honeybees are being reared in these fields and farmers are being trained on the methods to cultivate various crops in saline lands.”
He said that different varieties of plants are being grown and distributed to farmers and outsiders. Recently, floriculture is also being introduced to KVK fields.
Dr Rao said the 25th-year celebrations of KVK will be held on Saturday in the form of a Kisan Mela. Ministers K Kannababu, Ch Sriranganadha Raju and others would participate and several demonstrations will be given to farmers on the new techniques. Woman scientist Deborah Messiana also is giving training to women on home science topics.
