Kadiri-Lepakshi 1812 is said to be drought resistant and can also withstand floods
Kadiri-Lepakshi 1812 is said to be drought resistant and can also withstand floods
A new variety of groundnut seed is likely to provide some impetus to the farmers, as the country has witnessed a sharp decline in the area under groundnut crop, leading to acute shortage of edible vegetable oils in the market.
Last year the acreage was only 6.59 lakh hectares as against the normal 7.16 lakh hectares. The reason for the decline was extreme weather events and falling productivity of the Kadiri-6 variety which was being supplied subsidized by the state government.
However, in some good news for farmers, the Kadiri-Lepakshi 1812 variety of groundnut seed developed at the Kadiri Agricultural Research Center is said to be drought resistant and can flood fields due to unseasonal excess rainfall just before harvest. In Rayalaseema districts, where 90% of groundnut crop is grown, these weather conditions had caused severe damage to the farming community with 57 days of dry weather in the July-August kharif season and unnatural excess rains in late October. november.
“Kadiri-Lepakshi 1812, developed at Kadiri in a three-way cross and notified by the National Variety Committee, is the new kid on the block and several experimental plots grown in all parts of the country have shown a very good increase in productivity. Groundnut in Andhra Pradesh With an average yield of 36 bags under rain-fed conditions as compared to 20 bags of K-6 variety, said Principal Scientist KSS Naik, coordinating K Seeds. Hindu,
A major advantage of the Kadiri-Lepakshi variety is that it contains 28% protein and 51% oil, while the K-6 variety has 48%. While the seed was developed in Andhra Pradesh, farmers and traders of Gujarat showed interest and in the last two years, it has spread to vast areas there. Many farmers are buying those seeds in the open market after hearing the success stories of KL-1812 variety, and have reaped 36 bags per acre. Shri Naik says that on an average 38 to 40 bags have been received under irrigated conditions, which is the highest at the national level.
Andhra Pradesh State Seed Development Corporation will supply 3.82 lakh quintals of groundnut seeds in the state, out of which 30,000 quintals will be drought resistant, high yielding, insect resistant and rot resistant even in heavy rains, which scientists hope will revolutionize the farmer. Will come Once again the interest in sowing groundnut will be mostly 2.82 lakh quintals of the K-6 variety, while 30,000 quintals will be of KL-1812 and 5,000 quintals of Narayani, it is learned.
specific color
“The K-6 variety was notified nationally in 2005, re-notified in 2015 by 2020, and its good taste and kernel look was commanding a good price, but overzealous farmers and traders bought it. were mixed with other varieties, causing many rejections in exports,” explained Mr. Naik. Kadiri Lepakshi 1812 has a slightly inferior taste for table-top consumption, but has the advantage of not being mixed with other varieties, because The distinctive color of its kernels and pods distinguishes it from other substandard ones, ”explained the scientist.
Principal Scientist B Sahadev Reddy informed that the processing of KL-1812 and K-6 varieties is in progress for supply to the farmers under subsidy scheme at Rekulakunta Research Center. Another promising variety of groundnut developed at Tirupati Research Center is TCGS 1694, pending official release from the Variety Committee at the state level.