Vidarbha in general and Chandrapur belt in particular had been popular for cash crops like tuar and cotton, however the changing climatic conditions and late arrival of monsoon had been a huge concern to cotton growers in particular. The new technique developed by ICAR – CICR Nagpur will immensely help the farming community, said Ravindra Manohare, Dy. Director of Agriculture, Chandrapur, while delivering the key note address of the workshop “Cultivation of Tuar and Cotton by Nursery Techniques”, organized by VIA Agro & Rural Development Forum at Mutha Bhavan, Madheli, Chandrapur.
ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur has developed a technique for raising the cotton seedlings in the nursery for transplantation in the field. Transplantation has several advantages, over direct seeding as sowing can be conducted at the precise time in the nursery by adjusting soil temperature and humidity; can be used for gap filling of same age seedling as direct sown plant, said Dr Sunil Mahajan, the Principal Scientist CICR , while elaborating the technology. The seedlings are allowed to grow in the nursery until they are ready to be transplanted in the field. The seedlings are transplanted in the main field using a regular farm crowbar.
Mr Om Jajodia, the Chairman VIA Agro forum while demonstrating the technique said that, based on actual data available from farmers there is a savings potential to the tune of Rs 2000/ acre during sowing and enhanced yield of around 40 %, by this new technology. The new technique has advantage of higher bolls per sqm area and early blooming.
Dr Raghav Paralkar, Director Guna Agrotech demonstrated the technique for Tuar using media mixture (Soil, Sand, Vermicompost, in 1:1:1 ratio), added that the seedlings can be raised in any plastic tub, in trays or regular paper cups of required size
The program started with traditional lighting of the lamp including the speakers, VIA Agro Forum officials, Mr Prakash Chand Mutha Chairman Paras Group, and Mr Chandan Mutha Managing Director Aashapura Agro Industries NGOs like Better Cotton & Yuva Pariwartan.
Ms. Shachi Mallick, convener of the forum, had made elaborate arrangements. The program was conducted by Kiran Gokhale and Kapil Charan Sahoo, while Sanjay Sinha proposed the vote of thanks.
The participating farmers in large numbers were also shown Tuar and cotton processing in respective factories.
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