Avoid unrecommended steps to raise crops:PAU

Ludhiana, June 25 (UNI) Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) scientists today warned the state's farmers against application of unrecommended farm practices to increase the yield of crops.

The warning comes in the wake of reports reaching the Plant Clinic at Farmners' Service Centre in the Directorate of Extension Education here, that farmers were falling prey to 'hearsay 'and are allured by unscrupulous farm input dealers or fellow farmers to adopt certain practices to raise crops or to make them ''good and healthy''. Two glaring examples that have come to light at the Plant Clinic are application of ferous sulphate (locally known as 'Loha') to soil to overcome iron deficiency in paddy nurseries and DAP 'top dressing' to cotton, an university spokesman said.

''The spokesman said that the use of ferrous sulphate as soil applications is totally ''ineffective'' against iron deficiency.'' ''The solution to overcome iron deficiency in paddy is in foliar applications. Paddy should be sprayed with ferrous sulphate (1 kg in 100 litre of water per acre) and two to three sprays repeated at weekly intervals,'' he said.

Iron deficiency symptoms have been seen in light texture and highly permeable soil, where initially new leaves of plants turn light green or yellowish and show poor growth. In the absence of foliar spray, the yellowish leaves turn whitish. PAU has stressed on foliar application and not soil application of ferrous sulphate, which would otherwise create a nutrient imbalance.

A warning signal has been sent to the cotton growers and field staff of the Directorate of Extension Education posted at Krishi Vigyan Kendras to advise the farmers to stop ''top dressing'' cotton with 20 kg to 25 kg DAP. In fact, any application of phosphotic fertilisers is not recommended for cotton, when it is sown after harvesting wheat, because recommended dose of phosphorie already exists in the soil, when it was applied to wheat.

In case phosphorus is to be applied, it should have been drilled near the seed at the time of sowing. Top dressing,is not effective and is simply waste of resource, scientists said.

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