1 lakh hectare to come under samba in TN Dist: Official

Tiruchirapalli, Sep 6 (UNI) As much as one lakh hectare in this district will come under samba cultivation, a senior official informed today.

Addressing the press here, Tiruchirapalli Division Assistant Director Agriculture R Janarthanam said as much as 20,000 hectare would fall under the Tiruchirapalli Division comprising Andanallur, Manikandam and Tiruverumbur Panchayat Unions.

Nurseries had been raised in about 1,800 hecatre in the division and farmers were working to prepare the field for transplanting the samba paddy crop.

Efforts were on for establishing seed banks in 11 villages of the division to overcome any shortage.

The newly-introduced system rice intensification (SRI) scheme was beginning to gain momentum. Under this, farmers would be given training in adopting new techniques.

Under SRI, farmers required only two kg of seed a hectare instead of 20 kg besides enjoying lower consumption of water and other inputs. The yield was also higher than the traditional system.

It was proposed to cover at least 50 per cent of the total samba area under the SRI during the current year.

He also said efforts were on to establish nine farmers field schools in Andanallur, Manikandam and Tiruverumbur Areas to provide training for farmers.

UNI