Prisoners cultivate groundnut in TN open air jail

, Jun 18: The 150 prisoners in

's biggest open air prison in Sivaganga today harvested hybrid groundnuts, police said.

The open air prison is in a sprawling 97.41 acres of land at Purasaidai Udaippu in Sivaganga District. Due to scarcity of water in prison premises, less water consuming hybrid groundnut seeds were used.

The seed sowing was done in February. The groundnut crop was harvested today and the yield was "as expected in terms of both quality and quantity." The yield quantity was being measured, police said.

It is proposed to utilise the harvested yield as seeds for cultivation in other prisons besides selling it to the public through Prison Bazaars.

PTI