Tamil Nadu: ‘Virat’ to help green gram farmers score a ton

COIMBATORE: The agriculture department is all set to promote a new variety of green gram among the pulse farmers in the district. Called Virat, it has a unique quality of flowering and fruiting uniformly, helping farmers harvest the produce in one go, no matter the extent of area under cultivation.
Developed by the Indian Institute of Pulse Research in Kanpur, the new variety is expected to reduce cost and dependence on labour for farmers.
Framers usually take up green gram and groundnut cultivation in the district during the summer farming season, which is already underway.
Tom P Silus, deputy director, government of India schemes, agriculture department, said, “This new variety is known to yield 1,000kg to 1,100kg produce per hectare, compared to the CO8 variety that yields 900kg to 1,000kg. It is also suitable for red soil and black soil, which is predominant in the district, and requires very little rainfall. The entire 60-day duration of crop requires just three to four days of rainfall or so many days of irrigation.”
Its main advantage is synchronized maturity. “Other varieties have staggered maturity. This means harvesting needs to be done as and when they develop. Only properly matured ones should be plucked, otherwise the pulse seed will not be of a good grade. So, labours have to be deployed for days for harvesting. In the case of the new variety, the crop will mature together and could be harvested in one go,” Silus said.
The government is now trying to promote multiplication of Virat to make its seeds easily available for farmers. Mini kits that comprise seeds for a hectare, biofertilizers and a pesticide are available at all the agriculture block offices in the district. Farmers can get a free kit.
As an incentive, the department is willing to buy back the seeds from farmers by paying them Rs 25 per kg over and above the market price.
“So, if the market price is Rs 60 per kg, we will pay them Rs 85. We will also get them registered for a certified seed producing farm to ensure good value for produce in future too,” he said.
Pulses are cultivated across 8,300 hectares in the district, of which green gram accounts for 497 hectares. While it fetches high price in the market, many farmers in the district prefer coconut, as pulses require a lot of labour for ploughing soil, application of fertilizers and manures, treating the seeds, sowing them and ensuring that the flowers don’t drop, among others.