Lack of proper storage facilities for seeds is having a cascading effect on crop yield in Anantapur district.
At the Seed Day celebrations organised at the ANGRAU Agriculture Research Station on Monday, farmers rued that the shortage of storage facilities was forcing them to buy seeds from corporate companies at high prices.
One of the learnings for the farmers at the Seed Day celebrations held at the research centre was the use of spraying custard apple (Seetaphal) oil as an insecticide on crops, which has reportedly given very good results with a lesser expenditure. A farmer named Subba Reddy from Narpala was credited with the experiment.
The Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Rekulakinta in the district took note of some enterprising and progressive farmers who had come forward to support experiments and grow new varieties of bajra, groundnut, horse gram and castor seeds that were being developed at the centre. While the Bajra ABV04 variety was released nationally, another castor variety ICH-05 was being tested in Anantapur region with scientists presenting 1 kg of seeds to a progressive farmer in Kalyandurg area, where he had been successfully growing the ICH-66 variety with very good yields.
ARS Principal Scientist and Centre Head B. Sahadev Reddy said woman farmer Kasyamma, from Ralla Anantapuramu in Bukkarayasamudram mandal, had been coming forward to experiment and follow all the tips given by the scientists here growing Bajra, groundnut and other crops, helping farmers in a big way. She was felicitated on the occasion along with 24 others from different regions.
An exhibition and sale of seeds was organised and farmers lapped up some good hybrid varieties within hours. Another farmer Krishnamohan Reddy from Peddapappur successfully produced LRG-52, a red gram seed variety developed here.
Agrometeorology expert Ashok Kumar and scientists Pavan Kumar and Chandra Reddy explained the features of different newly-developed seeds including the Lepakshi-1812 groundnut variety, which is released throughout the State along with TCGS variety developed at Tirupati.
