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The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (Icrisat) is set to release its high breed short duration pigeon pea (tur dal) seed variety ICPH 3672 on a large scale in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh in the next crop season starting June.
The institute has tied up with Andhra Pradesh Seed Corporation, National Seed Corporation, State Farms Corporation of India and a few private seed companies to ensure there is enough supply of seed in the market, when farmers take up sowing. Icrisat expects the 150-165 days hybrid crop to be covered on one lakh hectares this year.
The pigeon pea hybrid technology was developed by the institute in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research using natural out-crossing and cytoplasmic-nuclear male sterility systems.
CL Laxmipathi Gowda, Deputy Director General-Research, Icrisat, said the pigeon pea seed has been tested for its yield and resistance power on 1.4 lakh hectares over the last four years in all the States that it is being introduced to.
“The new pigeon pea commands a yield of 1.6 to 2 tonnes/hectare against the present average of 1.2 tonnes. It is well suited for medium black soil,” he said.
Speaking on the cost of cultivation, Gowda said farmers may have to spend a little more for growing this hybrid as compared to the normal variety available in the market. However, he added, that the enhancement in yield would more than make up for the rise in cost.
“It should be noted that the hybrid seeds are produced by the farmer group themselves and there is much labour and cost involved in it,” he said.
The institute has been working on various pulses crop to help farmers overcome fast changing climatic conditions.
Extreme weather events such as the recent floods and severe cold weather have made farmers vulnerable.
The institute, along with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has developed 40 chickpea varieties which accounts for 49 per cent of the total indent of chickpea breeder seed in India for 2014-15, said Gowda.
The new varieties are grown in about 90 per cent of the chickpea area covered in Andhra Pradesh.
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