Need for Paddy seedlings with shorter period of maturity stressed
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 01 2014: Asserting that there is a growing need for the State to have more variety of paddy seedlings, a source from the Agriculture Department disclosed that at the moment, the State has paddy seedlings which can be planted only when they reach the period of 135 days for harvesting later on.

In case of late monsoon, the present variety of seedlings available in the State would be rendered useless and unproductive.

As such there is the need to innovate and produce seedlings which have a shorter span than 135 days for plantation.

In the face of global warming witnessed today, the time for planting the seedlings and harvesting the crops has also increased.

This also applies to India and Manipur and as such planting paddy seedlings can be done later than what it was before.

A nursery paddy field

With the monsoon having finally arrived, farmers can now transplant the seedlings from the nursery to the fields within July 15, said the source.

The seedlings which have been planted at the nursery beds would have reached the period of 30/40 days by July 15, said the source and added that it would be the right time to transplant them on the field.

If the rain stops in the next couple of days and if the State witnesses a prolonged dry period then there would not be enough water for the seedlings to be transplanted to the fields.

In such a situation, the seedlings would develop empty ears after July 15 and the harvest would be either very poor or there would be no yield at all.

Given this situation, it is important that the Agriculture Department takes up the necessary measures to develop or innovate a number of paddy seedling varieties which can be planted at the nursery beds at a short time.

However despite the possibility of the State facing such a dire consequence, the Government has not given any thought on the matter, alleged the source further.

The Agriculture Department should have worked out a device or means to make available different varieties of paddy seedlings which have shorter span of maturity to be transplanted to the field, said the source.

The best course of action would be for the Government to see how they can make different varieties of seedlings available to the farmer before July 15, suggested the source.

Though ICAR is working on a project to produce seedlings which have a shorter period of maturity, no efforts have been taken up to ship them in to Manipur.

Seedlings with shorter period of maturity are available in other parts of the country, said the source.

However the seedlings cannot be procured at short notices.

Such variety of seedlings can be harvested within a period of 110 days to 120 days, added the source.