SOWING UNRECOMMENDED VARIETIES OF PADDY SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED: PAU EXPERTS

LUDHIANA, JULY 19:-----



Farmers should for all time prefer to go in for the recommended varieties of paddy and other crops as the recommendations are made by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) after meticulous testing. This was stated by the Rice Breeder, Dr. G.S.Mangat adding that besides being having no yield potential, the unrecommended and undescript varieties are prone to biotic and abiotic stresses such as pests and diseases. He elaborated that the crop improvement programme at PAU has a time tested variety screening and testing procedure.



Sharing how the unrecommended varieties were found to have problems of not giving the desired productivity and tolerance to pests and diseases, Dr. Mangat observed that the varieties like HKR-47 and HKR-127, which were found to be grown by some farmers, did not show any betterment when evaluated by scientists. These varieties were not found to have the required level of productivity, had poor quality straw besides being susceptible to the prevailing bacterial leaf blight disease. Consequently, these were not recommended, said Dr. Mangat.



Other scientists working on rice namely, Dr. J.S.Lore and Dr. P.S.Saraon said that the quality of seed produced from undescript and unrecommended varieties can also not be ensured.They highlighted that the practice of sowing unrecommended varieties, generally at the advice of dealers and unqualified people, have been noticed during the last few years. There is chance of introduction, development and spread of unknown pests and pathogens through the sowing of unknown, unrecommended and undescript varieties, they said adding that one of the best ways to deal with the diseases like bacterial leaf blight in paddy is to go in for recommended varieties and technologies. The experts shared that in the districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, the varieties such as HKR-47 and HKR-127 while in Sangrur, Patiala and Ludhiana, Pusa-44 have been reported to be grown by some farmers. They said that the variety Pusa-1121 was more susceptible to foot rot disease. With the introduction and growing of the variety efforts at PAU had to be strengthened to develop management strategy of foot rot. Similarly, in Patiala and Sangrur brown hopper incidence was reported that led to enhanced expenditure on sprays besides the reduction in yield to various levels.



The experts said that in 1970\'s the paddy used to be transplanted around June 30 and some seed companies promoted long duration varieties such as Pusa-44 that require 160-165 days to mature. This led to an adverse effect on water resource especially in the districts of Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Barnala, Moga, etc. where the variety was grown by farmers. The other result was the incidence of attack of insect pests for which the chemical pesticides had to be sprayed by farmers, observed they. Dr. Mangat highlighted that farmers should religiously follow the varieties and technologies recommended by PAU and in case of any query or technical guidance, the experts at KVKs, PAU regional stations or at Ludhiana campus may be contacted. For basmati rice, the recommended practices should be followed for raising the crop successfully.
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