Field day on Rabi Sunflower at Ibrahimpur village, Siddipet rural mandal, Siddipet district on 26-02-2019

A field day on rabi sunflower was organized by Agricultural Research Station, Tornala on 26-02-2019 at it’s adopted village Ibrahimpur, Siddipet rural mandal, Siddipet district. Dr. A.V. Ramanjaneyulu, Sr. Scientist (Agro) & Head and Ms. D. Swetha, Scientist (Agro.), ARS, Tornala; Dr. S. Sridevi, Principal and Mr. M. Saicharan, Asst. Prof. (Ento.) from Agriculture Polytechnic, Tornala have participated in the field day. Besides, Mr. B. Parasuram Reddy, Mandal Agriculture Officer, Siddipet rural and urban mandals and Mr. M. Rajesh Yadav, AEO, Ibrahimpur village, Siddipet rural mandal from Department of Agriculture also have attended the field day. Mr. K. Naresh Reddy, President, Rythu Samanvaya Samithi committee (RSSC), host farmer Mr. K. Prathap Reddy and many village farmers have participated in the field day on rabi sunflower.

Senior Scientist (Agro.) & Head, ARS, Tornala welcomed the scientists of ARS and APT, Tornala, officials of Department of Agriculture, President, RSSC and farmers for the field day on rabi sunflower. At the outset, he explained in brief about the AICRP on sunflower scheme which is in operation from 01-04-2018 onwards at ARS, Tornala, importance and consumption of sunflower oil in Telangana, trends in sunflower area in Telangana State and Siddipet district and objectives of the field day on rabi sunflower. He discussed in detail about cultivation aspects of sunflower with main emphasis on seed treatment, cropping systems, efficient methods of irrigation, nutrition, borax spray, insitu incorporation of stubbles after harvesting of flower heads, allelopathy and its’ management and finally ways and means of increasing sunflower area in Siddipet district. Later, Mr. M. Saicharan, Asst. Prof. (Ento), APT, Tornala explained in detail about efficient management of pests and diseases in sunflower for reaping for higher yields. Dr. S. Sridevi, Principal, APT, Tornala discussed about importance of soil test based fertilizer recommendation in field crops in general and sunflower in particular. Mr. B. Parasuram Reddy, Mandal Agriculture Officer and Mr. M. Rajesh Yadav, AEO, Ibrahimpur village, Siddipet rural mandal thanked the scientists for organizing the field day and expressed that they are ready to extend their co-operation for organizing such meetings in future too. A group discussion was held with the participant farmers regarding problems and prospects of sunflower cultivation in Siddipet district.

Mr. K. Naresh Reddy, President, Rythu Samanvaya Samithi committee (RSSC) and Mr. Papi Reddy, a farmer from Ibrahimpur village expressed that monkeys, parrots and wild boars are the main obstacles for cultivation and suggested to explore the possibility of solar fencing. Responding to these problems, Senior Scientist (Agro.) & Head, explained about machinery like monkey/bird scaring gun operated with Calcium carbide (Rs. 3000/- per unit) and wild boar scarer gun operated with gas cylinder (Rs. 30000/- per unit). He also added saying that these will be demonstrated in near future to the sunflower growers. He also suggested to spray egg solution @ 20 ml/lit on flower heads starting from seed setting stage twice at 10 days interval to control parrots. Further, he suggested to grow sunflower in compact blocks of 15-20 acres. Answering to the query raised by a farmer Mr. Mallikarjun Reddy regarding poor growth of sunflower after two years, Dr. A.V. Ramanjaneyulu suggested to incorporate sunflower stubbles after harvest and add organic manures like FYM/compost/vermin compost before sowing and also use good quality seed of pest/disease resistant high yielding hybrids. In response to the query on sunflower under zero tillage raised by a farmer Mr. Bandi Ramulu, suggested him to cultivate sunflower under zero tillage after kharif rice with herbicidal spray Paraquat @ 1.0 lit/acre after sowing. This technology without land preparation saves 15 days time, cut down the cost of cultivation by Rs. 2000-2500/- per acre and reduces water requirement besides conserving moisture and nutrients. The farmer also raised a doubt saying that whether sunflower can cultivated under sprinkler irrigation. Responding to this, Dr. A.V. Ramanjaneyulu told that sprinkler irrigation can be used upto flowering but after which it may affect pollination by honey bees.

Later, all the participants were taken to rabi sunflower demonstration (2.0 acres area) laid out in Ibhrahimpur village, where, K. Pratha Reddy, the host farmer explained about support in terms of supply of DRSH-1 seed, reflective ribbons, pheromone traps and yellow sticky traps and technical guidance given by the scientists of ARS, Tornala in sunflower cultivation successfully. Finally, explained to all the participant farmers about the importance of reflective ribbons, pheromone traps and yellow sticky traps in controlling birds and pests, respectively. The field day ended with the vote of thanks proposed by Ms. D.Swetha, Scientist (Agro.), ARS, Tornala.