ARS & DAATTC, Tornala organized a Pre- kharif campaign cum Training programme on best management practices in agricultural crops on 17-05-2023 in Adopted Village Ibrahimpur

A ''Pre- kharif campaign cum training programme on best management practices in agricultural crops'' was organized by Agricultural Research Station and DAATTC, Tornala in collaboration with Institute of Rice Research (IRR), Rajendranagar duly involving farmers on 17-05-2023 in adopted village of ARS, Tornala, Ibrahimpur, Narayanraopet mandal, Siddipet district. At the outset, Sri J. Vijay, Coordinator, DAATTC, Tornala has welcomed the gathering at Ibrahimpur village and some of the farmers shared their experiences about the present problems associated with paddy cultivation. Smt. T. V. Ramani, MAO, Narayanraopet mandal and Mr. T. Nagarjuna, AEO, Narayanaraopet shared their experiences regarding reduced crop growth and development of rice in the preceding year due to stem borer infestation. sulfide injury, zinc deficiency, salinty etc.Followed by, Dr. A.P. Padma Kumari, Principal Scientist (Entomology) from Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad explained about the IPM practices to control the stem borer incidence in rice and precautionary measures to be taken for the kharif season. Later, Dr. S. Sridevi, Principal Scientist and Head, ARS, Tornala explained about the importance, scope and need of cultivation of green manuring crops and discussed about the importance of good quality seed in crop production and seed availability at ARS, Tornala. She also gave a brief note on management practices which help in improving soil fertility like green manuring, crop rotation, organic manures, etc. Dr. N.R.G. Varma, Principal Scientist (Entomology), Institute of Rice Research (IRR) has discussed about the importance of pest surveillance and integrated pest management practices with special reference to stem borer and gall midge and explained about the usage of drones in agriculture. Dr. P. Spandana Bhatt, Senior Scientist (Agronomy), Institute of Rice Research (IRR) has explained about the rice nursery management practices to control the stem borer and weedicides usage in the nursery itself and also briefly explained about the importance of mechanised transplanting and utilsation of drone for direct sowing in paddy. Sri J. Vijay, Coordinator, DAATTC, Tornala explained about agronomic operations to be followed in paddy cultivation. Later, Smt. A. Saritha, Scientist (Pl. Br.), ARS, Tornala has explained in detail about the paddy and redgram seed production aspects viz., importance of source seed, isolation distance, no. of field inspections to be conducted, importance and timing of rouging, precautions to be followed during harvest and post harvest period. She also added that seed production is remunerative to the farmers and enhance the farmers income by 1.5-2.0 times. Dr. N. Sainath, Scientist (SSAC), ARS, Tornala explained about incorporation of green manure crops helps in enrichment of soil fertility and organic matter and reduction of chemical fertilizer in rice. The programme was concluded with live demonstration of Drones for pesticidal application followed by vote of thanks by Smt. A. Saritha, Scientist (Pl. Br.), ARS, Tornala. The programme was attended by Sri Devayya, village Sarpanch, Sri K. Nagesh Reddy, RSS President and also 111 farmers.