VAP Team visit to Field Demonstrations in the adopted village, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Mallapur on 15-07-2023

Field visit was performed and demonstration plots on crops cotton, paddy, maize, chrysanthemum and rose were visited by the Village Adoption Programme team of scientists, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar in the farmer fields of Adopted village, Mallapur on 15-07-2023. HDPS cotton sown one month back was 6 inches tall with eight leaves, HDPS spacing was adopted. Crop shown initial symptoms of sucking pest complex. Maize crop sown 3 weeks back was treated with PSB @ 500gm/acre. Crop showed initial vigour however FAW damage was observed and appeared to increase. Paddy nurseries were taken up and recommended PSB was applied to the nurseries. Seedlings appeared vigorous than the untreated plots. Special effort was made to visit rose and chrysanthemum gardens. Rose plants showed micro nutrient deficiencies along with Downey Mildew symptoms. Three varieties of chrysanthemum were observed wilt, sucking pest complex and mite damage were noticed. Farmers were adopting spray recommended by various private companies. It was advised to go for liquid formulations of PSB through drip application. The overall objective was to reduce chemical fertilizers with biofertilizer. In addition Pseudomonas biofertilizer was advised and supplied. The VAP team advocated use of biofertilisers and biocontrol agents. The field visit was conducted under the guidance of VAP Chairman and the Associate Dean Dr. C. Narendra Reddy, Convenor Dr. T. Ramesh, Sr. Professor and Head, Crop Physiology, Adopted village team members, Dr. Y. Samatha Parameshwari, (Agronomist), Dr. K. Aruna (Extensionist) and Dr. I Shakuntala Devi, (Economist) College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar and farmers of Mallapur village.