Aims to tackle late blight disease, educate farmers
Concerned over the alarming decline in the area under potato and the occurrence of the late blight disease, the Karnataka government has launched a drive to distribute certified potato seeds directly to farmers. The state horticulture department has tied up with the National Seed Corporation Limited (NSCL), a government of India undertaking, to supply certified potato seeds on a pilot basis from the kharif 2010 season, official sources said.
“The area under potato has been falling over the last few years in the major growing areas like Hassan due to late blight disease and climatic variations. The farmers have lost a sizeable portion of their crop even during last kharif by using uncertified seeds. In order to help them overcome this problem, we have decided to distribute good quality certified seeds on an experimental basis from this year,” officials told Business Standard.
The late blight disease, which occurs due to low temperature, has severely hit the potato crop in the state for the past few years. Potato is grown both during kharif and rabi in Karnataka. Major growing areas in Hassan and Kolar districts have reported the disease in a vast area. As a result, many farmers are shifting from potato to maize and ginger.
The area under potato has dropped from a high of 67,891 hectares in 2007-08 to around 18,000 hectares in 2009-10 in Hassan, which accounts for over 50 per cent of the state’s total produce annually. Kolar accounted for about 6,000 hectares, 20 per cent of which was devastated during the rabi season this year, according to official estimates. About 50 per cent of the area sown in Hassan reported lower production this year. Normally, the productivity is about 10 tonnes per hectare.
The horticulture department has imported 4,960 quintals of certified potato seeds from NSCL for distribution in Hassan district. A committee has been constituted headed by the deputy commissioner of Hassan district, who will oversee the distribution of seeds to farmers. The department has identified 39 clusters in the district and has asked interested farmers to deposit 50 per cent of the cost of seeds from April 27 onwards. The seeds will be distributed among the farmers from May 10 onwards based on monsoon estimates, an official said. The potato sowing for kharif season commences by end of May and goes on till end of June.
The department has priced the seeds at Rs 1,356 per quintal and each farmer will get a maximum of 10 quintals. “We have taken up this project on a pilot basis because the farmers are cheated by private seed traders, who normally sell the table potato seeds that are most susceptible to the late blight disease. Depending on the response we will scale it up from the next year onwards,” the official said.
The state government has earmarked Rs 1 crore for this programme under the revolving fund drawn from Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. From next year onwards, the department proposes to take up seed production on its own, the official said.
