Majha farmers revert to Pusa 1509 Basmati
AMRITSAR: Higher yield and early maturity of Pusa 1509 variety of Basmati has found favour with farmers inMajhaonce again despite the fact that rice exporters do not prefer it over other available varieties of the aromatic rice. Talking to ToI, former agriculture officer Parmjit Singh Sandhu said, "The crop is ready for harvest in about just 90 days as compared to Pusa Basmati 1121, which takes 140 days to ripen. Early maturity allows farmers to grow vegetables during rest of the time." He added that previous issues relating to marketing of Pusa 1509 had been resolved by the government, making it easier for farmers to switch to the long-grained basmati variety.
"Pusa 1509 has an average yield of around 24 quintals per acre as compared to Pusa 1121 which yields around 20 quintals per acres," said farmer Satnam Singh Ajnala, a farmer leader. He said the purchase rate for Pusa 1509 was Rs 1,500 per quintal as compared to Rs 2,200 of Pusa 1121 last year. "Though there is a loss of around Rs 8,000 per acre by growing this variety, it is easier for farmers to make up for the loss by growing vegetables over a month and half and make up to Rs 35,000 per acre," he said.
"This year, there has been a 50 per cent increase in sale of seed for Pusa 1509 variety over other strains of Basmati," said Gaurav Mahajan, a seed store owner. He said after early harvest of Pusa 1509, farmers could grow peas, potatoes or fodder and make good money.
When contacted, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Amritsar, B S Chhinna said they were yet to conduct a survey to find out the most favoured Basmati variety this year. He said the paddy sowing would start from June 15 and Basmati would be transplanted a month later.
Date: 14-Jun-2017
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