Tour Report of Dr. M. Dutta, National Consultant (Oilseeds) for the State of from 19 to 22 Sept., 2016

A visit to Andhra Pradesh State was undertaken by M. Dutta, National Consultant (Oilseeds) w.e.f. 19th to 22nd Sept., 2016 to monitor and review the implementation of NMOOP and NFSM programmes by the State, Central Seed Agencies (NSC and HIL), Cluster Demonstrations by KVKs of ICAR-ATARI Zone-V and Frontline Demonstrations by ICAR-IIOR, Hyderabad. Two major groundnut growing districts of Rayalaseema region viz. Anantapur and districts were visited. Details of field visits to farmers’ fields and meetings held with various stake holders have been enumerated below:

19.09.2016: (District Anantapur)

On the way to district Anantapur from Hyderabad, a meeting was held at NSC, Kurnool in which officials of NSC, HIL and State Department of Agriculture (SDA) were present. It was informed by NSC that 4,000 acres has been targeted for groundnut seed production with about 45,000 qtl seed in district Kurnool. The agency has planned to produce 1,000 qtl of safflower seed during rabi 2016-17. The groundnut varieties included were ICGV-91114 and Dharani, which are recently released varieties. However, groundnut variety K-6, which is about 11 years old is still popular among the farmers and is being widely grown in the state. In addition to groundnut, seeds of pigeon pea hybrid ICPH-2740 are being produced in 200 acres area and seeds of maize hybrid HQPM-1&4 and pearl millet hybrid RHB-177 are also being produced. High seed requirement of groundnut was a major concern among the farmers.

Groundnut seed production programme undertaken by HIL in the village Jakkalcheruvu, Gooty Division, Distt. Anantapur was visited. In spite of the prolonged drought of about a month, the crop condition was good and uniform due to use of life saving irrigation through rain guns supplied by the State Government. Seed production of K-9, ICGV-91114 and ICGV-0350 was undertaken by the farmers. As per farmers’ perception, performance of groundnut variety ICGV-0350 was the best followed by K-9 and ICGV-91114. The farmers expressed satisfaction with the seed production programme and expected good yield.

20.09.2016: (District Anantapur)

Cluster Demonstrations on groundnut (TAG-24) and pigeon pea (LRG-41) grown in 11:1 ratio in Rotarypuram village (farmer Sri Suresh Babu) over an area of 5.0 ha conducted by State Department was visited. The sowing was done on last week of June, 2016 through hired seed drills maintained at Agricultural Research Station, CRIDA and the operations were supervised by MPE workers having diploma in Agriculture after 10th standard. The majority of area under groundnut demonstration was covered by K-6 variety. The other varieties grown were ICGV-91114 and K-9. It

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was informed that there was great demand for mechanized seed drills during sowing season which is in short supply. At village Reddipalli farmer Sri D. Ramakrishna has taken up 3.0 acres demonstration with groundnut variety K-6. The crop was irrigated with rain gun supplied by SDA and gypsum @500 kg/ha was also applied resulting in excellent crop.

A meeting was held at KVK, Reddipalli, Anantapur with the KVK scientists, officials of SDA and Seed Agencies. Cluster Demonstration in 30.0 ha area on Groundnut + Pigeon pea intercropping in 15:1 and 23:1 was undertaken with varieties K-6 and TMV-2. The latter variety is very old and needs replacement. The rainfall received during June (143.5 mm) and July (177.2 mm) was optimum but August (2.4 mm) and September (12.0 mm upto 20th) were largely dry affecting the groundnut crop which was at pod development stage. The yield of groundnut crop was expected to be reduced drastically in the cluster demonstration plots due to long dry spell. The KVK has a plan of cluster demonstration programme in 20.0 ha area under safflower during rabi 2016-17.

In village Sri B.K. Samudram, NSC has taken up 130.0 acres of seed production programme of groundnut variety K-6. The crop was provided with protective irrigation through rain guns and the crop condition was fairly good in spite of long dry spell. At village Mudulapuram, a woman farmer Mrs. Onnamma has adopted Navdhanya (9 crops) system as a strategy for drought mitigation guided by the SDA. Different crops like pigeon pea, castor, green gram, cluster bean, pearl millet, field bean and a number of vegetable crops were grown under line sowing, but the crops were mixed within the rows. This may lead to difficulty in harvesting and determining the optimum proportion of crops for recommending to the farmers. In the adjacent plot, groundnut (K-6) + pigeon pea (LRG-41) were grown in 11:1 ratio in an area of 3.0 acres.

In village Pennahavilam of Urukonda Division, farmer Sri Suryanarayana has grown 3 varieties namely ICGV-0350, K-9 and TAG-24 with rain gun irrigation system supported by the State Government. The crop was 85 days old, however, there was some confusion about the identity of the variety ICGV-0350. Among the varieties, K-9 was perceived as the best in terms of pod as well as fodder yield.

In village Chinnamustur of Urukonda Division, 300 acres (15 farmers) area has been adopted by NSC for seed production programme of groundnut varieties Dharani and ICGV-91114. The latter variety is locally known as Double 4. Both these varieties are superior to K-6, the ruling variety. Dharani is a bold seeded variety, has very high shelling percentage and is particularly suitable for kharif season. The variety was expected to produce 25.0-30.0 qtl/ha. As informed by the farmers, although buyback by NSC was assured with some advance payment, but the final payment is generally delayed which causes problem. The area has assured protective irrigation facility from the nearby large water tank.

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HIL has taken up seed production programme in about 300.0 acres area in Nakannadodi village of Guntakal Division. The farmer Sri N. Eswaramma has grown K. Haritandhra variety in 5.0 acres area while Sri Nageshwar Rao has grown about 50.0 acre area with rain gun irrigation system supported by State Government. The yield of the variety was estimated to be 20.0 qtl/ha and a profit of about Rs. 20,000 -25,000/- per acre was expected by the farmers.

In another village, NSC has adopted the farmer Sri N.C. Basaiya who has grown groundnut variety ICGV-91114 in about 5.0 acres area. The groundnut crop was intercropped with pigeon pea in 15:1 ratio and the yield of groundnut variety was expected to be about 20.0 qtl/ha.

At Gooty, both NSC and HIL have processing and storage facilities, while NSC has its own facility, HIL has a hired processing plant and godown. The godown had 10,000 qtl. of chick pea variety Jaki-9218 for rabi seed production. HIL also has a target of production of 1,000 qtl. of chick pea variety of NBCG-1 & NBCG-47, which are amenable to mechanical harvesting. For rabi groundnut, HIL has a production target of 15,000 qtl. seeds of variety Dharani (4,000 qtl.), ICGV-0350 (1,500 qtl.), K-1319 (1,500 qtl) and ICGV-91114 (8,000 qtl.). NSC has a production target of 45,000 qtl. seed of kharif groundnut, 50,000 qtl. of rabi groundnut, 20,000 qtl. of chick pea and 5,000 qtl. of pigeon pea. Both the seed godowns were well maintained and the quality of seed checked randomly was very good. However, wooden/plastic support used by HIL for stacking was low and needs to be raised. The huge infrastructure facility of NSC can be utilized for higher targets of seed production in oilseeds and pulses.

21.09.2016: (District Kurnool)

A meeting was organized at Kambalapadu village, in Krishnagiri Division, Kurnool Distt. where, 450 acres of demonstration on groundnut variety K-6 was undertaken by the SDA. The demonstrations were by the side of an irrigation canal named Handi Niva Sujala Srawanti, running from Kurnool to Chittoor. The crop stand was excellent as it has been saved by rain guns through two lift irrigations. An approximate yield of 20.0 qtl./ha yield was expected by the farmers. It was informed by the farmers that seed, PSB, gypsum, trichoderma and PP chemicals were supplied by the State Department, but Rhizobium culture was not supplied. Farmers used high seed rate (80kg kernels/acre) due to criss-cross sowing by bullock drawn seed drills and to maintain higher plant population. Low price support for seed and lower subsidy available for water carrying pipes are the major concerns. It was requested to increase the subsidy support for pump sets and also sprinkler irrigation system, if feasible.

Next visit was made to the KVK at Yagantipalle, Banaganapalle managed by an NGO, where a meeting was held with the scientists and other officials. The KVK has taken up cluster demonstrations in farmers’ fields on pigeon pea (LRG-21), groundnut (Dharani, K-6), green gram (WGG-242) and sunflower. Foxtail millet + pigeon pea were the major crops found all along the way to Yagantipalle and sesame was grown on the 3

sides. As informed, pigeon pea area has increased from 40,000 to 97,000 ha and black gram area from 3,000 to 10,000 ha area during kharif 2016. Sunflower necrosis was a major problem causing drastic reduction in area. The KVK has been undertaking seed production programme of hybrid pigeon pea (ICPH-2740) at farmers’ fields in collaboration with ICRISAT. The hybrid pigeon pea seed production taken by the farmer

Sri M. Krishnudu was visited, who is producing about 4.0 qtl. of F1 hybrid seeds in addition to 2.0 qtl. of male parent seeds per ha.

Seed production programme on groundnut undertaken by NSC at M. Krishnapuram village was visited where 36.0 ha. of variety K-9 was grown by 13 farmers. One such farmer Sri G. Narsimha Reddy has grown groundnut (K-9) + pigeon pea (Asha) in 11:1 ratio in 4.0 ha area. The pigeon pea variety Asha is quite old. Another farmer Sri Manohar Reddy has taken up 10.0 acre area of seed production with K-9 variety. The farmers expected about 25.0 qtl seed per ha. The programme is in operation for about 10 years, but late payment to growers is the problem faced by the farmers.

A brief meeting was held at NSC centre, , which has 20,000 qtl. seed storage capacity. Seeds of green gram (IPM-4) and black gram (IPU-2) varieties were being produced. Certification by the State Seed Certification agency is a major problem due to limitation of staff.

22.09.2016: (Hyderabad)

A meeting was held at ICAR-IIOR, Hyderabad involving ATARI- Zone V, SDA, Seed Agencies, Seed Certification Agency and scientists of ICAR-IIOR. The Director, IIOR informed that the institute is giving special emphasis on dissemination of technologies to the farmers through FLDs and R&D project funded by DAC&FW.

A brief presentation was made by the scientist of ATARI-V in which it was informed that the cluster demonstrations implemented by the KVKs are by and large successful during the current kharif season except for Anantapur where long dry spell has affected groundnut crop. However, delay in release of funds under NMOOP has caused some problem in implementation of the programme.

Next presentation on the implementation of FLDs and R&D project was made by scientist of ICAR-IIOR. The lower support for FLDs and cluster demonstrations were the causes of concern as the entire amount was not enough even for seed component particularly in case of groundnut and to some extent in soybean where seed requirement is very high. It was informed that IIOR was participating in a field day on sunflower at district Bankura, West Bengal where two seed expeller plants were to be commissioned on 25.9.2016 by the Minister of State, Panchayat and Rural Development, Govt. of West Bengal. It was also informed that black gram variety TBG- 104 which is resistant to YMV and chick pea variety NBG-47 which is amenable to mechanical harvesting are being promoted in cluster demonstrations. 4

The excessive rains received during the period of visit may affect some crops like sunflower and millets which were at maturity stage in some areas, but overall it will boost the prospects of rabi oilseeds and pulses. Since black gram and green gram were largely harvested these crops will not be affected. It was assured by ICAR-IIOR and SAUs that breeder seeds of new varieties will be made available for seed production however, advance indent has to be submitted by the State Department.

Suggestions and action points:

 Late receipt of acknowledgement of receipt of seed minikits from the nodal officer of the missions by the Central Seed Agencies resulting in delay in realization of payment. (Action: State Department of Agriculture)

 The destination of delivery of seed minikits should be at district headquarters or at division level for avoiding added costs by the Central Seed Agencies in seed minikits programme. (Action: State Department of Agriculture/Seed Agencies).

 Seed Agencies should increase the number of seed minikits and include minor oilseeds and pulses and distribution of minikits by the State Department should be rationalized to cover all the regions in the districts. (Action: State Department of Agriculture).

 The huge infrastructure facility at NSC, Gooty may be utilized for further scaling up of seed production of oilseeds and pulses with commensurate technical manpower support which is a constraint. Since HIL is utilizing hired seed processing and storage facilities, strengthening of infrastructure facilities by HIL for seed production with appropriate manpower is needed. (Action: NSC/ HIL).

 Higher support for life saving irrigation through sprinkler, rain gun system, water carrying pipes and pump sets in view of recurring droughts in the region. Mechanical seed drills which are in high demand during sowing season may be made available through custom hiring. (Action: SDA/ DAC&FW)

 Better coordination among all the stake holders including State Departments, ICAR institutes, Seed Agencies and SAUs for integration of resources with advance indent for seed of desired varieties. (Action: SDA/ICAR Institutes/ Seed Agencies).

 Strengthening of seed certification system through deployment of trained manpower for timely completion of certification for ensuring quality of seed. (Action: State Department of Agriculture).

 Since, the requirement of seed is very high particularly in case of groundnut and soybean the cost on account of seed becomes very high. Hence, the subsidy

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available under FLDs and Cluster demonstrations may be raised accordingly. (Action: ICAR/ATARI/SDA/DAC&FW).

 Use of very high seed rate by farmers’ in groundnut under criss-cross sowing by bullock drawn seed drills needs scientific validation. (Action: ICAR-IIOR/DGR).

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1. Meeting with NSC, HIL & SDA on 19.9.2016 at NSC Centre, Kurnool

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Sh. M.U. Sudhakar, Regional Manager, NSC 2. Sh. R. Vinod Kumar, Area Manager, NSC Sh. P. Eswarudu, Area Manager, NSC 2. Sh. P. Hanumantha Rao, Asstt. Manager, NSC 3. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA, O/o Director of Agri., AP, Guntur 4. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 5. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 6. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 7. Sh. Girish, Agril. Officer, O/o JDA, Kurnool 8. Sh. Saibaba Reddy, State Consultant, NFSM, Kurnool

2. Meeting with KVK, SDA, HIL & NSC on 20.9.2016 at KVK, Reddipalli, Anantapur

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Dr. P. Lakshmi Reddy, Head, KVK, Reddipalli, Anantapur 2. Dr. M. John Sudheer, Head, KVK, Kalyandurg, Anantapur 3. Sh. G. Narayana Swamy, Scientist, Agronomy, KVK, Reddipalli 4. Sh. S. Prathap, A.O., O/o JDA, Anantapur 5. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 6. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 7. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 8. Sh. R Vinod Kumar, Area Manager, NSC, Kurnool

3. Meeting with NSC, HIL, Seed Certification Agency & SDA on 20.9.2016 at Gooty, Anantapur

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA o/o Commissioner of Agriculture, Guntur, AP. 2. Sh. K. Ramana Murty, SCO, APSSCA, Kurnool 3. Sh. S. Prathap, Agriculture Officer (Tech.), O/o JDA, Ananthapuram 4. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 5. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 6. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 7. Sh. P. Easwarudu, Area Manager, NSC 8. Sh. Waseem Khan Nayta, Asstt.Seed Prodn. Officer, HIL 9. Sh. Sunil Gir Goswami, Asstt. Seed Prodn. Officer, HIL, Mydukur 10. Sh. R Vinod Kumar, Area Manager, NSC, Kurnool 11. Sh. A. Mohan Vijaya Kumar, Asstt. Director, Agriculture, Anantapur 12. Sh. G. Narendar, Asstt. Officer (Seeds), NSC, Nandyal 13. Sh. S. Pruthvi, Trainee (Agri), NSC, Nandyal 14. Sh. C Srinivasulu & other HIL Seed Growers, Gooty

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4. Meeting with farmers, SDA, NSC, HIL on 21.9.2016 at Kambalapadu Village, Krishnagiri Division, Kurnool

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA, O/o Director of Agri., AP, Guntur 2. Sh. M.C. Narsi Reddy, ADA, 3. Sh. Abdul Shafi, Division Agri. Officer, Krishnagiri 4. Sh. Saibaba Reddy, Consultant, NFSM, Kurnool 5. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 6. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 7. Sh. R. Vinod Kumar, Area Manager, NSC, Kurnool 8. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 9. Sh. A. Mallikarjuna Rao, DDA, Kurnool 10. Sh. S. Chandra Sheker, AEO, Krishinagiri 11. Sh. B. Ravindranath, AEO, Krishinagiri 12. Sh. Kuruva Surendra, Farmer 13. Sh. M. Krishna Reddy, Farmer 14. Sh. P. Chinna Dastagiri, Farmer 15. Sh. E. Anumesh, Farmer 16. Sh. S. Srinivasulu, Farmer 17. Sh. K.E. Jaya Rangaswamy, Farmer 18. Sh. K. Krishnamurty, Farmer 19. Smt. K. Madhu, Farmer 20. Sh. B. Sanjappa, Farmer 21. Sh. S. Shaik Shavali, Farmer 22. Sh. B. Shantiramudu, Farmer 23. Sh. B. Ramanjaveyulu, Farmer 24. Sh. A. Mallikarjuna, Farmer 25. Sh. G. Adinarayana Reddy, Farmer 26. Sh. D. Sultan, Farmer 27. Sh. M. Ramanjaneyulu, Farmer 28. Sh. K. Ramachandrudu, Farmer 29. Sh. P. Rajak, Farmer 30. Sh. E. Madhusudhan Goud, Farmer 31. Sh. G.Srinivasa Reddy, Farmer 32. Sh. K. Murali Krishna, Farmer 33. Sh. B. Prasad, Farmer 34. Sh. B. Jayanna, Farmer 35. Sh. G. Venkatesh Goud, Farmer 36. Sh. R. Mallikarjuna Reddy, Farmer 37. Sh. G. Sudhakar, Farmer 38. Sh. S. Manohar, Farmer 39. Sh. G. Suryanarayana Reddy, Farmer 40. Sh. P. Satyamaiah, Farmer 41. Sh. Swakarna Naidu, Farmer 42. Sh. Sanjeev Reddy, Farmer 43. Sh. K.E. Hari Shanker, Farmer

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5. Meeting at KVK, Yagantipalle, Kurnool on 21.09.2016

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Sh. G.Dhanalakshmi, Scientist & Head, KVK, Yagantipalle 2. Sh. M. Sudhakar, SMS (Agronomy), KVK, Yagantipalle 3. Sh. K.V. Ramanaiah, SMS (Soil Science), KVK, Yagantipalle 4. Sh. D. Saibaba Reddy, Consultant, NFSM, Kurnool 5. Sh. A. Mallikarjuna Rao, DDA, Kurnool 6. Sh. D. Balaraju, SMS (Plant Protection), KVK, Yagantipalle 7. Sh. K. Shrivasa Reddy, ADA (R), Koilkuntte 8. Sh. M.C. Narsi Reddy, ADA, Dhone 9. Sh. R. Vinod Kumar, Area Manager, NSC, Kurnool 10. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 11. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA, O/o Director of Agri., AP, Guntur 12. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 13. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi

6. Meeting with NSC, HIL, SDA on 21.9.2016 at Nandyal, Kurnool

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA, O/o Director of Agri., AP, Guntur 2. Sh. Venkata Rama Reddy, Senior Seed Certification Officer, Nandyal 3. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 4. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 5. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 6. Sh. P. Easwarudu, AM, NSC, Nandyal 7. Sh. R. Vinod Kumar, AM, NSC, Kurnool

7. Meeting at ICAR-IIOR, ATARI, NSC, HIL & DOD on 22.9.2016 at IIOR, Hyderabad

Sr. No. Name and designation 1. Dr. A.Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Director, ICAR-IIOR 2. Sh. S.M. Kolhatkar, Director, DOD, Hyderabad 3. Sh. K. Rajagopal, Joint Director, APSSCA, Hyderabad 4. Sh. Ram Prakash, Consultant (Seeds), HIL, New Delhi 5. Sh. Anil Yadav, DGM – Mkt (S&AP), HIL, New Delhi 6. Sh. MRC Reddy, RM (SP), HIL, Hyderabad 7. Dr. K. Dattatri, Principal Scientist, ICAR-ATARI-V, CRIDA, Hyderabad. 8. Dr. M.Padmaiah, Principal Scientist, IIOR, Hyderabad 9. Dr. GD Satish Kumar, Principal Scientist, IIOR, Hyderabad 10. Sh. P. Rama Sreedhara Reddy, ADA, O/o Dir. of Ag., AP, Guntur 11. Dr. G. Rajeshwar Rao, Principal Scientist, CRIDA, Hyderabad 12. Sh. Hanumantha Rao, Asstt. Manager (Prodn.), NSC, Hyderabad 13. Sh. S.S. Kagi, Assistant Director, DOD, Hyderabad

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Fig. 1: News item in ‘Eenadu’ on 21.9.2016 Fig. 2: News item in ‘Shakshi’ on 21.9.2016

Fig.3: News item in ‘Shakshi’ on 22.9.2016 Fig.4: Groundnut+pigeonpea intercrop

Fig:5. Groundnut seed production by HIL at Vannedoddi Fig: 6.Groundnut seed production by HIL at Jakkalcheruvu

Fig: 7. Seed storage godown of HIL, Gooty Fig: 8. Demonstration by SDA, Anantapur 10

Fig: 9. Groundnut+pigeonpea (11:1) intercrop Fig: 10. Sole groundnut crop, Anantaapur

Fig: 11. Irrigation of groundnut with rain gun Fig: 12. Meeting at village Kambalapadu

Fig: 13. Visit of groundnut seed production plot Fig: 14. Visit of seed growers’ field

Fig: 15. Groundnut+pigeonpea (8:1) flanked by Fig: 16. Meeting at NSC, Kurnool sole groundnut 11

Fig: 17. Meeting at KVK, Reddipalli Fig: 18. Groundnut+ pigeon pea (11:1) intercrop

Fig: 19. A farmer with variety Dharani (NSC) Fig: 20. Groundnut crop in Anantapur district

Fig: 21. Demonstration by KVK, Reddipalli Fig: 22. Seed production by NSC at Nakannadoddi

Fig: 23. Seed production by NSC at Nakannadoddi Fig: 24. Meeting at ICAR-IIOR, Hyderabad

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