High-yielding keerai for hills and plains

By Our Agriculture Correspondent

SCIENTISTS AT the Horticultural Research Station (HRS) of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) at Vijayanagaram, Ooty, have developed a high yielding Chakravarthi keerai, also called Paruppu keerai (Chenopodium album).

This promising variety well suited for growing in the hills as well as in the plains has been released early this year for commercial cultivation by TNAU as ``Ooty (Ck)1''.

A selection from the accession CA-3, one of the six germplasm types maintained at the HRS, Vijayanagaram, ``Ooty (Ck)1'' has a high yield potential of 28.9 tonnes of greens per hectare in the hills, which is 59 per cent higher than the local types.

In the plains, it has recorded a high yield of 17 tonnes per hectare. This short duration variety comes to harvest in 55 days in the hills and 50 days in the plains, according to the scientists.

The plants of the new variety grow to a mean height of 38.2 cm, and produces attractive pinkish green leaves of excellent cooking quality.

The greens contain high protein (22 per cent), zinc (23 parts per million), calcium (0.84 per cent), magnesium (0.58 per cent), and iron (474 ppm). The greens can keep well for five days in the hills and two days in the plains.

It can be grown as a pseudo-cereal as it produces good quantities of seeds. In about 145 days, it can yield 1.2 tonnes of seeds per hectare.

It can be grown in all the three seasons (irrigated, main and autumn) in the Nilgiris, and all through the year in the plains.

It is resistant to Cercospora leaf spot, Colletotrichum leaf spot, Macrophomina root rot, and also the attack of white flies and aphids.

It is also resistant to drought and frost. Seed production can be taken up in all three seasons in the Nilgiris.

In Nilgiris, especially around the villages, farmers traditionally grew greens such as Amaranthus and Chenopods as pure crop and as intercrop along with potato and other vegetables.

In the past two decades, most of the small farmers switched over to the annual crop tea, and ignored the traditional crops, which fetched lower price in the market.

Now with the fall in the price of tea, the farmers were desperately looking for an alternative crop, which would provide them with quick and regular income, in addition to meeting their nutritional needs.

Scientists at the HRS, Vijayanagaram, found that there was good scope for an improved variety of Chakravarthi keerai, with higher yield potential, better quality and built-in resistant to pests and diseases and abiotic stresses such as drought and frost. It would be an ideal substitute for tea in the hills.

So they started the selection process and after four years of evaluation, found that ``Ooty (Ck)1'' as the best performer, and it will meet all the aspirations of the small farmers of the hill district.

The improved variety also responded sound crop husbandry practices. About 20 kg seeds will be needed to cover a hectare.

A nutrient dose of 25 tonnes of farmyard manure, 25 kg each of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash and 25 kg magnesium sulphate is recommended for getting good results from this variety.

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