ATMA targets direct cultivation over one lakh acre land

KOLHAPUR: The

Agriculture Technology Management Agency

(ATMA), a state government's

agriculture department

will be undertaking cultivation of

sugarcane

by nursery method. The cultivation will be done over one lakh acre of land distributed in 350 nurseries across the state.

Sugarcane is traditionally cultivated using stem cuttings of good quality cane. For the past few years, researchers were trying to find out methods of directly cultivating the sugarcane saplings. It was found out that direct cultivation helps in reduction in production expenses and also the crop can be harvested more frequently which will prove beneficial for the cultivators.

The deputy project director of ATMA,

A D Galitkar

said, "We began this initiative two years ago, however, this is the first time that we found out that the increase of the farmers have increased the sugarcane cultivation using saplings prepared in the nurseries. This method has proven beneficial for the farmers since it reduces the harvesting period and thereby the expenses required for irrigation. In all, a good quality crop can be grown with the help of disease free saplings prepared with utmost care and research."

The direct cultivation method has been discovered to increase output and profitability. The ATMA officials have found that the sugarcane produced through nursery method helps in increasing the recovery rate of the sugar production. In the traditional method, the stem cut are planted in the soil and the quality of the seed used is hardly checked. In the nursery method, the cane plants are raised using small chips taken from the each cane with a single bud and then grown in cups. The 25 to 35 day old seedlings are transplanted in the farms.

Galitkar said, "The farmers are now trained and they can start their own nurseries. The cultivation will begin in the month of November. There are around 350 farmers who have developed the nurseries through the efforts taken out by our technical staff. The cost of cultivation can be cut by 50% if this method is set in operation."

For a hectare cultivation of sugarcane, in the case of traditional method around 80 quintals of cane is needed. While in case of nursery method only two quintals of cane is required. The grading can be done in the new method and there is also a scope for

intercropping

too.