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AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
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RESEARCH STATION
Research Station Phondaghat.
Agricultural Research Station, Phondaghat, established on 25th August 1947, situated south-east of Ratnagiri proper, is doing a very useful work. The average rainfall here, is about 160 inches, average maximum and average minimum temperature being 82°F. and 75°F. respectively. The total area of the farm extends over 12 acres and odd under the Rice Research Scheme, and four acres under the Nucleus Seed Multiplication Scheme. The Research Station is to cover an area of 50,000 acres by the improved strains that it will evolve.
This Research Station has undertaken various important activities which may briefly be enumerated as under:-
(1) Selection work.- This is mainly concerned with the improvement of local varieties mainly coarse and mid-late types suitable for parboiling, individual plant selection and comparative trials of the selections and their yield, through different stages of development. Some promising selections arc undergoing District trials on a small as well as large scale.
(2) Hybridization work.-This is primarily concerned with undertaking inter breeding or cross breeding of various varieties with a view to evolving improved and promising strains resulting in greater yield per acre.
(3) Agronomic work.- This comprises trials or experiments in respect of -
(i) Different manurial dozes combined with different spacings, (ii) Different forms of Nitrogenous fertilizers, (iii) Green manuring, and lastly, (iv) Seedling vigour experiment.
The primary aim of all these is to improve both, the quality and quantity of yield.
(4) Seed Multiplication.-Waksal 207 and Panvel-61, the
improved strains from the Ratnagiri Farm were multiplied till
last year, the multiplied seed being given to the District Agricultural Officer, Ratnagiri, for further distribution to the cultivators.
Seed multiplication has assumed a great deal of importance in
the context of plans for agricultural development.
(5) Other trials and Miscellaneous.-The rest of the activities may conveniently be grouped under this head, which are concerned with yield comparisons between various strains, trials of promising selections on the fields of cultivators and trials pertaining to the suitability of groundnut, niger, a medicinal plant (Ranwalfia Supentina) and cotton.
The Research Station has also a future programme of work based more or less on the above pattern. With passage of time, the scope and magnitude of activities are bound to enlarge.
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