The wait is worthwhile, as the return is almost double…
Mr Ramakrishna grew chickpea in the postrainy season following a crop of soybean. The short-duration variety Kranthi (ICCC 37) ideally suited the short winter of Andhra Pradesh. This desi (i.e. a type which usually has smaller seeds and is typical of peninsular India) variety is the result of an intensive breeding program of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and on-farm trials and technology trasfer conducted by the Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in Andhra Pradesh. It yielded medium-sized and brown-coated seeds. It matured in 90 to 100 days. The farmer found a ready market for both soybean and chickpea. Several farmers in Guntur district have a similar story to tell. Chickpea also replaced
other crops such as chillies, tobacco, and winter sorghum. While most farmers in the
district grew the brown-coated Kranthi, some progressive farmers in the neighboring
Prakasam district tried a white-seeded variety Swetha (ICCV 2). This kabuli
(i.e. a large seeded type typical of north India and West Asia) variety developed by
ICRISAT and disseminated in partnership with ANGRAU matured in 85 days, and fetched a
premium price in the market. "I grew the white-seeded chickpea last year. I harvested 1.25 tonnes per hectare. Being an earlier maturing crop than Kranthi, this variety needed less attention and its cost of cultivation was also less. Its yield was significantly lower than that of Kranthi, but that was more than offset by the attractive price it commanded in the market. Last year, I sold it at Rs 20 000 a tonne while the desi type was selling at Rs 11 000 a tonne," said Mr Musunuri Dayananda Rao, a 42-year-old farmer from Vinjampadu village, Prakasam district. But the farmers who grew Swetha were faced with another predicament. They had to
wait for at least 4 months before they could sell their produce. The local merchants would
not buy it. They had to wait until the traders from Madhya Pradesh, about 800 km north,
arrived in May, according to Mr Tubati Venkateshwarlu, a 60-year-old farmer of the same
village. "The wait is worthwhile, as the return is almost double," said Mr Vijje
Ramachandriah (59) who grew Swetha on his 3-hectare rainfed farm in the village.
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