According to officials, farmers had raised the crop to around 1,200 acres last year and they hope to increase it to 2,000 acres this year.
Hundreds of farmers from Uppiliapuram, T Pettai, Musiri, Thuraiyur blocks and some farmers from Ariyavur, Thayanur in Anthanallur union in the district have cultivated sunflowers in rainfed areas, officials from the agriculture department said.
India imports most of its sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia. Due to instability in both countries, farmers can make a profit if they raise the crop in a larger area, an official said.
“Good procurement price is encouraging farmers to take up sunflower cultivation like sesame, black gram as a summer crop. Water consumption, labour and other input costs are also low when compared to other oil seeds and pulses. We can harvest the crop within 75 days,” joint director of agriculture, Trichy, M Murugesan said.
V Velmurugan, a farmer from Ariyavur said that he had raised the crop on 4.25 acres and managed to get a good yield despite not spending much on fertilizer and pesticides.
“I have been cultivating sunflower for several years. Unlike yesteryears, the procurement price for the seed has been gradually increasing. Safeguarding the crop from parrots and peacocks will be a great challenge to farmers. They are causing severe damage at the time of sowing and harvesting. If the forest department can come up with a solution, it would be helpful for us to get more yield,” he added.
Though the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University introduced a new variety COH3 which has high oil content in the seeds, farmers said that the government has no seed to distribute to them, Puliyur Rajendran, state treasurer of farmer’s wing of Tamil Manila Congress said.
“Farmers who wish to cultivate sunflower have to rely on private agencies for seed. Sometimes, the seed bought from private agencies fails to germinate or gives poor yield leaving farmers in the lurch. Farmers are not getting post-sowing advice from the agriculture department. If these factors are attended to by the officials, more farmers come forward to raise the crop,” he said.
