India: Hybrid seed varieties augment vegetable cultivation in Jammu & Kashmir

Pleased with a surplus produce, farmers in the Valley are opting for hybrid seeds, which are a major contributor to their profits. The hybrid seed varieties have shown a major boost in vegetable cultivation leading the common people, especially the cultivators, amassing various benefits from the same. Since the time people started to use hybrid seeds, both quality and quantity of the vegetables have been on an increase at a large scale.

Speaking to ANI, Director Agriculture, Syed Ajaz Andrabi said: "Earlier, the vegetable cultivation used to be around the Dal Lake but with the change in population dynamics, land use pattern, we shifted to these seeds. Now an area of 48,000 hectares of land is used for the same. With produce of 330 quintals of per hectare, the cropping intensity of the land has touched 250 percent mark. "In the year 1950, only 1000 hectare of land was used for the cultivation and now, almost 48,000 hectares of land is being used. We have attained a surplus in the production, which has contributed to generate a revenue valued at Rs 700 crore, which are generated through exports from the national market," he said.

Major benefit of these varieties stands highlighted at producing maximum vegetables within a limited space of land. Consequently, instead of using traditional seeds, people are opting for hybrid seed varieties for their vegetable nurseries and gardens. Abdul Hameed, a researcher, said that owing to the evident population growth, these seeds have become essential for the farmers who aim to enhance their 'good quality' vegetable production. The hybrid varieties are projected to be the best available option to fulfill the vegetable demand of the region. With the steps taken by the authority, the production has reached to 300-400 per cent increase.

A few years back, these varieties were introduced by the experts of the Agriculture Department on an experimental basis to push a revolution into vegetable cultivation of the valley. Tariq Ahmad, a vegetable cultivator, said that he is very happy with the seed variety as he accumulates three-fold produce from them.

A hybrid seed is a cross between two or more unrelated inbred plants. The two different varieties are cross-bred resulting in a seed that carries one or more favourable traits.