With monsoon remaining scarce so far and the absence of flow in the Cauvery due to insufficient storage at the Mettur dam, Agriculture Department officials in Tiruchi district have started encouraging farmers to spray Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs (PPFM) to mitigate the drought-like condition.

PPFM is a beneficial bacteria which functions as a plant growth promoter and helps in short-term drought-mitigation for crops affected by water scarcity and heat stress, officials said.

Spraying of PPFM, promoted by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), was carried out about a decade ago in paddy in parts of the State during drought conditions. Though it was not used in a big way subsequently, officials say it can help under the current weak monsoon conditions attributed to El Nino effect. PPFM should be used at the rate of one litre an acre and can be sprayed twice, once in 15 days, they added.

An officer of the department said that PPFM can be used for all crops and the department had been encouraging farmers to spray it on sorghum, groundnut, gingelly, and sugarcane crops in Musiri block in Tiruchi district in recent months and the spraying had shown encouraging results.

“PPFM is a phyllosphere bacteria and helps the crop resist water stress for up to 10 days. Foliar spraying of PPFM should be done when the growth is good. We have used PPFM on summer crops such as sorghum, groundnut and gingerly and now in sugarcane in Musiri block. The spraying had given good visible results,” said R.Sugumar, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Musiri.

The department, he said, planned to distribute the PPFM under the central subsidised schemes for demonstration plots for crops such as sorghum, groundnut, and castor in the district.

Published - August 07, 2026 06:02 pm IST