Small farmer success story

Original article here : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/a-sustainable-model-for-small-and-marginal-ryots/article5240325.ece

Adilabad is one of the largest cotton growing districts in the country. As a consumption oriented development model took root, small farmers in the region took to cultivating cash crops like cotton, to meet social needs beyond food requirements.

Monocropping

However, over the last two decades, hunger for higher cotton yields gradually transformed into a monocropping culture, in which farmers completely stopped growing food crops and were growing only cotton, making Adilabad one of the largest cotton growing districts in the country.

“This appetite for higher yields, led to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, devastating soil health in the process. Like most other villages in the region, even here, small and marginal farmers could not withstand the “mighty will” of the State to impose a regime of subsidised chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” says Mr. Ambadass Sonkamble, Block co-ordinator, Chetna Organic, Secunderabad.

Compromised

The monocropping culture severely compromised on food security of small farmers. In the years when crops failed, they were left with no cash and had to depend on money lenders. Debts kept piling, pushing many farmers over the brink. Today the region is a farmers’ suicide hotspot, according to him. However, in this narrative of loss and despair there is a story of hope that stands up like a candle in the dark.

Like many others a tribal farmer Madavi Mahadu Patel in the village detested the use of chemicals but was forced into the system. Productivity of his land was declining every year and yields were low.

Traditional wisdom and common sense told him that organic life in soil was critical for healthy growth of crops. But the extension system was telling him otherwise. It was a time when farmers in neighbouring villages were committing suicides. The alarm bells were ringing — loud and clear.

Chetna organic

In 2004 as part of a Supply Chain Intervention Programme, Chetna Organic initiated activities in neighbouring Choupanguda village, organising farmers into self-help groups (SHG) and offered socio-technical and marketing support for organic cotton.

Chetna was organising Farmer Field Schools (FFS) training, workshops, field days and demo plots to encourage farmers to take up soil and water conservation measures, diversified cropping and mixed cropping practices where food crops like jowar, paddy, red gram, vegetables, maize, green gram and others could be grown alongside cotton.

Curiosity

Mr. Patel was curious to know how realistic this approach was. Apparently, this initiative seemed to address all his concerns — no chemicals, improved soil fertility, low input costs, good income and food security for the entire year.

Interested, he attended the trainings, and what began as curiosity, transformed into a conviction making him join Chetna Organic in 2005 as a member farmer.

Today, his seven acre field is a manifestation of Chetna’ s vision. In six acres he has created a model that can teach the world what sustainable agriculture means, and how it can change the script for farmers with small holdings.

In four acres, following intercropping and mixed cropping patterns, the farmer grows a combination of food crops and cash crops like cotton, wheat, maize, groundnut and millets like jowar and sorghum. Legumes, vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, gourds, beans, onion, garlic and leafy vegetables and oil seed crops are grown organically.

In one acre teak and henna are planted. In the remaining acre mango, guava, custard apple, berries and orange are grown. glyricidia, pongamia and neem are also grown for mulching into the soil for biomass. Their open well serves to irrigate the crops during summer and other seasons.

Mr. Patel has devised a strategy to ward off contamination from hybrid cotton crops to the ones grown in his field, an approach he feels is critical to market his cotton at a higher price.

He has created layers of shields, restricting the cotton crop to the inner circle of the farm and surrounded it with trap crops like castor, okra and marigold.

In the second circle he grows vegetables and other crops and in the outermost periphery he grows trees like Teak. This strategy has worked well for him and there has been no contamination issue while the rest of the State was struggling with it.

Expansion

During the year 2012-13 the family expanded their basket of income to include fisheries. He was given 1,000 young fingerlings which after 180 days yielded 30 kg fetching him Rs. 2,400 at Rs. 80 per kg.

The remarkable aspect of this family has been that they have achieved all this in an economically viable structure which is replicable without large financial investments and dependence on local money lenders.

For more details contact Mr. Patel at Goyagaom post, Goyagaom mandal, Kerameri dist, Adilabad, Pin:504293 and Mr. Ambadass Sonkamble, block co-ordinator, email: cofadas@gmail.com, Mobile: 9440599213, Plot:187, Sree Sai Durga Nivas Street, No: 1, Tarnaka, Secunderabad.

Keywords: Monocropping, agri science Adilabad farmers, Chetna Organic, sustainable agriculture

A machine for dehulling millets

Original article : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/a-machine-for-dehulling-millets/article5265329.ece

Owing to the absence of suitable primary processing, semi processed raw materials and appropriate value addition technologies, the production and processing of small millets remains constrained.

Difficult work

Dehulling (removal of husk) millets is a difficult task owing to its small size and husk. Without husk removal, it is impossible to explore the full potential of the grains.

Traditionally, women do this unpleasant, laborious and inefficient hard work. Manually a woman with a pestle and mortar can dehull about 1.5 kg per hour providing a non-uniform poor keeping quality kernel.

The dry, moistened or wet millet grain is normally pounded with a wooden pestle in a wooden or stone mortar for making flour which is slightly wet due to moisture.

Aiming to eliminate this drudgery the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE, ICAR), Bhopal has developed a machine for millet processing. The machine has a capacity of grinding 100 kg in an hour at 10-12 per cent moisture content. It operates with one horse power single phase electric motor and can process even one kg of grains. The separation of the husk is simultaneous with a suction arrangement and cyclone separator attached to the machine.

It is suitable for dehulling foxtail, little, kodo, proso and barnyard millets and is provided with provisions to adjust between the dehulling surfaces to suit the different sizes of minor grains.

Efficiency

The dehulling efficiency of the machine is about 95 per cent and is priced at Rs. 50,000. It is eco-friendly, because it does not allow the dehulling husk mass to escape into the air directly and is gently trapped and collected. While being operated the noise pollution is kept under control unlike other hulling machines that produce a lot of sound. It does not require any hard labour and is worker-friendly.

(Dr. S. Balasubramanian, Principal Scientist, CIAE-Regional Centre-IEP, Coimbatore-3, Tamil Nadu, E-mail: balaciphet@gmail.com, Mobile: 8681017811.)

Keywords: Millet cultivation, Millets dehulling, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Millet processing

Integrating poultry, fish and rice to triple income - Hindu article

Original article here  :   http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/integrating-poultry-fish-and-rice-to-triple-income/article5265328.ece

Instead of growing only a single crop, farmers can try and diversify agricultural activities like dairy, bio-gas, mushroom, fish, poultry, silkworm rearing, or apiary along with crops to get a higher income. This also helps in effective recycling of waste products from the animals and birds as manure for crops and cuts down input cost to a major extent.

Feasibility

The feasibility of such a model integrating rice/fish and poultry was taken up by Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, and its impact on the farmers’ lifestyle is being studied for the last 15 years. It was found that the model, apart from being helpful in generating some revenue, also helps in weed control by 40 per cent, and pest incidence by 30 per cent in paddy crops.

“The model was field tested in different villages during 2004-07. At present it is being implemented in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Nagapattinam districts. Nearly 600 farmers have adopted this model in the last five years, and the annual income of these small cultivators has gone up from Rs. 30,000 (only crop cultivation in 1-2 acres) to Rs. 60,000,” says Dr. R.M. Kathiresan, Professor and Head, Dept of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University.

Resource-poor farmers adopting low input agriculture are the main beneficiaries of this system. The simple reason is that it offers multiple benefits like bio-control of pests, infestations, weeds, and better crop growth because the fish feed on the pests and insects attacking the rice plant and poultry droppings are constantly washed into the field making it more fertile and conducive for healthy crop growth.

Why this study?

But why did the University take up fish and poultry with paddy cultivation?

“There is plenty of data available on rice/ fish/poultry integrated model in several Universities across the country. But if you study closely, you will find that in an acre, a pond would have been dug and a poultry cage erected over it. The paddy crop will be grown in a plot adjacent to this.

“There will be no connection to all the three activities. But in our model we have carefully planned to avoid such a gap and implemented it in such a way that all three are connected to each other,” says Dr. Kathiresan. He went on to explain how it is different from other models.

Easy replication

Replicating this model is quite easy, according to him. For example in an acre (100 cents) beneficiary farmers are growing paddy in 90 cents. In five cents they grow fishes like grass carp, common carp, roghu, cutla in a trench (one feet depth and width) on one side of the field.

In the remaining five cents poultry cages propped up on concrete poles are erected fitted with wire meshes. The cage is erected in such a way that a part of the cage is above the water-filled trench and the remaining part over the paddy crop.

A part of the bird droppings falls directly into the water as feed for fishes and the remaining on the fields as manure for the crop.

During single rice cropping season (about 5-6 months) poultry can be reared three times. Common NPK fertilizer schedule for rice is being followed as basal input, but farmers are cautioned not to practice split application of the chemical fertilizers as it may affect good fish growth. Also as plant protection measures, neem kernel extract is used instead of spraying chemical insecticides.

Marketing

Regarding the marketing of fish and birds Dr. Kathiresan says, “We encouraged the farmers to form groups and open a marketing outlet and bank account. The income from the sale of fish and poultry is deposited in the account and later shared.

“The University supplied the first batch of chicken and fishes to the farmers and after the first harvest farmers themselves started purchasing them. We have received sanctions to start more such models in the region after receiving a good response from both the farmers and the Government.”

For more information farmers can contact Dr. R.M.. Kathiresan, Professor and Head, Dept of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University: 608002, email rm.kathiresan@sify.com, mobile:9655188233.

Keywords: Agricultural activities, Single crop cultivation, Rice/fish and poultry cultivation

Cheap setup to produce organic manure

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/a-simple-lowcost-unit-for-manure-production/article4999693.ece

Importance of palm trees. Why they are needed. - Dr G Nammalvar say

  ஆயிரம் ஆயிரம் ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பே நீர் மேலாண்மையில் நம் முன்னோர்கள் சிறந்து விளங்கினர். அவர்கள் அவர்களுடைய தேவைக்கு மட்டும் எந்த காரியத்தையும் செய்யவில்லை, அவர்களுடைய சந்ததிகள் இந்த பூவுலகில் வாழும் வரை பயன்பெற எண்ணியே அனைத்து காரியங்களையும் செய்தனர். அவர்கள் பல குளங்களை வெட்டினார்கள் என்று நம் அனைவருக்கும் தெரியும், ஆனால் குளங்கள் வெட்டப்படுவதால் மட்டும் நிலத்தடி நீர் மட்டம் உயர்ந்து விடாது. இதனை உன்னிப்பாக கவனித்த அவர்கள் குளத்தை சுற்றியும் பல ஆயிரம் பனைமரங்களை நட்டு வளர்த்தனர். இதன் காரணம் என்னவென்றால் பனைமரத்தை தவிர அனைத்து மரங்களின் வேர்களும் பக்கவாட்டில் மட்டுமே பரவும் ஆனால் பனைமரம் மட்டும் செங்குத்தாக நிலத்தடி நீர் வழிப்பாதையை தேடிச்செல்லும். அதுமட்டுமில்லாமல் தனது வேரை குழாய் போன்று மாற்றி தரைப்பகுதியில் உள்ள நீரை நிலத்தடி நீர்ப்பாதைக்கு கொண்டு செல்லும். இதனால் அனைத்து நிலத்தடி நீர் வழிப்பாதையிலும் நீர் நிரப்பி அது உற்றாக அருகில் உள்ள ஆறுகளில் மட்டுமில்லாமல் பல் நூறு மைல்கள் அப்பால் உள்ள ஆறுகளிலும் பெறுக்கெடுத்து வற்றாத ஜிவ நதியாக ஓட வழிவகை செய்யும்... இந்த பனைமரங்களை வெட்ட வெட்ட ஒவ்வொரு நதியாக வறண்டு கொண்டேவரும் என்பது மட்டும் உண்மை... நதிகளை காப்பாற்ற பனைமரங்களை வெட்டுவதை தவிர்க்கவும். குறைந்தபட்சம் உங்கள் நண்பர்களுடனாவது பகிர்ந்துகொள்ளுங்கள்.
-  Dr. G Nammalvar, Organic Agriculturist 

Farmer making 80 lacs per annum in a 19 acre farm.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/growing-different-crops-to-script-a-success-story/article5022935.ece

Inspiring story

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/school-dropouts-pepper-revolution/article5029140.ece

Rainwater harvesting using a patented technology. Looks interesting.

A friend referred this to me. Looks very interesting. Even thou rain water harvesting is known to every body , there involves some kind of maintaining of the system periodically . Here the claim there is no maintenance for 200 years. Thou i'm not aware of the cost . Check there website.
 http://www.varshajal.com

Organic Agro pharmacy in Kerala - Innovation

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/agro-bio-pharmacy-concept-well-received-by-kerala-farmers/article4853649.ece

Success story .

Original article here in Hindu : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/a-story-of-a-banker-turned-farmer-in-bihar/article4763486.ece

Farming is fascinating. The only thing is that it requires continuous hard-work and devotion without any distraction” says Mr. Barun Singh, a government bank manager-turned-farmer.

Mr. Barun Singh maintains a vermi-composting unit in a portion of his 10 acre land. A dairy unit is attached to the composting unit so that the cattle dung can be easily utilized for the process without much labour involvement.

Waste materials like dried leaves, rotten vegetables, fruits etc is spread on a polythene sheet placed on the ground and then covered with cattle dung. Tanks are made of bricks and cement with small holes to facilitate easy movement of earthworms from one tank to another and effective collection of vermi-wash.

Net profit

“The farmer made a net profit of Rs. 12 lakh from his composting unit alone which included sales of above Rs. 25 lakh in the States of Bihar and Jharkhand together with supplies to the government in 2012 and in the current year, he expects a net profit of Rs. 15 lakh since the demand for organic inputs in Bihar is quite high,” says Mr. Aditya, Assistant Professor-cum-Junior Scientist, Department of Extension Education, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar, who is working on an action research to catalyze rural leadership for better dissemination of information.

In addition to this Mr. Barun has maintained a two-acre farm exclusively for the cultivation of tissue culture banana through high density planting (HDP) technique. “Two months old plants are growing even better than the normal banana cultivars planted at the same time in other plots,” says Mr. Barun.

High Density Planting (HDP), an advance technique, is an effective method used to improve the fruit productivity. Through HDP 4,000 to 5,000 plants can be planted in a hectare and the yield improves radically.

HDP technique

According to Mr. Aditya, this technique is more useful for perennial crops because it allows efficient use of land and resources, realizing higher yield and net profit, easy canopy management suited for farm mechanization, and cultural practices, efficient spray and weed control, improvement in fruit quality easy and good harvest.

In India, HDP technology has been successfully used in banana, pineapple, papaya and mango, guava and citrus where the yield has increased two to three times.

The combination of dairying with over 30 high yielding cows of Sahiwal, Jersy and Holstein- Friesian breed along with 28 calves, goatery with Jamapari breed of goats brought from Rajasthan, fishery in 0.75 acres of land with mix-carp variety of fish and short-duration tissue culture banana plant, maize and vegetable crops like bottle gourd, potato, ladys finger are grown in his farm.

Sale of milk

From dairying alone, he is able to sale over 180 litres of milk each day fetching over Rs. 1.70 lakhs per month.

The carp fish has great demand in the local market and the state capital. The demand often exceeds the supply. It is a good source to meet current expenses incurred day to day on his farm

The best part is that the crops are grown completely by organic means with no use of chemical fertilizers.

Marketing

The vegetables produced from the farm are packed and sent to different parts of the state as well as the local market. Along with it, he owns a mustard processing plant to extract oil and use mustard bran as a nutritious concentrate feed for cattle,” says Mr. Aditya.

“More than 80 per cent of Indian farmers have small farm holdings. The success of an agricultural research programme or project must be on increasing productivity and income to the small famer,” he adds.

Mr. Barun was conferred the best Innovative Farmer Award by the university last year for his sustained efforts and leadership qualities in guiding other farmers in the region.

Rural leaders

“My dream is to intensify my current activities in the coming years to give it a shape of an agro-industry and also form a club of rural-leaders who would be trained by the University for working in the area of farming they desire,” says Mr. Barun.

For visits and more information, readers can contact: Mr. Barun P. Singh, Gram: Patwaha, Block: Kehra, Dist, Saharsa, Bihar, Mobile :08809419388 and Mr. Aditya, Assistant Professor-cum-Junior Scientist, Department of Extension Education, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar. email:inc.aditya@gmail.com, mobile: 9798649444.

Light trap in oraganic farming

Original Hindu article here : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/role-of-insect-light-trap-in-organic-agriculture/article4577382.ece

Insect light trap is one of the very effective tools of insect pest management in organic agriculture as it mass-traps both the sexes of insect pests and also substantially reduces the carryover pest population.

Important pests

The key insect pests of cereal crops (rice, maize, sorghum), pulse crops (chickpea, pigeonpea, lentil, greengram), vegetable crops (okra, cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, brinjal), horticultural crops (mango, litchi, pomegranate, apple guava, coconut, banana) can be mass trapped by using the light trap.

Farmers must know that by attracting and killing one adult moth or insect they control around 300-400 insect progenies through them.

By monitoring the light traps they will know better what types of insect are there in the field and whether they are in controllable level or not.

Once the insect population in the light traps crosses a certain limit the farmer can decide on the type of pest management they have to take up. By keeping a light trap, one for every half an acre right from the beginning of planting the farmer can control almost all the insect pests that are trying to attack the crop. The light trap has undergone lots of changes from its simple beginning as a kerosene lamp kept in front of a cloth sheet or water container to electrically operated ones to battery operated now.

The ordinary light trap consists of an electric bulb emitting yellow light as attractant and a funnel to direct lured insects into a container containing water.

A biotech company called Romvijay Biootech has developed a light weight, portable, battery-operated, remote and timer operated light trap.

LED bulb

The light trap has been fitted with yellow light emitting LED bulbs for longer life and much brightness. The inbuilt battery is chargeable and one charge will keep the light glowing for about eight hours.

Farmers are advised to keep one light trap for every half an acre during the dusk hours (6 pm to 9 pm) when the insects are very active.

The cost of the light trap is Rs 600 and those interested can ontact Mr. Abdul Khader, Safs organic enterprises on Phone: 0413-2271915 or mobile: 09488591915.

(Dr. C. Vaithilingam , Romvijay Biootech Private Limited, No-5, Cuddalore Main Road, Kanniakoil, Puducherry 607 402, email: vaithi52@gmail.com, mobile:094432 39092, Phone +91 413 2611165.)

Starting my Organic Garden - Part1

 Background : I live in southern part of India.  To start with i dont belong to a farming family or have any knowledge in gardening apart from growing a some vegetable and rose plants during my youth. But i was always passionate about having plants and knowing them. Of late i become aware of organic gardening / farming practices. My interest starting beaming again when i settled down in my own home . The details of which i will reveal in the following post.

  I live in a 60X40 individual house. Where most of the space is constructed. Since i bought this house i have no control over the structure of this.  Around the build up structure there is a patch of 2.5 feet soil , see the pic below.

From the above you can see that how small the available area for garden. But i was confident bcz people with much smaller area and apartment balcony's  were able to grow something.
 The second big problem is the sunlight , because of the tall buildings on both sides makes availability of sun light very minimal on both side patches. Only the south side patch receives sunlight all day. All the though about sunlight actually happened to me later. Currently i'm aware of the limitations.
  Before we moved into this house there were lot of weeds in this patch. Also there was some flowering creepers in the fence above our small compound wall all around. When we moved in we removed the creepers on 3 sides apart front side. When we removed this plants and weeds i didnt throw them away , i made small pits in the mud patch and buried these organic matter. I was atleast aware that organic matter make good manure when compost. So these become the starting nutrients for my garden.  We planted a drumstick tree in the south west corner before moved into the house. 
  I started with greens, tomatoes, chillies all around . The plants in the south patch showed good progress , east and west sides nothing much to say. But chiles started having fungal infection (i was not aware at that time it was fungal infection) , the leaves started curling and anybody can say they are sick. The didn't gave any harvest.
 I started loosing hope. I tried a Broad beans (Avarai in Tamil) in the south east corner where there is always good sunlight and also i buried lot of organic matter in this spot earlier. Since its a climber, we put a simple structure for it to grow. To my amaze it was growing healthy , i put the same seed in the north west corner of the patch as well. There was a wire fence on my compound wall. This plant used that to grow.

  Both the places the beans had a great growth, but no beans . I started worrying . My grand mother told me , still its not season. Imm, we waited. They started flowering . Curiosity grow within. In a months time there were lot of flower and beans everywhere. In a short time it started pouring beans in our house. Also started pests and infections in beans.
  I never wanted to use chemical pesticides, so i bought some thing called 'PanchaVakya' the organic magic produced from cow based ingredients (more about this later) . It really worked well, the pests and diseases were kept in bay. But the chillies didnt improved may be because of other problems which i was not able to figure out. 
 After couple of months of harvest , the produce started coming down. The plant was aging , time to remove. Removed the plant. Now a few feet from the broad bean corner towards west we planted rib gourd . This too was a creeper. A little improved over head structure was placed for this plant. Within a month it started flowering. Within 2 months we started getting vegetables.

  The plant really started growing well , covered an area of about 4' X 6' . The vegetable from flower to full growth take atmost 6-7 days. After that i becomes hard. So need to be cooked during this stage. We make a side dish for our breakfast with this vegetable. This is cooked as a curry for lunch as well. So we consumed a lot of this during that period. Of course we distributed this to our neighbors as well. During the same time i planted a bottle guard on the west side patch . This patch gets sunlight for about 3-4 hours . This plant as well is a creeper ,  i made a over head structure for this as well with a small metal frame and wires.
  The plant was growing very well , green and thick . But no flower or vegetable for several months. Then it started flowering . We were happy. But the vegetable didnt really grow , while they were very small , a small brown dot will appear , within days the whole vegetable will become dark brown and die out. Not even a single vegetable was produced in several months. I tried 'PanchaKavya' on this. But didnt worked. I was really not aware what this was.
 So far only 2 vegetables were really successful in several months. The drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) in the south west corner started producing large number of vegetables. We make a lot of recipes using the vegetable , leaves and flower of this tree. But there is always a problem everybody fear about having this tree at home. Seasonally the tree will attract hairy caterpillar moth . People fear when in contact with human skin , it produces rashes and irritation.  People used to make a flame in a stick and burn these moth in trees. We actually found a much simpler solution to this. Just pouring soap solution on this kills them instantly.
More to come.


 
 

Fermented castor solution for pest control

 

original hindu article here : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/fermented-castor-solution-traps-pests-of-sugarcane-groundnut/article4412009.ece

Fermented castor solution traps pests of sugarcane, groundnut

 Andiyur village in Erode district is well known for groundnut and sugarcane cultivation.

But the farmers there face a recurring pest problem called white grub that makes it difficult for them to harvest a good yield. Managing the pest proves difficult for the groundnut cultivators as the grub lives under the soil and its lifecycle takes a year to complete.

It feeds on the root system of the crops and the plants wither and die. Annually nearly 41 per cent of crop loss is being reported from this region.

No effect

“Chemical control measures did not prove to be a long-standing solution for this and the pest keeps recurring,” says Dr. K. Alagesan, Program Co-ordinator, Myrada (Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency), Gobichettipalayam, Tamil Nadu.

A progressive farmer G.R. Sakthivel, who grows sugarcane and groundnut, repeatedly faced losses due to this pest.

“I used almost all the pest preventive measures available in the market for this but the problem continued. No amount of specialist intervention could offer a long standing solution to this.

Accidental discovery

“One day I casually happened to see a large number of the grubs moving on a heap of de-oiled castor cake I had left near my cow shed. This made me think of using this as an effective trap for the insects. I tried it first in a small mud pot in my sugarcane field and found that it had the desired result. I started increasing it for my entire crops,” he says.

Detailing the method on how it should be done, the farmer says:

“Select some five litre mud pots and bury them till the neck at different places in the field. Pulverise about 5kg of castor seed and mix it in five litres of water. Keep this solution undisturbed in a plastic drum for 10 days.

Foul smell

On the 11th day pour two litres of this liquid in all the buried pots and fill it with water till the neck portion. The odour that comes out from the pot attracts the pest towards it.

“In addition to white grub this solution is also found effective to control the notorious rhinoceros beetle that infests coconut trees,” explains the farmer.

In fact, coconut growers are well aware about the rhino beetle and its damage to fronds and small nuts. This method is a good way of controlling it and does not require a big investment.

The mud pot with the solution needs to be buried near the trunk of the tree and attracted by the odour from the pot the insects come towards it and fall into the pot and die.

Collect the dead insects found floating in the pot once every 2 days and keep filling the pot with solution whenever the quantity gets reduced. The solution can be kept for a period of three months, according to Mr. Sakthivel.

Myrada did an extensive study on this indigenous technology over a period of four years and found that about five pots suffice for an acre. This method is found to reduce the plant protection expense to 20 per cent since the cost of the entire process comes to Rs.200-250.

Expense

If farmers use the conventional methods they need to spend anything from Rs.450 to 600 for buying chemicals.

Though the farmer developed this concept some 10 years back, today nearly 300 farmers in the region follow this for their groundnut, sugarcane and cotton crops.

“We found that there is an 80 per cent reduction in white grub and rhinoceros beetle pest population and 35-40 per cent yield increase in sugarcane and groundnut crops when this castor trap is used.

Problems galore

“Though, during the start of the green revolution fertilizers and pesticides led to high yields in hybrid crops, later on it led to serious issues like development of insect resistant, resurgence and residual problems.

“Natural and non pesticidal methods for controlling pests have been in place since time immemorial. But sadly the present generation of farmers has either forgotten their efficiency or are not prepared to accept them,” says Dr. Alagesan.

To know more, interested readers can contact Mr. G.R.Sakthivel at No. 149, Ganeshapuram, Gettavadi (P.o), Talavadi (Via), Sathyamangalam(T.K), Erode District-638461, Mobile: 94863 16041 and Dr. P. Alagesan, Programme Co-ordinator, Myrada Krishi Vigyan Kendra, No.272, Perumal Nagar, Puduvalliyampalayam Road, Kalingiyam – Post, Gobichettipalayam – 638453, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, e-mail: myradakvk@gmail.com, website: www.myradakvk.org, Phone : 04285 241626, 241627.

Keywords: Green revolution, groundnut cultivation, sugarcane cultivation

 

Wonder ful Organic farming model.

The original article from Hindu here : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/weaving-livelihood-through-cultivating-organic-cotton/article4530111.ece

Tentulipada, a small village in Kalahandi district in interior Odisha, is predominantly a dry area. Known for poverty and a harsh dry climate, the tillers there could hardly lead a comfortable livelihood.

Till some years back the entire village was cultivating cotton. The gamble on the crop was accompanied by a baggage of external, expensive, and often toxic inputs in the form of pesticides and fertilizers. But today this entire village is into organic cultivation.

Transformation

“The transformation towards organic started sometime during 2007 when initially 39 farmers took to the sustainable practice. It took two more years for all the farmers to shift to organic. In 2001 American bollworm infestation was very high and even 15 sprays of toxic chemical pesticides wouldn’t help.

“Today, this village does not worry about pests on cotton. They use their simple, naturally made bio-pesticides to control any pest problems,” says Mr. Ananthoo, co- convener of ASHA —Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture — and coordinator of Safe Food Alliance, Tamil Nadu and an organisation called Restore in Chennai.

This was made possible by committed effort and intense dialogue with and amongst farmers by an organisation called Chetna organic. Based in Hyderabad, the organisation started a dialogue with the farmers and initiated the shift towards organic cultivation. Chetna Organic works with farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.

In Odisha alone, the company functions in five districts, having five co-operatives, operating in 132 villages, impacting more than 5,000 farmers who in turn are organized into 411 SHGs (self help groups).

While initially the focus was on cotton, today, all crops are cultivated only through organic methods.

Much more

“Chetna Organic brought in much more than just sustainable agriculture. While mixed cropping, integrated approach, crop rotation, sustainable and biological practices and self-consumption-first were the focus, they also brought in very valuable principles like natural resources management, food and nutrition security, seed sovereignty, child welfare & education. Thus the whole idea of improving livelihoods with sustainable agriculture was approached in a holistic fashion,” says Mr. Ananthoo.

Their value chain development, for instance, is very impressive.

Different groups

Farmers are federated into groups and involved in the whole process of the value chain. The local administration bought organic dhal from the farmers’ federation to feed safe food to school children. Safe food for the poorest happened so easily and meticulously.

Almost all of the farmers carried the same conviction and interest.

They were proud of the fact that their own local cooperatives and national level producer company employed management graduates by paying really good salaries.

“Their CEO, an employee, hired by the farmers’ cooperative, is paid on par with the private sector/ MNCs. The pay cheque is being signed by two farmers who are on the board of directors.

“It was very heartening to see the huge storage spaces and local processing units built by the farmers for their own use,”says Mr. Ananthoo.

The processing centres are specifically for the food crops (like dhal processing). Women play an active role in both manual and mechanical processing of the organic food produces.

Different areas

Chetna Organic Agriculture Producer Company works on training, certifying and establishing sustainable market linkages for all their produce including cotton.

The latter is the backbone as it is essential to have a successful market to bring about sustained interest and encourage more farmers to join in. The produce goes into branded garments in India and abroad.

Mr. Arun Ambatipudi, one of the founders of Chetna says: “Collectivization is the key for improvement of livelihood for small farmers. The other major point demonstrated here is that sustainable agriculture is the only way out for small and marginal farmers.”

Good study model

“While the Government of India is busy bringing green revolution to Eastern India, It can be a good lesson to learn from such models that leverage on its strengths than copying the mistakes of elsewhere,” says Mr. Ananthoo.

For more information on Chetna Organic readers can , visit http://chetnaorganic.org.in,

mobile: 9959300330 and Mr. Ananthoo, co- convener ASHA- Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture and coordinator of Safe Food Alliance, email: restoreananthoo@gmail.com, Mobile: 9444166779.