Integrated farming model

Original hindu article : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/integrated-farming-model-for-wetlands/article5986197.ece

A multi-commodity farming system consisting of rice, fish, broiler duck and male buffalo was evaluated at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Kumarakom, under the Kerala Agricultural University for productivity, income, cropping intensity and generation of employment.

The study revealed that a one hectare paddy holder in kuttanad has the carrying capacity of a minimum of 5,000 fishes, 750 broiler ducks and 3-5 male buffaloes in addition to rice. In this system paddy is grown during June- October season.

Fish varieties

Fish fingerlings are stocked simultaneously in nursery ponds dug near the rice fields. A species composition of grass carp, rohu and catla at 2:1:1 at10,000 fingerlings per ha is advisable. Broiler duckling varieties like vigoa at 125-150/ha are grown simultaneously in duck houses erected over the fish pond.

Ducklings are fed with formulated feed. Spilled over feed and excrements of duck fertilize the fish ponds. It increases the primary productivity and growth of algae and higher plants.

Fishes feed on them and some of them consume duck droppings directly. The ducklings are sold after 45-50 days when they attain 2.1 – 2.5 kg body weight. In a year 5-8 batches of broiler ducks can be reared. Duck excrements to the tune of 9-10 tons are recycled for manuring the fish ponds

Paddy harvest gets over in 120-125 days and the fields get inundated after rice harvest. The nursery ponds are broken open and the fishes are released into the expanded water body.

Food material

The leftover paddy straw on decomposition generates abundant food material in addition to the duck manure flowing down from the nursery pond.

The fish species composition of grass carp, rohu and catla are capable of feeding on aquatic weeds and straw. The field bottoms are tilled by fishes during foraging.

Fish harvest is done prior to the next paddy season. Rice fields require no land preparation and preliminary weeding if the plant stand establishment is done within one week after the fish harvest.

At the present market rates the over all income will be Rs. 5.4 to 6.8 lakhs per /ha.

(Dr. N.K.Sasidharan, Professor and Dr. A.V. Mathew is Associate Director, KAU, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Kumarakom, Mobile: 9349752445 email: n.k.sasidharan@gmail.com)

Inproved SRI method in rice cultivation.

Original hindu article. 
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/modified-paddy-cultivation-method-seems-to-hold-better-promise/article5986195.ece

Rice, a major crop in Andhra Pradesh, is cultivated using water from borewells, tanks or open wells. Since the crop grows in standing water ground water depletion is usually high especially during summer.

In addition to the water shortage, non-availability of labour on time is also increasing the cost of production, forcing farmers to give up rice cultivation citing low productivity and high labour costs as reasons.

Different approach

A different look at newer production methods that are relatively cost effective and use water more productively becomes imperative against the backdrop of the deepening water crisis and dwindling productivity under the inundation method of rice cultivation.

SRI (systematic rice intensification) is a proven methodology for comprehensively managing resources — changing the way land, seeds, water, nutrients and human labour are used.

“But in present times even SRI has some practical problems. The cono weeder which is an important tool in the cultivation practices is too heavy for pulling in the fields by the farmers. The other problem area is transplanting the seedlings from the nursery to the main field, which is quite labour intensive. With these in mind the Rashtiya Seva Samithi (Rass) — Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Chittoor district has slightly modified the practices using a fibre-bodied 8-rowed paddy seeder (drum seeder) for sowing the seeds and modified the weeder in such a way that it runs between the space in (20 cm) between the two paddy rows,” says Mr. C.Manohar, Programme Coordinator at the institute.

With the assistance of NABARD the institute organised capacity building activities like training programmes on modified practices to create awareness and motivate farmers to adopt the technology.

Field visits

Exposure visits and field days were organised to showcase the performance of the technology and finally to disseminate the same among the farming communities in different parts of the district.

“About 60 eight-rowed paddy seeders and 300 conoweeders were purchased and kept in the homes of master trainers in the villages and at the office of the agricultural officer. Farmers who wanted to take up this cultivation could contact the agricultural officer or facilitator for the drum seeder and weeder and return them after completion,” says Mr. Manohar.

“Timely availability of the drum seeders and weeders are an important step in this practice. Farmers should be able to source the machines on time. That is why we have ensured that apart from the agriculture office the machines are also available in their respective villages. Otherwise it becomes a problem for the grower to get a good yield. Growers were also supplied with pre-emergence herbicide for weed management,” he adds.

The institute published a pamphlet on direct seeding technology in Telugu and distributed it to farmers to get their feedback on this. Five facilitators were recruited in this project. In addition to this, KVK also trained ten master trainers and their services were utilized for sowing, weed management etc in the project area.

Advisory services

“Both facilitators and master trainers not only helped the farmers with modified technology but also provided other advisory services like weather, pest and disease management, water management, weed management etc. through the Kissan mobile service of the institute. We started the project during rabi 2010 season and completed it in kharif 2013 season,” says S. Sreenivasulu, subject matter specialist. Demonstrations of this modified SRI method were conducted in 140 villages in the district. Results from the data of three previous years collected showed that the average yield obtained in modified SRI method was 2,574 kg per acre, whereas it was 2,325 kg in the traditional method. About 11 per cent yield increase was observed in the modified SRI method than in the traditional method.

Another advantage

An additional advantage was reduction in cultivation cost. It is also observed that the cost of cultivation is reduced by about Rs.4,000-5,000 per acre in this method due to skipping of practices like nursery raising and manual transplanting. Duration of the crop is also reduced by 7-10 days in modified SRI method compared to conventional practice.

For more details interested farmers contact Mr. C.Manohar, Programme Coordinator, RASS-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Renigunta Mandal, Tirupati, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, email: arkvk@yahoo.co.in, Mobile: 09441532150.

Keywords: Paddy cultivation, ground water depletion, Farmers' notebook, water shortage

50 cents land and earn more than Rs. 4 lakh annually from citrus and jasmine- lemon

Original hindu article . 
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/plan-according-to-market-requirement-before-cultivation/article5892441.ece

To become financially successful, a farmer needs to transform his cropping pattern to suit the current market trend.

“He should know the requirement of the market and then plan to cultivate the right crops. Only then his economic condition can improve. There is no use in simply growing some crops in a routine manner and then hankering after a middleman for selling it. Proper planning, right crop selection and self marketing must go together to fetch a better income,” says Mr. N. Madhu Balan, Assistant Director, Agriculture, Karimangalam, Dharmapuri, Govt of Tamil Nadu.

Small area

A small farmer, Mr. Muthu, grows jasmine and citrus in his 50 cents land and is able to earn more than Rs. 4 lakh as annual income.

All the crops are being grown using goat manure, farmyard manure, groundnut and neem cake. With five goats and five bulls the farmers faces no difficulty in sourcing the inputs.

The 25 citrus trees are pruned during summer and the fruits have a good demand in the market.

“The reason for the demand is that the fruits are round, juicy, big, free from spots, scars and glossy in appearance.

“I am able to harvest about 5,000 fruits from each tree in a year. Each fruit is sold at the local market for Rs.1.50 to Rs.2 and I get a regular income of Rs.1,500 to Rs. 2,000 per day,” says the farmer.

During season the rates for the jasmine flowers also hit a peak and Mr. Muthu is able to get upto Rs. 300 a kg for the flowers.

All the crops are grown organically. Fish hormone is sprayed regularly over the crops.

The farmer says that the glossy appearance on his citrus is due to this hormone, which makes the trees quite sturdy against pest attacks.

Fish hormone

About 10 kg fish waste is mixed in 10 litres of sour buttermilk and allowed to ferment for 10 to 15 days in a plastic barrel and stirred periodically. It is then filtered and sprayed through a sprayer.

Neem, pongam, nochi and eureka leaves are gathered, crushed and mixed with 10 litres of cow’s urine and sour buttermilk and allowed to ferment for 10- 20 days and then sprayed over the crops as bio pesticide.

“From my 25 cents for citrus I get a monthly income of about Rs. 50,000. And from my flowers I get an extra income though it is only during flowering season. In a year I earn anything from Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 lakh.

“This is possible only because I take care of the land personally. I don’t depend on workers. Remote control does not work in agriculture. In some places the owner is dependent on his farm hands to do all the work. This is not wise. If you desire to earn money in agriculture then physical presence is a must,” says the farmer.

Off season groundnut

Similarly, he grows off-season groundnut as intercrop in his citrus garden which is harvested during January. The organically grown three-seeded nuts are big in size and taste well.

Farmers come to his field to buy the nuts at Rs.3,000 per bag.

He gets 10 bags of groundnut from 25 cents of land. This year he earned about Rs. 27,000 as net profit for which he spent only Rs.3,000.

The farmer has presently bought a piece of land near his village to take up citrus farming in a bigger way.

Some reasons

“The reasons for Mr. Muthu’s financial success from his small area are: he does not depend on external inputs for his crops.

“Everything is sourced from his place itself. Secondly he markets the citrus and flowers himself and his entire family is involved in the work so he need not spend anything extra on labourers,” says Mr. Balan.

Mr. Balan has been guiding several farmers in his region on how to do agriculture successfully though an interactive site called Vivasayam karkalam (let us learn agriculture) on facebook. The site has registered more than 1,000 followers who keep following it regularly.

For more information and personal visit interested farmers can contact Mr.N..K.P.Muthu Nagathasampatti village, Pennagaram Taluk, Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu, mobile: 09344469645 and Mr. Madhu Balan at 09751506521, email: balmadhu@gmail.com

எலுமிச்சை சாகுபடி குறித்து குழந்தைசாமி சொன்ன விஷயங்கள் பாடமாக இங்கே...

ஒரு ஏக்கர் நடவு செய்ய 200 நாற்றுக்கள் தேவைப்படும். தற்போது ஒரு நாற்று 120 ரூபாய் விலையில் கிடைக்கிறது. 15 அடி இடைவெளியில் 1 கன அடி அளவுக்கு குழிகள் எடுக்க வேண்டும். கட்டிகள் இல்லாத செம்மண் மற்றும் தொழு உரம் இரண்டையும் சரிசமமாக கலந்து முக்கால் அடி அளவுக்கு குழிக்குள் கொட்ட வேண்டும். பிறகு, நாற்றுகள் உள்ள பைகளின் அடிப்பகுதியை கிழித்துவிட்டு, நடவு செய்து மேல் மண்ணைக் கொண்டு குழிகளை மூடி தண்ணீர் பாய்ச்ச வேண்டும். அதிகாலை அல்லது மாலை வேளைகளில் மட்டும்தான் பாசனம் செய்யவேண்டும். வாரம் இருமுறை  பாசனம் அவசியம். 

15 நாட்களுக்கு ஒரு முறை ஏக்கருக்கு 200 லிட்டர் அமுதக்கரைசலை பாசன நீரில் கலந்துவிட வேண்டும். மாதம் ஒரு முறை ஒவ்வொரு செடிக்கும் ஒரு கிலோ ஊட்டமேற்றப்பட்ட தொழுவுரம் இட வேண்டும். இரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து காய்கள் காய்க்கத் தொடங்கும். முறையாகப் பராமரித்தால் எலுமிச்சையில் 25 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு தொடர் மகசூல் கிடைக்கும்.

200 லிட்டர் தண்ணீரில் 5 கிலோ வேப்பம் பிண்ணாக்கை ஊற வைத்து, 3 லிட்டர் பசுமாட்டு சிறுநீர் கலந்து, மாதம் ஒருமுறை செடிகளுக்கு கொடுத்து வந்தால்... வேர் அழுகல், வேர்க்கரையான் போன்ற வேர் சம்பந்தமான நோய்கள் அண்டாது.

செடிகள் வளரும் பருவத்தில் இலைவெட்டுப்புழுக்கள் தாக்கி இலைகளை கடித்து சேதாரம் செய்யும். மாதம் ஒரு முறை அதிகாலையில் செடிகள் நன்கு நனையும்படி மூலிகைப் பூச்சிவிரட்டியைத் தெளித்து வந்தால்... புழுக்கள் வராது. தவிர, சாறு உறிஞ்சும் பூச்சி, அசுவினி பூச்சி ஆகியவையும் வராது.

மூலிகைப் பூச்சிவிரட்டி!

வேப்பிலை, எருக்கிலை, நொச்சி இலை, பீநாரி சங்கு, ஆவாரம்பூ, சோத்துக்கற்றாழை  ஆகியவற்றில் தலா 10 கிலோ அளவில் எடுத்து வெட்டித் துண்டுகளாக்கி 100 லிட்டர் தண்ணீரில் 2 நாட்கள் ஊற வைக்க வேண்டும். 10 கிலோ வேப்பம் பிண்ணாக்கை தனியாக ஊற வைக்க வேண்டும். பிறகு, இலைகள் அனைத்தையும் அரைத்து பிழிந்து சாறு எடுக்க வேண்டும். அந்த சாற்றோடு, பிண்ணாக்கு கரைசலைச் சேர்த்து கலக்க வேண்டும். 500 மில்லி கரைசலை 10 லிட்டர் தண்ணீரில் கலந்து பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும்.

Jharkand farmers seed bank . Hindu article.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/uttarakhand-farmers-seed-saving-movement-holds-promise/article5805565.ece

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