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| Farmers
Column |
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| Experiences
of farmers who practice Natural Farming |
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| Farmer
G.R. Sakthivel |
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My
name is G.R. Sakthivel.
I live in Ganeshapuram next to Jeerahalli Village. For the
past 3 years, I have been practicing Natural Farming. Using
natural farming methods, I cultivate crops like Sugarcane,
Turmeric, Onion and Cabbage.
I like to share with you an indigenous technology for the management of White grub as below : -
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Select 5 mud pots of 5 liter capacity |
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Bury the pots under ground (in a random manner) up to the neck portion of the pots. |
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Collect 5 kgs of castor seed and pulverize and mix it with 5 litters of water and pour the solution in a plastic drum and keep it for 10 days for fermentation.
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Add 2 litters of fermented castor solution in each buried pots and fill with water upto nect portion.
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Odour emanated from the pot attracts the adult White Grubs and rhinoceros beetle.
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At an interval of two days, collect the beetles and destroy them.
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| MARCHING TOWARDS FARM ENTRPRISE... |
| IFD - Radical change towards sustainable Agriculture |
Rajammal & family is from Essaparrai hamlet in anthiyur block. They own a land of five acres in which a small pocket of their land have little feasibility of irrigating and the rest is under rainfed condition. Before Kendra intervention Rajammal irrespective of their farming situation and resources tend to waste their resources in field conditions. This made them to invest more on external inputs like chemical fertilizers for their farming practices resulting in low profit margin and decline in soil health due to excess application of chemical fertilizers. Based on the above rationale , Kendra selected 44 beneficiaries in its operational area in which Rajammal family is one among them .as rajammal family 44 beneficiaries were selected and series of capacity building programs were given to them .
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Kendra made a participatory farm appraisal in which each and every individual resources were critically analyzed. after the appraisal series of capacity building programs were given to them. The programs include Training cum exposure Vermicomposting, preparation of various bio-growth promoters , pest repellent, Kitchen garden, Fodder Promotion & Backyard poultry. After the capacity building program inputs for IFD were provided to them.
List of technologies adopted by the Rajammal family
- Vermicomposting
- Bio-Enriched FYM
- Fodder Promotion (COFS 29)
- Cow shed urine collection
- Panchagavya preparation
- Bio-Pest repellent
- Kitchen garden
- Backyard poultry
As a outcome of IFD demonstration Rajammal family adopting the above listed technology and demonstrated the concept of IFD in a very effective manner
Output of the technology demonstrated by Rajammal family
| Technology Demonstrated |
Unit Produced |
| Vermicomposting | 3.25 tons
| | Panchagavya | 75 lts
| | Pest Repellent | 32 lts
| | Fodder(COFS 29 & Co 3-30 cents) | 6.75 tons / year
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Effective Yield In Ground Nut
In the ground nut crop with the effective adoption of IFD technologies integrated with LEISA practices Rajammal family was able to get a yield of 1450 Kgs per acre which they never dreamt of under rainfed condition. Gurumoorthy son of rajammal says, " initially we used to apply bags and bags of chemical fertilizers but now without a single gram of NPK chemicals we were able to reap a good harvest". Application of vermicompost integrated with foliar spray of Panchagavya at periodical intervals had given us the very good result . Apart from the above Kendra intervention in LEISA adoption of GYPSUM application and foliar application of micronutrients showed a very good result in vegetative and reproductive stages in the crop. Now the whole family has 1.5 Tons of vermicompost for the coming cropping season. Gurumoorthy confidently says this time they are going to invest anything on the NPK fertilizers.
Secured Green Fodder availability
Another key achievement to mention here is about green fodder availability, in their 30 cents of plot, daily they are harvesting 25 to 30 Kgs of green fodder for their two cows. In a harvested spot they can again harvest in a span of 30-40 days , so now they are accessed with green fodder round the year. Moreover groundnut biomass eco-friendly grown also fits to be a nutritive fodder to the livestock.
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| Vadivel |
| Cow
dung – Another way to see |
Now
days a farmer could successfully sustain in his profession only
if he effectively generates and utilizes his own farm resources.
The resources mobilized should be complementary in nature such a
way that it should acclimatize to his local environment and benefit
for various diversified activities. Weighing the above factors organic
farming through the concept of LEISA (Low External Input Sustainable
Agriculture) is the only path by which a farmer could succeed. |
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Vadivel,
an energetic youth hails from Makkalpudur village** (** where nation’s
first women VVV – Vikas Volunteer Vahini club formed by MYRADA
KVK) of Bhavani Taluk has understood the concept and importance
of organic farming and started practicing in his young age in a
more systematic manner. He has integrated the various low cost and
affordable technologies in his farm by effectively utilizing his
own farm resources. |
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Recently,
with technical and financial assistance of MYRADA
KVK, Erode District and KVIC, Chennai, he advocated
multifarious benefits of a low cost Bio-Gas plant by demonstrating
in his farm. |
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| Interestingly,
he viewed the Biogas unit in other way…. Instead of considering
biogas unit just as an alternative energy for cooking and other
domestic purpose, he saw the whole Biogas plant itself as an effective
mechanism that could break complex cow dung particles into a simple
form, which could be catered as a readymade meal for his crops as
Biogas slurry after trapping methane for cooking and other domestic
purpose. |
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One
cattle (livestock) is enough to fulfill the whole input requirement
of the unit. Just 10 Kg of Cow dung is adequate to fulfill
the cooking requirements of six hours for family size of 4-6
members. But Vadivel feeds 30 Kgs of dung every day to his
Biogas unit, not only satisfying his families domestic requirement
but also he gets enough quantum of Biogas slurry that he uses
for his agriculture purpose .Since cow dung is fermented in
an anaerobic condition, slurry obtained is enriched with essential
macro and micro nutrient which facilitates nutrient requirement
of the crops. |
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| Some
key merits of Low Cost Biogas unit. |
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Small
space is enough (4.5 feet Diameter x 7 feet Depth) when compared
to any other conventional biogas models. |
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Since
body (drum) is made up of moulded fiber material, it is non-corrosive
and. initial installation cost is economical and also the
longevity is assured. |
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Prevents
deforestation in respective of exploitation of resources for
firewood. |
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Drudgery
reduction. |
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| Small
economics on Low Cost Biogas unit installation |
| Pitting
charge (circular)(7 ft depth x 4.5 ft Diameter) |
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Rs. 400.00 |
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| 7
Sets of Ferro cement, 4’ Dia Inlet Tank 1set with lower
Bottom & 1 A/C pipe 8’ Length |
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Rs.2000.00 |
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| FRP
Drum 2cum 1 meter height 4’Dia with guide frame |
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Rs.2000.00 |
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| Set
Double Burner Stove + 20’ pipe line with gate valve |
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Rs. 650.00 |
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| Transport
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Rs.150.00 |
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| Total
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Rs.5200.00 |
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| MYRADA
KVK feels that the experience of Vadivel in generation
and utilization of farm resources is definitely a source of inspiration
to the Farming community. Farmers shall effectively replicate the
technologies and reap the golden harvest of Farm resource management. |
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