The Hindu : National : A farmer's record

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 06, 2006

National

National

A farmer's record

K. Srinivas Reddy

— Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

ECO-FRIENDLY FARMER: Chintala Venkat Reddy, a farmer, showing wheat crop grown on his farm at Alwal in Secunderabad. — Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Chinthala Venkat Reddy wanted a cost-effective way to restore soil fertility without using fertilizers. His efforts have borne fruit and the farmer from Lothukunta is now waiting for a patent for his technique.

Mr. Reddy's organic farm on the outskirts of the city has had a record paddy yield of 10.31 tonnes a hectare, compared to the average of around 6 tonnes. Breaking another record, he got the highest wheat yield of 5.60 tonnes a hectare.

With scientists from the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) and the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) certifying the efficacy of his technique, Mr. Reddy has applied for a patent with the help of the A.P. Technology and Development Promotion Centre. His technique is based on the principle that the topsoil layer needs to be tackled for `depletion'. Farmers usually seek to do this by using fertilizers, which further depletes the soil. So, Mr. Reddy replaced the topsoil with soil from a depth of 4 feet.

He first experimented with it on a one-hectare field. A trench of 2.5 feet was made and dug up to 4 feet. The topsoil was removed for up to 4 inches. This was used to fill the trench, while excavated loose soil was spread across the field, mixed with castor cake. The results were stunning. The paddy yield (BPT 5204 variety) was 10.31 tonnes. The following year he experimented with another paddy variety and got 11.84 tonnes. With wheat (Lok 1 variety), 5.60 tonnes was the record yield as against 3 tonnes. Mr. Reddy filed his claims before the Patent Cooperation Treaty , a body under the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The Vienna-based PCT referred the claim to the International Searching Authority for verification and certification. Word is that the ISA has accepted the results and that a final confirmation from the PCT will enable Mr. Reddy to file for a patent.

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