The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Village turns pesticide-free

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Monday, Feb 25, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Village turns pesticide-free

Karthik Madhavan

ERODE: Over the decades, the residents of Kuppampalayam hamlet in Ezhunutrimangalam village in Kodumudi block had fought the pests in their paddy fields. “We had to fight them, particularly the leaf-roller pest, with pesticides because it destroyed crops, affecting yields,” recalls P. Kandasamy, a farmer and president of the Farmers’ Interest Group.

But all that changed in 2005-06 when they dropped their weapons and embraced their foes, bringing an end to a battle that was on over 600 acres of land.

Mr. Kandasamy attributes the change to the Agriculture Department officials. “Officers from Kodumudi block told us that instead of our battling the pests, they could be made to fight among themselves. For this, the department came up with the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programme,” he says.

“On those fields that were pesticide-free, we showed the farmers that the number of predators was high compared to the negligible presence of harmful pests. And, on the fields where pesticide was sprayed, we showed the farmers that the predators died along with the pests, and pointed out that later the harmful pests emerged from larvae stage to destroy the crop,” Mr. Ramachandran says. The farmers spent about Rs.1,500 on an acre of paddy. Now they got to save the money spent on pesticides, which in a season amounts to about Rs. 2.25 lakh.

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