Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 06, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Sunday, Apr 06, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
TIRUNELVELI: Farmers, cultivating coconuts and orchard crops have been advised to take up green manuring, a practice of ploughing in green plant tissues grown in the field and incorporating them into the soil for improving the structure as well as fertility. Virgin soil when brought under cultivation for the first time naturally gives attractive yield for a couple of years. Then the productivity begins to fall, as farm yard manure, regarded as the life of the soil, is not applied in the land in plenty. Whenever farm yard manure is not available in abundance, farmers should think of alternative sources to considerably revitalising the depleting soil. At this point, organic manures and green manuring comes to the rescue of farmers. Horticultural Officer, Palayamkottai, S. Raja Mohamed, while demonstrating the green manuring practice with Daincha (in Tamil ‘Thakkai poondu’, Sesbania aculeata) as intercrop in a coconut garden at Veppankulam near Tirunelveli, said about 10 kg of daincha seeds are required to cover one acre as intercrop in a coconut groove and sown in the field and the cost works out to only Rs.200 per acre. Between 45 and 60 days or when the plants about to bear flowers, whichever earlier, daincha, capable of adopting itself to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions such as wet, dry or salty soils, should be cut and incorporated into the soil or it can be applied to the basins taken around the coconut trees. “Since daincha contains 2.3 percent of Nitrogen, 0.7 percent of Phosphorous and 1.3 percent of Potassium, it acts as an excellent growth stimulant,” Mr. Raja Mohamed said. AdvantagesListing out the advantages of green manuring, M. Ramachandran, Assistant Director, Horticulture, Palayamkottai, said that daincha adds organic matter to the soil and accelerates the activity of micro organisms in the soil, improves the soil structure, thereby improving the water holding capacity, decreasing run off and erosion caused by rain, takes nutrients from lower layers of the soil and adds to the upper layers in which it is to be incorporated, increases the availability of certain plant nutrients like potassium, calcium and magnesium and finally it suppresses the weed growth.
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