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Sci Tech
FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
Kothavasal village shows the way in organic practices
M.J. PRABU
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During harvesting season the village is thronged by buyers for the produce
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— Photo: M.J. Prabu
Good example: Mr. M. Manimaran of Kothavasal village in Tiruvarur district applying algae manure to his paddy crops.
Farmers adopting organic methods and achieving good yields have always been a good model for other ryots. But for an entire village to adopt organic practices and succeed in getting a bumper yield is by no means a small achievement. The name of the village is Kothavasal, in Nannilam taluka of Tiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu.
Buyers paradise
About 300 acres come under this village limits and farmers grow mainly paddy apart from several vegetables. Unlike in other villages where the farmer has to go to the market to seek marketing channels, during harvesting time buyers throng the village to buy the produce which is organically grown.
How was it possible for an entire village to become organic?
Inspite of several subsidies and financial loans extended by governments under various schemes, the lifestyle of the average farmer seemed to be going down, according to Mr. M. Manimaran, Chairman, Panchayat Union who spoke on behalf of the other farmers in the village.
Low costs
“A farmer with hardly 2-3 acres was finding it difficult to sustain his family with the income from his farm. At this point we were greatly impressed by the trends in organic farming and the low cost of organic cultivation,” he explained.
“We decided to experiment in a few acres and were satisfied with the results. Once a few of us were able to succeed in getting better yields, other farmers slowly started following organic practices and now the entire village has turned organic,” he said.
The input costs for organic farming are comparatively less than those from chemical farming and the produce has ready buyers who pay a decent amount to the farmers.
“I have been cultivating mainly paddy in my 30 acres. Previously when I was growing paddy using chemical fertilizers
“I harvested about 1,600-1,700 kg of paddy. The expense for cultivating one acre was about Rs, 2,000. But after switching over to organic I now spend only Rs.500 per acre on manures alone,” he explained.
Foliar spray
About 100 kg of farmyard manure (FYM) and 20 kg of sea algae (Kadal paasi in Tamil) alone are applied as manures both in the nursery and in the main field and about 250 ml of liquid algae diluted in 200 litres of water is given as a foliar spray once in 15 days to the crops.
The seedlings were transplanted to the main field from the nursery about 20 days after sowing, and the foliar spray was continued on the 60th and 75th day after transplanting.
The paddy grains harvested under organic methods have been found to have better weight compared with chemical farming, according to Mr. Manimaran. “By the application of algae the weight of paddy grains has increased. Earlier, when I grew my paddy crops with chemical pesticides, one bag of harvested paddy weighed about 56 kg.
Paddy weight
“Presently under organic cultivation the weight of the bag has gone up to 60-62 kg (one bag is 60 kg). Because of the weight increase we are able to get Rs.1,200 more per acre,” he noted.
Another surprising feature is that the paddy fields in which algae have been applied are not infested with rats which pose a difficult problem to paddy farmers.
Application of chemical manures increases the sweetness of the paddy crop and so rat infestations are more. On the other hand in organic farming the sweet content is lower and rat infestation is not so much, he explained.
Policy consideration
The entire village has presented a memorandum to the Government to formulate a policy on organic farming for farmers.
The villagers wanted the government to extend credit facilities to organic cultivators as at present banking institutions extend financial assistance only to farmers using chemical pesticides.
Readers can contact Mr. M. Manimaran, Panchayat Union Chairman at Kothavasal village, Nannilam taluka, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, phone: 04336-238347, mobile: 9486044229.
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