FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
Enhancing plant growth using organic inputs
M.J. PRABU
|
The father used conventional methods while the son favoured organic practices
|
— Photo: Special Arrangement
All smiles: Jeya Prakash in his field at Theni, Tamil Nadu.
Organic farmers and those practising conventional farming are mostly at loggerheads regarding cultivation practices, and are in mutual disapproval.
The battle now seems to have entered within a family at Theni, Tamil Nadu as the father Mr. S. Pandiaraj practises conventional methods, while his son Jeya Prakash, who has an MSc in Bio technology, seems to favour organic methods.
“Several farmers in Uthamapalayam (Ambasamuthuram) Theni district, Tamil Nadu, grow vegetables in conventional way using chemicals.
Not effective
“And as usual these methods fail to effectively control the pests, especially root grubs, thereby reducing yield,” says Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail, (mob: 93848-98358)Head, Department of Biotechnology, The New College, Chennai.
“I am growing cabbage in my 47 cent land and regularly use chemical sprays to prevent white grub infestation. I have regularly followed this practice for several years.
“But I notice that these sprays instead of controlling the pests, either seem to increase their numbers or fail to suppress them,” says Mr. Pandiaraj.
His son Mr. Jeya Prakash, who used to help his father in his field work, took up a project to work on an organic alternative to control the white grub problem.
“Since chemicals failed to control the problem I thought why not try using locally available resources.
“After several permutations and combinations I discovered that a combination of ginger, garlic, asafoetida, cow’s urine and water, mixed every day bio-dynamically for about 15 days and applied with recommended dilution did wonders on my cabbage field.
Foliar spray
“The spray accompanied with foliar sprays enhances plant growth, and makes the plants resistant to pest attacks,” explains Mr. Jeya Prakash.
Giving details on its preparation, he says: Abut 100gms of ginger, garlic each, 10 gms of asafoetida, one litre of cows urine and nine litres of water are the necessary inputs.
Ginger, garlic and asafoetida are crushed. The urine and water is poured into a clay pot and the crushed ingredients are mixed along with it. The mouth of the pot is tied with a clean cloth. This preparation is thoroughly mixed once a day for 15 days. After 15 days, the fermented solution is filtered and diluted with 10 per cent water and sprayed onto the plants and field.
“The spray has been named NCBT-01 (New College Bio-Technology) and is effective in controlling the grubs,” says Mr. Jeya Prakash.
“In the beginning I did not believe my son when he said this locally made solution could control the pest. I am into vegetable cultivation for more than 40 years and used to spray only chemicals.
Experimental area
“But I did not want to discourage him and allotted about 7 cents of my 40 cent land for his experiments. While I continued my conventional methods, my son started using his finding (named NCBT-01) on his crops.
“My father harvested 175 bags in his 40 cents and I harvested 35 bags from my 7 cents. I harvested my crops in 80-85 days (usual time is 90-100 days) and sold it for Rs.9 a kg. I also noticed that my cabbages weighed half a kg more than my father’s,” says Mr. Jeya Prakash.
“The notion that crops grown through organic methods fetch a better price is not true as far as our local markets are concerned.
Lack of awareness
“The buyers do not possess any knowledge on organic crops or methods and view everything as equal. All they are interested in is the appearance of the vegetable. It must be glossy and shining for them to fix a price. They are not bothered how you grow your crops,” reasons Mr. Pandian.
“It is true that traders are not bothered about the cultivation methods and simply do not care about their customers. To them it is money and not consumers,” adds Mr. Jeya Praksh.
Mr. Jeya Prakash has started a group called V5, which is doing its best to create awareness on the benefits of using organic inputs and organic farming.
The group also manufactures and markets organic inputs such as vermiwash, aattottam, gunabajalam, vermicompost, egg-lime formulation, effective micro organisms, tender-coconut-buttermilk growth promoter and many more.
Readers can contact Mr. Jeya Prakash, no 8/3A, VOC Nagar, New Colony, Ist street, Anna Nagar (East), Chennai: 600102, email: v5organic@gmail.com, mobile: 96008-77686 and 98417-92530.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sci Tech
