In 2008, P Saravanan’s turmeric crop was once destroyed because of illness. This was once the proverbial get up name for the 58-year-old farmer, which caused his transfer to natural farming.
Born right into a farming circle of relatives, Saravanan realised that every one he needed to do to make sure a excellent crop — which benefitted him in addition to the shoppers — was once to return to his grandparents’ taste of farming and abandon chemical substances and insecticides.
The Namakkal resident quickly realised the advantages of natural farming, and thru other coaching on the native Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), along side his inventions and residential recipes to stay pests at bay, Saravanan quickly turned into an authorized natural farmer with many awards up his sleeve.
In any case, he has been working towards built-in farming for a number of many years now.
Initiated with fending off chemical substances utterly, he quickly moved in opposition to drip irrigation, vermicompost, a biogas unit and hydroponics. Not able to domesticate sufficient fodder for his livestock, hydroponic maize manufacturing proved to be a gamechanger for him.
Since 2018, he has been the usage of this strategy to develop fodder for his cattle. What’s distinctive about it’s the truth that he grows it in his cabinet! He makes use of the soilless hydroponic strategy to develop maize fodder.
Then in 2018, he won the Haldhar Natural farmer award from the Indian Council of Agricultural Analysis along side the ‘Leading edge farmer award’ from the Central govt, amongst others.
So how did a farmer working towards conventional farming in a village in Tamil Nadu transfer to natural strategies and to find good fortune in them? Right here’s his tale.
An try to save soil
P Saravanan has been farming for over 40 years now in Ariyagoundampatti village, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. Whilst his grandparents practised natural strategies of farming, his father presented chemical substances and insecticides, which Saravanan endured until 2006 as smartly.
The federal government presented the micro-irrigation scheme in 2005-06, below which subsidies had been equipped for drip and sprinkler irrigation. Saravanan, an early adopter of many such new
schemes, determined to offer drip irrigation a take a look at.
“We used to stand water shortage, which made irrigation very tough. Drip irrigation saves water and irrigates 3 times the volume of land the usage of the similar water utilized by conventional strategies,” Saravanan tells The Higher India.
Since 2007, the farmer has moved to drip irrigation on his 6 acre and 36 cents (1 acre is 100 cents) land on which he cultivates turmeric, groundnuts, and greens. He additionally practises built-in farming, a sustainable agricultural gadget the place plants, cattle, aquaculture, poultry are controlled in combination.
Together with those plants, he additionally manages cattle, together with cows, goats, geese and birds.
In a while after he began drip irrigation, he were given his soil examined. The take a look at indicated that the soil was once no longer wholesome, and had emerging pH ranges and was once getting spoilt. This was once the similar time when his turmeric crop was once suffering from sicknesses.
“Folks on the KVK urged some biofertilisers to salvage the turmeric crop, and it labored. Additionally they urged that the one method to maintain the soil and save you additional injury was once by way of shifting to natural farming,” explains the 58-year-old.
Beginning in 2008 in a bid to save lots of his land, soil and plants, he slowly stopped the usage of chemical fertilisers and insecticides. He additionally began working towards crop rotation to make sure soil well being.
“When I plant pulses, I be sure that I modify the crop for the following 12 months. I additionally planted nerium as a border crop to take in pollution and develop agathi & maize across the box as a barrier crop to stop the access of pests,” he says.
He additionally built a vermicompost manufacturing unit in 2008 which produces over 6 tonnes in line with 12 months. He makes use of this vermicompost, neem desserts and castor desserts as fertilisers. He additionally has a biogas plant that converts the waste into power and purifies the air.
But even so those, he utilises panchakavya (an answer made from cow’s milk, curd, ghee, cow dung and urine used as a fertiliser) spray along with a selfmade spray containing ginger, garlic & chillies for controlling pests and illness.
Whilst the whole thing was once going smartly, Saravanan discovered it tricky to develop fodder for his livestock. Purchasing it from outdoor was once dear.
However then, in 2011, KVK Namakkal carried out an indication of soilless hydroponic farming for maize.
Rising maize in a cabinet
“The fodder call for was once expanding and I used to be not able to take care of. The prevailing land was once simply no longer enough to develop fodder. Whilst I noticed the demo in 2011, it was once just a few years later that I were given get admission to to the package,” explains Saravanan,
In 2018, Aavin the dairy co-operative in Namakkal, gave a hydroponics unit to Saravanan. Hydroponics is a method of rising crops with out soil and little or no water. It makes use of a water-based resolution and produces fodder, cereals and pulses on a small scale stage.
Saravanan explains that by way of planting 500 gm of maize, he will get 4.5-5 kg of maize fodder in an issue of 8 days.
“I stay the trays in my cabinet as we need to stay them clear of daylight. Because it grows in 8 days, I am getting a enough yield in a month. I’ve been pushing different farmers too to check out hydroponics,” he provides.
The unit prices about Rs 20,000.
Saravanan explains the stairs to develop maize fodder the usage of a hydroponics unit:
- Wash and soak the grains for twenty-four hours.
- Tie the seeds in a gunny bag and stay it in water for twenty-four hours.
- Switch the sprouted seeds to a tray and unfold it out. Stay it within the cabinet.
- Water it as soon as each and every 3 hours, both manually or the usage of a sprinkler with a timer for 7 days.
- The yield might be able at the eighth day.
Edited by way of Padmashree Pande. Image credit: P Saravanan.