Showing posts with label Organic Farming. Show all posts
Eco Friendly Measure to Control Papaya Mealybug
Posted by Unknown in Ecology, India, Organic, Organic Farming, Papaya, Pest Management on Tuesday, 14 May 2013
N. SAKTHIVEL
R. BALAKRISHNA
Chemical
measures to control the outbreak of papaya mealybug in Tamil Nadu did
not yield success because of wider host range including many weed
species and trees, presence of thick protective waxy coating over the
body and mainly development of resistance to the chemical insecticides.
Past lesson
Recent survey
in Tamil Nadu indicated reappearance of papaya mealybug in a few areas
of Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Coimbatore, Virudunagar and Thirunelveli
districts.
The incidence is also recorded on other plant species including hibiscus, sorrel leaves, tomato, brinjal etc.
Though the
population of the pest recorded below economic injury level, incidence
of this pest is found to be increased in the locations facing severe
drought and hot climate.
Past experience
revealed that spray of insecticides induced the outbreak of the bug
rather than control because of its resistance and destruction of natural
enemies as they are highly sensitive to the chemicals.
Contact
Release of
above said exotic parasitoids at 200 individuals per location alone is
sufficient to manage the pest. If incidence of papaya mealybug is
noticed, farmers may approach nearby agriculture universities or field
units of Central Silk Board for help.
(N.Sakthivel, Scientist,Research Extension Center, Central Silk Board, Srivilliputtur, Tamil Nadu, email: sakthivelcsb@hotmail.com, Mobile: 098427 61789 & R. Balakrishna, Scientist, & Head, Regional Sericultural Research Station, Salem, Tamil Nadu, email: balakrishna131@gmail.com, Mobile: 09443692283.)
Organic Gardening Requires Extra Attention
Posted by Unknown in Advise and Tips, Gardening, Organic Farming on Monday, 13 May 2013
By Tripp Williams
Columnist
Organic
gardening is growing in popularity and interest. The local farmers
market in Evans, which focuses on organic and sustainable garden produce
sold directly to consumers, has helped pique the interest of many in
the area. While many people are interested in growing organically,
organic gardening requires a lot of planning and strict adherence to
Georgia Department of Agriculture guidelines.
The first step
in organic gardening is to plan ahead. If planning to use organic
fertilizer sources or organic soil amendments, these need to be tilled
into the garden well in advance to be effective. Ideally, this process
should begin in the fall prior to spring planting. Organic amendments
don’t provide nutrients as quickly as synthetic fertilizers. Organic
fertilizers require time to decompose and release their nutrients. Soil
microbes have to convert them into a form that plant roots can absorb.
An added benefit of organic amendments is that they can act as a
slow-release fertilizer throughout the season. This improves soil
structure.
Another
important aspect of organic gardening to consider is the restrictions on
pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides in
synthetic and naturally occurring forms. Organic gardening does not
allow synthetic pesticides. This means more manually weeding and careful
inspection of the garden.
Weeds must be
pulled or hoed, with mulch to help prevent weeds. Disease or insect
damage must be pruned off plants at the first signs of infestation. The
key is to catch all of these problems as early as possible to prevent
them from becoming bigger problems and spreading throughout the garden.
It is a good practice to become familiar with common garden problems and
be able to tell the “good bugs” from the “bad bugs.” For example, lady
beetles help control aphids, mites and other insects.
Organic
vegetables don’t have to look beautiful. Unfortunately, many times they
do not. The commercially grown vegetables in the grocery store are often
grown in a controlled environment with pesticides. Organic gardening
might produce fruits and vegetables with small spots or blemishes.
However, this does not affect the taste.
Here are a few more tips for the novice organic gardener:
• Get your soil
tested by taking a sample to the local University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension office. This is an important step to do during the
planning stage to ensure a proper growing environment.
• Use basic
cultural control options such as mulching, pruning, spacing, crop
rotation, resistant varieties and planting at the proper times.
• Clean
equipment periodically. A 10-percent bleach solution used on pruners and
other tools after cutting away diseased plant material will minimize
the spread of diseases.
• Water plants
as needed and only in the early morning. This helps prevent diseases and
promotes the development of a strong, deep root system.
Tripp Williams,
Columbia County’s agriculture and natural resource extension agent, can
be reached at (706) 541-4011, or trippj@uga.edu.
Organic Fertilizer Mix Recipe
Posted by Unknown in Fertilizer, Organic Farming, Recipe
I learned about
this mix from an article in Mother Earth News. This article was titled:
"A Better Way to Fertilize Your Garden" by Steve Solomon. This is the
recipe:
- 4 parts cotton seed meal
- ¼ part agriculture lime, finely ground
- ¼ part gypsum
- ½ part dolomitic lime
- 1 part bone meal
- ½ part kelp meal
Mix these
thoroughly. You can obtain these at your local farm or feed store. In
Portland, I can get all these items at Portland Concentrates. Use 4
quarts mixture per 100 square feet.
Controlling Powdery Mildew with Homemade Spray
Posted by Unknown in Fungi, Homestead Tips and Tricks, Organic Farming, Plant Diseases on Wednesday, 8 May 2013
If you are
seeing powdery-looking patches on the foliage of your plants, you most
likely have a case of the very common powdery mildew fungal disease.
Here is a simple spray for controlling the spread of the fungus. It
won't get rid of the fungus on leaves that already have it, but it will
prevent it from spreading to the rest of the plant.
Ingredients:
1 gallon of water
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid
Mix the
ingredients together and add them to a spray bottle. Spray your plants
weekly, preferably on overcast days to prevent it from burning the
foliage.
How to make the perfect compost: A master composter shows how to cook up some power food for your soil
Posted by Unknown in Manure and Composting, Organic Farming, Success Stories on Saturday, 23 March 2013
sunset.com
Ned Conwell pauses in front of his straw-covered compost pile at Blue House Farm.
Healthy gardens start with healthy soil. And there's no better ingredient than compost, whether you till it into beds or use it as mulch.
Ned Conwell is up to his elbows in the stuff, both as a farmer and as a teacher: He uses as much as he can make at Blue House Farm, a produce and flower farm he co-owns in Pescadero, California, and he also teaches composting at the Regenerative Design Institute, located up the coast in Bolinas.
"Once it's in the soil, compost increases fertility; adds both micro- and macronutrients; buffers pH; and improves soil structure," Conwell says. Below is his foolproof method for making compost.
COMPOST DOS AND DON'TS
Do compost
Nearly any plant material, including the following:
Brown matter
Dried leaves, hay, straw, sawdust, wood chips, and shrub and tree prunings. Ned Conwell collects his brown matter, but you can also use straw from a feed store. He puts branches and anything thorny in a separate slow-roast pile in the corner, where it breaks down over a much longer period of time. To hasten composting, chop or mow prunings into pieces 2 inches or smaller.
Green matter
Green weeds, fruit and vegetable scraps, cover-crop remains, and fresh grass clippings. Also coffee grounds, tea bags, and uncomposted manure from cows, goats, horses, or poultry. Pine needles take longer to break down, while compounds in black walnut and eucalyptus leaves can inhibit growth in other plants; compost those greens only if you combine them with lots of other vegetative waste.
Don't compost
Animal products (bones, meat scraps, dairy products); plants with fungal diseases such as fire blight or verticillium; or seedy or rhizomatous weeds like purslane, Bermuda grass, or bindweed.
Do turn the pile often
Let the pile heat up for 10 to 14 days. When the temperature inside reaches 140° or 150° f, pull off the straw cap and turn the pile by pushing it over and dividing it. Then reassemble it, but not in layers, and put the straw cap back on. When the temperature climbs back to 130° or 140° f, turn the pile again. In all, Conwell turns his pile three times in 4 to 6 months, adding water if it starts to dry out. After the first two temperature-based turns, the more often you turn your pile, the quicker it will break down into compost.
Do heat it upsuc
The smaller the pieces, the faster they'll compost. (Run the lawn mower over big, leathery leaves before adding them to the pile.) To check the pile's temperature, Conwell uses a 20-inch-long compost thermometer, available at some nurseries and garden centers and from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply (from $12; 888/784-1722).
Jammu to Switch to Organic Farming, With 800 Hectares
Posted by Unknown in Jammu and Kashmir, Organic Farming, Saffron on Monday, 28 January 2013
To
explore markets elsewhere in the country and abroad for its saffron,
basmati rice and rajmash among various other agricultural produce, the
Jammu-Kashmir government is adopting organic farming in a systematic
manner.
(Indian Express)
It has identified 800 hectares of agricultural land in the hilly
districts of Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban, besides the plains of Jammu, and
entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently with three
private service providers — New Delhi-based M/s International Panaacea
Ltd, Jaipur-based M/s M R Morarka-GDC Rural Research Foundation and the
Jammu-based M/s Sarveshwar Organic Foods Ltd.
These
service providers will not only bring the earmarked land under organic
farming, but also ensure certification of the agricultural produce and
its marketing. The firms will be paid Rs 1.60 crore by the state
government over a period of three years.
Significantly,
farming is already semi-organic by default in large tracts of
cultivable lands across the state, especially higher reaches of
Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Doda, Poonch, Rajouri and Kathua
districts. Though a large number of crops are grown there without or
with little use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in view of the
temperate climate, the agricultural yield so produced needs
certification, officials point out.
The
motive behing organic farming along commercial and scientific lines,
according to State’s Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir, is to make
farming sustainable in the state where people have small land holdings.
Under organic farming, there is a good scope for Basmati rice, which is
grown on over 35,000 hectares of land in the state and has a production
of over 88,000 metric tonnes, besides rajmash, pulses, saffron, peas and
potato, which are cultivated in temperate areas during the Kharif
season, Mir said.
The
entire exercise is aimed at tapping the increased inclination among
consumers world over towards organic agricultural products in view of
their environmental, health and nutritious advantages. As these fetch
higher remunerations to the growers, the shift also intends to arrest
the growing trend among rural youth looking at urban areas for jobs.
The
minimum period for conversion of the 800 hectares of land across Jammu
region into organic farming has been fixed as three years, says
Director, Agriculture, Ajay Khajuria. However, the places where farming
is already organic or semi-organic by default, the minimum period can be
reduced, he added.
Helping Farmers Grow Organic Crops Better
Posted by Unknown in Biotechnology, India, Organic Farming, Scientist, Small Scale Farming
Like
hundreds who study bioscience, Vinay completed his BSc in biotechnology
and did his post-graduation in bioscience from the University of
Mysore. But he didn't stop at that though he got a job and went into
academics: His weekends are reserved for the farming community.
Attending
to the farming community is what he enjoys doing. Vinay B Raghavendra,
teaches biotechnology at the city's noted Teresian College and on
weekends visits the farmers and extends expert advice on pest control.
He also promotes organic farming.
When
the interest among the urban class to the rural issues is on the wane,
the 32-year-old has started to use the knowledge he acquired-he has got a
PhD from the University of Mysore in biotechnology-for the benefit of
the end user-the farmer.
It
has been six years since the assistant professor has been helping
farmers. He is visiting nearby villages and extending his support to
help farmers. Conducting educative programmes with the support of
service-oriented organizations like Lion and Rotary clubs or going on
his own to the villages, the youth is trying to address the agriculture
crisis that is plaguing rural India. He has visited 25 villages in
Mysore, Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur districts.
While
involved in his research work, he used to go on field visits when he
came face-to-face with the problems faced by the farmers. He said he
realized that he should educate farmers about the benefits of organic
farming. The dependence on pesticides was heavy since farmers were not
aware of organic farming, he said explaining as to how he got into the
habit.
"Farmers
are usually not aware about reasons for the diseases that affect
plants. They blindly go and ask for some pesticides. This made me to
interact with farmers directly about the different methods of pest
control for variety of diseases," he said, adding, "I have been training
them about the preparation and proper utilization of organic manure."
Vinay has published his research work on 'Bacterial Blight of Cotton'.
He completed his bachelor's degree at Banmaiah's College (BSc in
biotechnology) and master's degree in bioscience at Hema Gangotri in
Hassan in 2001. He even carries his laptop along with him to the
villages he visits and informs the farmers about the proper usage of
nutrients.
"I
was influenced by my uncle Dr Vasanthkumar Timkapur, a plant
pathologist. He used to visit many villages and guide farmers. I am
following in his footsteps," he said. He has also been awarded 'P R
Verma Student Award' by the Second Asian Congress of Mycology and Plant
Pathology in 2007 at Hyderabad. His wife, who is a master degree holder
in biotechnology, helps him identify fungus and bacteria which affects
plants, he said.
The Times of India
Organic Lollipops to Composting Toilets: Green Market Niche in Southampton
Posted by Unknown in Manure and Composting, Organic Farming on Saturday, 26 January 2013
 |
| Terry Winkelman and Phil Judd run Home Eco on Macklind. |
Many
St. Louisans will be looking to do some serious bargain hunting over
the next month. What kind of unique item can you get for the man or
woman on your gift list who has everything?
If
the answer is organic lollipops or a composting toilet, then Terry
Winkelman and Phil Judd have exactly what you are looking for.
"We
used to have to send out a press release explaining what a green store
was and what sustainability even meant. Now, they have whole cable
programs on green," said Winkelman. "There's a lot more understanding."
Winkelman
and Judd run Home Eco, a south St. Louis retail business they founded
six years ago that specializes in environmentally friendly products from
housewares to cleaning supplies to flooring. She was inspired to create
the for-profit enterprise from her own experiences.
"There's
been a lot of cancer in my family, and I think there's a lot of
toxicity in a lot of products," Winkelman said. "It may be OK according
to the FDA if you have it in 1 percent of 10 products. But if you have
it in everything, I think eventually you build critical mass. I think we
need to be more aware of what's in everything: our paint, our flooring
is off gassing into our homes every minute of every day."
But she also saw a market niche. Home Eco was filling a need the big box stores weren't.
"People who were aware of it had only one resource," she said. "That was the internet. So we thought we'd be that resource."
The
2,200-square-foot store at 4611 Macklind houses an extensive home and
garden section boasting a large selection of composters and rain barrels
that Judd said few others in the area carried until recently.
"They still don't have any this good," he smiled.
There
are also pet-safe insecticides and repellents made from diatomaceous
earth and natural oils of clove, cinnamon, peppermint and sesame.
Organic lotions and soaps are on offer as well as toilet cleansers that
feature cedar oil instead bleach. Even petroleum-free candles are
available.
"All the candles we have are either soy or beeswax," Judd said. "Some of them have essential oils in them."
"These are actually made in a solar-powered shop, which is very cool," he added.
The
store seems to challenge a lot of the assumptions that commercials have
made a part of the culture. For one thing, there's the idea that
cleaners should disinfect.
"You
don't want to kill germs. You want to remove them," said Judd. "If you
just kill germs, you make them stronger. Every time you put stuff on
that kills them, they get more resistant."
Another
assumption is that you should simply buy another bottle of cleanser. In
fact, Home Eco is happy for you to purchase a refill using the bottle
you have.
There
are also a wide variety of kitchen compost pails, laundry drying racks,
water bottles, coconut-based cleaners and even eco-friendly bamboo
utensil sets, which encourage buyers to "reduce your forkprint."
Recycling
is an ever present theme. Shoppers can find hats made from repurposed
truck tarps, stuffed animals derived from used sweaters and toy cars
that were milk jugs in a former life. Even the covers of the recycled
paper journals are a stroll down memory lane for technophiles, being
made of old 10-inch floppy computer disks.
Then
there's the other sort of recycling that brings one to the composting
toilet, a plumbing free device that allows users to add a scoop of
microbes and some straw or chopped up wheat, turn a crank and later
remove the compartmentalized remains for disposal in the yard.
"You
put it back into the earth and haven't used any water or wasted any
materials that are better used elsewhere," Winkelman said.
Flooring is available as well, including cork, sustainably managed Missouri hardwood, bamboo and linoleum.
Yes, linoleum.
"A
lot of people don't realize that linoleum is not vinyl," Winkelman
said. "It's made from linseed oil, not petrochemicals. One of the keys
to being green is to eliminate as much petrochemical as you can from
products in your household."
Local
products and domestic sources feature prominently at Home Eco, partly
because they like purchasing closer to home but also because of sound
philosophical reasons.
"One
of the things we do is try to get as much American-made products as
possible," Judd said, "so even though cheaper stuff can be had, a lot of
our stuff is domestic which lightens the transportation load."
The last three years have not been any kinder to Home Eco than to any other retailers, but Winkelman sees the glass half full.
"We're still in business," she said. "People who have been open a hundred years are closing up shop."
She has seen the market expand significantly over the years.
"As
awareness is growing and people are requesting it, more companies that
are in the (home repair and hardware) business — the paint retailer, the
flooring retailer — they have a (green) buyer now," she said. "It may
only be 10 percent of their market but they have a buyer now, so they
are going out and carrying some of the products."
In the end, she thinks the market segment is there.
"I
think if there is a future for retail and manufacturing, it's going to
be green products," said Winkelman. "I think that's the future to jobs
in this country but we're in a transition phase. We're hitting the
rapids right now and everybody's unsure of where the jobs are and how
much money they can spend. I don't think that's a reflection on the
green market specifically as on the economy in general."
David Baugher is a freelance writer. To reach him, contact Beacon health editor Sally J. Altman.
How Much of Your Food Labeled as Organic is Actually Organic?
Posted by Unknown in Organic Farming, USA on Friday, 25 January 2013
Barry Estabrook
(The Atlantic) When
is “USDA Organic” not organic? More often than you probably realize.
The USDA keeps a “National List” of inorganic products that can legally
go into foods labeled as organic. The casings for those tasty USDA
Organic sausages can come from conventionally raised animals that have
been fed antibiotics. The hops in your favorite organic beer can be
sprayed with all manner of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Strawberries can be labeled as organic even if they had their start in a
conventional nursery.
According
to USDA rules, if 95 percent of a product is made up of organic
ingredients, it can be called organic. If it’s 70 percent organic, the
label can read “made with organic ingredients.”
For
the past several years, public interest groups such as the Cornucopia
Institute have complained that the National Organic Standards Board
(NOSB), which has the power to determine what materials can — and cannot
— be used in organic production, too often weakens regulations in the
face of intense lobbying by corporations who are more interested in the
higher profits conferred by the word “organic” than in strong and
meaningful standards.
Recently,
five new members were nominated for five-year terms to the 15-member
board. The Obama administration has had a schizophrenic relationship
with agriculture, on one hand cozying up to the likes of Monsanto Co. by
advocating for GM crops, and on the other hand winning plaudits from
small farm and organic advocates for programs like Know Your Farmer Know
your Foodand the White House organic garden.
So
I was interested to see what type of NOSB appointees were selected.
Fortunately, for a firsthand look all I had to do was get in my car and
drive 20 miles up the road to Shelburne Farms, where Jean Richardson, an
organic inspector, was conducting the annual inspection of O Bread
bakery one recent afternoon.
For
the past 10 years, Richardson, whom I know personally, has worked
primarily for the Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) certifying organization,
which is part of Northeastern Organic Farming Association-Vermont
(NOFA-VT). That will change in January: As one of the new NOSB members,
her decisions and suggestions will affect any American who grows,
produces, processes, or buys organic products.
Clad
in well-worn jeans, a denim vest over a salmon-colored turtleneck
sweater, and a pair of scuffed work boots, Richardson, whose inspections
do occasionally lead to a company or a farm losing its certification,
snooped from one end of the bakery to the other, and from floor to
ceiling, at times jolly, at times serious, getting down on her hands and
knees to peer under counters, running her hands over cooling racks
(“What do you clean these with?”), flipping over 50-pound sacks of
flour, and peering into mixing machines. Regulations required her to
document that every ingredient in the bread met organic standards,
following a paper trail that led all the way back to the mill where it
was processed and the field where it was grown. It also required her to
ascertain that the bakery maintained adequate standards of cleanliness
and that there was no chance that food would be contaminated by mice,
moths, flies, or other pests.
O
Bread’s co-owner, Carla Kevorkian, provided Richardson with a fat sheaf
of certificates, invoices, and lot numbers proving that the ingredients
she used met organic standards — all except for the raisins in her
raisin bread. Kevorkian couldn’t find the invoice for the raisons. She
had the box — clearly labeled organic — from which they had been
scooped, but that wasn’t enough. Organic guidelines demanded a document
with a lot number verifying that the specific raisins used in that batch
of bread were organic.
“It
must be at home,” Kevorkian said. “My husband’s coming in. I’ll have
him bring the invoice.” Richardson smiled, showing her jolly side. “I
like to find errors, Carla,” she said, then paused for a flawlessly
timed beat, “It’s my raison d’être.”
In
addition to being a hands-on organic inspector for the last decade,
Richardson is a professor emerita of natural resources and environmental
studies at the University of Vermont and an organic maple syrup
producer.
“My
experience in Vermont has been with small farms, and as an inspector, I
work with grassroots producers,” she said, while Kevorkian telephoned
her husband. “I want to be sure that the voice of the small growers and
processors get heard at a national level. There are times when a
regulatory template that works for a large farmer or processor simply
cannot work on a small scale. We need regulations for both. And we need
clear labels for the consumer to understand.”
Other
newly appointed NOSB members include Harold Austin of Zirkle Fruit Co.,
a Washington state fruit tree grower; Carmela Beck of Driscoll’s, a
California berry producer; Tracy Favre of Holistic Management
International in New Mexico, a non-profit group that educates about how
to manage land sustainably; and Andrea Sonnabend of the California
Certified Organic Farmers.
After
two and a half hours, Richardson’s inspection of O Bread was complete.
Her report would go to VOF, which would make the decision on whether or
not O Bread had any “non-compliances.” Richardson had little doubt that
the bakery would pass muster. “This company does a good job. They leave
themselves a lot of leeway,” she said.
Still, I’ll wager that next year when Richardson comes around, Kevorkian will have an invoice ready for her raisins.
Advantages of compost in crops farming
Posted by Unknown in Fertilizer, Manure and Composting, Organic Farming on Monday, 10 September 2012
The use of inorganic fertilizer has considerably increased with the cultivation of exhaustive crops in the backdrop of green revolution. Despite that, hundred of thousand of cultivated fields have become unproductive due to depletion of nutrients essential for plant growth and development. Not to speak of macro-nutrient deficiency even micro nutrients has been reported in different fields of Punjab and Sindh.
Off-take of fertilizer has increased from 18.9 million nutrients in 1990-91 to 29.8 million nutrient tons in 2005-06 while cropped area has also been increased from 21 million hectares to 23 million hectares during the same period. Fertilizer requirements are met partly from domestic production and partly from imports. Though off-take of fertilizers is on increase yet domestic fertilizer production is on decline. Domestic production has decreased from 2.28 million nutrient tons in 2001-02 to 2.13 million nutrient tons in 2005-06. On the other, import has increased from 0.62 million nutrient tons to around one million nutrient tons during the same period.
With the increase in off-take of fertilizer, the crop productivity has also increased significantly but excessive use of fertilizer has augmented the cost of production and incidence of insect, pest and disease attacks. Excessive use of DAP is destroying the under soil of the farm land, increasing compaction of soils and enhancing level of acidity of cultivated soils. Moreover, fertilizer use efficiency is low in the backdrop of huge nutrient losses in the form of leaching, de-nitrification, volatilisation, immobilisation and fixation of nutrients with soil complex and hence contributing to soil, water and air pollution.
Therefore, it is appropriate to look forward to those techniques that on one hand add nutrients into soil and improve soil texture, structure, organic matter and water holding capacity on the other. To achieve the desired objectives, the agricultural scientists are pressing hard of switching to compost farming.
Application of compost is very useful as it utilizes the farm garbage and wastes in an effective way. Moreover, 100 kg compost contains 1.34 kg nitrogen, 1.3 kg phosphorous, 1.04kg potash and 0.89kg calcium respectively. Therefore, the growers should give due importance to the production and use of compost.
Preparation of compost is easier and raw material comes from agricultural farms not from the market. Different type of crop residues such as wheat straw, rice straw, leaves, cattle dung & urine, and other household garbage could be effectively used for preparing compost. Simply, these are put into a trench with adequate moisture. Trench is 3-3.5 feet deep and length and width depends upon the availability of organic matter. A trench of 25 feet long, 3-3.5 feet deep and four feet wide is recommended for small farm containing 5-6 animals. However a trench 35-40 feet long, seven feet deep and 3-3.5 feet wide is recommended for big farms. The microbes like bacteria and fungi convert the organic matter into compost. The microbes utilize 10 parts carbon and only one part of nitrogen for their growth. However, action of fungi is more efficient than bacteria. In this process, gases like methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide hydrogen are produced that could be effectively utilized for energy purposes. Only draw back in producing compost is that it is slow process and completes in 3-5 months.
Size and mixing of crop residues also influence timing of compost formation. Microbes thrive better on particles having size 5cm or less. Maintaining the C:N ratio is crucial. It could be done by mixing legume crop residues, water hyacinth, butcher-house waste, sewerage sludge, biogas slurry. In the case of high C:N ratio, we can mix soil to produce a good compost. Best moisture for compost formation ranges between 50-60 per cent. High temperature is inevitable for the activity of the microbes because it kills disease causing micro-organisms and weed seeds. In case moisture is less than 40 per cent, the process of compost formation will be extremely slow. To speed up the process, it is important to invert the organic matter frequently.
Inoculation is important to enhance the activity of nitrogen-fixing fungi like penicellium and aspergillus and bacteria such as azotobactor. Inoculation is effective when temperature of the medium ranges between 30-35 centigrade. Inoculation is done to reduce the period of compost formation from 3-4 months to 4-6 weeks. This also enhances amount of nitrogen up to 10-30per cent.
Use of calcium phosphate reduces time of compost formation as well as enhances nitrogen uptake. During compost formation, it is essential to destroy the disease causing agents especially when sewerage sludge is mixed in the organic matter.
Well-pulverised compost adds more nutrients to the soil and within a short span of time. It improves soil texture, structure, oxygen diffusion ratio, pore space, water holding capacity and plant resistance against lodging and microbial activity.
Compost is suitable for all kinds of crops including cereals, vegetable, oilseeds, fruits and flowers. About 15-20 carts per acre in irrigated and 5-10 carts per acre in rain-fed areas are recommended. Compost enhances uptake of inorganic fertilizer by crop plants.
It is advisable for the farmers to assemble animal dung and wasted straw for compost preparation. Addition of compost into soil will cut the use of artificial fertilizer, conserve soil and water, improve physical health of soil, enhance fertilizer use efficiency, improve soil fertility and ultimately enhance crop yields.
The Dawn
Triple benefits of zero tillage
Posted by Unknown in Organic Farming, Pakistan, Zero Tillage on Sunday, 9 September 2012
Sajjad Sulaiman Malik
The Dawn
The Extension Department of the Punjab government is making a shortsighted and potentially dangerous attempt to undermine the growing popularity of zero tillage.
Their motivation is ill-informed and stems out from the fact that zero tillage has been popularized in Punjab by the on-farm Water Management Department. It is a well known fact that both these are bitter rivals. However, this alone does not explain why the Extension Department is desperately trying to check the growing popularity of zero tillage or no till (as it is called in the US).
Zero tillage - whereby, crops in rotation are sown without the conventional tillage associated with land preparation is a radical departure from the previously held ideas that the more you plough the better it is. Farmers in the US first developed this technology in the 60’s and 70’s primarily as a method of meeting the sowing deadlines of various crops. As time passed, the zero or no till methodology was refined to a point where it had completely surpassed conventional tillage in terms of higher yields coupled with lower costs.
In Pakistan the idea of zero tillage was first floated by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), which imported several zero till drills in the early 80’s tested them and finding these suitable for farming needs entrusted the Agriculture Extension Department of Punjab with popularizing this technology. Unfortunately, the Extension Department, after making half-hearted attempts recorded that the zero till is a “failure” in Pakistan.
Imagine the chagrin of the Extension Department when the Water Management Department not only succeeded in proving that the zero tillage not only saves water in the rice — wheat cropping system in Punjab — but also increases the yield and reduces the cost. It is a triple benefit system for the farmers. Our farmers may be illiterate and simple, but they are not fools, who can be duped again and again.
Basmati rice and wheat are being grown on my farms in Shiekhupura for the last 25 years through this cropping pattern. The average yield of wheat prior to 1999 had always been in the region of 25-32 maunds per acre, applying all inputs, including fertilizers, pesticides/weedicides etc. The primary reason for the low yield was late sowing which couldn’t be helped since Basmati is late maturing rice. After harvesting it, the field is ploughed 4 to 5 times to get rid of the rice stubble and is made ready for sowing wheat, which is by mid-December but it is sowed on my farms till end December and sometimes early January.
In 1999, by accident I stumbled upon zero tillage. Though, Water Management Department had informed me about this technology, but what forced me to adopt this method of wheat sowing was the unavailability of the combine harvesters for harvesting my Basmati crop. By the time rice was harvested, it was the 4th week of November and I was visualizing wheat plantation in all of January. That would have given a marginal yield in the region of 20-25 maunds per acre.
I took a plunge and went in for the zero tillage drill and was finished with wheat sowing by the 10th of December. That year my average wheat yield jumped to 38 maunds per acre. This yield increase was combined with a cost reduction of almost Rs1000 per acre (no ploughing or tillage was required). The results were simply unbelievable. Next year, the sowing was completed by the end of November and the average wheat yield climbed up to 43 maunds per acre. The cost reduction over conventional tillage remained the same. In two years’ research over the Internet it was discovered that the zero or no till had been mentioned in the list of the 10 most significant advancements in agriculture in the 20th century.
Meanwhile, the Extension Department keeps on spreading the rumour that zero till increases the pest and weed problems. During an official visit to the Indian Punjab in April 2000, the question regarding pest and weed problems associated with zero till was asked both from the Indian scientists and the farmers. In every case, the reply was the same that whereas pests remained unchanged as a bonus of zero till weeds was reduced. The farmers over there had been doing zero till for the last 5 years and were following the same rice — wheat cropping pattern as we do.
In the light of the experiences it is recommended that the farmers both in Punjab and Sindh, to reduce costs and increase the yield, should adopt the technology of zero tillage. Keeping in view the growing scarcity of water, rising fuel prices and the looming WTO, zero tillage will indeed be a life saving technology for the Pakistani farmer, particularly for those who plant rice-wheat.
In Sheikhpura rapid switchover to zero till is being witnessed and this is not confined only to Punjab. In fact a progressive farmer from Jacobabad Sindh, after hearing, too, has purchased a zero till drill from Daska and took it to his land. Recently, the district government of Lahore has purchased zero till drills for the use of local Lahore farmers. Since I started zero till on my farm, I have had several visits during the last two years from the Extension Department personnel who have been desperately trying to gather evidence about the stem borer attack on the rice crop. They have been sorely disappointed.
