Facilitator: Mr. Srikanth, AME, Bangalore
 Mr. Srikanth narrated how he faced an existential crisis while working for a seed company in Bangalore. Coming from a farming family in Sagar, he found it difficult to accept conventional farming methods and started a small experiment at work. He was convinced that conventional farming was neither serving the interests and wellbeing of farmers nor the health of the ecosystem. The details of this story he hoped would be a means to create a conversation with the participants – not to debate but to understand what organic farming does. He began with a story of Narada testing the intelligence of a poor farmer with a question... “it is said that God is busy sending an elephant through the eye of a needle. Would you believe it?” The farmer thought for a while and said, “well why not? Look at the pumpkin seed – so small; and the pumpkin – it is so large”. While scientists and intellectuals are busy with debates and arguments – those who work see and make the big difference.
How do plants get their nutrition? After brainstorming, participants arrived at the conclusion that air, water and soil are the source of plant nutrition. The facilitator explained that while the quality of air and water may not be under a farmer’s control, the quality of soil certainly was. About 92% of soil nutrition is derived from the CO2 and water mostly from the atmosphere, the remaining 7-8% - that is derived from soil can make or break a plant’s survival. What are the characteristics of soil? The soil holds nutrients, moisture, gases and provides plants with support.
Plant nutrition: Nutrients can be provided through chemicals (they tend to be concentrated) or by organic means (which are bulky). The use of chemical fertilisers has led to the destruction of beneficial soil microorganisms, pollution of water, nutrient imbalance (neglect of micronutrients), pest and disease prevalence, loss of biodiversity, poisoned food, high costs of cultivation, and dependence on others. The alternatives to plant nutrition are the use of organic composts, beneficial microorganisms, forest soil/tank silt and mulches. These help in improving soil structure (through increasing soil carbon), increasing microbial activity, soil aeration, and moisture retention. Such methods also provide micronutrients.
The facilitator listed various composting options and compared the NPK levels that are available in different organic composts and their costs.
| Compost |
N |
P |
K |
Costing for 100 kg of N |
| Farm yard manure – 1000 kg |
5 kg |
3-4 kg |
4 kg |
20,000 kg or 10 tractor loads |
| Vermicompost – 1000 kg |
10 kg |
5 kg |
~5kg |
10,000 kg |
| Poultry manure – 1000 kg |
36 kg |
25 kg |
15 kg |
2,850 kg |
| Oil seed cake – 1000 kg |
40-50 kg |
|
|
2,000-2,500 kg |
|
When the participants worked out comparative costs, poultry manure was slightly cheaper than a combination of Urea, DAP and MOP. The facilitator stressed that chemical fertilisers were highly subsidised and sold close to 1/10 of their real value; besides chemical fertilisers do not improve soil quality. In organic method farmers should adopt a mix of soil quality improvement methods and not rely on one method only and they do not solve problems overnight. Good soil management will change the nature of agriculture. The facilitator mentioned cases of different farms which had succeeded in creating a good microclimate within even in very arid areas.
Water management: Water is a limiting factor in farming and must be managed well. Organic farms need water harvesting structures like trench-cum-bunds, farm ponds, ploughing during Maagi rains, agroforestry to reduce evaporation and reduce ambient temperatures in farms; there are hidden benefits from taking a holistic view of farming. Several cover crops and intercrops also have uses as fodder, bund stabilisers, etc.
The facilitator brainstormed the participants about the nature of good compost. The stress was on sensing the colour, odour and texture of composts. The participants then discussed how good compost can be prepared – the environmental conditions such as moisture, presence of microorganisms, aeration (or not – aerobic vs. anaerobic), temperature and materials like organic wastes, composting cultures (dung or cow manure). Methods of preparing organic compost were explained as groundwork for the practical exercises. |
