| Details of Innovation |
He grows his seedlings. Saplings are ready for transferring 20 to 22 days after sowing. It is ensured that saplings are at least three inches in height before they are transferred from the nursery. The stem should not be too long. Otherwise, it would not be able to take the weight of the flower. Enough care is taken regarding the spacing of the plant. Watering is needed every third day before transferring them from the nursery and after that every fifth day. Watering is done only when leaves show signs of dryness. Otherwise, excessive water could spoil the crop.
Farmer has never used pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It was his maternal uncle who inspired him to go in for organic farming. He uses mainly organic manure. For making organic manure, he digs pits of 10x7x3 cubic ft. He spreads a ten cm.-thick layer of grass stubble, leftover animal fodder, etc. He then puts a 25 cm. thick layer of cow dung. A layer of around 10 cm follows this—finely cut neem and aakdo leaves. Further, layers of cow dung and neem leaves are piled on till the pit is almost filled. Then 40lt. of water is poured into the pit. After every fortnight, the pit is stirred, and its contents are over-turned. Organic manure is ready for use after three months. Besides this, he also uses earthworms. He uses soil treated by earthworms as manure, so increasing yield.
Normally, the cauliflower crop is attacked by mosaic, which severely affects its leaves. He uses 100 gm. of copper sulfate, 400 gm. ash, and 100 gm. lime to control this disease. This mixture is spread over the field by blowing it through a blowpipe. About 1.5 kg of this mixture is sufficient for dusting over a hectare of crop. Another disease, which affects this crop, leads to the formation of black spots on the flowers. These black spots occur due to a cloudy atmosphere and dew. To save the crop, he covers the cauliflower with its leaves. |
Honey Bee Network Knowledge & Innovation Database (HBNKIND)
