| Details of Innovation |
Farmer has been engaged in farming and maintaining livestock for many years. The irregular and erratic monsoons in Saurashtra make it mandatory for the people to put aside excess harvest for future needs. In times of drought, people rely solely on stored food grains. Farmer has been experimenting with various methods in the protection and storage of food grains. In Saurashtra, during the monsoons, many pulses like moong, math, urad, kalthi and chowli, are sown. The crop yield depend on the rainfall. After the pulses are harvested, they are allowed to dry in the khala. The khalas are so designed that the pulses dry during the day in the sunlight, and, during the night they dry in the breeze. The dried pulses are filled in tins or mud vessels. Farmer has devised an extremely cost-effective method for storing these pulses which is as follows: Sand/mud is collected from the fences and hedges of the farmlands or road sides and is mixed thoroughly with chilli powder. The proportion is 100g. of chili powder for every 10kg. of mud. A two-inch layer of this mixture is spread at the bottom of the storage container. A two-inch layer of pulses is spread on top of this. A layer of a mixture of mud and chilli powder is spread on top of the pulses (which can be of one inch thickness). This procedure is followed till the container is full. The last layer covering the pulses must again be two inches thick. In this way, the pulses can be stored for six to eight years. Farme has been employing this method for many years |