Practice Name:

Making manure from castor shells

Details
Category	Agriculture,Land Management,Soil fertility management,Organic/manure
Crop	Castor
Crop Family	Euphorbiaceae
Scientific Name	(Ricinus communis)
Vernacular Name	Castor
Scout	HBN
Ingredients	Castor shell
Details of Innovation	In the last five to six years, rainfall has been very irregular in the Mangrol and Maliya Taluka of the Junagadh district, Gujarat, so the farmers have increasingly turned towards castor crop production. With the increasing preference among farmers for the castor crop, production of castor shells has also increased. Jethabhai Kamariya came up with an innovative idea on how to make effective use of these empty castor shells: he uses them in enhancing the effectiveness of natural manure. The method employed by Jeethabhai in the preparation of castor-based manure is simple. A pit is dug for the preparation of natural manure(manure prepared from cattle dung and urine); farm waste and the leaves of mango and castor are spread at the bottom of this pit. The pit is then filled with two cartloads of dung and urine and around 40 maunds (1maund = 20 kg) of empty castor shells. Spread on top of the pit is a layer of Tas mud that is available exclusively in the region of Saurashtra. The mixture is allowed to ferment in the pit for a period of two months and can then be used as a fertilizer. About six to eight cartloads are needed for one vigha of land.

Innovator / Knowledge Provider	Jethabhai Kamariya
City / District	Junagadh
KVK District	Krushi Vigyan Kendra, Ambuja Foundation, Ambuja Cement Plant, Kodinar (Dist. Junagadh-Gujarat)
Address	Junagadh, Gujarat
Languages Spoken	Gujarati
Vocation	Farming
State	Gujarat
PIN Code	362001

PAS_1	"Adding organic material to the soil, crop rotation, physical barriers, encouraging predators, plant parts and plant extracts can be used effectively for control of this insect." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268153608_Farmer_Friendly_Ways_to_Control_Termites#fullTextFileContent")
PAS_2	"Using organic pest control methods can free the crops from the harmful effects of the chemical pesticides." http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/crop_protection/crop_prot_crop_insectpest%20_sugarcane_9.html
Agro Ecological Zone	Agro Ecological Sub Region (ICAR) Arid western Plains (5.1), Agro-Climatic Zone (Planning Commission) Gujarat Plains & Hills Region (XIII), Agro Climatic Zone (NARP) South Saurashtra Zone (GJ.7)
Other Community Practices	"Pest Management Strategies in Traditional Agriculture: An African Perspective" https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.ento.45.1.631#_i11
Practice ID	KNW0020000000021
Reference	HBN database
Annotation ID	GIAN/GAVL/914
Reference	HBN database
Scout	HBN