| Details of Innovation |
During a certain year, Dhirubhai's crop suffered a severe attack of green larvae (pumpkin caterpillar) which destroyed the leaves, tender shoots and tender fruits of the plant. He just had to find a solution quickly and make the trial of introducing a new crop a success. He recalled that the same infestation had earlier occurred in the cauliflower crop and that a particular black medium- sized ant was its predator. The ants also made their nest in bushes or on trees. The Bijori (Citrus medica) tree was its favourite. Dhirubhai decided to deploy these ants to control the pest. He collected ants in a match box and released them in the field and found that they attacked the larvae- eating only its head. Beheaded larvae fell to the ground and died. He also found that the ants were host-specific. Encouraged by this result, Dhirubhai scaled up the experiment. This time he released ‚ about 150 ants which he collected from Bijori trees growing about three kilometre away in the neighbhouring village of Bharda. The ants swept across the field. The pest population was brought down within seven days. His experiment showed that ants from an average-sized nest were enough to control larvae in eight bighas (about 0.25 acres) of the crop. That year, he harvested crop worth Rs.12,000. The crisis had passed, but Dhirubhai was not content with a short-term solution. He therefore planted Bijori all around his field. In due course, the ants moved in and made their nest on these trees. Since then, the larvae have been kept under check. Dhirubhai has been cultivating Gilora as a mixed crop with coriander, fenugreek and mint every alternate year. That fetches him a net profit of Rs.67,000 in a year from 15 gunthas (a little less than an acre) of land. Inspired by his success, several other farmers in his village took up gilora cultivation and soon ‚ became a centre for production of gilora crop. Dhirubhai helps farmers to market the produce collectively. The other farmers however prefer to tackle the pest problem with chemical pesticides. |
Honey Bee Network Knowledge & Innovation Database (HBNKIND)