ADILABAD: The re-emergence of ‘green practices' in agriculture appears consistent and trustworthy, especially when it comes from an environmentally vibrant district like Adilabad.
The effort of a handful of brinjal farmers here, who have begun shifting to organic cultivation of this pestilence-prone vegetable, holds much promise as it also envisages keeping intact the high profitability in the venture.
With a view to discontinue the use of chemicals and keeping the fertility of the soil intact, farmers like B. Srikanth Reddy of Mavala village near Adilabad have adopted eco-friendly methods in cultivation.
“This layer of the enriched silt from the local tank negates soil degradation caused by unchecked use of chemicals,” says the farmer as he introduces the first step towards shifting to organic cultivation of brinjal.
“Penning with sheep and use of vermicompost are the other methods through which the soil is being enriched on my 16 acres of land. This will ensure enlisting of the piece of land as a valuable asset,” he adds.
Since last year, farmers have reduced by half the quantity of chemical pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides needed for proper growth of brinjal. Now, they spend less by using the eco-friendly bio-chemicals though the number of sprays remains the same at one every four or five days.
Gradual shift
“The shift towards organic pesticides and fertilisers has to be gradual to control the imbalance in yields. Once this happens, cultivation of Bt brinjal will also be ruled out,” says farmer B. Ramakant of Tosham in Gudihatnoor mandal. Ramakanth says the experiment is likely to be adopted by farmers at Kagaznagar, Utnoor, Ichoda, Indervelli and Jainad mandals in the coming seasons.
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