Farmers take to integrated system in a big way

Several progressive farmers have adopted integrated farming system and are successfully practicing it. Integrated farming system aims at improving  crop cultivation, subsidiary occupation like dairy, poultry, piggery among other agricultural activities.

Dinakar Gowda, at Mogru village in Bandaru gram panchayat of  Belthangady is a progressive farmer who has adopted integrated farming system and is content in his life.

He has diversified his farming activities into several areas. He has established piggery,  poultry, dairy in his eight and half acre farm.

For additional income, crops such as arecanut, banana, and coconut were also grown in his garden.

He has also grown ‘maragenasu’ and ivy gaurd.

According to Gowda, a farmer can be successful if he diversifies farm activities. In the integrated farming system which he is following, each component supports the other system.

He has introduced mechanisation in his farm— from climbing arecanut trees to spray Bordeaux mixture to slicing the arecanut sheath to feed cattle.

 “As we use climbers to climb arecanut trees, we family members and servants climb the trees and spray bordeau mixture to check kole roga (fruit rot disease) affecting arecanut,” he said. He has around 5,000 arecanut trees.

The sheath of the arecanut is used as a feed for cattle. This increases the thickness in the milk,” Gowda said.

He rears Gir, Sahiwal and jersey and gets 25 litres of milk daily. The yard to dry arecanut is situated at an elevated area, so that when it rains he do not collect all the arecanuts kept for drying.

He just covers it with a plastic sheet as a result, the arecanut do not get wet.

Animal waste

Gowda along with his son Deviprasad, a law graduate turned farmer has proved that the animal wastes can be effectively recycled as fertiliser for their crops thereby reducing huge expenses for purchase of chemical fertilisers.

“I started rearing pigs after opening a poultry stall in Uppinangady. The waste from poultry was a headache to dispose of. As the number of pigs in the piggery increased, I started collecting poultry waste from ten poultry shops in Uppinangady to feed pigs,” he said. Effluent or manure from pigs in piggery is converted into biogas for cooking. 

 The slurry from the pond is used in the arecanut garden as manure.  The pigs fetch good price in the market and is sold for about Rs 120 per kg.

“The wastes from chicken which is not consumed by pigs are dumped into a pit with limestone to convert it into manure to be used in the garden,” he said. He rears varieties of fowl including ‘Giriraja,’ Turkey, Broiler, Natichicken, kade chicken and ducks.
There is a male Emu in his garden.
DH News Service