Don't shun the waste

Useful resource Organic waste is a blessing in disguise for farmers. Packed with all necessary nutrients, it can naturally nourish the soil and also eliminate the garbage disposal conundrum, writes Anitha Pailoor.

Whenever Siddarameshwara Samudaya Bhavan in Gubbi town of Tumkur district plays host to a social function, Shankrappa, a farmer residing seven kilometres away in Ammanghatta, gets intimated. In the evening, he carries leftover food scraps piled in the community hall to his farm.

This practise started on an impulse almost 18 months back. On attending a wedding in this hall, Shankrappa was engaged in a conversation about the rising garbage problem in cities. When the focus shifted to waste generated in the hall after every function, Shankrappa, known for his innovative ways of farming, came up with a solution of recycling biodegradable waste into a soil amendment for farms.

He even suggested this ingenious measure to nearby farms and encouraged them to consider the waste as a useful resource. “It is not easy to overcome the taboo associated with the collection of leftovers. When there were no takers, I plunged in,” says Shankrappa, standing near the biodigester plant in his farm.

All organic waste, including gobar gas slurry, grey water and food waste collected from the house and community hall is disposed in a 20 x 15 x 9 feet structure. There is a regular flow of waste from the community hall for about ten months every year. After every programme, the staff of the community hall remove plastic from the heap and load the biodegradable waste onto the tractor, parked permanently in one corner of the compound. The tractor which has a capacity of one and a half tonne gets filled after two or three functions.

Local management

Shankrappa then dumps the waste into his digester plant and sprays water to flush out rotting remains and foul odour. A four- inch pipe placed at the bed of the biodigester acts both as a filter and an outlet for manure slurry. Manure slurry is collected in a 25-feet deep well adjacent to the biodigester.

“We have not used any solid manure for the last eight years. Since water is mixed with bio slurry at the source, it provides all the required nutrients. Also, the soil absorbs nutrients better if the manure is in a slurry form,” says Shankrappa. “Local management of waste is always helpful for nature and humans. This saves time, energy and ensures optimal use of a resource. Bio-waste generated by a plant should be used to nourish the plant itself,” says Shankrappa, as we walk through his farm which has been tuned to minimal management in the last two decades.

Diverse crops

Shankrappa owns eight acres of coconut and areca nut farm, which are
intercropped with fruit crops like banana, cocoa, jackfruit, mango and spices like
cardamom, pepper, ginger, turmeric.

Nitrogen fixing and manure plants exist in large numbers to provide required nutrition to the soil. Sweet potato has crept in most of the patches and does the function of a tiller, while ginger and turmeric keep the soil perforated and healthy.

Shankrappa’s shift to non-chemical agriculture is influenced by many factors including farmers meetings organised in the region by BAIF Institute for Rural Development in the 90s. Open to new information, he visits farms and participates in such farmer meets to learn about latest trends.

Though the farm input and maintenance is much less compared to other farms in the village, the yield doesn’t suffer. Coconuts grown in his farm are known for their quality. Shankrappa and his wife haven’t bought vegetables from outside for the last 10 years. “Impact on our health is evident,” says Shankrappa’s wife, Pushpa.

Looking at the serious water problem in the village, Shankrappa has also installed an irrigation system of interconnected drip and sprinkler. An underground pipeline is laid to supply borewell water to the farm. He also has a rainwater harvesting scheme – a 10,000-litre tank collects all the rain water and is used for drinking and cooking purposes.

Shankrappa manages the farm singlehandedly and does most of the agricultural chores from watering to harvesting and marketing the produce himself. Areca harvest is done on contract basis. Coconut is harvested only when the ripened nuts fall to the ground. He sells his produce in both organic and conventional markets.

“We are thankful to Shankrappa for the good work he has been doing. Earlier, we  used to either dump the waste in the neighbourhood or request corporation for disposal,” says Lokesh, manager of the community hall.

Though the government has given strict directions against the use of plastic in the community halls, it has not been fully implemented yet. Till then, Shankrappa has taken it upon himself to reduce the garbage burden and enhance his farm produce quality
naturally.