Farmers told to grow jute to increase soil fertility

Speaking to Deccan Herald after visiting the jute plot of N R Chandrashekhar in Nenamanahalli near here on Thursday, he said jute is natural manure with high moist content, and blends with soil easily. The leaves of the crop should be mixed with soil before flowering. A subsequent sowing would yield a bumper harvest, he said.

Jute grows in a short span of 40 days. The Agriculture Department provides the seeds at 50 per cent concession. Each kilo of jute seeds costs Rs 45 and farmers can get it at Rs 22.50, he said. Chikkanna said jute could be effectively used to increase the soil fertility in view of the increasing dependence on chemical fertilisers.

Threshing floor

Chikkanna said the Department extends financial assistance of Rs 25,000 to farmers for construction of threshing floors. Apart from this a sum of Rs 50,000 would be provided for construction of community threshing floors. The farmers should use a part of their land for the purpose. Unfortunately, majority of farmers use public roads as threshing floors resulting in loss of the harvested crop. Pointing out non-availability of land for constructing threshing floors, he said Gram Panchayats too were not evincing interst in this regard.

He disclosed that the government has been identifying farmers following absolute organic farming and a taluk-wise list of such farmers has already been prepared. He hailed the efforts of Chandrashekhar in growing jute and experimenting with rain-dependent mulberry crop and called upon farmers to emulate the effort. Assistant Director Gayathri was present.