A few farmers in the State are making use of extremely innovative techniques to increase their farm yields and to tide over difficult situations, while also making decent profits.
These farmers were amongst 40 others from 14 states in the country who were recognised for their unique methods of farming at the ‘2nd National Meet of Innovative Horticulture Farmers,’ organised by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) here on Saturday.
Ashok Kumar R S, a farmer from Rampur, Kolar, devised an ingenious technique to grow his horticultural products in the rain scarce region.
“There is practically no ground water in our area and we get only 650 to 700 ml of rain per year,” said Ashok. Using plastic bottles open on both sides, Ashok would insert one end into the soil near the root of the trees/plants of his farms, while at the other end, he would fill it with soil and grow pulses. This would be watered with 500 ml of water twice a week. While the roots of the soil help fix nitrogen, the leafy growth prevents soil moisture from getting evaporated.
“This method is used during the first two years of the plant so as to help it survive in the near drought conditions. Not even half a drop of water is wasted using this technique,” said Ashok.
An MSc degree holder, Ashok, till recently, was teaching at a junior college, but decided to quit his job to pursue farming on a full-time basis.
“Even though I primarily grow mangoes, I also grow chillies, neem and other plants. Overall, there are 10,000 plants in my eight-acre land and all of them are in fine health,” said Ashok.
At Tiptur in Tumkur, farmer Devaraju brought in the concept of agricultural tourism to his farming practices and an additional avenue of extra earnings.
Integrated farming
On his plot of three acres, Devaraju practises integrated farming system and visitors are taken around to observe the daily activities in his poultry farms, dairy and nursery. He has even constructed a swimming pool in his farm for visitors to take a dip when they want to.
“The entire farm is dependent on family labour and we earn a neat profit,” said Devaraju. Sharanabasappa P Patil from Halsultanpur, Gulbarga, faced a number of problems while cultivating crops in his land.
“There was a serious shortage of labour and therefore, we wanted a few hands to do more work,” said Patil.
This led him to invent a low-cost pump installed with a timer that supplies just the right amount of water. Not only is water saved, even the number of labourers required for the job is reduced.
Each lime tree in Patil’s orchards is irrigated individually with pipes, whereas flowers such as chrysanthemum and marigold are watered using battery-operated nipping machines.