The charms of terrace farming

Two-and-a-half acres of lush vegetation with a variety of plants that enjoys locals’ patronage. Welcome to Padrahalli Narasimhaiah’s garden or rather terrace garden, located near Padrahalli village that lies between Ramanagara and Magadi.

Narasimhaiah grows mango, hybrid grass, mulberries, banana, jasmine flower and a variety of other plants on this plot. Papaya and mango, however, are conspicuous. The papaya trees grown close to the plot boundary are a sight to behold, with fruit aplenty hanging from every tree. Ditto the mango trees which dot the thickly covered land.

Wherever the sunlight has a chance to pierce through the thick foliage, crops like ragi, corn and chickpeas can be seen growing. Despite such variety, the “red lady” variety of papaya remains dear to Narasimhaiah. The topography of the land is such that Narasimhaiah has resorted to terrace farming on his plot, maximising the benefits of the procedure.

The growing pattern is in steps. In an area of about 2 guntas on the slopes, grass is grown. Next to it, mulberries and bananas are growing. At regular intervals, papaya trees too are seen. Above the mulberries, mango trees are flourishing. “The mango saplings that were sown when I first bought the land and the papaya saplings sown three years ago are bearing fruit. If the soil is in a good condition, the harvest is bountiful," he says.

Each plant is fed manure from the cattle-shed twice in a year. The plants are watered through drip irrigation. In one of the many indigenous methods adopted, the area around mango trees has been dug up. Dried leaves and twigs are put here and this makes for good compost.

Thanks to a government scheme, a biodigester unit has been set up. At an elevated area a tank has been constructed. Dried leaves and twigs, and other refuse end up here. It is mixed with water to make fine quality liquid organic compost. This liquid compost is distributed to the plants via drip irrigation — by gravitational force.

Locals buy fruits and cattle-feed from here. During the Mango season, Narasimhaiah does brisk business. Jasmine is sold in the market nearby and the papaya is taken to the Ramanagara market. Since it is in demand all year round, papaya is grown with extra care. Narasimhaiah is not worried about the yield. From the sale of mangoes, he is guaranteed 50,000 rupees. "For jasmine and grass, there are 6-7 regulars. We have six “Red dane” cows. They are fed with the same grass and their dung is used as manure. There are many seen and unseen advantages," he says.

Agriculture department officials bring farmers here to study how papayas are grown. "When there are good rains , we sell 50-70 kg papayas in a day. This time, we got only 20-25 kg papayas. However, mango is a bumper crop. We get 500 kg of mangoes from each tree, he says. Narasimhaiah’s garden is a model one.

(Translated by Priyanka S Rao)