Mulching technique comes in handy for farmer

A farmer from Hoolihalli in Chowlahiriyuru hobli in Kadur taluk has successfully implemented ‘mulching technique’ and has received good harvest with less water.

Meet Hoolihalli Ramesh, who has been practising mixed farming on his three-acre land for quite some time now and has grown papaya, pomegranate, coconut and watermelon.

He has harvested 150 tonnes of watermelon and each tonne has fetched him Rs 10,000.

Ramesh said that the secret behind his success lies in the better and effective utilisation of water.

He has adopted the mulching technique, where the field is covered with paper or plastic sheets, to prevent evaporation of water. The technique helps save water, Ramesh said.

The farmer had very limited access to water, which he sourced from a borewell. “As the groundwater level deteriorated it was difficult to get sufficient water for agriculture,” Ramesh said.

He then looked out for the possibilities to utilise less water for cultivation and constructed a farm pond on his land to store water from the borewell. However, there was a need for a system which enabled proper rationing of the available water.

While planting crops, he took the guidance of the Horticultural Department on the latest techniques and decided to follow the mulching technique wherein thin sheets of mulching paper is laid on the ground, leaving space only for the plants.

“The method has been a huge success. The mulching paper prevents the water from evaporating. Hence every drop of water is retained in the soil,” he said.

Ramesh, further, said that farmers need good support prices, along with irrigation facilities, to fetch profit from agriculture. Growers are the least benefited in the current market system, he added.

“Also, the farmers should have the facility of cold storage in each hobli, for the farmers to preserve the farm produce,” he said.

He opined that more youth should take up agriculture so that it acquires the form of entrepreneurship. However, one should gather knowledge on agriculture before venturing into the field, he said.