Y. Eshwar Rao, a progressive farmer in Vijayapura camp of Ballari taluk, has opted for natural farming on a sprawling 25-acre land.

He has been following the Palekar model of agriculture, including integrated farming, in his experiment since two years.

Mr. Rao says the yield, as of now, is not important. But what matters is that the soil health has been considerably improving and this has a lot of value.

“For 25 years, I adopted the conventional method of cultivation. I have used chemical fertilizers and pesticides and got good yield too. But after getting to know about organic/natural farming and the Palekar model of agriculture with thrust on zero budget farming, I decided to give it a try and adopted it on my entire piece of land,” he told The Hindu.

Mr. Rao said that he has never met Mr. Palekar, but acquired knowledge by reading his books and watching videos on the subject.

Sharing his experience, he said under natural farming, the input cost was less compared to farming using fertilizers and pesticides.

Presently, Mr. Rao has cultivated sugarcane on about 10 acres, fig on 8 acres, banana on about 2 acres, guava in 3 acres, and paddy on 2.5 acres. In addition, he has also taken up inter-cropping raising beans, cowpea, and drumsticks, which will not only supplement his income but also help increase nitrogen fixation. He has made use of drip irrigation, a facility that he had already had. The drip facility is also used to supply organic fertilizer. He uses manual labour for spraying organic pesticides.

According to him, the labour cost was on the higher side in the initial stage but dependence on it was coming down gradually.

“I will be happy to share my experience with other farmers and also guide them properly if they are willing to adopt natural farming,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by M. Ahiraj / Ballari – October 03rd, 2018