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| AGRICULTURE TRIBUNE | Monday, December 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
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Of what use was Agro-Tech? Asia’s useful trees and plants Winter cover for apple orchards Role of IT in agricultural extension
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Reed-bed technology to treat waste water GROWTH of reed in gravel beds in the form of wetlands or in the hydroponic state provides us eco-friendly modes which use “nature to protect nature” as the reed plants with an extensive network of rhizomes and the naturally occurring bacteria associated with their root structure help in breaking down or “digestion” of organic solids present in the waste waters. If the treatment works according to plan, there will exists no more foul smell enamating from the waste water and also there will be no breeding ground available for bacteria, mosquitoes, flies, etc. The wetland mode has been successfully used for treatment of municipal sewage in many towns of Germany. A two-hectares wetland plot with reed plantations can tackle the effluent from a population of around 4,500 persons. The “hydroponic growth mode” has been used in many rural locations in Egypt for treatment of waste-water effluents. The reed-bed technology has acquired the status of a cost-effective alternative to the conventional waste water treatment modes. The relevance of the hydroponic mode of waste water treatment has been examined for our rural locations. Though on the official list there are some 12,428 villages in Punjab, but while travelling through the countryside, one finds numerous habitations or farmhouses sprouting up which makes the problem of water supply and sanitation very difficult. Schemes have been framed for providing safe drinking water for the villages and provide paved streets with drains for the collection of waste water flowing out of the houses. The water so collected is left free at the village boundary and it creates cesspools around the village phirni. The reed-bed technology can handle the waste water and treat the same and the water thus treated can be used for growing of certain recommended crops. GBH reed-bed technology The gravel bed hydroponic (GBH) reed-bed technology provides an effective waste water treatment. This technique has been developed at Portsmouth (UK) and tested on full scale at many rural locations in Egypt. The technology comprises construction of a flume with polythene lining in the bed and brick masonry side walls sloping at 45 degree. The channel is filled with clean gravel of 0.4m thickness and in between the polythene sheet and the gravel a bed of sand of 0.3 m thickness is provided. The recommended dimensions for the channel are 3 m wide and 100 m long and the channel is to have a slight bed slope (say of 0.5 parts per thousands). In the gravel-bed reed plants (phragmites australia) are transplanted and the plants grow in the hydroponical mode and take nutrients released in the waste water as it flows in the near horizontal direction downstream or towards the outlet. This mode required smaller space compared with the conventional modes of waste treatment modes, including trickling filters. The operational cost of this mode is also less as no trained staff are needed. The reed-bed technology utilises biological or ecological mechanism for breaking up of the organic solids in an aerobic state which made possible as the reeds ensure hydraulic pathways through their roots area rhizo-spheres, resulting in increased microbial activity leading to better treatment of waste water. In this mode the waste water percolates in near horizontal direction through the gravel bed, as a sub-surface flow and so reduces the threat of breeding sites being created for mosquitoes, flies, aquatic snails and other insect vectors and intermediate hosts of excreta-related parasitic diseases. It has been found that his mode is capable of removing organic matter, ammonical nitrogen and both indicator and pathogenic micor-organisms from the waste water under treatment. The parasitic eggs are almost completely removed and there is also a substantial reduction in a wide range of pathogenes and indicators, including total and faecal coliform. The activites of virus are also curbed. The mode requires a detention period of at least six hours but provision of eight hours detention time is preferable. The organic matter on getting oxidised releases inorganic nutrients which are taken up by root system of reed plants. The concentration of toxic substances like ammonia, sulphides, heavy metals, etc are also worked upon biologically and get reduced significantly. The amount of waste water flowing out of the treatment channel is much smaller than inlet on account of transpiration losses through reed plant leaves. The growth of reeds needs to be regulated so that the dead and decaying reed biomass is removed and not permitted to clog the voids of the gravel bed. This treatment involves a careful and continuous thinning of the growth so that biological activity does not get reduce. The reeds so removed can be utilised and they have considerable commercial value. The treated effluent can be safely used for irrigation and the crops grown have higher yield and do not create any health problem. Recommended crops for being grown in the field irrigated with the treated waste water are rapper grass, sunflower, sugar-beet, broad beans and sorghum. |
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Of what use
was Agro-Tech? CII Agro-Tech, 2000 is over. Of what use was this event to the farmers is anybody’s guess. What impact it has left on the mind of the farmers, only time will tell. But its might and influence over politicians and bureaucrats has established one fact that how the industry decides the fate of agricultural sector without the farmer even knowing about it. It is rather sad that a farmer does not have any say in his own destiny. CII officials at the valedictory session were full of pride that a lakh visitors came to the Parade Ground in five days. Whether they carried back home information or just jams, pickles and souvenirs is insignificant. Being a farmer I spent two days at the Agro-Tech because I thought the exhibition would address to the present issues and scenario of the Indian farmers and rural communities. It would lend a helping hand in dealing and finding a solution to the ongoing agrarian crisis by involving farmers in the whole process. One thought the proposed seminars would raise provoking ideas and models to uplift the rural community. One imagined the speakers would present realistic and practical solutions vis-a-vis upgradation of technology and infrastructure. But there was something amiss. There seemed a huge gap between understanding the farmers’ needs and what the industry perceives of the present crisis. The industry seems to have its own ideas of how agriculture is done in India and how it should be run in the future? The people there had created wonderful models following the Canadian, Dutch and all other imported systems. I don’t deny that these systems are worth their salt but we should not blindly built monuments without realising that agriculture is a commercial activity in the developed countries, whereas in India it is a matter of sustenance. In India more than 70 per cent people are employed in agriculture, whereas in developed nations the population practising agriculture is not more than 5 per cent making their system more transparent and easier to monitor. It may kindly be noted again that I am not against technology or agriculture taking such a fashionable leap, but we must remember the basic fact that farmers today are trying hard to maintain their income rather than trying to raise them by using technology or infrastructure. It is only after his economy gets sound will a farmer look for ways of improvement in irrigation systems, post-harvest technologies and so on. I think the present Agro-Tech was based on the assumption that all is well with agriculture. I think we ought to realise that what a farmer needs is a plan which allows him to diversify and has a sure and strong market access back-up. We need to stress on the importance of availability of electricity and other resources and evolve a system so that he gets his due from the middlemen. For example, if my middleman tells me from Bangalore that my produce has been sold at Rs 180 per box and actually it has been sold at Rs 200. It means that I am incurring a loss of 10 per cent. Cheap and available transportation with inexpensive proper storage facilities should be made available to farmers. The Agro-Tech lacked in sensitivity and passion to address to the basic problems of the farming community. It seemed that the CII had to do this event and it went ahead with it without realising that there was an attitude to the whole event aggravated by untrained and uncommunicative staff and the English language. A debate is needed on what kind of technology, machinery and information model should be created for the Indian farmers and introduced which do not burden a common farmer and he accepts them comfortably. We cannot introduce heavy machinery which complicates matters because our selection of machinery should be such that it makes our labour more efficient than replaces it. Because then only we can use the advantage of mind and machinery. Another important factor that has to be kept in mind while attempting to make farmers technology or IT savvy is that we need a very amiable approach. We have two jobs on hand. First, we have to make farmers trust new technology and IT. Let me make this point clear that an Indian farmer will only give one chance to IT or new technology. So what we need to do is create a right model for him so that he is comfortable and happy when he uses or adapts it and does not reject it because of a bad experience. I think it’s time the CII officials do some introspection rather than giving themselves a pat and offer a new demeanour to the next Agro-Tech because from the farmers point of view Agro-Tech or no Agro-Tech, the saga carries on. |
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Asia’s
useful trees and plants NEXT to pines, robinia is one of the important trees of the Himalayan ranges, especially the ones around Shimla. Its scientific name is robinia pseudo-acacia and it belongs to the family of papilionaceae. A moderate sized, broad leaved, fast growing tree, it is a native plant of North America. The import and introduction of this exotic species was considered beneficial for vacant Himalayan slopes by the Britishers soon after their landing here. The plant was introduced in Shimla hills around 1890. Its because of robinia’s easy and fast growing nature that it suited the most to cover barren slopes which were and are otherwise liable to frequent landslides and soil erosion. The species grows easily at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 2500 metres, all over the outer Himalayas. The foliage of robinia, comprising small leaves, is like that of mehendi. Its very good fodder for the cattle, especially the milch animals. The sap wood of this tree is whitish, while the heart wood is yellowish. The latter is hard and also heavy. One cubic foot of robinia wood weighs about 20 to 24 kg. It is excellent and highly prized for quality furniture, agricultural implements as also wheels of wooden carts. The best part of the story about robinia is that it flowers profusely during April-May bearing big drooping recemes of exquisite white flowers. In fact upon whichever slope robinia is growing in compact clusters, its inflorescence lends a really enchanting snow-white look to the terrain. The fruit of robinia is bean-like pods, which appear during May-June and mature and ripen by September-October. From the existence and survival point of view, robinia is a hardy species. Its new seedlings develop directly from the seed shed on the ground near about the old mother trees. The new plants also usually tend to come up profusely from root suckers of the mother trees in vacant gaps in between the pines, oaks, etc. In a nutshell once robinia establishes itself at a suitable spot, it maintains its continuity and progeny easily and very well. For artificial regeneration, ripe beans on pods are collected and seed separated and dried during September-October. The dried seed is soaked in a dilute sulphuric acid put in a plenty of hot water for 24 hours. It is then sown in suitable nurseries during June-July. After the seedlings have grown into nearly a metre high saplings in about two years, these are transplanted in the vacant slopes and gaps among the tree groves during monsoons or winter rains. The robinia can also serve as beautiful ornamental plant along the roads, habitation, new collective housing complexes and independent bungalows. In this regard the Forest Department provides nursery grown saplings at a token price of Rs 2 per plant or so. Keeping in view the numerous utilities of the beautiful robinia tree, it is highly desirable that we plant the maximum number of its saplings on all the barren slopes not only in the Shimla hills but even other suitable terrain over the entire state of Himachal Pradesh and the Himalayas. |
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Winter cover for apple orchards THE first apple crop of the new millennium has been harvested and sold in most apple growing areas of India, except in some parts of Kinnaur and Kashmir. With the crop proceeds safely tucked away, the apple grower has one last task to perform before he can relax or enjoy his gains. He has to protect his trees against two important diseases — canker caused by many different fungi and premature leaf fall disease caused by marssonina fungus. He must also provide protection from other pests. Therefore, he has to give the trees the winter cover It is important to know that almost all diseases enter the trees through openings of wounds left in the trees. Though seemingly unlikely, when we pluck an apple from the tree, we leave a wound or opening at the point where the fruit was hanging. Similarly, when the leaves fall during autumn, each falling leaf leaves an opening. Harvesting and leaf fall, therefore, leave thousands of wounds or openings in the trees. Many diseases, particularly canker and marassonina fungi can enter the trees through these openings. It is necessary to prevent them doing so. A cover spray of any copper formulation such as copper oxychloride sold under brand names such as Blitox, Fytolon, etc., after harvest will protect the tree by preventing the entry of disease spores. This spray, at the rate of 300 ml per 100 litres of water (600 ml in a drum), can be applied any time after harvest. One spray will provide sufficient protection. Pruning is another activity which leaves a large number of openings of wounds on the trees. Another spray of the same material after pruning in early March will protect the trees. These two sprays are particularly crucial in orchards where any of the above diseases were observed in the preceding two years. If there was no sign of these diseases, then one spray in March after pruning is a sufficient precaution. Autumn-winter is also the time to protect against some insects. A common insect which makes its presence felt by its waxy wool-like secretion, the woolly apple aphid, scares grower because of the appearance of its secretion on twigs and branches. These aphids usually cluster on the wounds on roots and branches. Wherever these feed, they produce galls (blistering and swelling). These aphids become active in March and by September produce many colonies. In the winter they migrate underground or take shelter in crevices, etc. Orchardists should be aware that in nature there are predators and parasites for almost all pests. Some species of lady bird bettles are good predators and eat these aphids. A species of wasp aphelinus mali is an excellent parasite. It lays its eggs in a puncture made in the body of the aphid, which hatches in three days and starts internal feeding on the aphid. A single warp produces 100 eggs at one time and produces many generations in a year. A chemical spray programme should provide for their protection by avoiding indiscriminate sprays of highly toxic chemicals such as parathion, methyl parathion, etc. However, in case there is an attack the undermentioned chemicals can be applied. An application of aldicarb (Temik 10 g) or phorate (Thimet 10 g) at 25-30 gm per tree around the tree trunk, 2-5 cm below soil level, on heavily infested trees is useful. The treatment should be repeated in April followed by a spray after petal fall in May or June of any of the following chemicals — chlorophyrifos (Dursban, Danusban, Ruban 20 EC) @ 150 ml in 100 litres water (300 litres in a drum); dimethon-Methyl (Metasystox 25 EC); Dimethoate (Rogor 30 EC); fenitrothion (Folithion, Summithion 50 EC etc.,) and malathion (Cythion, Malathion 50 EC etc.,) @ 100 ml per 100 litres of water (200 ml in a drum). The orchardist should also apply BHC or Aldrin dust around the tree trunk during December to February to control root borers and grub of defoliating bettles. It is a common practice for many farmers to spray tree spray oil in winters to control san jose scale. If the scale infestation is not very severe, it can be controlled by a spray of chemicals mentioned above for control of woolly aphid. This spray should be applied at petal fall in May when the crawlers are active. In fact almost any spray for control of blossom thrips will also control scale at much less cost than dormant tree spray oil. Recently, however, superior oils for spray on foliage have become available, which can be usefully sprayed during the growing season to control aphids, mites, thrips, scale etc. Therefore, a dormant oil spray is not needed. |
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Role of IT in agricultural extension WITH
the inception of 21st century, information technology as a tool come handy to boost the pace of ongoing slow progress of the country. Next to industry, the field of agriculture happens to be the most versatile where introduction of IT can go a long way. Moreover, agriculture which contributes approximately one -third of the GDP, if deprived of the latest technology, will prove deterimental to the already dismal growth of such a field which exerts immense influence on the Indian economy. Among the three basic tools of agricultural technology viz. research, teaching and extension, it is the extension system which instead of being of farmost importance has been left in the lurch by the politico-bureaucratic apathy. Now, it is the order of the day to revamp and streamline the agricultural extension system so as to strengthen the extension machinery to put forward the serious and honest efforts in extending the alround information related to agriculture to the distant and so far abandoned places. And this is the right time that IT can come forward in the following ways. Agricultural extension experts should be supported with computers and CD-ROMs containing valuable information packaged in interesting and interactive format to give technical guidance to the information hungry farmers of tomorrow. In the years to come, the farmers will have to diversify their farming system so as to harness a handsome income and to stand upright in the global market of tough competition after the WTO measures are enforced and hence the computers aided with multimedia will help the experts to answer all kind of queries of farmers about production, protection, processing and marketing of different agricultural commodities which, otherwise is not a simple task. Information regarding subsidiary ventures like dairy, poultry, apiary, fishery, piggery etc. can also be made available to the needy farmers at the same information point. Crop and pest monitoring will become too easy. Remote sensing through satellites will expose the incidence of pest or disease epidemics and the farmers and Govt. machinery can be made alert in advance to combat the trouble. At the same time diagnosis of pests and diseases becomes easier by employing specific softwares and the technocrats would be in a position to recommend varied protection measures to the farmers. Computerised land records. soil fertility record of a particular Geographic area. Soil and land maps, etc. can be prepared and maintained with the officials of Agriculture Department so that the farmers can get the detailed information about their land holdings and fertility status of their land so as to manage the farm in a better way. Every district in the state should have its own webpage. All the farming enterprises in the district, the agro-climatic zones, the soil health map, infrastructure facilities, credit support available and market information should be made available in the webpages and regularly updated. To bring about the module in action, the agricultural extension machinery should be totally revamped in techno-scientifically desired direction so that a new genre of agricultural technocrats should emerge on the scene to be in tune with the information revolution. |
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Farm operations for December Sugarcane: Celery: Fodder production: Lucerne cutting can be adjusted to provide fodder during the lean months. Farm forestry: During this month collect the ripe pods from healthy and straight tahli trees and dry them for extraction of seeds. Mushroom growing: Simultaneously, composting for the second crop of button mushroom can be started . Book spawn as per your requirements. The first crop is terminated after 50-60 days of cropping and rooms vacated, cleaned and disinfected for the second crop. Bee-keeping: — Progressive Farming, PAU |
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