ADILABAD: Faced with the high cost and environmental damage of chemical farming, tribal cotton growers in Adilabad are turning to a sweet solution.
By mixing jaggery and bananas into a nutrient-rich spray, they are discovering that the best way to strengthen their plants and increase yields is to work with nature, not against it — all for an investment of just `500 an acre.
The RPG Foundation has been creating awareness among tribal farmers in Agency areas about natural farming practices in cotton cultivation. As part of this, farmers are preparing a mixture of bananas and jaggery, fermenting it for 6 to 10 days and then diluting it in water before spraying it on cotton plants.
Improvements all around
The bio-solution, which works much like fertilisers, boosts plant growth, improves soil fertility and helps control soil, water and air pollution, at a fraction of the cost.
Tekma Lasma and Pendur Jugad Rao, farmers from Umapathikunta in Utnoor mandal, say they had adopted the method in their three-acre cotton fields. “It requires low investment but gives good yields. The spray strengthens plants just like chemical fertilisers, but naturally,” they add.
According to G Ravi Kumar, agriculture support staff at RPG Foundation, 52 tribal villages in Utnoor, Sirikonda and Kadam mandals are already practising the method. “With just `500 worth of bananas and jaggery, one drum of solution is prepared and sufficient for an acre. Farmers are seeing better yields with lower costs and healthier soil,” he tells TNIE.