TIRUPATI: Inspired by the words of Subhash Palekar on natural farming and his technique of zero-budget natural farming, a farmer from Chittoor district has adopted natural farming and now he is netting good profits.
He has been cultivating paddy, mango, millets and other crops on his 20 acres and producing jaggery, cold pressed groundnut oil without using any chemicals. Yanamala Jagadeesh Reddy, hailing from Danduvaripalle in Bangarupalem mandal, has been supplying his produce to more than 200 families. His father Krishna Murthy Reddy was also a farmer.
Jagadeesh, who had discontinued his studies, started farming using chemicals in 2010 and faced losses. In 2012, Jagadeesh attended a session on natural farming by noted natural farmer and researcher Subhash Palekar in Tirupati.
Palekar's words motivated him to take up natural farming and he started using cow dung, urine, green manure and biological pest control methods for farming.
It takes more than a year to make his soil fertile using jeevamrutha, nine-leaf kashayam (water decoction) and mulching. Jagdeesh has been producing desi varieties of rice such as de-husked Indrayani, Kullakar Arisi and Navara which are sold for Rs 100-Rs 130 per kg. There is good demand for natural farming products and the prices are high.
"I wanted to save the soil from chemicals and pesticides. I have conducted many workshops across the country and helped many farmers to adopt natural farming. My transformation to natural farming has attracted fellow farmers and many others. Now, more than 200 farmers across the country, including several near my village, are practising natural farming under my guidance," he explains.
Cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, green and black gram flour and forest soil are used for preparing natural fertilisers. He says 200 litres of liquid fertiliser is sufficient for one acre. Neemastram (prepared with neem extract, cow urine, cow dung and water) are used for preparing pesticide.
Jeevamrutha solution is allowed to ferment for two days. After mulching, the soil attracts earthworms, which makes it healthy by increasing aeration. Jagadeesh has been cultivating mango on 12 acres since 2012. Banginapalli, Alphonso, Mallika, Mulgoa and Neelam varieties of mangoes are available in his orchard.
These mangoes are naturally ripened without using any chemicals. He has been getting more than 4.2 tonnes per acre and around 50 tonnes of mangoes annually.
He has been extracting groundnut oil using the cold-pressed system in which oil is extracted using the traditional wooden mill method without heating or using any chemicals. Groundnut oil made using traditional cold pressed methods is healthy, he said.
The 46-year-old farmer has been maintaining a WhatsApp group for receiving orders from the public and he sends the products to the consumers based on the orders. Now, Jagadeesh is planning to introduce his own brand 'Pranahita' for selling rice, jaggery, chilli powder, millets and other products.
Even, he has been educating the farming practices to his six-year-old son. Jagadeesh wishes his son to become become a successful natural farmer like him in future.
Farmer bags several awards for innovative and healthy natural farming
Jagadeesh has achieved several awards for his inspiring natural farming. The Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi, has honoured him with the 'Innovative farmer' award. The government of Andhra Pradesh has presented the Adarsha Raithu award to him.
He got NNHS award from the National Nutritional and Health Sciences, New Delhi, and 'Global Outreach healthcare award' from Medical & Health Association, Jaipur. The farmer has also received the IARI fellow farmer award from Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi.