KAKINADA: Rasamsetti Raja Babu, a farmer from Pedashankarlapudi village of Prathipadu mandal in East Godavari district, is setting an example for others to follow in organic cultivation.
For the past four years, he has been cultivating paddy without using even one per cent of chemical fertiliser or pesticide and only using Jeevamrutham made of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, field soil, two types of pulses and water.
A key member of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh from the district, Raja Babu was entrusted with the task of promoting organic farming, which he is doing by practising in his own fields. Each acre needs two litres of Jeevamrutham. For four years he has avoided pesticides and chemicals in his two-acre field and cultivated chemical and pesticide residue-free paddy. Now, other farmers in the area are following in his footsteps.
He told TNIE that decades ago, farmers in the State cultivated the crops in a natural way. “It ensured the fertility of the soil and food grown was also healthy,” he said. When there was pest infestation, it was dealt with using naturally available remedies, he pointed out.
Today, he says, to grow more and earn more, the farmers are risking the health of the soil and using chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which has resulted in unhealthy food. “By following natural farming and using Jeevamrutham, we are reviving the age-old practice of natural farming for a healthy life,” he said.
Jeevamrutham contains 10 kg of cow dung, 10 litres of cow urine, 2 kg pulses flour, 2 kg of jaggery, and field soil. It is stored in a bid drum for 48 hours and stirred occasionally using a stick. Before using the concoction, stagnated water in the fields should be drained out, and thereafter water mixed with Jeevamrutham should be released in the fields. “While preparing the land for sowing, we should let our livestock roam freely in the land, so the natural process of fertility is restored,” he advises.
When asked if there was any decrease in the yield when he shifted to natural farming, Raja Babu said against the yield of 40 bags per acre while using chemicals and pesticides, he saw a drop in yield to 25 to 30 bags per acre initially. “After four years, the yield has improved to 35 to 36 bags per acre. I am confident yields will increase further. What is more important is the foodgrain grown must be residue free.”