Madurai :

Even as the climatic conditions are not favourable and drought-like condition appears imminent, a group of farmers from Kannanur village in Chellampatti Union are confident to tide over the crisis with the system of mulch farming. In mulch farming method, the root soil of the plant is covered with the plastic sheet or organic materials. The method is beneficial to save moisture on the earth, reduce weed growth and protect the soil fertility.

The farmers in the village were desperately looking out for some alternative since they were finding weeding laborious and finding workers for the task was even more troublesome.

P Kaniraja (37) from the village stumbled upon a news about mulch farming of using plastic sheets in Tharapuram and Thuraiyur in Trichy district. A school drop out; the progressive farmer keeps track of all new inventions in the field and wanted to try mulch farming in 2008. He attempted mulch farming on tuberose which turned out to be a huge success for him. “We chose tuberose since it is 1,000 day crop and the mulches can be used for long without replacing,” Kaniraja said. While in conventional farming he used to run around for agricultural labourers for weeding but along with his wife Sathya, he completes weeding work in just few hours once in a while.

“Weeds are real menace in tuberose and it will cause lot of damage if not removed on time. The soil will lose its fertility since weeds consume the nutrients and chemical fertilisers have to be used in that case. It bears lot of financial burden on the farmers. Mulch farming is really beneficial for the farmers since we are relieved of weeds and additional cost on fertilising the soil,” says M Selvam, another tuberose farmer from the village.

Another great benefit of mulch farming is that the plastic layers prevent moisture loss from the ground and the plants require lesser water. Sprinklers are ideal for irrigation. “In conventional irrigation method, water has to be pumped three to four hours continuously for an acre of cultivation but operating sprinklers for 15 minutes in a day is all sufficient for the plants. We can irrigate on alternate days also,” Kaniraja explained.

Some 10 farmers from the village are making use of mulch farming and they are actively promoting it among their friends. “Initially, five of us adopted mulch farming and many other farmers are showing interest due to its benefit. There are around 10 of us in the village and two more started it recently,” said Selvam.

“It will be beneficial to fight drought season also since it requires hardly 1/10{+t}{+h} of the water used in conventional methods,” said Kaniraja. Out of his interest, he had created a rose garden under mulch farming in nearby Arul Anandar College at Karumathur. College principal, Fr Xavier Vedham said that the model farm is attracting a lot of farmers. “We have kept it as demo model and many farmers are visiting to have a look of it,” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Soil / TNN / by J Arockiaraj, TNN / January 22nd, 2014