Anup Singh Dhurve, a smallholder
farmer, had been cultivating potato in his small backyard plot for the last 10
years. All that Anup Singh could allocate for the potato cultivation was a 4x4
meter piece of land which he irrigated with the waste water from the house. Until last year, the highest potato harvest that this small plot had yielded was 35 kilograms
in spite of the heavy dose of chemical fertilisers. Naturally, Anup Dhurve was
pleasantly surprised while harvesting a bounty of 90 kg potato from this field,
which he achieved with the help of SAFBIN!
 |
| Radish grown along with Potato |
Anup Dhurve, a progressive farmer
of Katigahan village
of Mandla district of
Madhya Pradesh, has been associated with SAFBIN programme which works on
innovative ways of meeting the challenges of climate change to rain-fed
agriculture. Anup Singh, one of the 800-odd tribal farmers, is being assisted
by SAFBIN on developing locally viable agriculture practices that suit the frequently-experienced
climatic variations in Mandla district.
“SAFBIN suggested a new method of
cultivation of the traditional variety of potato involving ridge and furrow
method”. Anup Singh says that he could irrigate the potato field only twice this
year as against the normal four times due to severe water shortage. SAFBIN
helped Anup Singh to prepare and administer Matka Khaad – a simple and
cheap soil enrichment solution made of cow urine, cow dung, gram flour and jaggery
(molasses). While irrigating the land, Anup Singh mixed Matka Khaad with
irrigation water.
While detailing on the process
that was adopted, Anup Singh said that he followed a new practice for treating
the seed that he had purchased from the local market. After cleaning, the seeds
of traditional red potato were soaked in lukewarm water for 30 minutes and then dried. The treated seeds were
covered in hay and stored in a cool and shady place. When the seeds germinated on
the tenth day, they were planted on the line ridges. Before cultivation, the
land was ploughed thrice and approximately 20 kg farm yard manure was
administered.
The spacing between potato plants
and the ridge line formation of plants made irrigation more efficient as water
could reach the ends of plant lines faster. When the potato plants reached a
height of 4-5 centimetres, plant hills were covered with raised soil beds which
enabled faster growth of roots. Soon potato plants grew faster and stronger. Anup
Singh quickly realised that the spacing between the ridges could be used for
cultivating more vegetables. He planted radishes along the channels which also
grew robustly.
The new system of potato
cultivation was far better than the traditional potato cultivation practice which
was only random planting of seeds on flat beds in a line. The new cultivation
system possessed several advantages including more efficient irrigation,
spacing that allowed growing of other vegetables and use of low-cost manure.
This year Anup Singh spent only Rs. 60 on the potato cultivation as against Rs.
300 which he used to spent on an average in the previous years. His harvest of
90 kg, roughly 56 tonne per hectare, is way more than the average potato
production of 35 tonne in Mandla district.
Rejoiced over the bumper crop
Anup Singh says “the new method of potato cultivation helped me grow sufficient
potato for my family’s need for six months. Also, I did not need to buy radish from
the market for two months”. Until last year, the small piece of land used to
yield only as much potato for meeting the need of 2 months.
“Before SAFBIN came to my
village, none of us knew about agriculture practices that required less
quantity of water and money and more importantly, capable enough to withstand
the fury of climate change. Now I will grow more vegetables using the ridge and
furrow method”, Anup Singh says. Mandla is one of the drought prone districts
of Madhya Pradesh with scanty rainfall and extreme temperature variations. Of
late, farmers have become vary of cultivating vegetables due to frost in Kharif
– the season when most farmers cultivate vegetables.
By Sunil Kumar Pandey
District Project Officer, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
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