Saplings of Livelihood-A success story in Commercial Nursery

Availability of quality planting material is highly essential for successful commercial vegetable cultivation. Farmers generally prepare small nurseries in their backyard solely for personal usage. However in the event of pest and disease incidence, natural calamity or field mortality of plants in early stages, the farmer does not have sufficient time to raise new nursery. To address this issue farmer-groups in Self Help Groups (SHGs) were provided with polyhouses/nethouses for production of quality planting material on commercial basis in protected conditions. They were provided with the structure, with accessories and initial consumables, and were trained in field about advanced nursery management technologies like soil solarisation, grafting, sowing, fertilisation, raised beds, pest and disease management activities, etc. In Purunia village of Patna block of Keonjhar district, the Self Help Group, named Maa Basant Kuanri Krushak Sangha initiated a commercial nursery for vegetable crops like tomato, brinjal, chilli, cabbage, cauliflower, drumstick and fruit crops like papaya. They were trained and guided regularly by the project personnel. The group is not only able to cater its own needs of quality planting material, but also caters to the need of the nearby villages. They have earned a additional income of Rs 15700/. With increasing income season by season, the group is confident of setting an example of success in the region.

Boost the productivity and yield of cucurbitaceous crops by foliar application of boron

Boron deficiency is being increasingly reported in different crops and soils across the country limiting the crop performance. Foliar application of boron is also known to enhance the vine growth, number of fruits, fruit size and yield of many cucurbitaceous crops. Earlier, in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) a significance response to 3 foliar sprays of 25ppm of boric acid was observed under Ranchi (Jharkhand) conditions. The fruit number increased from 10.5/vine to 12.2 in the vines that received foliar application of boric acid. The fruit weight also increased from 368g to 412g. This led to an increased fruit yield of 62.5 tonnes/ha by boron application compared to 48.6 in control that did not receive any foliar sprays of boric acid. This technology was tested under Bangalore conditions on ash gourd (2008), pumpkin (2009) and bitter gourd (2010) by Shri Umesh of Gopalpur, Hessaraghatta. In addition to boric acid, urea was dissolved in the spray solution at 0.5% to enhance absorption of applied boron.This progressive farmer obtained 28-36% increased production at an expense of Rs. 50/ha on boric acid and urea in each crop. Presently, Shri Bhadradev Kumar of Muthkur also adopted foliar application of 25 ppm boric acid along with 1% urea as the adjuvant, applied 3 times from 8-leaf stage (25 days after planting to flowering (45 days). He obtained an average an average increase of 2.9 fruits/vine from 1.8 and of 5.8kg/fruit from 3.9kg in ash gourd (photograph 1) Against an estimated yield of 56 t/ha (23 under control), Shri Kumar achieved 49 tonnes/ha production by adopting this technology. In Arka Baharl bottle gourd grown at IIHR farm, the number of fruits increased from 2.14 to 3.00/vine. The weight of the fruit increased to 950 as against 880g leading to an increase of 50% of bottle gourd fruits. This substantial increase in production is attributed to an increased fruit set caused by improved health of the pollen. A favorable boron status of the cucurbit vine caused (i) proper growth of pollen tube after fertilization leading to an enhanced of fertilization of eggs in the ovary leading ultimately to enhanced the fruit set in each vine; and (ii) substantial growth or enlargement of the fruit since every fertilized egg in the ovary releases growth hormones responsible for fruit enlargement leading to a significant increase if its weight. Owing to these twin factors, the farmer reaped a bountiful harvest. Besides boric acid (17% B), borax (11% B) or Solubor (20% B) can also be used to prepare the spray solution for this purpose. Adding urea as an adjuvant at 1% concentration to the spray solution improves the absorption of boron by leaves. This technology is highly cost-effective and can be adopted in all cucurbitaceous crops in areas known to be endemic for boron deficiency. Dr.S.C.KOTUR

Indian Institute of HorticulturalResearch, Bangalore-560 089

Shri Badradev Mumar of Muthkur, North Bangalore reaped a bountiful harvest of ash gourd (left) by adopting foliar application of boron

In Arka Bahar bottle gourd grown at IIHR, Hessaraghatta the fruit yield increased by 50% due to foliar spray of boric acid (25ppm) with urea (0.5%) compared to the unsprayed control.

Improved Production Technology in Tomato crop

Tomato is an important commercial vegetable crop for farmers. Tomato farmers are facing various problems due to outbreak of pest and diseases related to climate change, labor shortage and borewells going dry etc. In the last few years, late blight has emerged as a devastating disease for tomato farmers in Kharif and late Kharif season. Cost of inputs has gone up and labor availability has become a major problem. Farmers are increasingly finding it difficult to cope with the rise in input costs and other biotic and abiotic problems facing them. So to mitigate these problems, IIHR, Bangalore initiated technology demonstration on plastic mulching, drip irrigation& fertigation in tomato crop. The technology involves i. split application of nutrients along with irrigation water at low concentration which increases the efficacy of fertigation through decreased quantity of applied fertilizers, because fertilizers are applied directly to the root zone ii. iii. improved timing of fertilization , due to more frequent application which makes it possible to match plant requirement at various crop growth stages improved distribution of fertilizers with minimum loss through leaching beyond the root zone or losses through run-off.

This technology was taken up in Agrahara village of Dasanapura Hobli in Bangalore North Taluk of Bangalore urban district and was successfully demonstrated. The practice of mulching aids in moisture conservation, weed suppression and maintenance of soil structure. Mulches also improve the use efficiency of applied fertilizer and use of reflective mulches to minimize the incidences of pests and virus diseases. Farmers were very enthusiastic seeing the results of plastic mulching and drip irrigation. Farmers from the village are of the opinion that by following these two technologies, they can reduce the wastage of water & fertilizers. The new technologies have reduced the water requirement by 50-70% and also reduced the cost on fertilizers. The incidence of pest and diseases has come down. The number of seedlings required for planting per acre also has come down by 25 %. The fruits obtained were of better quality and colour, which fetched more prices in the market. A filed day on Improved production technology in tomato crop was organised under the project National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture on 22 nd October, 2011. Seventy farmers from in and round the villages attended the Field Day. The Director, IIHR, along with a team of scientists from the Divisions of Entomology & Nematology; Vegetable Crops, Plant Pathology and Entomology & Nematology attended the programme.

Kitchen Garden

Vegetables occupy an important place in our daily life particularly for vegetarians. Vegetables are the only source to increase not only the nutritive values of foods but also its palatability. For a balanced diet, an adult should have an intake of 85 g of fruits and 300 g of vegetables per day as per the dietary recommendation of nutrition specialists. But the present level of production of vegetables in our country can permit a per capita consumption of only 120 g of vegetables per day. Kitchen Garden Considering the above facts, we should plan to produce our own vegetable requirements in our backyards using the available fresh water as well as the kitchen and bathroom wastewater. This will not only facilitate prevention of stagnation unused water which will be hazardous to our health through environmental pollution, but can be useful for successful production of our own requirement of vegetables Cultivation in a small area facilitates the methods of controlling pests and diseases through the removal of affected parts and non-use of chemicals. This is a safe practice, which does not cause toxic residues of pesticides in the vegetables produced.

Kitchen Garden Site Selection There will be limited choice for the selection of sites for kitchen gardens. The final choice is usually the backyard of the house. This is convenient as the members of the family can give a constant care to the vegetables during leisure and the wastewater from the bathrooms and kitchen can easily be diverted to the vegetable beds. The size of a kitchen garden depends upon the availability of land and number of persons for whom vegetables are to be provided. There is no restriction in the shape of the kitchen garden but wherever possible rectangular garden is preferred to a square one. With succession cropping and intercropping, five cents of land would be adequate to supply vegetables for an average family of four to five persons. Land preparation Firstly a through spade digging is made to a depth of 30-40 cm. Stones, bushes and perennial weeds are removed. 100 kg of well decomposed farmyard manure or vermicompost is applied and mixed with the soil. Ridges and furrows are formed at a spacing of 45 cm or 60 cm as per the requirement. Flat beds can also be formed instead of ridges and furrows. Sowing and planting Direct sown crops like bhendi, cluster beans and cowpea can be sown on one side of the ridges at a spacing of 30 cm. Amaranthus (meant for whole plant pull out and clipping) can be sown after mixing 1 part of seeds with 20 parts of fine sand by broadcasting in the plots. Small onion, mint and coriander can be planted/sown along the bunds of plots. Seeds of transplanted crops like tomato, brinjal and chilli can be sown in nursery beds or pots one month in advance by drawing lines. After sowing and covering with top soil and then dusting with 250 grams neem cake so as to save the seeds from ants. About 30 days after sowing for tomato and 40-45 days for brinjal and chilli and big onion the seedlings are removed from nursery and transplanted along one side of the ridges at spacing of 30-45 cm for tomato, brinjal and chilli and 10 cm on both the sides of the ridges for big onion. The plants should be irrigated immediately after planting and again on 3rd day. The seedlings can be watered once in two days in the earlier stages and then once in 4 days later.

 The main objective of a kitchen garden is the maximum output and a continuous supply of vegetables for the table throughout the year. By following certain procedures, this objective can easily be achieved. The perennial plants should be located on one side of the garden, usually on the rear end of the garden so that they may not shade other crops, compete for nutrition with the other vegetable crops. The adjacent to the foot path all around the garden and the central foot path may be utilised for growing different short duration green vegetables like Coriander, spinach, fenugreek, Alternanthera, Mint and A cropping pattern, which may prove helpful for kitchen garden under Indian conditions (excepting hill stations) is suggested below.

Plot No Name of the vegetable 01. Tomato and onion Radish Beans Bhendi ( okra) 02 Brinjal Beans Tomato Amaranthus Chilli and Radish Cowpea Onion (bellary) Bhendi and Radish Cabbage Cluster beans Bellary Onion Beet root Tomato Onion

Season June - Sep. Oct.-Nov. Dec.-Feb. Mar.-May June - Sep. Oct.-Nov June - Sep. May Jun-Sep. Dec.-Feb. Mar.-May Jun.-Aug. Sep.-Dec. Jan.-Mar. June-Aug. Sep.-Nov. Dec.-Mar. Apr.-May

03.

04.

05.

06. 07.

Cluster beans Brinjal and beet root Bellary onion Carrot Pumpkin (small) Lab lab (bush type) Onion Bhendi Coriander

Jun.-Sep. Oct.-Jan. Jul.-Aug. Sep.-Dec. Jan.-May Jun.-Aug. Sep.-Dec. Jun.-Mar Apr.-May

08.

Perennial plot Drumstick, Banana, Papaya, Tapioca, Curry leaf and Agathi. It may be observed from the above crop arrangements that throughout the year some crop is grown in each plot without break (Succession cropping) and where ever possible two crops (one long duration and the other a short duration one) are grown together in the same plot (companion cropping). Economic benefits of gardening Gardeners feed their families first and then sell, barter or give away surplus garden foods. In certain contexts, however, income generation may become the primary objective of the home garden. In any case, it is counterproductive to impose the nutrition objective to the exclusion of the income generation objective, since in most contexts they are linked and compatible. The potential economic benefits of home gardening, include the following: gardening gives dual benefits of food and income generation; gardens provide fodder for household animals and supplies for other household needs (handicrafts, fuel wood, furniture, baskets, etc.); marketing of garden produce and animals is often the only source of independent income for women.
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