SUCCESS STORY(REPUBLISHED)

BUMPER HARVESTS THANKS TO FARMERS FIELD SCHOOLS

HIGHEST YIELDS OBTAINED DURING KHARIF 2007, IN VIZIANAGARAM DISTRICT of ANDHRA PRADESH without using pesticides- LOW NITROGEN APPLICATION AND CONSERVATION OF ATURAL ENEMIES - THE REASONS behind the success- farmer’s fields schools ( POLAMBADI PROGRAMMES) helped alot.

RICE – NORMAL YIELD - 1848 kg/ha.
AVERAGE YIELD during kharif 2007 - 3700 kg/ha.

B.A. Srinivas, farmer of cheepuruvalasa village of kothavalasa mandal is very happy. He said that he got the highest yield, when compared to the past 5 years. The speciality is that he had not invested a single rupee on plant protection measures. He admits boldly that once he was the highest user of pesticides in his village and used to spend thousands of rupees until he undergone Polambadi training. He was imparted training on integrated crop management techniques(ICM) in the farmers field school (polambadi) conducted by the mandal agricultural officer , in their village in the previous year.
The seasonal conditions, during kharif 2007 are very favorable for crop production and the farmers of vizianagaram district reaped bumper harvests of paddy crop. Thanks to natural enemies, which played a major role.
Problems in paddy cultivation in Vizianagaram district:
Small and scattered holdings, cultivation under small tanks, lack of supplemental irrigation facilities, erratic and deficit rain fall, late onset of monsoon, prolonged dry spells, and light textured soils low in organic carbon and nutrient contents, pose serious problems on the productivity front, by which the paddy cultivation often lands in troubles.
Rain fed cultivation often leads to delayed sowings, delayed transplantations with over aged seedlings, due to which application of excess ‘N’ by distressed farmers is a common phenomenon observed in the area. This situation causes severe pest attacks, leading to indiscriminate use of pesticides which ultimately leads to rise in cost of cultivation. Pesticides like Monocrotophos, Chlorpyrephos and Methyl parathion dust which are highly hazardous, are generally used on paddy crop. Insect pests like leaf folder, stem borer, brown plant hopper and diseases like blast and sheath blight are commonly seen in the area.


IMPACT OF FARMERS FIELD SCHOOLS:
Farmers field schools have been conducted in all major villages up to 2007 . The programme succeeded in mobilizing farmers towards integrated crop management techniques and also resulted reduction in cost of cultivation and crop losses due to pests and diseases.
Sri L.Adinarayana Murty, another farmer from Vasadi village says Polambadi ( FFS-Rice ) programme implemented in their village brought dramatic changes in their cultivation practices. “Farmers now know what to do and what not to do . They discuss in groups and take decisions. They are now observing the plants closely for the presence of natural enemies to post pone or even skip pesticide sprayings”. He says he can recognize many natural enemies like spiders, dragonflies, grillids, mirid bugs, long horned grass hoppers, lady bird beetles etc.
Farmers now learnt that application of excess quantities of urea make the leaves more palatable and attracts pest populations. So they reduced the application of urea. As a result ,the leaf folder pest which develops mainly at places where urea application is high, could not find its entry in the fields.

NATURAL ECOLOGICAL BALANCE MAINTAINED:
More over, as the farmers have been continuously educated on the adverse effects of pesticides on beneficial insects through farmers field schools by Agricultural Department , many of them have not resorted to application of pesticides. This situation helped beneficial insects to develop in fields.
Leaf folder pest which has caused havoc for the last 5 years was not at all seen during 2007.
Though BPH and Jassid infestation started during early September, it only helped in availability of sufficient food for their natural enemies and never crossed economic injury levels due to which beneficial insects developed in sufficient numbers in paddy fields. The pests which occurred in epidemic level during 2005 (i.e. Leaf folder) and 2006 (BPH and Jassids) could not find their place during 2007.

PESTICIDE CONSUMPTION ON PADDY REDUCED BY 75%:

It is interesting to note that there is a drastic reduction in consumption of pesticides as per the information from pesticide dealers.
Mr. Subrahmanyam, a pesticide dealer in Vizianagaram said that he lost more than 50% of his business .He also said that his seasonal selling of neem cake increased from 50 M.T.s and went upto 150 M.Ts this year. He also opined that this is certainly the impact of farmers field schools conducted in the district. FFSs have been conducted for the past 3 years in the district . All the FFSs may not be able to make all villages pesticide free. But they certainly help to induce thinking in the minds of thousands of farmers against pesticides. The message of farmer field schools now believed to have been reached to thousands of farmers.

·In vizianagaram district Pesticide consumption during 2007 up to October, 07 is only
4.01 M.Ts. of active ingredient while the consumption during the
Previous year 2006, up to October,06 is 16.0 M.Ts.
· Farmers field schools and Campaigns against pesticides by Agricultural department worked.

It is a fact that more than 70% of the farmers have not sprayed pesticides, which resulted in non elimination of beneficial insects from the fields and their populations increased enormously which could easily suppress pest populations. For example, the populations of Mirid bug, a natural enemy of BPH, have never been observed in previous years at these levels at light traps and street lights near the fields. Only Jassids and BPH were seen along with 1-2% Mirid bugs, then.
(In fact, last year I had to wait days together to catch a Miridbug’s image in my camera. But during current year, hundreds and even thousands of them are found at lights during night time - author)
All these conditions have helped in rising of paddy yields. Now the farmers are very happy as they got higher yields with reduced cost of cultivation.
COST OF CULTIVATION REDUCED-Rs. 7.0 CRORES SAVED:
It is estimated that in general, 60% of the paddy area is sprayed at least twice in a season with harmful chemicals which cost about Rs. 2000/- per hectare. Consequently, an amount of Rs. 10 t0 12 Crores is spent every year on plant protection measures. As 75% of the farmers avoided pesticides, the amount spent on PP measures has not exceeded even Rs. 3.0 crores in the district, thus saving an amount of more than Rs.7.0 crores.

FFS- ENLIGHTENING THE MINDS OF FARMERS:
Impact of FFS is clearly seen in Vizianagaram district. Farmers realized that excess application of Nitrogenous fertilizers (Especially UREA) is the root cause of many pest and disease problems and pesticides are not at all a solution for managing pests.
Organic matter content of the soil plays an important role in healthy crop growth. However, we need not apply hundreds of tonnes of organic manures to compensate the chemical fertilizers. Growing green manure crop and in situ incorporation is the most important factor contributing to higher yields.
Timely sowings can help in good growth and minimize pest complex.
By protecting and conserving natural enemies (beneficial insects) we can easily tackle the pest problems without using hazardous pesticides.
It is once again proved that “Natural enemies” are capable of growing into sufficient numbers to completely suppress /eliminate the pest populations.
Farmers field schools in Vizianagaram district succeeded in spreading this message.

G.V.VIJAYA KUMAR, M. Sc (Ag)
Agricultural Officer,
OFFICE OF THE JOINT DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE, VIZIANAGARAM
ANDHRA PRADESH, - INDIA