Healing the Land

When sugarcane growing can be a sweet experience
Chemical pesticides and fertilizers have always been considered manna from heaven for Indian farmers, specially after the second green revolution. Farmers believe that by applying potash and urea to the soil their crop can be made to yield more.
But a vast majority of them have failed to realize that excessive application of these chemicals over the years has poisoned the land, water and the environment.
More than 75 per cent of the food crops grown today have toxic residues of chemicals used for growing them and they are hazardous for human health, according to Mr R Ranganathan, President of the Organic Farmers’ Association in Chennai.
Ranghanathan, an organic farmer himself, is growing sugarcane in his 8-acre farm in Mayiladuthurai taluka, in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu.
Use of organic methods for crop cultivation is no rocket science, according to him. “These traditional methods were used for decades, but forgotten along the way and now have been rediscovered as affordable and safe alternatives,” he explains.
He is expecting to harvest about 40-50 tonnes of sugarcane per acre, compared to farmers—who use chemicals—in the area who harvest about 30-40 tonnes.
His farm is a model for other aspirants and he is also teaching other farmers the benefits of use of various plant extracts such as neem, castor, custard apple, cow’s urine, dung and curd to make insect repellants and vermiwash.
Detailing his cultivation technique, Ranganathan says, “The field is ploughed well into furrows by applying about 1,000 tonnes of vermicompost for 8 acres.”
The sugarcane sets were planted on the furrows horizontally at a spacing of about 4x4 feet between them.
In addition to vermicompost, several earthworms were also released into the field.
Irrigation was done twice every week initially after planting and later continued once every 15 days. About 20 litres of diluted panchakavya was also sprayed twice over the crop.
The first spray was done 15 days after planting the sets in the main field and the second in the third month.
Dethrashing of the dried leaves and removal of weeds, which are usual practices in crop cultivation, were not done.
‘The dried leaves and weeds were also allowed to grow, as they are also a part of the ecosystem,’ he explained.
Once a month the dried leaves were pulled manually and left to rot in the field, as they are a good source of manure to the plants. The duration of the crop is about one year and Ranganathan is expecting four rations from his crop. Like other sugarcane growers, he is not selling his produce to the local cooperative sugar mills.
The recent price hike announced by the government meant nothing. A farmer gets about Rs 1,200 a tonne of sugarcane, but is not paid for the byproducts, ethanol or molasses.
He has now joined other farmers and has planned the manufacture of moulded jaggery from the harvested sugarcane.
Moulded organic jaggery gets a good price specially during festive seasons and also creates employment opportunities for those traditionally skilled people who produce it.
He plans to sell the moulded jaggery through several organic product outlets established by his association across the country.
The organic farmers’ association has about 10,000 farmers as its members across the country.
It has around 200 outlets all over the country under the brand name ‘Poison-free Food’ through which the farmers market their produce.
For more information, contact: Ranganathan, No 16, Vanigar Street, Thirupporur, Tamil Nadu. Tel: 044-2744 6369. Cell: 94433 46369.
—XO bureau