Bihar potato farmer sets new world record

A farmer from Sohdih village of Bihar’s Nalanda district has set a new world record in potato production through organic farming this year.

The potato farmer, Rakesh Kumar, has harvested 108.8 tonnes of potato per hecrtare and set a new world record in potato production, Nalanda district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said Monday.

Last year, a farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda had set a world record in potato production through organic farming.

“Rakesh Kumar has created a new world record in potato production through organic farming. It was verified by experts, scientists and officials,” Agrawal told IANS over telephone.

He said several officials and agricultural experts were present in the field at harvest time to verify the claim and record it.

According to him, last March, a potato farmer, Nitish Kumar, harvested 72.9 tonnes of potato per hectare and set a world record.

Till then, the world record was 45 tonnes per hectare, held by farmers in the Netherlands.

Earlier, farmers of the village in Nalanda had created a world record by producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare.

Rakesh Kumar, who is also chairman of the Nalanda Organic Vegetable Growers’ Federation, said he used his learning, inquisitiveness and innovation to deploy high density plantation technique, used for enhancing mango, litchi and guava production, for growing the kufri pukhraj variety of potato to lift the old benchmark to an entirely new level.

“The big-sized potato also helped to make a difference,” an upbeat Rakesh said.

District horticulture officer D.N. Mahto said the achievement occurred because of the use of organic methods. “Once again, the organic method of farming proved superior to other methods of farming,” he said. Mahto said the loam soil of the village is suitable for several crops, including potato. “The new record will certainly go a long way in removing doubts about low production associated with organic farming and encourage other farmers to adopt it,” he said.

Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is already the leading potato producing district in Bihar, with farmers growing the crop on over 27,000 hectares.

Bihar is the third-largest potato producing state, after Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Last year, five farmers here created a world record, producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare.

The state government has decided to promote organic farming in at least one village in each of the state’s 37 districts. It launched an “organic farming promotion program” over a year ago, intended to develop organic ‘grams’ (villages).

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar’s economy, employing 81 percent of its workforce and generating nearly 42 percent of the state’s domestic product, according to the state government.

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A panacea for farmers of water-starved Tirunelveli

Farmers of Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district have turned away from using chemical fertilizers to get good yield despite acute water shortage, monsoon failure and power cuts prevailing in the State.

Though Tirunelveli is known for its temples and halwa, about 45 km south of this bustling town is a clutch of villages, predominantly agriculture-based depending on monsoon, quietly carrying on farming activities, growing chillies, paddy, small onions and vegetables.

There are no government bus services, schools or health centres in many of these villages. For any medical emergency the villagers need to travel nearly 20 km to the neighbouring Thisayanvilai town.

Until a few years ago, many farmers in this drought-prone region sold off their lands or left them barren. Today, however, many villages here are successfully using their own inputs — Panchagavya, an organic manure — and reaping good yield.

“This year many areas in the State dependant on reservoirs for irrigation could not grow crops due to acute water shortage. Areas irrigated by wells face two problems. Many of these wells depend on rain for re-charging and several of them have dried up due to poor rainfall. Adding to this woe is the power cut. Due to power shortage even if there is water in the wells farmers cannot pump the water out. Despite these problems, our farmers have been able to raise good crops of groundnut, vegetables and paddy,” says J.H.S. Ponnaya, the 80-year-old head of the NGO Sands (Suviseshapuram and Neighbouring Development Organisation) at Suvaseshapuram in Tirunelveli.

“The reason is that all of them are consistently using Panchagavya for their crops. Panchagavya can be easily prepared by the farmer. Cow dung and urine are the main inputs required for this. We have trained hundreds of farmers in this area over the last several years in making it for their own use,” he said.

Mariapitchai, a small farmer in Vijayaachambadu village, says that he has been able to harvest his paddy crop 10-15 days ahead of the usual time of 5 months. The paddy is healthy and there are no symptoms of drying or scotched appearance due to high heat. He harvested nearly 3,000 kg from his 2.5 acres.

Those growing groundnut and vegetables in Kazhuvoor, Eranthai, Vijayanarayanam, Nanguneri, Perunkannankulam and Vadivammanpatti villages also profess their faith in Panchagavya.

They spray Panchagavya once in 15-22 days and also on empty fields to prevent it from cracking or becoming hard.

“Our country’s agriculture is going through a critical phase today owing to monsoon failure in different parts. The government should realise the efficiency of Panchagavya and start encouraging farmers in the State to use it and reap the benefit,” he says.

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