Kozhikode: The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi, is encouraging enriched organic manure application in the vegetable fields in the district in support of the State government’s Haritha Keralam project.
In an awareness programme on organic vegetable cultivation organised on Monday on the occasion of World Soil Day, deputy director of Dairy Development M. Shobhana noted that organic vegetable production, though healthy and eco-friendly, was costly and also had marketing issues. Enrichment of farmyard manure and other organic inputs like adding pseudomonas, trichoderma and bio-fertilizers are the latest solutions identified to this problem.
To popularise this technique the Krishi Vigyan Kendra organised programmes on production and application of enriched organic manure for vegetables, ornamentals, spices and perennial and their suitable varieties. P. Raji, Associate Professor at Kerala Agricultural University, Pattambi, organised a special training session on ‘Enrichment of soil and vermin-compost by using bio-control agents’ while Pradeep Kumar T, Professor at Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, spoke on ‘Good agricultural practices and organic vegetable cultivation’.
Earlier, Chakkittapara grama panchayat president Sheeja Sasi inaugurated the programme. She stressed on the efforts made by the government to make agriculture a profitable venture and its implementation at panchayat level. KVK Programme Coordinator P. Ratha Krishnan presided over the programme.
There were also lectures on ‘Vegetable and spices cultivation’ by P.S. Manoj, ‘Eco-friendly bio-control measures and organic inputs in agriculture’ by K.K. Aiswarya, ‘Importance of soil health’ by M.S. Mariya Dainy and awareness class on rabi cultivation and Prime Minister’s Fasal Bhima Yojna (PMFBY) by P. Ratha Krishnan.
Soil health cards
Perambra block panchayat president Sathi A.C. distributed soil health cards and seedlings of cabbage and cauliflower to farmers. The soil health cards were distributed after analysing the nutrient content of soils collected from farmers’ field. It contains present nutrient status and recommendations for nutrient management in the said field. The farmers were also given a kit containing manual on vegetable gardening. The purpose is to demonstrate the impact of enriched organic manure application to around 200 farmers, who took part in the training programme.
