A progressive woman farmer has taken to natural farming in a big way and shown the way to fellow farmers, who commit suicide or quit agriculture looking for greener pastures elsewhere with “chemical farming” becoming unviable.
The first-generation farmer, Gullapalli Sujatha, has taken to sustainable farming in this dusty village near Kanigiri in her 30-acre farm with a strong determination to produce healthy food free from any chemical residues and market them online to organic food lovers as also through a network of organic food producers.
“I am not using any chemicals right from the stage of seed treatment to harvesting,” she says proudly holding a pair of Ongole cows, which take care of the entire farm's soil organic matter and plant protection preparations. “Cow dung and cow urine are the major ingredients for preparation of natural fertilisers, treatment of seeds before sowing and protecting plants from pest attacks,” explains Ms. Sujatha in a conversation with The Hindu . She produces her own variety of seeds.
Cutting costs
“I am able to avoid the high cost farm inputs incurred by my counterparts who grew crops using chemical fertilisers. While cutting cost on the one hand I am able to market online in the niche markets red gram, green gram, black gram, maize, vegetables and quinoa (brown rice) to fetch premium prices,” adds the farmer, who has sunk a solar-powered borewell to irrigate her land. Gearing up for growing organic pulses and minor millets in a big way during kharif coinciding with Toli Ekadasi falling on July 15, she underscores the need for first restoring the health of the soil destroyed due to repeated use of chemical fertilisers by fellow farmers.
Mulching would go a long way in increasing the population of earthworms, traditionally considered the friends of farmers, to restore soil health. She took to the environment-friendly farming inspired by zero-budget farming advocated by Subhash Palekar from Maharashtra.
Her husband, G. Koteshwara Rao, a Chief Engineer in an Australian shipping company, is the man behind her successful foray into a challenging venture.
