The high profit between Rs.75,000 to Rs.1.5 lakh annually from one acre of cultivation of plantain, chilli, tomato, cucumber, brinjal and capsicum has lured large number of farmers to switch over to high-tech precision agriculture or farming in the State particularly in Chittur taluk of the District.
Now nearly 1000 farmers have taken up precision agriculture in the State and 700 of them are in Palakkad district.
In Chittur 10 Kudumbasree units had taken up precision agriculture.
Perumatty and Pattancherry Grama Panchayats have submitted Rs.1.75 crore projects under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for this novel scheme.
Objective
The objective of precision agriculture is the optimization of input use to facilitate maximum output helping to save valuable resources like water and energy.
It helps reduction of manpower thus bringing down cost of production.
It applied the right amount of input in the right place and at right time benefitting crops, soil and ground water and the entire crop cycle.
It is a modern method of farming that takes adequate care of technology upgradation and marketing support to farmers.
K. Krishnankutty, President, Perumatty Service Co-operative Bank, pioneers in precision agriculture in Chittur said that they had learned about the project from Tamilnadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore who trained the farmers in Chittur.
They implemented the project successfully in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts
of Tamilnadu where thousands of farmers have taken up precision agriculture since 2004, he said.
Another precision agriculturist M. Mohanan of Pamkulambu Kalam of Chittur told `The Hindu’ here on Thursday that he is doing plantain cultivation of (G-9 Israel variety) in two acres of land for the last three years.
He completed the third harvest during this season and planning to replant the area with plantain.
Mr. Mohanan said that one bunch of plantain weighed 30 to 35 kgs and there were 2000 saplings.
“I received a net profit of Rs.75,000 annually from plantain cultivation where as from one acre of paddy cultivation I got just Rs.20,000. Chilli cultivation is more profitable. From one acre cultivation of hybrid Zera variety last year I received a profit of Rs.1 lakh. I sold chilly at Rs.15 per kgs. but the shops sold it at Rs.40 per kg”, he said.
“For trip irrigation facility for precision agriculture the Kerala Horticulture Mission gives 90 per cent subsidy. Thus I switched over to the more profitable precision agriculture,” Mr. Mohan said.
Thus the high-tech farming started four year’s back in the District is getting popular with Kudumasree units and Grama Panchayats from different parts of State showing interest to take up cultivation, particularly vegetables, due to its high productivity and good profit.
Nearly 1000 farmers have registered with Kerala Fruits and Vegetable Promotion Council and other agencies in Chittur taluk alone to take up vegetable cultivation starting in July-August season.
Some farmers in Kollam and Alappuzha districts have also taken up precision farming. Farmers’ clusters are formed to take up vegetable cultivation in large scale for selling it within the State and also for exporting, said Kerala Horticulture Mission officials.
Keywords: high-tech precision farming, high profit, agricultural sector, Kerala, precision agriculture
It's very nice to hear & read the article of the profit lures in Kerala agriculture.
There is acute shortage of fresh vegetables in the cities. Government Agencies should come forward to promote precision farming in nearby districts. This will also check the prices of vegetables if available in abundance. Any one at Vizag please look into it. Quality vegetables at affordable rates are not available at Vizag
It makes interesting reading but a bit more elaboration would have been helped. As most newspapers have become a product for the urbanites the editors do have constraints. Sill I think more needs to have been written on the subject.
How can the editors pass this article. The reporter has used the terms 'Inputs' and 'Outputs' liberally. Did he even care to find what the farmer did was different from the rest. 'Use of modern technology' is another word used without elaborating on what kind of technology.
It is great that farmers are using drip irrigation under precision agricultural farming. In addition to drip irrigation,they should also use fertigators which could be hooked to drip irrigation system. This will minimize use of fertilizer, reduce wastage and seeping into the ground water, and make available to the plants on time and need.
This news makes me so happy that as an agricultural scientist I got goose bumps. Congratulations to both farmers and agriculture officers on achieving this. Framers should use drip irrigation and use fertilizers efficiently. subsidies on fertilizers does not mean use it indiscriminately as it is happening in India now leaching over 40 percent of the fertilizers into the water table and contaminating rivers and other water bodies including water table with nitrates. use of drip irrigation prevents evaporation of water from soils which can be upto 8mls equivalent of rain per day. Governments should only give subsidies water and fertilizers for farmers who invest in drip irrigation and this will lead to more farmers taking precision agriculture without wasting tax payers money and resources. this will also reduce farm inputs leading to better production exports and domestic market prices. farmers who use minimal fertilizers also increase organic matter in the soil and allow better cycling of carbon and nitrogen which increases production and improves soil health and allows earth worms to thrive. Presence of earth worm is the indicator of good soil health. Presence of frogs is indication of good water health. Presence of sparrows is indication of good air health. Use water and fertilizers wisely to reduce debt and increase money in hand
Pricision agriculture is more favourable now a days because in this time ground water table is deteriote and also much more quantity of input of feritilizer is given and also much quantity of pesticides,insecticides is wastage therefore in precision agriculture efficient fertilizer is used.At right time and right place and also appropriate amount.Therefore farmers adopt this new techquniue.
It is welcome news that more and more farmers are taking to vegetable farming by using precision agriculture, which has the goal of optimization of input use to facilitate maximum output, helping to save valuable resources like water and energy, in other words increasing productivity. It is only such innovative methods that can bring into the market larger quantities of vegetables and consequently bring down the prices. The demand for fresh vegetables is high and will continue to be high always. It must be the objective of the farmers and the health authorities to increase the per-capita consumption of vegetables among the vegetarian Indians, especially in the Southern states of India. Currently, the prices are too high, keeping fresh vegetables out of reach for many low income group people. The Food and Health authorities should take steps to improve the logistics of production, storage and distribution while encouraging and supporting the use of precision agriculture. High-end retail chains could contribute in the logistics.
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