“If one goes through the agricultural production history in the last six decades, the number of farmers opting out of agriculture, suicides of hundreds of farmers in the past 10 years, and shrinking cultivation lands are ample proof that our agriculture policy is totally wrong,” says Mr. R. Kulandaisamy a progressive farmer and liquid bio-fertilizer producer called Tari Biotech in Thanjavur.
“Though policy makers and certain sections of the scientific fraternity say that yields are increasing and farmers prospering, a visit to any nearby village proves that many of these claims are far from true,” he adds.
The bio-fertilizer unit, set up at a cost of nearly rupees one crore produces nearly 30,000 litres of liquid bio-fertilizers a month, and the farmer claims it to be “the production unit of its first of its kind in Tamil Nadu.”
Insoluble form
Normally, plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium — commonly referred to as N, P, K — for their good growth.
All the three are available in the soil and atmosphere in an insoluble form that cannot be absorbed by plants directly.
Micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses in the soil convert these three nutrients into soluble forms, for easy absorption by the crops.
The farmers argue that mindless and excess application of chemical fertilizers, during the green revolution, destroyed many of these beneficial micro-organisms and yields started decreasing slowly or became static even after more application of fertilizers.
Beneficial organisms
Due to excess chemical application these beneficial organisms get destroyed due to the non-availability of food (organic matter).
“Another important fact is that use of fertilizers resulted in accumulation of chemical residues in the harvested food leading to health problems in humans. Farmers must realise the danger in using excessive chemicals that spoil both their land and health, and should try to multiply the beneficial micro-organisms in the soil again by using natural methods and bio-liquid formulations in their practice," says Mr. R. Kulandaisamy.
He explains:
“The bio-formulations produced at our unit can be used for nearly two years, compared to the local vermi-compost (solid bio-fertilizers) and other ingeniously manufactured bio inputs that possess a shelf life of only six months.”
"Our formulations are tolerant to UV rays and can stand high temperature fluctuations (50 degrees celsius). The application of one ml of our product is equivalent to 100 grams of solid bio-fertilizers from the date of manufacture (about 100 times),” he explains.
Basal manure
The liquid bio-fertilizers are easy to apply using a hand or power sprayer and through fertigation tanks and as basal manure mixed along with farm yard manure.
Separate rooms for culturing and inoculations make sure that there is zero per cent contamination in our products, benefiting farmers.
There are several formulations available for different crops being produced in the unit and priced between Rs.600-900 a litre.
Organic nursery
In addition to the production plant, the farmer also maintains an organic nursery approved by the Government for cashew, vanilla, citrus, guava, sapota, amla (gooseberry), banana, and mango saplings, apart from medicinal and ornamental plants. The nursery supplies close to 12 lakh plantings annually and is home to nearly 50 mango varieties.
The State government's Industries and Commerce Department conferred the Best Entrepreneur Award on the farmer recently.
For more details readers can contact Mr. R. Kulandaisamy at email:tari_hitech@yahoo.com, mobile: 98430-59117 and 98434-39909.
