The slow death of soil

Farmers’ ignorance has them using excessive fertilisers

Soil health at risk: The DAP fertiliser being administered to 15-day old cotton crop at Salgupalli in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.

The ignorance of farmers in Adilabad and the neighbouring districts with regard to the use of fertilisers is costing them heavily. The short-term impact is that the production cost goes up while it reduces productivity and in the longer run, the farmers are bound to lose the fertility of the soil if they continue to use fertilisers in large amounts.

Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal districts, which had hitherto constituted undivided Adilabad, are known for growing cotton and soyabean with the former commercial crop being sown in about 3.3 lakh hectares and the latter in nearly one lakh hectare. These crops comparatively require larger quantity of fertilisers, but injudicious use of them could bring losses to farmers.

“In fact this has been one of the main reasons for decreased yield for cotton and soyabean farmers since the last several years,” concurred Addi Ramchander Reddy, a farmer from Jamidi village in Tamsi mandal. “In case of cotton, DAP should be used while sowing the seeds or once after the crop is 10 days old,” said coordinator of the Adilabad District Agriculture Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centre, K. Rajashekhar.

Not many farmers are as savvy in using the fertilisers as those from progressive villages like Jamidi.

There are tribals in the interior areas of Adilabad who have not been told about the judicious use of fertilisers and they invariably depend on their moneylender to guide them. Naitham Nagesh, a Raj Gond Adivasi farmer from Olmadri village in Indervelli mandal, replied in the negative when asked if he knows the consequences of applying DAP to cotton crop which is over 10 day old. “Multiple application of DAP will result in restricted supply of micro nutrients to plants,” the agriculture scientist pointed out.

“This causes stunted growth in plants. Also, complex fertilisers should not be used for top dressing purpose,” he added.

It has been observed that instead of applying one 50-kg bag of DAP and one of the complex fertilisers, costing about ₹1,300 each per acre, farmers use double the dose until the crop grows up. The judicious use of these chemicals, means administering each of the fertiliser types once until the plant grows completely, will save at least ₹2,500 per acre for a farmer.