Precision Pays8230;

Learning the technology from the laboratories and land of neighbouring Tamil Nadu,the farmers at Perumatty reaped a bumper harvest of horticrops over the past year.

While Kerala depends on Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to meet about 70 per cent of its vegetable requirements,the state had been a laggard in adopting technology to enhance production.

Perumattys foray into precision farming,in which several other states excelled much before,has,therefore,become an example to follow for farmers elsewhere in the state.

At the peak of the pan-Indian farm sector crisis,Palakkad,known as the rice bowl of Kerala,had been one of the prominent suicide zones in the state. The Service Co-operative Bank had served recovery notices on 2,400 farmers with their outstanding debts running into several lakhs. Although the Central governments debt relief scheme had salvaged them,we wanted to work out a farm-based sustainable model for the villagers, says bank president and senior Janata Dal S leader K Krishnankutty.

Helping the farmers to continue cultivation had been a tough task here considering the fact that the state government had imposed restrictions on digging borewells and using pumpsets above 1.5 horsepower. The ban was not without a reason the region had been identified as an area with alarming rate of ground water depletion.

Krishnankutty,also a prominent farmer of the region,visited the agricultural university in Coimbatore and scientists in Tamil Nadu to learn the latest on farming practices. Being geographically close to Tamil Nadu,Perumattys soil,climate,crops and cultivation practices are similar to those in the neighbouring state.

With the support of agricultural scientists in Tamil Nadu and Kerala Horticulture Mission,Krishnankutty introduced precision farming at Perumatty in 2008 as part of a revival scheme. Under the aegis of the Service Co-operative Bank,a farmers cluster named agro process society was formed to pursue the new method of farming.

To address the deficiencies in a scientific manner,the soil and the water in each plot were tested in laboratories and a healing package of irrigation and fertigation was designed accordingly.

Taking a cue from the fields in Tamil Nadu,a crop-cum-irrigation management system developed by an Israeli firm was used at Perumatty. As the project was presented before the farmers,who had yet to come out of the debt,many resisted out of fear that the system would fail. The society had to nurse them back to the field through consistent confidence building exercises. Out of 100-odd farmers,who attended the seminars and sensitation sessions,only 23 agreed to try their luck, said Krishnankutty,a former member of state assembly.

To instill confidence among the farmers,the agro society constructed a 1,000-sq feet greenhouse for precision farming at a cost of Rs 8 lakh. The service bank disbursed Rs 30 lakh for the first experiment. The farmers had gone only for open house farming,which costs Rs 50,000 per acre.

All the 23 farmers in the cluster recorded a bumper harvest of chilli,brinjal,tomato,banana and capsicum. If the tomato output from an acre,for instance,was only one tonne with traditional farming practice in the region,precision farming in the open house pushed it to 3.5 tonnes.

M Mohanan,a farmer,who cultivates chilli,said his income doubled with the use of the technology. I had made an investment of Rs 40,000 per acre on drip irrigation system. Since the investment on irrigation is only a one-time requirement,I am hopeful to get better returns next time, said Mohanan.

The success encouraged the farmers. Now,140 new hands have registered with the society to take up the high-tech farming. While a greenhouse of 1,000 square feet would require an investment of Rs 8 lakh,the open house precision farming on an acre would cost only Rs 50,000. The Horticulture Mission would give a subsidy of Rs 3.25 lakh for a greenhouse project.

Krishnankutty said although the greenhouse system was costly at the initial stage,cultivation could be possible round the year irrespective of the climatic conditions. Besides,production would be much higher even when compared to the open house precision system. Capsicum grown in the 1,000-sq feet greenhouse had fetched Rs 2.5 lakh in the last six months.

With the help of the climate control system in a greenhouse,water requirement could be brought down by 70 per cent.

As more and more farmers are switching over to precision farming,the fields of Perumatty have become classrooms for progressive farmers and agriculture officials. We are getting visitors from across the state to learn the technology and its implementation in the field, said Krishnankutty.