Their finger on the pulse,they take to inter-cropping

Growing moong with sugarcane and mango orchard has turned out to be a successful cropping pattern in summer for Bihars Samastipur farmers....

Dalsinghsarai,Rosera and Bhibhutipur in Samastipur have been known for their rich moong harvested around this time of the year,but the new buzzword in these areas now is inter-cropping of the pulse with sugarcane and mango orchard.

The district,adjacent to the famous low-lying vast tract taal by the Ganga in Mokama that is flooded during kharif season but is very fertile for pulses,has been successfully doing inter-cropping for the past five years.

It started with the National Horticulture Board NHB giving its go-ahead to around 50 large-scale inter-cropping proposals and over 150 big and small farmers deciding to do more than just spraying moong seeds on their sprawling fields during rabi season.

Besides,more than 100 small farmers have already been doing inter-cropping with their traditional knowledge,sowing moong seeds in March after wheat is ready for harvest by May-end or first week of June.

Ajay Kumar,of Samartha village under Bibhutipur,said,I had about 18 acres land at one place. Moong used to be a normal rabi crop but I approached the NHB with the inter-cropping idea. They agreed.

Kumar has now deputed two farmers,Vimal Singh and Subhkant Mishra,to look after his fields that has come under the NHB project.

Besides moong,Kumars fields also have over 100 mango trees. If we devote more time and manpower here,we will surely get good yield, he said.

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Vimal Singh said the Bibhutipur block alone would be growing moong in over 1,000 bighas in the coming days.

The normal yield of moong per bigha 40,830 sqft is about 100 kg. According to Bihar Kisan Ayog figures,over 2,000 bighas of land sees moong cultivation in Samastipur alone.

Vijay Kumar,a farmer of Belsandi,said,As we face floods during the kharif season,not much land is available for paddy cultivation. Moong,now intercropped with sugarcane,has become our saviour.

He explained that generally only two rounds of irrigation are needed for moong. Their leaves that get mixed with soil after falling,gives us a natural compost for another crop, said Kumar,busy harvesting moong on his 20 bighas of land.

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Bihar Kisan Ayog chairman U N Verma told The Indian Express: Though it would be difficult to say how much moong Samastipur grows,the state government has so far no concerted plan in place to help farmers.

Verma said the primary objective of the government was to provide tubewells to over one lakh farmers. Once we meet that target in the next one-and-a-half years,we can think of minimum support prices and better availability of seeds, he said.

Moong is grown in two seasons: first during rabi season starting November,and then after kharif season starting March. Moong beans are tropical or sub-tropical crops requiring warm temperatures optimally around 30-35C. and are grown best in loamy soil.