Components of organic farm & manure application

Components of organic farm & manure application

1. Components of organic farm & manure application Sankrita Gaonkar Assistant Professor in Botany [email protected]

2. Contents Components of organic farm Manure application References

3. Components of organic farm 1) Organic manure: A) Bulky organic manure: Farm yard manure - well decomposed mixture of dung (like cattle/cow dung), urine, farm litter & left over materials from fodder fed to the cattle/animals. Compost – Large quantities of waste material are available as vegetable, farm litter. This may include weeds, sugarcane trash, this excreta can be converted into useful compost manures. Vermicompost: Vermicompost is produced by earthworms by eating biomass and excreting it in digested form. Vermicompost is one of best organic manure which is very much essential to provide nutrients to crop in organic agriculture

4. 3. Green Manuring: It is a practice of ploughing or turning green plant tissues into the soil to improve physical structure as well as soil fertility. Supplies organic matter as well as additional nitrogen. The most commonly used green manuring crops are; Cowpea, Cluster bean. B) Concentrated Organic Manure: Materials that are organic in nature and contain higher % of essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen ‘N’, phosphorous ‘P’ and potash ‘K’. Made from raw materials obtained from animal or plants. E.g., fishmeal, oil-cakes, blood meal, meat meal and hoof meal.

5. 2) Crop rotation Growing different types of crops in a regular sequence on the same field covering a period of 2 years or more. Important for soil fertility, weed control , insect pests and disease control. Legume crops are essential in any rotation 3) Bio-pesticide Are natural plant products that belong to alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolics. Their biological activity is beneficial against insects, nematodes, fungi and other organisms. Among the botanical pesticides Neem is best. All parts of Neem tree possess insecticidal property but seed kernel is most active. Commonly used botanical Insecticides are Nicotine, Rotenone, Pyrethrum.

6. 4) Bio-fertilizers living microbes. Microorganism’s culture capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen when suitable crops are grown with them. Nitrogen fixation – Rhizobium, BGA, Azolla, Azotobacter Mycorrhizae – enhanced nutrient uptake 5) Weed management Organic farmers cannot use herbicides or weedicides to control or prevent the weeds Other ways of weed management - such as mulching; tillage may be used to control weeds Cover crops can be cultivated to suppress weeds and increased soil fertility. Drip irrigation is another best method of controlling weeds in the crop as it can restrict the water distribution to only main plants.

7. Manure application Broadcast  - spreading fertilizer uniformly all over the field. Broadcasting can be used for the application of solid, slurry and liquid manure. Application techniques include box spreaders, tank wagons, and irrigation systems. Broadcasting requires the least amount of energy and time, and results in a uniform application pattern. Weed growth Band spread  - Band spreading is the placement of fertilizer in a concentrated layer or location (band) in the soil, commonly 8-15 cm below the surface. Fertilizer bands can be placed with the seed, below the seed, or both. Placing manure on the soil surface where it is exposed to sun and air may also reduce pathogens.

8. Injection of manure  - Injection methods are beneficial as they place liquid manure below the soil surface, It also reduces odour . Injection equipment can be added to liquid and slurry spreaders. The following types of injection can be distinguished: shallow injection : the application of liquid manure by placement in shallow, vertical slots, typically about 50mm deep and 25-30 cm apart, cut into the soil by a tine or disc; they are more commonly used on grassland deep injection : the application of slurry or liquid manure by placement in deep, vertical slots, typically about 150mm deep, cut into the soil by specially designed tines; the tines are fitted with lateral wings which aid the dispersion in the soil; typically these are used on arable land as they have an increased risk of physically damaging the grass swards

9. References https://www.agri-bsc.kkwagh.edu.in/uploads/department_course/organic_farming.pdf https://eos.com/blog/organic-farming/ https://www.farmerjunction.com/components-of-organic-farming/ https://www.hcms.org.in/images/kisan-gyan/2_Components%20of%20Organic%20Farming.pdf