Current practices of Paderu farmers:
|
Activity
|
Practice
|
|
Land preparation
|
2-3 times ploughing
the soil
|
|
Variety
|
Local variety
|
|
Weeding
|
4-5 times depends on
the weeds
|
|
Irrigation
|
Rain fed
|
|
Soil fertility
|
Very low FYM
|
|
Pest and disease
management
|
No
|
|
Crop rotation
|
No
|
|
Harvesting
|
Manually
|
|
Inter crops
|
Piper langa + Maize + Cow
pea +Red gram + castor
|
Solutions for Paderu turmeric farmers:
Furrows and Ridges:
Paderu soils are
shallow and Turmeric plant requires loose soils with considerable depth for
Rhizome development. The land should be thoroughly ploughed (4-6 times) to
bring the soil to a fine tilth. Ridges
and furrows with 45-60cm height and 25-30cms depth. Optimum
spacing for sowing of Turmeric is 20cms between plants. Piper langa can be
planted in the furrows.
Heavy manuring:
Turmeric needs heavy
manuring, light soils requires more manuring than the heavy soils. Following
table suggests the manuring details:
|
S.No
|
Manure
|
Quantity per acre
|
When to apply
|
|
1
|
Goat / cattle
penning
|
Two days and one
night
|
April - May
|
|
2
|
Farm Yard Manure/
Nadep compost
|
15 tons
|
After Ploughing as
basal dressing
|
|
3
|
Neem cake / Castor
cake
|
2.5 Qtls
|
After Ploughing as
basal dressing
|
|
4
|
Neem cake / Castor
cake
|
2.5 qtls
|
40 days after
transplantation
|
|
5
|
Ghanajeevamrutham
|
5 qtls
|
80 days after
transplantation
|
|
6
|
Ghanajeevamrutham
|
5 qtls
|
120 days after
transplantation
|
|
7
|
Drava jeevamrutham
|
100lts
|
With each irrigation
|
Frequent irrigation:
Turmeric requires
frequent irrigation. As Paderu soils are light soils, it requires 20 – 25
irrigation during the crop period. One or two ring wells may dug up to provide
regular irrigation. Drip irrigation will lead to higher yields. Following
stages are critical stages for irrigation:
A. Germination stage
B. Tillering stage
C. Rhaizome initiation
stage
D. Rhizome development
stage
Mulching:
Mulching with green
/dried leaves, live mulch with creepers is essential for germination, check
weed growth and to conserve soil moisture. Mulching with Dhaincha, Sunhemp,
glyricidia are the best leaves for mulching.
Inter crops:
Currently Paderu farmers
are using Piper langa as inter crop in Turmeric. They can include Chillies,
brinjal, Maize and Ragi.
Partial shading:
Turmeric loves partial
shade. As long term strategy Jack fruit /Mango can be promoted in Turmeric
fields. This will help in increasing income and also works as risk mitigation
measure.
Replacement of planting material:
As Paderu farmers
using same planting material for last 20-25 years, it is time to replace the
planting material. They may gradually replace the planting material with planting
material from Seethampeta (Similar conditions).
Crop rotation:
Crop rotation is very
critical for enhancing yield and to conserve soil fertility. Crop rotation may
be done with vegetables.
