This grape story could ring in a revolution

K. SRINIVAS REDDY

The Hindu

Chinthala Venkat Reddy at his grape garden in Ranga Reddy district. Photo: K. Srinivas Reddy

If you have sun-dried soil, you could usher in a revolution. A grape farmer’s innovation in Ranga Reddy promises a bumper crop, sans fertiliser, pesticide and all

Can dried soil replace fertilisers and pesticides?

If the results of a novel Soil Management (SM) technique — developed by a farmer from Ranga Reddy district — are any indication, the crop yield would go up at least by half, drastically reducing the farm input cost component, even while preserving the soil eco system.

Agricultural scientists have been visiting a grape garden on the city outskirts, where the SM technique is employed by a Chinthala Venkat Reddy, a progressive farmer, leading to a phenomenal increase in yield.

Top-notch

The grapes harvested in this garden are the sweetest and the best in quality in terms of crispiness of the fruit and berry size, vouchsafe scientists of the Dr. YSR Horticultural University and the Krishi Vignan Kendra of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

The technique developed by Mr. Venkat Reddy is rather simple. The sub-soil from a paddy field is scooped up using hydraulic earth movers and dried in open air during summer. This dried soil is sprinkled at the stem of the plant periodically.

“Each plant needs specific nutrients. For example, the soil nutrients needed by paddy and grape are different. When you scoop soil from a paddy field, the soil will have plenty of nutrients needed by grape plant. When the plant gets the nutrients it needs, it grows healthily without fertiliser support”, he explains.

Phenomenal yield

With this technique, Mr. Venkat Reddy (Phone: 986-688-3336) has been able to get a yield of 30-32 tonnes of grape per acre, while his counterparts in other gardens, who make use of pesticides, fertilisers and organic manure, get a yield between 20 and 25 tonnes.

“Going by the healthy plants in the garden and the grape fruits yet to be harvested, the yield could touch 40 tonnes per acre this year. It’s nothing short of a miracle,” exclaims G. Satyanarayana, Joint Secretary of ICAR’s Krishi Vignan Kendra, Gaddipalli, Nalgonda.

Dr. Satyanarayana, who has been visiting the farm, says the technique is a boon for the farming community as it is not an experiment done in a one-acre farm. There has been consistency in grape yield over the years.

Impressed by innovation and consistent high-yields at lowest cost, the centre is getting ready to do a systematic analysis of the SM technique by agricultural scientists under the Rashtriya Krishi Vignan Yojana (RKVY) Scheme, informs. B. Srinivas Rao, Principal Scientist at the Grape Research Station in Rajendranagar, Hyderabad.

Mr. Venkat Reddy claims to have tried out the technique in growing paddy and wheat too, yielding good results in the process. Encouraged by the consistency, he has also applied for a national patent for the technique. The claim has been published by the Indian Patent Office in June 2012.

Plant Water Filtration Experiment

The plant water filtration experiment involves using plants to filter impurities from water. The experiment typically involves setting up a system where contaminated water is passed through a layer of gravel or sand, and then through the roots and leaves of a plant such as a reed or water hyacinth. 

The plant absorbs nutrients and other contaminants from the water, effectively filtering it. The resulting water is cleaner and can be used for irrigation or other purposes. 

This experiment is often used to demonstrate the natural filtration capabilities of plants and the importance of preserving wetland ecosystems.

See how water passing through only sand or with gravel is eroding the soil with it. however water from plant is very clean 

The six soil types

Loamy soil - often seen as the ultimate garden soil because most plants will grow in it, this is brown and crumbly in texture and similar to that found on well-worked allotments. It's rarely waterlogged in winter or dry in summer and supports a wide range of plants. Loamy soil is light and easy to dig and is naturally high in nutrients

Chalky soil - typical of south-east England, chalky soil is very shallow, full of clumps of white chalk or flint and is very free-draining. This means it can be bone dry in summer and plants will need far more watering and feeding than on any other soil. Chalky soils are always alkaline, which restricts the number of plants that can grow on them. Planting may also be difficult as spades frequently hit lumps of hard chalk or flint

Clay soil - this is sticky to handle and can be easily rolled into a ball shape. It is naturally high in nutrients so plants that like these conditions should do particularly well. It does pose some problems. In summer, it is often baked dry, with visible surface cracks, making it difficult to get water to plant roots. Yet in winter, it can be constantly wet and waterlogging is common. It is hard to dig at most times of the year

Silty soil - is made up of fine grains, originally deposited by a river. The tiny particles give it a silky feel if rubbed between the fingers. It does not form distinct shapes like clay when wet, but it can be rolled into sausage-like strips. Silty soils can be badly drained but are not prone to waterlogging.

Peaty soil - the fens of eastern England are very peaty and are some of the country's best farmland. Plants grow happily in it, as long as they can adjust to the relatively acid conditions. Almost black to look at, easy to dig over and spongy to the touch, peaty soil can be soaking in winter and dry during most of the summer.

Sandy soil - feels rough and gritty when handled and will not form distinct shapes like clay. It usually has a sandy brown colour and is easy to dig over. Water-logging is rare on such soils as they are very free-draining and, accordingly, watering and feeding of plants is needed on a regular basis. It is quick to warm up in the spring, so sowing and planting can be done earlier in the year than with clay or silty soil.

Building soil with cover crops great way to wrap up fall garden

Cover crops like clover can be used in small-scale gardening to enrich your soil once your summer crops have been harvested.

• Start now, and your cover crop should be the right size before freeze-up

By Carey Restino

Homer Tribune

My friend recently put in a new garden; a huge, 2,000-square foot expanse of fresh soil in the way only Alaska soil can be fresh — chickweed and nettles springing up between root wads. You can almost hear it screaming for lime as you walk over it.

Since he didn’t have much time this season to do more than throw some manure around, my friend  wondered what he could do to encourage better soil and get a jump on next year’s season. Getting his hands on that much compost was out of the question, as it is for most of us who guard our small pile of hard-won compost for our most needy plants.

Photo provided - Cover crops like clover can be used in small-scale gardening to enrich your soil once your summer crops have been harvested. 

The answer was clear – cover crops. The idea of a cover crop is beautiful. You plant something that would otherwise be a weed — clover, for example, and then turn the plant into the soil before it goes to seed. The plants add wonderful things to the soil, depending on what you choose and act as a green manure of sorts, enriching the land and encouraging all the good activity in your soil that you want for healthy, thriving plants in the coming year.

If you jump on it, a cover crop planted now will germinate and grow to just about the right size before freeze-up.

Cover crops don’t take a lot of work to plant. Throw some seed around, rake it in if you need to protect the seed from birds, and if your soil is really dry, water. When the plants get to the flowering stage, but before they set seed, mow them and till them in or turn them over right into the soil so the green plants decompose into your garden, enriching the soil, and in the case of some cover crops, fixing nitrogen levels.

While a large garden created in the fall is a perfect opportunity for a cover crop, you can also weave them into your succession plantings in your garden once you get the hang of it.

After your first plot of lettuce is harvested, planting a block of field peas and oats can reinvigorate the soil. Some people have even experimented with planting cover crops underneath other plants, such as corn, though the danger of increasing moisture content in our easy-to-mold area is a concern.

While a few cover crops, such as clover, are available locally, a much wider selection is available online. Armed with a soil test to tell you what your soil needs are, you can select from a wide variety.

Rye is a good contender for our cool falls, but must be carefully watched to make sure it doesn’t go to seed, or you will be pulling it out of your carrot patch for years to come. You can sow it in early fall and it will germinate, be dormant through the winter and begin growing again in the spring, according to my readings. Field peas and oats fix nitrogen and add to your soil’s loam.

Clover fixes nitrogen and helps build rich soils and germinates quickly. Others include sorghum-sungrass and buckwheat. Johnny’s Selected Seeds as well as other seed companies have a complete list of cover crops available and lots of information on the soil-enriching properties of each.

Cover crops can also serve to loosen compacted soil, especially if you have a new garden like my friend’s, which was recently run over by large machinery. Since the ground will be covered, weeds will be suppressed by your cover crop and once the crop is turned into your soil, it will increase the amount of organic matter in your ground. Cover crops also raise the pH of acidic soil — pretty much a given in this state.

Since temperatures are starting to drop — one friend reported a frost up on Skyline last week, sending his cyber-world friends into a tizzy — it might be a good idea to lay some plastic over the ground where you are seeding a cover crop to warm the soil and speed germination. Take it off once the crop has sprouted.

Another word to the wise: consider using a gentle method to turn your cover crop over rather than renting the biggest tiller you can buy and going for it. With new soil, every worm is precious and using a broadfork or other means for turning over your soil is highly recommended if possible. While it’s very satisfying to see the cleanly tilled soil, everyone who has dug into a pile of compost knows that lightly disturbed soil is happiest.

It’s not a bad idea to vary your cover crops from season to season, experimenting with different ones to see what works best and adding variety to your soil.