Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpa (VKMP)

Introduction:

Organic farming practices promote soil health, reduce chemical pollution, and protect biodiversity. By avoiding expensive chemical pesticides and fertilizers thereby reducing cost of cultivation. It alsocontributes to a healthier ecosystem.Organic farming/Natural farming supports local economies, as it often involves small-scale farmers. It encourages community-based agriculture and reduces dependence on external inputs. Keeping these aspects on view, “Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpa” was to develop organic clusterin Nawagarh panchayat under Angara Block of Ranchi District. The project facilitated systems for easy collection of Cow dung, Cow urine through cemented cow floor with collection pit which helped farmers toprepare different low cost or no cost organic liquid manures, pesticides etc. using cow dung and cow urine.

Objectives:

Area of Operation:

Five villages of Nawagarh Panchayat (Obar, Nawagarh, Barkigorang, Soso and Rangamati) under Angara Block of Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Sl. No Village Total No. of Farmers Total land in the patch (Acre) No. of Patch Cattle
1 Barkigorang 32 51.75 2 96
2 Soso 32 50.65 2 94
3 Obar 32 59.15 2 142
4 Nawagarh 32 42.1  2 188
5 Rangamati 30 55.3 1 126
Total 158 258.95 9 646

Deliverables:

Input Material Distribution:

Targets Achievement
Sl. No Items Quantity per Farmer Total quantity Remarks
 1 Dhaincha seed 2 kg 256 kg Distributed 2kg/128 farmers & sown by everyone.
 2 Subabul seed 100 gm 12.800kg Distributed 100 gm/128 farmers and sown by everyone.
 3 Tephrosia seed 100 gm 12.800kg Distributed 100 gm/128 farmers and sown by everyone.
 4 Bokful plant 7 nos 896 nos Distributed 7plant/128 farmers and planted by everyone.
 5 Neem Plant 2 nos 316 nos Distributed 2plant/158 farmers and planted by everyone.
 6 Karanj Plant 2 nos 316 nos Distributed 2plant/158 farmers (Rangamati-30farmers) and planted by everyone.
 7 Jamun Plant 1 nos 158 nos Distributed 1plant/158 farmers (Rangamati-30farmers) and planted by everyone.
 8 Tamarind plant 1 nos 158 nos Distributed 1plant/158 farmers (Rangamati-30farmers) and planted by everyone.
 9 Perennial Dhaincha plant 4 nos 512 plants Distributed 4plant/128 farmers and planted by everyone.
 10 Cow floor Rs 6000 128 no 150 sqft Cowfloor &Nad Construction done for 128 farmers.
 11 Plastic drum 2 nos 286nos Distributed 2 drum (200 lit+100 Lit)/128farmers in 4 clusters & 2 drum(50lit+35lit) /30 farmer of Rangamati.
 12 Yellow Sticky Trap 7 nos 896 nos Distributed 7 traps/128 farmers and used by everyone.
 13 Azola Plastic Sheet 2.5 meter 320 m Distributed 2.5 meter/128 farmers and used by everyone.

Activities Undertaken:

  1. Training on Organic/Natural Farming: Training of Natural farming provided to all beneficiaries of the scheme.

  2. Construction of Cow Floor: Construction of Cemented cow floor was made for 128 farmers for easy collection of cow urine for making inputs properly.

  3. Use of Dhaincha and Subabul: In kharif, Dhaincha seeds along with Tephrosia and Subabul seed sown in the bunds for green manuring.

  4. Use of Dhaincha in rice for Green mannuring: Dhainchawas used as a green manuring before 40 days of Rice transplantation. Before the flowering stage farmers incorporated them into their field.

  5. Plantation of Native Indigenous Plants: – Native plants such as Neem-2, Karanj-2, Tamarind-1, Jamun-1, Bokful-7 were planted by farmers. Also, Perennial dhaincha plants were planted for seed production.

  6. Making of Organic Bio-Inputs: Farmers are making Liquid fertilizer like Jeevamrit,Sasyagavya ,Panchagavya, Kunapajala continuously.

  7. Seed Treatment & Line Transplantation of Paddy: Farmers treated seed of rice with BeejaSanjibani and 10% cow urine formulation. Transplantation is being done maintaining 15×20 cm. distance.

  8. Use of Azola By farmers: Farmers made a pit for growing Azolla for applying into the paddy field for fixing atmospheric nitrogen and to prevent weeds and water evaporation. Azola helped to increase the yield of rice by 20-30%.

  9. Use of Bird Perches in the field: Farmers installed bird perches in the field which can invite several birds to feed insect larvae in the rice fields.

Construction of Cow Floor

Cemented cow floors were constructed for 128 farmers

Structure of cow floor: Cow floor of 150 square feet or more was constructed along with the structure for cowurine storage and Naad. Size of Cow urine pit may vary based on the number of cow or buffalo, the farmers have. The size of the Naad was kept at 1.5 X 1.5 X 1.5 feet (Length X Height X Depth). One channel was made for easy run off of cow urine to the urine storage.

The objectives of cow and urine storage are 1. To prepare organic manures out of these 2. Organic cultivation of crops 3. Year-round supply of fresh vegetables for households 4. Reduce cost of cultivations etc.

Training & follow-up of Organic/Natural Farming

1st Training: One-day training program was organised to make people aware about the purpose of the project. The training program was organised on 1st June 2023. Swami Bhaveshananda Maharaj (Secretary RKMA), Manoj Kumar Singh, Dr. Avijit Kr. Dutta, Ajit Upadhyay,and all staff of STI Hub were present. Information was given to all farmer regarding plantation of different plants like Bakful, Jamun, Neem, Karanj Tamarind and their uses in organic farming.

Dhaincha, Tephrosia and Subabul seed were also distributed on the same day and also suggested to sow all these as the rain starts. Uses of drum Cow urine and cow dung for organic farming were also taught by Rev. Secretary Maharaj. Training was provided to farmers on Natural farming by Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh about various bio-input preparation technique and their use in Natural farming. He told farmers to use Dashparni, Angiyastra, Neemastra as a natural bio-repellent and Sasyagabya, Panchagaya and Kunapajala as a bio-fertilizer in a daily basis. Also told about the presence of beneficial bacteria such as Azospirilum, Azotobactor, Rhizobium, Pseudomonas, PSB which is necessary in Natural farming practices.

2nd Training: One-day training program has been organised for second time organised on 12th September ,2023 at our training cum demonstration farm, Getalsudto aware the selected farmers on natural farming and development of model organic cluster. Feedback of crops has shared by farmers to the scientists of Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the possible solution has also shared with all farmers.

During the programme Swami Bhaveshananda Maharaj (Secretary RKMA), Manoj Kumar Singh, SMS in Agronomy of KVK, gave the training on different practices of natural farming. Also Mr,Ajit Upadhyay and all staff of STI Hub, RKMVERI, Mukhiya ji of Nawagarh Panchayat BhuneshwarBediya, JilaAdyakshya Rajendra Shahi Munda  were present on the training programme.

Follow-up of Organic Cluster:Follow-up visit was done for overview the organic cluster and On field scenario of villages. During 14th April Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh visited Organic cluster of Soso, Barkigorang , Rangamati and Obar, where he shared his feedback about the chosen cluster area , identified gaps which need to fulfill and motivate some farmers for natural farming activities.

On 17th May Another Followup visit was done on every cluster for farmers activity on Cow floor and Nad construction. On that day Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Dr. Bharat Mahto, Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh visited the Clusters of Nawagarh and provided their suitable feedback to fulfil the gaps.

On 29th June 23, Swami Bhaveshananda Maharaj (Secretary RKMA), Dr Ajeet Kumar Singh, Dr. Avijit Kr. Dutta, Dr Vishal Dhote, Dr Ajeet Kumar Singh & the scientists of Divyayan KVK visited Barkigorang to participate a Rakshabandhan Programme for inauguration of man making road. During that day Sec Maharaj, Dr. Avijit Kr. Dutta, Dr Vishal Dhote, visited the beneficiaries house to see the activities of Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpo. He asked the farmers about their thought regarding the benefits of the VKMP schemes and the practices they are carrying out. He also visited farmer’s field to looking forward to their activities.

Different Activities of Organic Farming Practices

Organic farming practices by using Bio-Inputs:Two Drums was distributed to all beneficiaries of Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpa to making of Liquid fertilizer like Jibamrit ,Sasyagabya , Panchagabya continuously & used in their fields. The drums were capacity of 300 litre (one drum of 200 litre & one drum of 100 litre) which can easily fulfil the needs organic input preparation for farmers of farmers.

Farmers had collected 4-5 litre cow urin on avarage daily based on the number of cow or buffalo which is essential for liquid fertilizers. The farmers are started making Jivamrit,Sanjibani, &Dashparni to use in Rice.

Use of Green Manuring by Dhaincha: Farmers sowed the seeds of Dhaincha as a green manuring before 40 days of Rice transplantation. Before the flowering stage farmers incorporated them into their field. This helped to provide 15-20 Kg organic nitrogen per acre along with maintaining CN ratio,PHvalue and overall soil health. Dhaincha providedorganic nitrogen & all nutrients to the top layer of soil from air & also by the taproots. This helped to reduce weed in rice field by releasing organic acids.

Line sowing cultivation of Paddy:Farmers cultivatedpaddy by natural farming method. Seed treatment of ricewas done with BeejaSanjibani and 10% cowurine formulation. Line wise transplantation was done by the farmers where they used a rope to transplant the seedlings. The distance maintained by farmer was15x20 cm. This helped to reduce weeds by running Cono weeder into the field and also helped to prevent several pests & disease.

Use of Azola for Green Manuring and weed control:Farmers have made a pit by digging the soil and released Azola culture by hold the water. Some farmers are also used already made cemented concreate tank. The pit area is around 7x3x0.5(LxWxD) feet. Farmers applied field soil and cow dung into pit for faster growth of Azola culture. The culture will spread around the pit and then released into the paddy field after one week of transplanting. This will help to fix nitrogen in the field along with prevent weeds growth and water evaporation.Azola also can help to increase the yield of rice by 20-30%.

Use of Bird Perch for natural insect control:Birds play a vital role in reducing and maintaining insect population. By installing bird perches in the field helped several birds like Black Drongo, Myna, Bulbul and sparrows to visit field and feed insect larvae in the rice fields. Farmers started making bird perch in the field after completing transplantation of Rice. The perches are 3-4 feet tall made with bamboo and sticks which was essential for resting of predatory birds to look at the preys in the fields.

Plantation of native Plants:Native plants are easy to grow and need less amount of water.It also provides nectar for pollinators and fruits and shelter for birds. Some native plants have medicinal value and some of are essential for regular human consumption.

By Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpo native plants were distributed for plantation in village. 158 farmers were received Neem-2, Karanj-2, Tamarind-1,Jamun-1, Bokful-3 plants from this scheme. They transplanted the plants on the bunds and corners of their fields which helped them to make leaf manure, pesticides and getting fruits in future.

Conclusion: (Formation of Tribal Organic Panchayat )

Farmers of the selected cluster of Nawagarh panchayat raised crops by following traditional method of farming without using chemicals in the fields. Most of the farmers of Organic cluster area (Obar, Soso, Barkigorang and Nawagarh) were small and marginal. Low-cost Organic farming technologies by this project contributed to some extent for poverty alleviation and food security by a combination of many features such as;

Out of 100 VKM farmers, 10 farmers have been selected from 5 villages,taking 2 from each village. They will act as leaders for each village to cultivate and sell in group. Their farms will be given special attention to serve as village level training cum demonstration centre.

After the construction work, follow up programme was conducted which was carried out by STI Hub staff. Organic cultivation process was followed under the guidance of STI Hub staff in all three different seasons. In kharif, Dhaincha seeds were sown and along with the Teprocia and subabul seeds sown in the bund for green manuring. Through Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpa approx. 250 acres of land has become organic under Nawagarh Panchayat which is on the way towards first ‘Model Tribal Organic Panchayat’ under Angara block of Ranchi district.

Report of Vivekananda Krishi Mitra Prakalpa (1)Download
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