agriculture tips

In our Agriculture for Everybody  blog series, we are going to see how to improve/sustain the soil. Continuing with where we left in the last blog, we will discuss more ways to improve as well as sustain the soil. As a rule of thumb, please remember "The Soil need not be exposed to direct sunlight and the sunlight is required only for the plants and that too by the leaves of the plants" Don't expose the soil to direct sunlight Most of the land is occupied by Trees, Crops etc and only the minimal area is not occupied by any crop.  In this situation, we can go for Live (or) Green Mulch, Dead Mulch. In case of traditional crops like Paddy, Sugarcane etc, the unwanted roots or branches should not be burnt and left as is to decompose in the very soil. Live Mulch can be even weeds as well as any legume crops or grasses as well. Dead Mulch can be plantains, dead leaves, twigs, broken branches etc.  The Dead Mulch need to be spread in those areas where the soil is exposed to the ...

In our Agriculture for Everybody  blog series, we are going to see the ways to improve the soil. As we all know, the Soil is the base for any agricultural activity.  In this blog, we will discuss ways and means to improve the soil. The details given below are for both "unused barren land" and "land in use" as well as for land which needs to be moved from chemical farming to organic farming. Land Improvement - Method 1 The following 5 types of Seeds are required and their quantities are mentioned as well for 1 Acre.  Overall, you require 4+4+4+4.25+1.75 = 22 Kgs of seeds per acre.   Pasunthaal (Green Manure Seeds) - 4 Kgs Sanappu (Sunhemp) - 1Kg Thakkaipoondu (Daincha) - 1 Kg Avuri (Indigo) - 1 Kg Sesbania (Sesbania) - 1 Kg Siruthaaniam (Millet Seeds) - 4 Kgs Cholam (Cholam) - 1 Kg Cumbu (Spiked Millet) - 1 Kg Kelvaragu (Ragi) - 1 Kg Samai (Samai) - 1 Kg Payaru (Cereal Seeds) - 4 Kgs Ulundu (Blackgram) - 1 Kg Pacchapayaru (Greengram) - 1 Kg Karamani (Cowpea) - 1 ...

In our Agriculture for Everybody  blog series,  we will understand the difference between Monoculture and Polyculture and what they mean and what benefits each entails. Monoculture - A single species of plants (I am using the word plants generically and it will also refer to animals as well) A classical example is Paddy cultivation Another example is Coconut Groove One more example is Mango Orchard In Monoculture, there are some advantages as well as disadvantages.  But mostly, the disadvantages overweigh the advantages. Advantages Any person involved in Monoculture will have to gain knowledge only for that particular plants Marketing will be easy Disadvantages May result in complete crop failure due to homogenous plants and hence pests may have a field day Results in over production (Over Production can be from your own field or because of similar farms) Results in profit hit (Those who are in the know how will know how much is the cost per coconut) Polyculture - At le...