FARMERS’ PARTICIPATION IN PESTICIDE FREE PADDY PRODUCTION THROUGH ADOPTION OF GREEN FARMING MODEL WITH INHANA RATIONAL FARMING TECHNOLOGY - A CASE STUDY FROM BIRBHUM, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
ARUN KUMAR BARIK
Department of Agronomy, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.
RANJAN BERA *
Inhana Organic Research Foundation, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
ANTARA SEAL
Inhana Organic Research Foundation, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Industrial agriculture that relies heavily on synthetic inputs has led to the depletion of soil health, pest/ disease virulence and increased crop vulnerability especially under the climate change impact that ultimately threaten the farmers’ livelihood. The Green Farming Initiative through the utilization of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology was a collaborative undertaking of the Department of Agronomy, Visva-Bharati University (Santiniketan) and Inhana Organic Research Foundation (IORF, Kolkata) to motivate farmer’s interest towards pesticide free crop production and to establish a direct producer- consumer linkage for enabling value added end product at conventional price. Findings from the project indicated that ‘Plant Health Management’ accompanied by ‘Soil Health Management’ using on-farm produced Novcom compost can enable higher crop production. Also pesticide residue testing and 3rd party certification can help in value added marketing and establishing consumer connects, that can facilitate better farmers’ livelihood.
Keywords: Plant health, Novcom compost, IndGAP certification, value added marketing.
How to Cite
References
Bera R, Seal A, Datta A, Sengupta K. Evaluation of Inhana rational farming technology as an organic package of practice for effective and economic vegetable cultivation in farmers’s field. Journal of Natural Product and Plant Resource. 2014;4(3):82-91.
Barik AK, Chatterjee AK, Datta A, Saha S, Nath R, Bera R, Seal A. Adoption of rational farming technology for development of a model for exploring sustainable farming practice in farmer’s field. The International Journal of Science and Technoledge. 2014;2(4):147-155.
Mukhopadhyay K, Mukerjee S, Seal A, Bera R, Dolui A, Rahman FH. Evaluation of a new technology with fully organic inputs towards production of paddy with special reference to soil quality development – A case study from Howrah Krishi Vigyan Kendra in National Seminer on Soil Health Management and Food Security: Role of Soil Science Research and Education, 8 – 10 October; 2015.
Seal A, Bera R, Datta A, Saha S, Chowdhury R. Roy, Sengupta K, Barik AK, Chatterjee AK. Evaluation of an organic package of practice towards integrated management of Solanum tuberosum and its comparison with conventional farming in terms of yield, quality, energy efficiency and economics. Acta Agriculturae Slovenica. 2017;109(2):363– 382.
Seal A, Bera R, Datta A, Saha S, Chowdhury R. Roy, Chatterjee AK, Barik AK. Effective and economically viable organic agriculture under Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology towards mitigation of climate change impact. 19th Organic World Congress, New Delhi, India, Nov 9-11. Published in Innovative Research for Organic 3.0 Volume 1 (Edited by Rahmann et al). 2017;171-174.
Available:www.thuenen.de
Barik AK, Chatterjee AK, Datta A, Saha S, Nath R, Bera R, Seal A. Evaluation of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) technology as an effective organic option for large scale paddy cultivation in farmer’s field- A case study from Kowgachi-II Gram Panchayat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The International Journal of Science and Technoledge. 2014;2(5):183-197.
Bera R, Seal A, Datta A, Saha S, Dolui AK, Khan M, Mazumdar D. Formulation of a Soil Development Index (SDI) to evaluate the effectivity of organic soil management under FAO-CFC-TBI Project at Maud Tea Estate, Assam, India. International Journal of Advance Agricultural Research. 2014;2(12):318- 329.
Seal A, Bera R, Chatterjee AK, Dolui AK. Evaluation of a new composting method in terms of its biodegradation pathway and assessment of the compost quality, maturity and stability. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science. 2012;58(9):995-1012.
Evanylo G. Compost maturity and indicators of quality: Laboratory analyses and onfarm tests; 2006.
Available:http://www.mawaterquality.org/industry_change/compost_school/Compost%20quality_Evanylo.pdf
Jime`nez IE, Garcia PV. Evaluation of city refuse compost maturity: A review. Biological Wastes. 1989;27:115-42.
Rynk R, van de Kamp M, Willson GB, Singley ME, Richard TL, Kolega JJ, Gouin FR, Laliberty Jr. L, Kay D, Murphy DW, Hoitink HAJ, Brinton WF. The composting process, characteristics of raw materials. In: On-Farm Composting Handbook, Edited by R. Rynk, NRAES-54, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 1992;6–13:106–113.
Cal Recycle. Organic materials management—compost—what is it? 2006.
Available:http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/compostmulch/CompostIs.htm
Trautmann NM, Krasny ME. Composting in the classroom; 1997.
Available:http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/schools.html
Bartha R, Pramer D. Features of a flask and methods of measuring the persistence and biological effects of pesticides in soil. Soil Science. 1965;100:68–70.
Wang F, Cheng FM, Zhang GP. Difference in grain yield and quality among tillers in rice genotypes differing in tillering capacity. Rice Sci. 2007;14:135–140.
Badshah MA, Naimei T, Zou Y, Ibrahim M, Wang K. Yield and tillering response of super hybrid rice Liangyoupeijiu to tillage and establishment methods. The Crop Journal. 2014;2(1):79–86.