Bargarh: At a time when farmers are complaining of scanty rains, poor seeds, irrigation failure and pests, Panchanana Sahu, a farmer of Hatisara village in this district’s Bhatli block, has scripted success braving all odds.
Panchanana says he owes his success to the tried and tested methods followed by his forefathers.
Panchanana has six acres and does not get even a drop of canal water. He depends entirely on rain and lift irrigation.
He had been cultivating paddy on five acres and the rest was uncultivated. This kharif, he made up his mind to sow paddy in the uncultivated piece of land too. But he did not go for methods that most farmers use. He went for the traditional Japani method of his forefathers.
Before levelling the one acre he soaked it twice. Using country plough he drew straight lines creating ridges and transplanted paddy seeds (Gauri) providing a gap of one foot between each. When the paddy plants sprouted blades he transplanted the saplings in lines using only cow dung as manure. However, he used DAP-20-10 once at the time of growing.
“My paddy is now ready for harvest. I never used pesticides as I never had any pests,” Panchanana said, adding that while he spent Rs 25,000 an acre on his old plots he spent only Rs 10,000 in the new one.
Panchanana said the new plot would surely give a better harvest than that the old ones.
As per his calculations, 11.2 kg of paddy seeds sown on a 25 square metre plot provides a harvest of 44.5 quintals in green weight and around 38.3 quintals in dry weight.
He claimed that during kharif if there is average rainfall and if present methods of cultivation are followed, the Gauri paddy variety would generally yield around 30 quintals. Compared to that, his traditional method gave him a better harvest.
“My forefathers were following the Japani method. Now I understand its plus points. From next season I will definitely use only this ancient method,” said Panchanana.
Gokulananda Pradhan, another farmer of the same village said that some farmers had earlier tried out this method, but rains at the time of harvesting reduced yield.
Amiya Bhushan Sahoo, an agriculturist, said this old method followed by some farmers seems profitable. This method does not need any modern equipment and rain shortage does not pose any threat. Above all spending less a farmer can get more. PNN
