The Hindu Business Line : Sodium blocker tech helps to make tsunami-hit soil cultivable

Even after two years since the deadly tsunami struck in December 2004, farmers in the affected areas are still grappling with the after-effects. Soils in several parts of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu became barren overnight when muddy seawater intruded the cultivated lands along the sea coast.

A thick mass of seabed clay was deposited on the low-lying paddy farms in many parts. As a result, the soil turned barren destroying hundreds of acres of crops, making the soil unfit to grow even a blade of grass.

Post-tsunami efforts by many government and non-government organisations recommended scraping of the layer of seabed clay that covered the top layer of the soils, flushing them with freshwater and growing of green manure crops such as sunhemp as immediate measures.

Though these resulted in significant reduction of electrical conductivity levels, the soil was still unfit for profitable crop production and farmers are far from reaching the pre-tsunami yield levels.

During the cropping season of 2005-06 (September to January), the first after tsunami, many farms were able to harvest very little.

Meanwhile, Icrisat's interaction with the Greenline Group of Texas, US. opened up new opportunities for application of sodium blocker technology in the tsunami-hit soils of Nagapattinam.

The sodium blocker that is being widely used to reclaim soils affected by brine spills in the petroleum industry was introduced for the first time in India to reclaim salt affected soils of Nagapattinam.

Initial trials

The shipment of sodium blocker solution, after all necessary clearances from the governments of the US and India, could reach only after the last cropping season (2005-06). Hence, the trials with sodium blocker could be taken up only during September. DHAN Foundation, which has a strong grassroots presence in Nagapattinam, coordinated mobilising farmers and selection of fields to lay out initial trials with sodium blocker.

Mr C. Murgesan and Ms M. Jaya of Mothandithoppu in the remote Vedaranyam area of Nagapattinam district could not harvest a single grain during the last cropping season due to very high salt levels in the soil.

The couple readily agreed to try sodium blocker in their 5-acre plot keeping a patch measuring half an acre as check plot. They took up two rounds of sodium blocker soil application and sowed seeds of ADT 39,a popular rice variety released by the Rice Research Station of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) located in Aduthurai in Tamil Nadu in the second week of November 2006.

"I was very worried last year, as this piece of land did not fetch us a single grain. And I was wondering if we would ever see the kind of harvest we used to see before tsunami struck us," said Ms Jaya.

She beams proudly now and says: "Many neighbouring farmers ask me what we have applied to get this good crop", and adds "I am glad that this time, we will be able to harvest at least 90 per cent if not 100 per cent of what we used to do before tsunami."

Two years after tsunami when the harrowing memories are slowly eroding from the minds of people, this story reminds of the enormous task of agronomic rehabilitation that is still unfinished.

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