The Hindu Business Line : A formula to grow organic paddy profitably

Organic paddy growers in the delta region of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu have found suggest some easy alternatives to grow the crop. This could cheer other paddy cultivators in the country. They have developed a formula for making rice farming profitable, while at the same time causing little damage to the environment, soil and ground water.

According to Mr Balaji Shankar, an organic paddy farmer in Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu, farmers should grow crops, which will suit their soil type. If the land is well drained, they may be able to implement Systematic Rice Implementation (SRI) successfully. If it is low-lying, they may need 3-4 seedlings. Planting only during August-January and rice fallow gram they should forego the summer crop totally.

In the interval from April to August, they get some time for allowing the land remain fallow for about two months after a dry till, and also 45 days for Daincha which can be grown for in-situ ploughing.

"They can grow native paddy varieties such as Kitchili Samba and Ponni. These varieties are resistant to diseases and can withstand both drought as well as floods and also give a decent yield of 1,200 - 1,400 kg per acre with very little inputs," he says.

Planting early seedlings, around 21 days old instead of the traditional 30-40 days. And planting only two seedlings and allow a spacing of 15-18 cm between the hills is advisable. (This reduces both seed cost and labour cost, while transplanting).

Since planting is only during samba, it allows the farmers to plan their transplanting early before the monsoon.

Once traditional varieties are well established in the soil, even the worst flood cannot do them any harm. There may be some yield loss, but never a crop loss, according to him.

After the seedlings stabilise and turn green, farmers can allow the whole field to dry (to facilitate tillering). This increases weeds and it costs more for weeding, but they need not fear labour costs in organic farming. Manual weeding can be done with women labourers, once in the crop cycle, after 30 days of transplanting or whenever it is deemed right.

"And the most important method of all is to convert the entire paddy into rice and sell it himself. An organic farmer spends only Rs 3,500 for growing paddy in acre and can earn assured revenue of Rs 14,500 or more in one crop," Mr Balaji says. Since he gets Rs 11,000 per acre, the farmer can comfortably experiment on non-water-guzzling crops such as vegetables, maize or sunflower during the kuruvai season.

If a farmer has about five acres, he only needs a market of 10-15 households in the neighbouring town to sell his rice. Selling fine-grained organic rice at the rate of Rs 22 per kg is a steal. Farmers need no marketing skill to sell their organic rice. Once a farmer has an assured market in his own locality then the problem of his income-security is solved, according to Mr Balaji.

Also organic rice is rich in beta-carotene, rice bran (which has antioxidants and cholesterol reducers) and salicylic acid. So by organic farming, farmers can achieve income security for the farmer, food security for the public (food that is safe) and nutrition security. Above all we achieve the much-needed ecological security and energy security.

The average spend per year per acre of rice on fertilisers and pesticides is about Rs 1,500 per acre. The total area under paddy in the three districts of Nagappatinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur is about 11.4 lakh acres. Assuming 11 lakh acres of this are chemical farming, the delta region imports chemicals and fertilisers to the tune of Rs 165 croreevery year. With organic farming this money stays in the village and generates local employment opportunities in vermin-compost, herbal pest repellent etc.