How we have transitioned into natural farming practices?

Our transition to natural farming is motivated by the realisation that the application of fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides has further worsened soil health. As a result, we are unable to grow plants and vegetables. The situation has worsened due to the limited quantity of available groundwater from our farm's dug well. To restore agriculture and regain income, we engaged in an amla plantation. However, a disease affected those plants that turned the leaves into a pale colour and finally shut off the plant. The disease has spread to several plants within a week time. The nursery that supplied the amla plant has advised me to spray pesticides immediately to manage the situation.

At that time, I felt that the application of pesticides is an addictive practice; there shall be no end to that. Then I resorted to the foliar application of micronutrients that slowly brought back the health of the amla plants. If the plant has a sufficient nutrient supply, it remains healthy. This small step is a turning point in our agricultural practice where I have realised that the inadequacy of micronutrients is the primary cause of plant diseases.

After the plants have recovered from the disease, I have applied earthworm manure to enhance growth. I have managed these plants with minimal water by adopting drip irrigation. Moreover, I have grown Sesbania bispinosa around the amla plant to promote soil fertility. The S. bispinosa has protected the amla plant from the scorching Sun, retained localised soil moisture, and prevented the growth of weeds adjacent to the amla plant. Instead, we could see the growth of weeds in bare lands in between the amla plants.

Meanwhile, unexpected rains have brought havoc as weeds have culminated in our land. They grew very fast, and within two weeks, the entire amla plantation got affected by weeds. I have managed the situation by ploughing the land using tractors two times, but those weeds have vigorously emerged a third time. This time, our agricultural labourers advised me that manual removal is the best choice for weed control. So, I have allowed them to manually remove all the weeds, which took time and money. After this, the weeds got reduced to a more significant level.

Then, to prevent further growth of weeds in the barren land, we have grown S. bispinosa throughout the field. As the S. bispinosa grew, it engulfed the amla plant. However, its growth was not affected; no diseases could attack the amla plant. The plant has survived the hot Sun and dry conditions for several months. Meanwhile, honeybees, butterflies and other insects have populated our agricultural field. As a result, four honeycombs got noticed on our nearby coconut farm. These benefits accrued by permitting S. bispinosa to grow and fully develop seeds. At the end of its lifetime, we have manually cut them down. After irrigation, we observed that the clay soil had become more arable with increased porosity; we couldn't walk as our feet drowned around a foot into the soil. These observations are excellent examples of what natural farming can bring to agriculture. There is another story about the coconut farm that I shall describe in my next post.

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