The Agriculture Department has launched a drive to enrich the soil by motivating farmers to use green manure in their fields before raising the ‘samba’ crop.
The soil condition should be enriched as a first step for minimising the problems caused by weeds and pest attack.
The green manure would bring down the use of chemical fertilizer and thereby increase productivity.
The department has planned to cover 1,920 hectares of land under the scheme and so far 1,415 hectares of land had been covered so far.
A special subsidy of Rs. 2,000 per hectare is given to farmers under this soil health improvement scheme, said an official. Daincha, sunhemp, and ‘kolinji’ are the major green manures being grown in the district.
“The objective is to improve organic content in soil. The daincha, sunhemp, or kolinji should be ploughed in the fields a week before planting the seedlings of ‘samba,” the official said.
The green manure was most needed in blocks with alkaline or saline soil such as Manikandam, Tiruverumbur, and Lalgudi.
The official said that microbes in the soil would be enhanced with increase in zinc, phosphorous and nitrogen.
A special subsidy of Rs. 2,000 per hectare is given
Green manure is needed in places with alkaline soil
Source : The Hindu
No comments:
Post a Comment