A team of researchers from the University of Michigan (UoM), U.S, have found that application of silt removed from irrigation tanks in their farm fields has improved production of crops cultivated by farmers even up to 500 per cent.
It was one of the preliminary findings of a pilot study conducted by a multidisciplinary team of 16 students from eight schools of UoM in two villages of Adilabad and Karimnagar districts as part of their research work.
Funded under Dow Sustainability Fellows Program, they are working on “De-silting Irrigation Tanks: The Sustainability of Decentralised Resource Distribution and Big Data + Small Farmers: Leveraging Data Science to inform best farming practices in India in line with Mission Kakatiya” from April last.
“We are yet to quantify the high-resolution survey data collected across a timeline with 200 data points with pre and post silt-application references completely. We are working on models for best farming practices so that their usage is scaled up,” Adithya Dahagama, a student of School of Natural Resources & Environment of UoM, who was on a visit to the study area earlier this week told The Hindu .
Impact of silt application
The study found that the variation in production of cotton, for example, was very high from 2 quintals per acre to 15 quintals in the fields, where the silt was not applied and the ones where the fertile soil was applied. However, it was also found that 97 per cent of the decision-making by farmers with regard to selection of crops, seed, application of fertilisers and pesticides was disconnected to the soil condition and expert advice. “Except for stray instances, most of the farmers have never got any soil test done”, Mr. Adithya said.
Initially, the UoM students conducted a preliminary survey on 1,100 farmers in 40 villages of Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal districts early last year. Later, they took up the pilot study in Chandaram of Laxettipet mandal of Adilabad district and Golivada village of Ramagundam mandal in Karimnagar.
“Our discussions with some policy makers of Telangana have helped us identify newer ways to integrate ongoing government programmes like Mission Kakatiya, Grama Jyothi, and Digital India to address challenges faced by farmers today,” Kavya Vayyasi, another student involved in the study said. The objective of the study was to enhance site-specific decision-making of small farmers as it has the potential to save up to 30 per cent in input costs and improve yields by 40 per cent, Mr. Adithya noted.
Source : The Hindu
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