Vijayawada:
A few farmers in Guntur district are slowly adopting the Israeli farming techniques to grow hybrid saplings, seeds and crops. The Israeli farming technique, which is gaining popularity among farmers helps to increase the productivity using less space as well as less water when compared to that of traditional farming, which is largely followed by farmers.
The techniques can be used to produce anything from seeds to final products like vegetables and fruits.
Kallam Narendra Reddy, a 51-year-old farmer in Penu-maka village of Tadepalli mandal in Guntur district, started to use Israeli farming methods putting aside his two decades experience in traditional farming.
Mr Reddy grows saplings and seeds for variety of vegetables and flowers including cauliflower, papaya, plantain, brinjal, drum sticks, cabbage, tomato and others in his 2-acre land.
“With an initial investment of `12 lakh, I started to grow saplings in the one-and-a-half acre land in two different methods. While one is under nets another is under special poly house,” said Mr Narendra.
Many of my colleagues ventured to start farming in this method but stepped back as there is no support from the government, he added.
Best advantages of growing hybrid crops in trays under the specially designed houses is that productivity could not be affected by the climate and can be grown in any season of the year.
Meanwhile, the state government has no plans to encourage such farmers and provide facilities for them. Farmers have appealed to the government authorities to provide raw materials and export facilities so that more number of farmers can adopt the Israeli technique.
“Though it is one-time investment we have to spend some lakhs to start it. If the government recognizes this method and encourage farmers we can produce more number of crops,” said Mr K. Aadi Narayana, a farmer in Yerabalem village near Magalagiri.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / October 07th, 2014