By Visual Gulati
Shimla, September 4 (IANS) Completely, the apple orchard plant at Dr. Es Parmarr University’s Garden and Regulatory University Research Center in Shoshobra, nearby, is now rich in apple and medium crops.
Thanks to the introduction of the Subhash Palecar Natural Technology (SPNF) technique by the government of Himalayan Pradesh under the pretext Katie Kushhal Kisan Yojana (PKK), Apple’s garden has become fruitful.
SPNF is a non-chemical natural farming concept developed by Padma Sri Subhash Palekar and is based on farm inputs made from urine and native cows.
The farmer does not want to buy inputs from the market, which greatly reduces the cost of farming.
Over the past two years, SPNF’s intervention in the same orchards, which had to be abandoned for some years due to lack of resources, has shown encouraging results. Using natural resources such as jewevaamrit and argjeevaamrit. The overall health of the plant has been improved by the preparation of dessert cow dung and urine.
Seven varieties of apples are grown under SPNF, including Gala, Oregon and Red Chief.
PKKKY Director-General Rajeshwar Singh Chandel visited the Shoshbard Garden earlier this week.
In addition to this scientific model on apples, Dr. S. Parmar, a researcher at the University of Veterinary and Forestry, said he was doing some experiments on vegetable crops.
Two agricultural researchers – Maharashtra and Carol Durant from France’s Shahzad Prabho – also accompanied Chandol to the garden.
Apple farming under the SPNF technique will measure less than one hectare, and the research station is proposing to add more space under SPNF soon.
Yojana has spent ሚሊዮን 67 million on infrastructure in 2019 and an additional ሚሊዮን 19 million on SPNF technology in 2020.
The research station has kept one Pahari cow following the SPNF technique and plans to purchase two more native cows for the farm.
The apple orchard, which has been neglected for many years, In 2020, it increased to 5,46,964 rubles per hectare.
Terminal growth in the garden was halted and soil quality was very poor. However, after we tested the orchard with SPNF technique, the terminal growth resumed and the soil structure (degradation, water retention and texture) improved. The number of worms has increased, according to Usha Sharma, a scientist at the research center who oversees the SPNF experiment. The plants are now healthy and the leaf size is good.
We will continue the experiment for five years to establish and ensure technical success. “Many issues in the Apple Garden are still emerging in the SPNF technique and we are making improvements accordingly,” he said.
Compared to chemical farming, the number of termites in the garden has increased with the SPNF technique.
The SPNF not only improved the apple plantations, but also provided a new orchard for planting.
As part of the SPNF experiment, scientists harvested four crops alongside apples from vegetables to mattresses, beans, and later to the same orchards in the soil and the economy as a whole.
Apple’s SPNF technique has recently become an attraction for researchers and officials who visit the site for good numbers.
A total of 1,29,299 farmers, including 12,000 Apple farmers, covered 7,5456 hectares of land in Himachar Pradesh since 2018 under Practical Katy Kushhal Kisan Yojana.
(Visual Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)