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Professor turns barren land green

Karthik Madhavan

CHENNIMALAI: It is a challenge good success stories throw: where to start from and which dimension to highlight first. And, the present one is no different either. This success story, a 6.65-acre plot, sits in the middle of dry, barren, rocky, poorly irrigated area, where thorny bushes and cactus make up for the vegetation. The plot, however, is fertile, full of greenery, thanks to some engineering by S. Nehru, professor-turned-farmer from M. Pidariyur, who with poor farming knowledge learnt it on the job.

In Mr Nehru's farm robust chilli plants rub leaves with well-grown banana trees, which have a competitor in fast coming up hybrid coconut shoots. And rivalling them are sugarcanes, whose stems are in the purple of their health. All that the electronics and communication engineer did was network his plot with drip irrigation pipes. In his farm, just as circuit lines criss-cross a printed circuit board, pipes and tubes run across the length and breadth of his plot, carrying water.

Again, true to his engineering discipline where components are soldered across the board, he planted a variety of crops on the plot. And, when he supplied water through the network, the effect was only electrifying. With the right amount of water chillies, bananas, coconuts and canes gave sound output, increasing goods flow to the market. That apart, the drip irrigation also ushered in a few more advantages. "The water drops percolated down and did not form a sheet of water, preventing roots from accessing fresh air, which would be the case in flood irrigation. Also, the soil did not harden due to excess water; it developed pores that accentuated root growth,'' says Mr. Nehru.

He adds: "The plants also absorbed well the micro-nutrients that were administered in the water flowing through drip irrigation system.'' Mr. Nehru did not add fertilisers as well, nor did he spray pesticides. "Since I do not believe in polluting the land I used only pest traps to protect plants," he says pointing to hanging buckets-turned-pest traps.

As a result of his hard work and methodical farming, he has saved a lot on input costs. "With almost zero fertiliser and pesticide cost, I did not spend as much as others.'' Besides, in banana he let a neighbouring shoot grow into a tree, saving the cost of planting a new one. As regards chillies, minimal chemicals and wider width between plants have ensured that each plant yields between 375 gms and 1 kg as against a maximum of 800 gms for other farmers. And, each chilli weighed between 5.5 gms and 13 gms, and measured four inches long, much above what other farmers in the district achieved. Besides, the chillies in the absence of chemicals lasted longer and were hotter than most others.

Given the robust and better quality of yield, the professor-turned-farmer is now laughing all the way to bank, proving wrong farmers and neighbours who once discouraged him in all possible ways.

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