Experts bat for crop calendar in Kuttanad

With recurring pure disasters inflicting huge losses to the agriculture sector and forcing a number of farmers in Kuttanad to desert farming, consultants have referred to as for strict adherence to the crop calendar and adopting various farming strategies to deal with altering local weather situations.

K.G. Padmakumar, Director, International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea stage Farming, Thottapally, says there’s a want for critical pondering on the way in which ahead for agriculture in Kuttanad. “As entrusted by the State government, we prepared a crop calendar for Kuttanad and the same was accepted and released by the Chief Minister last year. Kuttanad consists of six zones and they are all highly heterogeneous. People practice different farming patterns in these zones. The crop calendar was prepared after considering all the factors. But the government is yet to take meaningful steps to implement it,” he says.

A resident of Kuttanad, he says recurring floods have dashed hopes of the individuals of the area and plenty of are considering leaving the place altogether. “Farmers feel they can’t go on like this. They have realised the importance of following the crop calendar. Various departments and agencies need to work together to implement the calendar by providing farmers seeds on time, construct/repair bunds, dewatering, among other things,” he says, including implementation of the calendar will assist standardise the operation of the Thanneermukkom barrage to a sure extent.

Apart from following the calendar, Mr. Padamakumar additionally recommends practising various farming — one paddy one fish, cage and pen fish farming, floating agriculture, and so forth as a part of adapting to the altering situations.

G. Nagendra Prabhu, affiliate professor and principal investigator of the Centre for Research on Aquatic Resources at SD College, says various farming methods have to be recognized and adopted after needed analysis and growth. “Climate change will soon make it difficult to carry out traditional farming activities. We need to think out of the box. One such technology is floating agriculture or modified hydroponics. In flood-prone countries such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, people use it to grow more than 20 different types of vegetables,” he says.

Floating agriculture is a method of utilising areas which might be waterlogged for lengthy durations of time in the manufacturing of meals. A number of years in the past a crew led by Mr. Prabhu efficiently accomplished a analysis challenge on this facet at SD College.

As a part of the research, aquatic weeds, primarily water hyacinth, have been collected and allowed to rot in a pond creating floating beds. Seeds of women finger, chillies, and cow pea have been planted in balls made from decayed hyacinth. The germinated crops have been later transplanted into the water hyacinth beds. “Their growth was normal and without any obvious problems. Using aquatic weeds can also help minimise its impact on the waterbodies,” says Mr. Prabhu.