‘Intensive agri destroying soil nutrients’

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 11

Like humans and animals, nutrient rich diet also plays a pivotal role in development of plants. Experts believe that soil health has been badly affected by intensive agriculture and introduction of high yielding crop varieties.

Farmers often use chemical fertilizers, which increase micronutrient deficiency and affects soil structure.

According to experts at the Punjab Agricultural University, organic matter plays an important role in maintaining fertility of soil.

Dr CS Aulakh, director, School of Organic Farming, PAU said, “Farmyard manure (FYM) is a balanced diet for crops. When good quality FYM is applied to soil, it brings considerable improvement in the soil environment which leads to enhanced productivity.”

Dr Aulakh said, “FYM increases organic matter content in the soil, improves soil structure, tilth, aeration, enhances water and nutrient holding capacity of soil.”

Dr SS Walia, senior agronomist, said, “Farmers do not prepare FYM in a better and large scale. The quantity and quality of compost is below norms.”

“FYM prepared by farmers has various drawbacks. Due to lack of water, nutrients get evaporated and water soluble nutrients discharge with rain water,” said Dr Neeraj Rani, assistant soil chemist, PAU.

She said, “As the weed seeds do not decompose properly it create problems in the field. Proper management and use of FYM can conserve more than 75 per cent of the nutrients contained in cattle urine and dung.”

Methods to prepare quality FYM

First step is to collect the cattle dung in such a manner that the cattle urine becomes a part of the FYM. It should be made a practice to spread some good absorbing bedding material under the animals that sufficiently absorbs the cattle urine. One kg paddy straw available in plenty in Punjab can soak about 1.5 kg urine.

Preparation method

Digging a trench: Dig a trench depending on the number of cattle. Generally, for 3-5 animals, trench should be 6-7 metre long, 1-1.5 metre wide and 3 feet deep. The depth should be 3 feet at one end and 3.5 feet at the other end. The trench should be dug at such a place where rain water does not seep to avoid loss of humus from FYM.

Filling of trench: The trench should be filled with a mixture of dung and urine from lower depth and should be filled approximately one-and-a-half feet higher from the soil surface. A soil layer must be spread on top of it. As a result, weed seeds decompose which gets converted into FYM in three months with a manurial mixture. Every farmer must develop two to three pits. So that after filling one pit, it is plastered with soil layer and the second pit is filled with the same material. In the mean time, prepared FYM of one pit can be used.