When I bought the farm, there were around 22 big mango trees, some are local varieties and some are from other states which is mainly grafted varieties. I just keep cutting the grass around them and no other work. Typically farmers here spray upto 7-8 pesticides and hormones on the trees in the season. Farmers says without this mango yield will be less and most of them will be affected by pests. So initially I was confused about what I have to do, since anyway I was not planning to spray hormones or pesticides.
Later after two years of mango farming,I came to know that most of the local varieties were not affected by pests. I have never seen any worms in local varieties Moovandan, Chandrakkaran and Perakka varieties. All these varieties has good fiber content and to me they are very tasty. But lot of people does not like the local varieties and go for exotic varieties. There are some exceptions where some local varieties also which are affected by pests, but most of them are resistant.
So basically for me the problem looks to be going against nature and cultivating varieties which are not adapted to the local climates.
Later after two years of mango farming,I came to know that most of the local varieties were not affected by pests. I have never seen any worms in local varieties Moovandan, Chandrakkaran and Perakka varieties. All these varieties has good fiber content and to me they are very tasty. But lot of people does not like the local varieties and go for exotic varieties. There are some exceptions where some local varieties also which are affected by pests, but most of them are resistant.
So basically for me the problem looks to be going against nature and cultivating varieties which are not adapted to the local climates.
7 comments:
Very true - we have had this grafted variety of mango tree which has produced mangoes only couple of years in its 25+ years of existence because the flowers wilt every year, whereas there are 3 other local variety of mangoes(that came up on its own from seeds thrown around) that produce fruits every year without fail without any manure or pests.
best of luck - i am impressed with the good documentation. may your tribe increase!
i just got about 20 acres of neglected and abandoned orchard with some mango, lemon and sapota trees.
am trying out the palekar method with some improvizations.
hopefully they will work - in any case, will share my learnings!
best wishes for your endeavours and once again congratulations for documenting your valuable experiences, including photos
Jaydeep/Balaji,
Thanks for the comments.
Yes, Palekar method is very effective, also make sure that you have good leguminous ground cover.
Regards,
Nandan
i read an interesting article on stone powder - especially volcanic rocks - my land is situated in deccan traps and the rock issupposed to be basaltic - i got two bored drilled one of which hit a rock with no water - i propose to use the rock power and check if it makes any difference
this guy called don weaver talks about rock powders - there is a couple - i guess in uk which seems to have gotten good results - they claim the land gets mineralized (200 mesh powder) and the keeping quality of produce is good and the produce is more tasty - and the size of the product seems to be impressive.
let us c what happens :)
Thanks Balaji for giving pointers about Don Weaver - read the article - http://remineralize.org/blog/magazine/restoring-our-earth-to-vibrant-health
I am not sure in large scale, if it can work out. My distant dream is to make the land fertile with multicropping with lot of legumes.
Regards,
Nandan
agree with you.
i am am looking @ getting some rock powders from the quarries close by - and experiment.
however, i agree with you one has to look for sustainable solution - i am trying to add as many leguminous plants and trees around.
apart from the nitrogen from legumes - i am concerned about the trace elements - how do we bring them on for making the produce better.
i just got the lemon trees pruned (dead branches and bottom suckers) and have given jeevamrrut for two cycles - seems to be working.
have to look at the sapota trees which are very anemic and the mango trees also need something i guess.
let us c - will share the outcomes.
just sowed loads of cow-pea and am adding moringa plants -
the rains seem to be truant - we should be getting anywhere 400 to 700 mm - looks like we got around 200+ so far.
i made furrows between the tree lines and added maize straw - let us c how it works out.
am planning various creepers on the ground to keep a ground cover - am planting a few vegetables as well
i got some desi vegetable seeds - a small number just to kickstart the seed bank
best
I have heard that trace elements even affect the taste of produce, but hoping that if the diversity is maintained, nature will take care of it.
I don't apply animal manure in the farm, but recently seeing that after applying cow dung, the transformation of plants is interesting
Regards,
Nandan
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