Organic Cotton case study
Case study of how ecological farming methods/regenerative agriculture (Akkadi Saalu) can be used in a region with cotton as the cash crop.
Organic methods for cultivating cotton for rainfed small-holder farmers
What need/ pain point is this playbook addressing?
There is no fixed price for cotton in the market. It is also a water and input intensive crop. Over the last decade, cotton is losing its prominence, being replaced by Paddy, Maize, and Sunflower. The number of farmers cultivating cotton is decreasing rapidly. Hundreds of ginning – weaving –textile mills have closed down.
Cotton farmers need to be able to cultivate cotton in a manner that is economically viable and environmentally sound – this playbook aims to provide farmers with such a method of cotton cultivation.
Who can use the playbook?
Trainers who want to work with farmers to cultivate cotton organically, CSOs where the primary crop is cotton can use this playbook to address any problem in the cotton growing cycle. This method is a systems approach solution and in addition to cultivation methods focuses on building soil health as well.
Who created this playbook?
P Srinivas Vasu from SOIL trust has created these resources around organic cotton and brown cotton cultivation along with other crops. He has extensive on-ground experience with soil rejuvenation and has conducted around 100 2-day workshops for farmers training them to use his methods. These methods, co-created with farmers have helped many smallholder rainfed farmers to make their soil more fertile and increase yields and incomes.
Where and when has this been tried successfully?
Current pilot in Raichur with WELL Labs rural futures team. 17 households in 28 ha of rainfed degraded land. The plan here is to:
Shift farmers from monoculture to akkadi saalu - behaviour change + shift in practitioner behaviour (incentivised by reduced input costs, value additions and market access)
Creating and adding farmyard manure, green manuring, etc. to restore saline land and using Mr Vasu’s crop calendar.
Setting up a pilot demonstration plot - Soil Vasu will do a demonstration to show farmers methods and yields from regenerative agriculture practices (70-20-10)
Another pilot on more fertile land, specifically with cotton growers, in partnership with Udaanta trust which will provide market linkages for brown cotton.
Many workshops and trainings in Karnataka over 15-20 years - methods tried by (xx) farmers led to success (define success here)
What steps does this solution take? (Steps 1 to max. 7)
Step 1: Pre-sowing
a. Deep plowing
After the first rain during summer (March/April), plow the land deeply.
This removes pests in pupae stage, disease-carrying insects, nematodes and weeds (these weeds could be used to make compost and/or liquid manure).
Plowing also loosens the soil, which leads to rainwater being better absorbed and retained for longer by the soi (increase in soil moisture)
To maximize soil and water conservation within the farm plot, plow across the slope and build bunds on plots with a higher degree of slope.
b. Apply farmyard manure (FYM)
FYM is made from agricultural waste, animal dung is collected in a pit day after day. Some farmers add neem leaves to that, add some water. Over 6 mo. to 1 year it becomes farmyard manure. (Pit Method) – this fertilizes the soil and reduces farmer’s input costs
Mix FYM with trichoderma - this helps in controlling black arm disease/bacterial blight and fusarium wilt, all diseases that spread through seeds.
At Least 3-5 quintals of improved FYM mixed with 20 kgs of vermicompost has to be applied to the farm, with cattle urine and neem cake.
Many farmers, especially in the target demographic do not have access to FYM. They can use vermicompost or compost created on the farm using kitchen waste and materials that are available locally.
c.Construct a farm pond in the lower portion of the farmland to ensure rainwater conservation.
Step 2: Seed selection and treatment
Use pest and disease resistant variety seeds.
If the previous crop was cotton, then cotton should not be cultivated again or even ratoon crop of cotton to be avoided.
Even when cotton is the main crop, a minimum of 8 other crops should be grown alongside as this provides multiple benefits.
a. Seed selection
Crop
Output and Uses
Cotton
Cotton fiber
Cotton stalks for fuel
Cotton seeds as fodder and for edible oil extraction
Cotton cake for agricultural purpose
Dried stalks treated with jaggery + salt - as fodder in emergency Powdered cotton seeds for poultry
Seeds for mushroom culture
Castor
Seeds for hair oil and oil bath for babies
Castor cake as manure
Leaves to cover from sunlight
Sticks for fuel purpose
Pearl millet
Grains for staple food and medicine
Straw is very good fodder for cattle, especially calves
Cowpea
As vegetable
Dried to make other dishes when there is lack of vegetables during summer
Leaves and creepers as fodder for cattle.
Redgram
Used as green vegetable
Sticks for domestic fuel and thatching material
Husk/seed coat used as fodder
Dried seeds as dal
Sorghum
Staple food
Sticks for fodder
Horse Gram
As food and fodder
Onion/Garlic
As vegetable and spice
Growing onion/garlic for every 8 rows of cotton controls cotton pests
Outer layer of garlic skin (dry) to manage storage pests
Marigold
Flowers (to sell) which also acts as a repellent for pests
Greengram
As vegetable and as dal, sticks for fodder
Chillies
As spice in food
Space plants with 2 ft between two plants and 2.5 ft between two rows
At the borders of cotton crop farm, at least in 3 rows, jowar, use millet as border crops
Intercop short term duration crops of pulses like greengram, blackgram, field bean, cowpea.
For every 3 rows of cotton, one row of millet, oil seeds have to be sowed. This will help in controlling sucking pests of cotton. And as these crops have a short root system, the nutrients from the soil will not be overused.
Likewise, for every 20 rows of cotton, one row of jowar / maize to be sown. Birds will be attracted to jowar/maize and will control cotton bollworm. For this, bird perches has to be installed at least in four places per acre
For every 8 rows of cotton, one row of onion or garlic has to be cultivated. This will control sucking and chewing pests considerably.
Along with this, lady’s finger, castor, marigold has to be sown in and surrounding the cotton farm. This will help in controlling sucking and bollworm pests
Selecting these crops will help in getting more income from multiple crops. They will also attract farmer friendly insects to control most of the cotton pests.
b. Seed treatment
With cow urine (2 %) and trichoderma (10 %) solution to control fungal diseases:
Drench 1 kg of cotton seed in a solution of 200ml cow urine + 10 liters of water + 10 gms of trichoderma for 20 minutes. Once the seeds are dried in shade, they are ready to be sown.
With Panchagavya as general prevention for most diseases:
Soak 1 kg of cotton seeds in 300 ml of Panchagavya + 10 litres of water for 20 minutes, then dry in shade.
Step 3: Soil preparation
Start 6 months prior to sowing
Month 1:
Data collection of cotton crop from farmers, institutions, etc
Analysis of socio-economic status of farmers
Cost-benefit analysis of cotton crop: expenses for pre-sowing, sowing and after sowing activities (plowing, fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, yield, labor, transportation, income from other crops, if any and food security
Identification of cotton growers and formation of farmer associations
Discussions, interactive sessions, formation of sectors (combined villages)
Training to the selected staff
Sourcing seeds from reliable sources
Month 2:
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) – details of crop diversity – mapping resources and farm inputs
Formation of farmer groups (cotton growers associations)
Initiation of savings activity, opening SB account in banks, maintaining records of members and meetings
Training on stable – organic cotton cultivation to the members
Conserving seeds for mixed cropping with cotton
Identifying and mapping farm lands
Making of compost, sand – cow urine pits, vermicompost
Encouraging farming families to start home gardening – distribution of vegetable seeds for them
Month 3:
Complete PRA
Strengthening farmer groups
Provide training to farmer groups - Distribution of handbills, posters on organic cotton
Conservation and selection of cotton and home gardening
Meetings at zonal level (cluster level) for land preparation
Cow pat pit by all farmers
Formation of Farmer field school in all villages. Demonstrations every 15 days in these villages.
Street plays, puppet shows involving interested youths of the village depicting importance of organic practices
Month 4:
Organizing seed mela
Land preparation activity begins: desilting tanks, silt transported to farm lands, pits and bunds to conserve soil and rainwater
Continue making compost and other inputs.
Meetings in every villages at least once in every 15 days
Installation of oil extracting units in selected villages
Month 5:
Provide training to all members of farmer association on cotton crop management
Land preparation, making composting continues
Cultural activities continues
Month 6:
2 – day meetings in every village
distribution of quality seeds
introducing monitoring cards
preparation of Panchagavya by each member
nurseries to cultivate marigold
conserving onion / garlic seeds
soil testing of each plot
Financial support to each SHG
Step 4: Sowing
need a poster showing:
1. depth of root
2. Color of flowers
3. cotton and companion crops - leaves and stem and identification characteristics clearly represented
4. drawn in the pattern of how intercropping will look on field
Step 5: Pest control
Deep ploughing after the first rain. The pests which are in pupae stage inside the soil, disease carrying pests and nematodes will be destroyed)
The residues of the previous crop should be destroyed
Pest and disease resistant variety seeds has to be used
The seeds has to be treated with PANCHAGAVYA OR TRIMURTHY TONIC before sowing
To manage certain diseases, bio-fertilizers like trichoderma has to be mixed with Farmyard Manure and to be applied on the soil
Monocropping of cotton and rattoon cropping of cotton has to be avoided
The weeds grown in the cotton field should be collected and should be used to make liquid manures or in making composts
Sowing should be done in time
Spacing of 2 ft between two plants and 2.5 ft between two rows has to be maintained
Atleast 10 tonnes of improved farmyard manure or 8 tonnes of compost or 5 tonnes of vermicompost to be used per acre
From 55 – 60 DAS cotton, inter – cultivation has to be done to manage weeds
Along with cotton, ladies finger, castor and marigold to be grown as trap crops. The pests which attack these trap crops has to be collected and destroyed
Along with cotton, Avare, groundnut, millet, Jower / Maize, cowpea, onion or garlic crops to be sown as intercropping or mixed cropping. Bollworm pest will be effectively controlled. If eggplant is grown along with cotton, whitefly pest will be managed. Avare protects cotton from getting disease but also attracts farmer friendly insects and other predators like ladybird beetles, chrysoperla etc.
Bird perches to be installed or erected atleast in 3 – 4 places in an acre. The birds will visit the cotton field and manage pests
3% of NSKE or 2% of Neem oil has to be sprayed to manage sucking pests
To manage bollworms, a Trichogramme card has to be used atleast 4 per acre after 40 – 45 DAS.
Crop calendar (for brown cotton, nakshatra based Rainfall - Climatology)
April - Ashwini - Bharani - Applying tank silt to the farm/soil - strengthening the bunds - greenleaf manure seeds sowing and after a month ploughing them all - livestock manure
May - Kruthika and Rohini - Adding greenleaf manure to the soil – De-weeding and removing pebbles in the farmland - Adding Farmyard Manure - Ploughing
June - Mrigashira - Aridra - Adding Farmyard manure to soil - testing and treatment of sowing seeds - Sowing
July - Punarvasu and Pushya - After sowing, thinning (removing extra plants) - Adding organic liquid manures to the growing crops
August - Ashlesha - Makha - pubba - Managing pest and diseases - crop protection with organic approach
September - Uttara and Hastha - Observation of crop stages - performing traditional pooja for growing crops - Identifying and selecting suitable crops/seeds - can be used for next sowing
October - Chittha and Swathi - Harvesting of matured crops in stages - Sowing of Rabi crops
November - Vishakha and Anuradha - Harvesting of matured crops - Managing pulsed crops from pests and diseases - Sowing of Rabi crops
December - Jeshta - Moola - Purvashadha - Drying the harvested crops - Identifying quality seeds for next season - conserving fodder for livestock
January - Uttharashada and Shravana - Marketing of value-added pulses - celebration of Sankranthi (festival of harvest) - decorating livestock
February - Danishta and Shatabisha - Final harvest of pulses crops - conservation of crop residues as fuel and fodder
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