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Success Stories

Title: Banana special caught its special position in Dindigul District
Background
Banana is cultivated in Athoor, Reddiyarchatram and Dindigul blocks in an area 3018 ha with the productivity of 41.75 t/ha. The major varieties grown here include Nattuvazhai, G9, Red banana etc. During 2003, Dwarf Cavendish was cultivated in our KVK farm in an area of about 2 acres. At that time we heard about Banana special – an exclusive micronutrient formulation developed by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. Then we approached the Director of IIHR and bought 10 kg of Banana special and sprayed on Banana plants according to the instruction given on overleaf. We were really amazing by seeing its performance in terms of bunch size, no. of hands/bunch, no. of fingers/hand, fruit size and its appeal. As most of our soils deficient in its micronutrient status (especially Zn, B, Mn, Fe) banana special could correct those deficiencies by foliar application. KVK convenors and farmers were shown the demo plot and they were also impressed much on its performance. During 2004-05, this technology was tested in 3 farmers’ field under OFT and FLDs were also planned.
Intervention
Process
Some farmers were applying recommended fertilizer dose of 110:30:330 g of NPK / plant and most of the farmers are applying fertilizers depending upon their economic condition. But they simply ignore about micronutrient application either through soil or foliage. Due to the deficiency of micronutrients the yield and quality of banana was affected. Hence,, our Kendra intervened here to disseminate the technology of foliar application of micronutrients that too a special product for banana ie., Banana special.
Technology: Foliar application of Banana special in Banana

Composition of Banana special

6. Synergistic growth enhancers and fillers

Advantages of Banana special

Methods of usage

Seventy five grams of banana special + one shampoo packet + juice of 2 lemon fruits mixed in 15 lit of water thoroughly before spraying. Spraying on plants was resorted 5th month onwards and once in 30 days and continued upto 10th month stage.

Impact

Horizontal spread

This technology was transferred to the farmers at the time to trainings, field visits, diagnostic visit, seminars etc. Farmers at Mallayagoundanpatty, Somalingapuram, Andarasanpettai are progressive banana growers and they were clubbed and formed as Banana Growers Association. They are enthusiastic in adoption of new technologies given by KVK time to time. About 75 farmers are members of this association and growing banana in an area of 140 acres. They are also advising other farmers about the usage of banana special. For the past two years they were approaching our Kendra for the bulk purchase of Banana special from IIHR and our Kendra aided in this aspect. Now this technology is gaining more importance in these areas – the major banana growing area of Dindigul District.

Economic gain

By spray of banana special the bunch weight and grade was enhanced and 8.5 % increased yield was obtained. (Based on OFT results).
Cost incurred towards spray of Banana special/ha               Rs.  2250.00
      (Cost of banana special – 12.5 kg x Rs.100/kg - 1250.00
                  Spraying charges                                    - 1000.00)
Yield /ha
Control                                                                   - 43.25 t
Banana special sprayed plots                                  - 46.88 t
Increase in yield due to spray of Banana special       - 3.63 t
Economic analysis
Increase in gross return by Banana special spray                              Rs. 10890.00
Increase in net return by banana special spray                                  Rs.   8640.00
                                                                  BC ratio : 1:3.84
Because of the high return from spray of banana special, the farmers are regularly using banana special when they grow banana. This technology is spreading very fast but the only constraint is its non-availability in local areas as it is available only at IIHR. So it may be made available in all KVKs, where the banana is a major crop.
Employment generation
Ten man days are required to spray banana special five times for an area of one ha. Hence, additional employment of ten man days can be generated.

Production of bio-inputs by SC/ST youth towards sustainable agriculture and income generation
Our Kendra has implemented the project entitled “community based bio-inputs production by SC/ST youth towards sustainable and ecological agriculture” funded by DBT, NewDelhi from Nov, 2004 to April, 2008. The project implementation site is Anna Nagar, which is located at Sirumalai hills of Dindigul District.  The entire inmates of the Anna nagar village belong to SC/ST category and they were working as labourers in the estates for minimum wages. They were struggling for their livelihood because they got only seasonal employment. To uplift the socio-economic status of those people, a project has been formulated and applied to Department of Biotechnology for financial assistance. DBT, NewDelhi has sanctioned an amount of Rs. 7.5 lakhs for the said project and the same project has been implemented with the view to uplift the living standard of SC/ST population by income & employment generation and entrepreneurship development besides preserving the environment.
Under this project, the beneficiaries and farmers were given with sufficient awareness on ill-effects of present day chemical dependent agriculture, benefits of eco-friendly inputs in soil fertility management without harming the environment. In this awareness generation programme 120 people were participated. Extensive training for duration of three days including field visit, particularly on production, utilization and marketing of Azospirillum and Trichoderma were imparted to the selected 51 SC/ST beneficiaries. Intensive training on production of Azospirillum and Trichoderma viride were organized for 6 days to 22 beneficiaries at T.viride and Azospirillum production units owned by SHGs. Method and Result demonstrations on utilization of these inputs were conducted and 179 & 85 persons were benefited respectively. To test the practical utility of these inputs field demonstrations were conducted in an area of about 85 acres in field and horticultural crops in the farmers’ field of KVK service villages.
The target beneficiaries were clubbed into two groups as Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Youth clubs (YCs) to perform the project activities effectively and to achieve the goal. Initially, the Biotechnological laboratory was established at KVK premise and production of Azospirillum and T.viride was initiated by YC members. Later the same lab has been established at PI area and the targeted SC/ST population started their own production. Estate mangers, Govt. departments and other corporate companies were approached for marketing of the products. At present the monthly production of Azospirillum is 1000 kg and Trichoderma is about 500 kg by respective groups. By the sales of these products to estates and to farmers each member is earning around Rs.1000 per month and later it is expected to raise upto Rs. 2500-3000/month/family. The social status of SC/ST beneficiaries has been hiked to considerable extent by their improved entrepreneurial capabilities.
The SC/ST downtrodden people of Anna nagar village of Sirumalai hills has become entrepreneurs as they have started production of bio inputs to be utilized in agriculture. Now they are well versed in handling of biotechnological tools, designing of market strategies, talk with corporate companies etc. Now they are able to talk about their products and its sales even with the estate owners where they were working as laborers. Even then the estate owners are big shots, they do give due respect to our group members and agreed to procure the products from our Youth Club. So their social statuses are also improved and they are equally respected by others. The Director, DBT visited the laboratory and their activates and he was highly satisfied with their performance.
They have also startedthe following enterprises in the forthcoming days,

By this way our KVK has succeeded in uplifting the SC/ST downtrodden people of Annanagar village.