Crop Production
Crop Protection
Crop Improvement
Sustainable Agriculture
Organic Farming
Indigenous Farming

Weather
Soil
Water
Seed
Farm Enterprises
Nutrition
Post Harvest Technology
Bio Technology
Bio-Fuels

Success Stories

IIHR Banana Special – A boon for the Banana growers

Banana is the only cash crop occupying major area under cultivation in Tuticorin district. The farmers are growing Poovan, Rasthali, Nendran and some other varieties which are fetching reasonable price in these regions. But, low bunch weight, increased fertilizer cost, fruit cracking and uneven filling of hands are some of the problems encountered by the farmers of these regions regularly.

SCAD Krishi Vigyan Kendra is forming Commodity farmers group besides organising farmers club for the past few years. Soon after knowing the problems of the banana growers, it tried its level best to find a suitable corrective measure to overcome the above problems. At this juncture only, it came to know about the IIHR Banana Special prepared at IIHR, Bangalore specially to boost the banana production. Besides all the essential nutrients it has the micronutrients required to enhance the banana production.

Initially 12 farmers were selected and trainings were given to all the farmers for the usage of IIHR banana special under the FLD programme. Soon after the emergence of flower, 4 sprays were given at monthly interval starting from 5th month onwards and the growth factors were monitored in the field and documented properly.

The result obtained from all 12 farmers field was very encouraging and the farmers also expressed their satisfaction over the yield and quality of the bunches. The spray not only increased the bunch weight but also increased the number of hands. It helped the farmers to reduce the fertilizer application from 4 to 3times. The fruits were shiny and uniform in size.

The field day conducted in the farmers field with the neighbouring farmers along with line department people evoked lot of interest among the farmers for the IIHR Banana special. The demand for the IIHR special is growing and the number of letters to SCAD KVK demanding the IIHR banana special is also growing every day. The IIHR banana special has really come as a boon to the banana growers of the Tuticorin District.

MUSHROOM AS SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRENEURSHIP

Punagai malargal SHG members from Tuticorin town received mushroom training through Women Development Corporation. Four members of them namely Mrs Shanthi, Mrs Kavitha, Mrs Mala and Mrs Vijila got motivated and started a small mushroom unit.

While cultivating mushroom they faced lot of technical problems like lack of spawn availability, improper sterilization, packing technology etc.

These women were trained again  at SCAD KVK regarding spawn production, sterilization technique, packing technology, nutritive values , preservation techniques and value addition on mushroom for one week mainly through demonstration,

After the KVK training programme they started to produce spawn. They are maintaining 400 mushroom bags. At present they are producing 5-10 kg / day of oyster mushrooms. They are selling their products in super market, medical colleges, womens hostels and in an around Tuticorin etc.
From this they earn the amount of Rs 4800 per month. This successful venture is telecasted in Kalaingar TV and Sun TV.          

On seeing this success Vanoli Jeya Thamira SHG  started to produce mushroom soup powder and mushroom. They sold 40 packets of 100 gm soup powder for the amount of Rs 30 in exhibition stall. They also sold 100 cups of fresh soup for Rs 5 to the public in the stall.

READYMADE GARMENT UNIT

Muthaiayapuram (Tuticorin district) PLF leader Mrs Malliga with the support of 6 SHGs started a readymade garment unit at Muthiahpuram with 10 tailoring machine.

Initially 18 members were trained on tailoring for the past 6 months. From that 6 beneficiaries engaged in stitching readymade garments. Each member is stitching 15-20 pieces a day. At present each beneficiary is earning Rs 50-80 per day. They are getting order from Puthiyamputhur regularly.

They are also conducting tailoring class for the adolescent girls. 8 students are studying in the unit. They earn Rs 400 per month through this tailoring class. Through Readymade garment the PLF is getting the profit of Rs 500 per month. Apart from this they have planned to buy cloths in large scale and stitch nighty, petticoats etc. and sell the products to SHG members and through (exhibiting in ) their shop.

Our KVK intervention is training, capacity building and establishing marketing tie-up. Slowly the readymade garment unit is developing as a  profitable venture. 

VERMICOMPOST PRODUCTION UNIT

In Tuticorin district 98% of the farming communities belong to the rainfed cultivation. Most of the farmers practicing inorganic fertilizer for their crops. They are using farm yard manure as the only organic source. Many farmers are not utilizing the farm wastes, animal/cattle wastes and household wastes effectively. They are not aware about the ways of recycling  the above wastes.           

To improve the socio economic status of farming communities and for effective utilization of farm wastes about 40 members were selected from Pudhukottai and Ottapidaram and vilatikulam blocks of Tuticorin District belonging to 35 villages. All the beneficiaries were trained at SCAD KVK to initiate the vermicompost production unit in their respective places. They were trained about  recycling of farm wastes through vermicompost unit, selection of sites for vermicompost pit, construction/formation of  vermicompost pits, worms release, watering, harvesting of vermicompost, protection from pests and marketing of vermicompost.

All the farmers went for an exposure visit to the existing vermicompost unit at farmers field and at SCAD KVK.            

Particularly two members namely Mr. Chennaiyan from Therkkusilukkan patti village and Mrs Uthami  at Maravanmadam of Pudhukottai block were successfully harvesting the vermicompost for the past three months. Mr. Chennaiyan harvested 4250 kgs and Mrs Uthami got 2050 kgs of vermin compost from three harvest. They both of them were also selling worms for other units. They are selling their produce to local farming communities and private farms.

Through this Mr. Chennaiyan earns the amount of Rs 22000/- for the past three months. Similarly Mrs Uthami of Maravanmadam earned the amount of Rs 15000/-  from three month harvest.

Paddy var. RMD1- A Smiling faces of salt affected area farmers

Tuticorin, southern most district of Tamil Nadu having a vast area near the coastal belt where Salinity is the biggest problem in most part of the farming area due to high evapo transpiration and seawater intrusion. Kalankarai is one of such village where the salinity problem was on the higher side. More over, for irrigating the paddy crop, the farmers were heavily relied on the canal where the water will be available only for three months. So most of the farmers were struggled to get good yield from the salinity-affected field.

At this time SCAD-KVK conducted a detailed PRA exercise and came to know about the severity of salinity problem and farmers inability to hope up with the situation. The SCAD-KVK genuinely tried to find a saline tolerant paddy variety with short duration in nature. RM96019 (culture name) and TRY2 were the two  varieties  introduced in  kalankarai village through OFT programme. About 12 on and off campus trainings were given and the affected fields were examined by SMS and spot solutions were given to the farmer.

The result obtained from the field was so surprise to all the farmers. On an average the farmers were able to harvest an astonishing 6543 Kg/ha which was much higher than the district average yield ( 4.3tonnes/ha).
After seeing the success and demand by the farmers the same variety was tried under FLD and got the same bumper yield.

Now the RMD1 is in great demand not only in kalankarai village but also in the near by villages. By seeing the demand SCAD-KVK encouraged Mr. Vivekanendan of Siruthondanallur to raised RMD1 for seed production under the guidelines of seed certification department. He got nearly 7500kg from 3 acres with organic cultivation and sold the entire quantity to his neighboring farmers for seed. RMD1 has brought back smile from farmers face, which tell the success of this variety.

Socio Economic Empowerment of Rural Women through Self Help Groups in Tuticorin District

On realizing the vital roles played by the women sector in rural development, women SHG’s have been initiated. At present we have formed 1212 SHGs with the total membership of 18267 rural women in Thoothukudi district. SCAD KVK believes in the collective power of the people. women are empowered and that their capacities are enhanced through a process of imparting literacy to them, educating them in the areas of legal rights, health and nutrition care, gender sensitization, participation in the panchayat raj institutions and the political process of the country. These groups were given intensive training on group dynamism, capacity building and other technical trainings by the KVK scientists to help them to learn new skills and to develop mutual trust and confidence for running the women self help groups effectively. This enabled them to avail the credit linkages from the bank. This motivated the group members to take initiatives to start a venture. Intensive efforts were made to infuse entrepreneurial spirit and knowledge among the rural farm women by organizing various skill oriented, income generating training programmes in agricultural and its allied activities. Members were motivated and encouraged to save marginal amount by reducing their expenditure and the income generated can be deposited in a common account maintained by elected leaders. The amount saved was utilized by group members through internal lending for meeting their entrepreneurial, consumption or emergency needs in the form of loan at a rate of interest mutually decided by them.

The women self help group movement has given tremendous boost in improving the extension efficiency of KVK.  This approach helped in the adoption of more technology and to disseminate further at micro level. It helped to facilitate all our KVK activities to perform better and also to receive better response.  This WSHG’s approach have empowered the women in all walks of life.

Women are now confident with improved self-esteem and heightened social awareness contributing in turn a lot to the community at large. These SHG’s received credit facilities from SCAD, Bank and DRDA with the basic strength of their group’s savings. Their total savings helps to build their earnings and also lend internal loans to the tune of three times over their savings.It helps in their day to day financial need.

SHG members are relieved from the clutches of money lenders.   In spite of various constraints the groups could effectively function.  It is a proved maxim that women who are empowered economically and socially become a strong and vigorous force for the removal of poverty and for the overall development of the society.