This is a success story of a farmer who has implemented the concept of bio control in orange orchards successfully. He was interviewed by ALL INIDIA RADIO on this subject in farm programme.
B. S. Shivashankar, an agriculture graduate and a practitioner of organic farming since past 30 years, is a keen observer and experimenter of all new happenings in agriculture. Belur estate in Somvarpete tq. of Kodagu district, is a testimony to all his efforts in this field. Traditionally he is a coffee grower and recently tried to revive the coorg mandarin which is on the verge of extinction. He has grown more than 5000 orange plants in two blocks along with coffee plants.
Last year he had bumper crop but could not reap them as more than 80 percent of the fruits dropped because of fruit fly problem. He had approached the Horticulture Department and scientist from CENTRAL HORTICULTURE EXPERIMENTAL STATION, CHETHALLI. They had suggested to go for aerial spray with an insecticide that could keep away the fruit flies. The scientists and the department people suggested him to go for pheromone trap and helped him to acquire the necessary materials.
Shivashankar insisted on bio- control and asked them if there are any such methods. He wasted no time to implement the bio -control agent in his orange orchard and was eager to see the results. To his surprise it worked out well and he could see the changes during the first year itself. He could harvest 60% more fruits and this had given him much needed confidence to try out the same method in other fruit crops also such as guava, citrus, mango etc . This year he has planned well in advance and installed the pheromone traps at the rate of 8-10 per acre. The plants are in full bearing and he hopes more than 90% of it will ripen yielding good returns. He opined –the state government should come forward to give wide publicity and financial assistance to implement this eco friendly method and the farmers should come forward to take up this on priority basis. After broadcast of this programme several other enthusiasts enquired about this and started following the guidelines which they found very useful and eco friendly.
B. SAddress of the Farmer: SHIVA SHANKAR,
BELUR ESTATE, SOMVARPETE TQ
Mob: 9448312763
Source: T.SHYAM PRASAD,
ALL INDIA RADIO, MADIKERI-571 201,
Karnataka. Mob:9449627093
