SUSTAINABLE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Sustainable nutrient management techniques allow farmers to maintain healthy, productive soil for crops without degrading the environment. Small-scale sustainable farms are able to recycle nutrients by fertilizing their crops using compost and manure produced naturally by their livestock. Sustainable farms only raise small numbers of animals, creating enough manure to fertilize crops without polluting the environment or human health.

Cover Crops and the natural way of retaining the nitrogen in soil

Nutrient levels in the soil are increased by growing cover crops such as buckwheat, hairy vetch, cowpeas, and millet and forage sorghums. When planted after harvests and chopped into no-till mulch, cover crops help add organic matter and nutrients to fields, thereby reducing the amount of fertilizer required to grow additional crops in the future.

Cover crops and adding green and dead leaves are the best natural methods to regain the soil nutrients and the nitrogen content.  Traditionaly, in India, leaves of neem, leaves of nuna in tamil  (morindaumbellata - Rubiaceae family tree), leaves of Vaathamadakki ,  leaves of Pungan tree ( Pongamia pinnata, Millettia pinnata )and leaves of Poovarasu  the Portia Tree, (Thespesia populnea) and the crops  such as Narippayaru a kind  of pulse, Pulpayaru, Kavvalai, Suspania   ( Sesbania grandiflora sesban agathi) etc are used for this method. If we use these, the earth worms are increased in number, they are the friends of farmers, and they tilt the soil very well.

The  Fabaceae families keep the nitrogen in the roots itself and so the nitrogen is retained in the soil.  So growing paddy and fabaceae family crops alternatively, maintain the soil nitrogen in a correct proportion.

Natural pesticides

We make a natural pesticide from the juice of neem leaves, seeds of neem, kattamanakku leaves, aadathoda leaves mixed with the urin of cow.  This will not pollute the soil, air, water and human health.  It supplies nitrogen also for the plants.