M.H. Panhwar

Mrs. Farzana Panhwar

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Institute of Organic and Sustainable Horticulture and Agriculture Research, Hyderabad & Sindh Society for Horticulture Science, Karachi.

Preface.

We had been doing work on Sustainable Agriculture on our farm for years. Our work involved cultural practices, which reduce cost and increase yields. It amounted to hit and miss trials until some success was achieved. The word Sustainable Agriculture coined later on in USA came as a surprise to us. We have sufficient records of four farms to prepare a useful write up of our experiences of failures and successes, and this has been prepared as brief summary of work done in the past 30 years. Since the past 5 years, very interesting results are coming out from the use of sustainable methods, as our new crops are starting to fruit.

The reason for starting the program was started to make use of cheap human labor, cheap availability of cattle manure, poultry droppings and all kinds of other agricultural waste materials readily available in place of costly machines, synthetic fertilizers and agricultural chemicals.

Further to this the following have kept the program going for 30 years:

• Economy of cultural practices.
• High yields of fruit crops.
• High returns.
• Challenging job, being first of the kind in Pakistan with no precedent and unexpected success met by us.
• Healthy soil.
• Less disease attacks due to healthy trees.
• Employment of local labor brings some prosperity.
• Indigenous innovations, researching and finding new techniques.

After above experience the present goal of the program is:

• To boost the sustainable methods for high yields in fruit crops.
• High returns.
• Create employment opportunities.
• Train other farmers and their employees.
• Open-up new opportunities of employment of agriculture university graduates in this field.

Program had been operating since 1965 on two crops namely mango and banana but a large scale planning and execution was started after 1990, when we had to introduce commercially new crops namely; lychee, longan, grape fruit, grapes, fig, pomegranate, apple, peach, nectarine, almond, pear and persimmon, in the low latitudes of sub-tropics (25º-27’).

On experimenting with farm yard manure, human excrete, and compost, we had concluded that addition of these to the soil was much better than synthetic fertilizers in terms of enhancing yields, but farm yard manure increased weeds as it contained their seeds and compositing of materials on the farm and adding to the soil though economical, involved intensive supervision. We had reached the conclusion that if agriculture waste materials are spread as mulch under the fruit trees and mulch pile is maintained year around, yields would be higher than all other cultural methods. We therefore decided that in future mulching material would be produced on the farm between the tree rows and it will be mowed and spread under the tree canopy in a layer, 4 to 10 inches thick, depending upon the supply. The text gives the details, how annual weeds grow profusely in our area due to presence of their seeds in irrigation water year around. We also found that mulch suppressed the all kinds of weeds and applied continuously over some years, even notorious perennial weeds were killed, provided these weeds were mowed or pulled out, every time new mulch was added.

We grow trees on ridges 6 feet wide and 10 inches high and applied irrigation water in the rows between trees. Our soils are silty loam. Some thing un-believable has happened to the soil due to mulching. It has become porous to the depth of 10 inches. There is a tremendous activity of insects living on dry grass (mulch), their predators, and earthworms. On lifting mulch, the soil surface is seen fully covered with brownish-grey insects. Water is applied in the furrows between the tree rows and soil surface remains moist under mulch, even after 5 weeks of application. Tree growth is doubled and the first fruiting is early and so is first commercial crop. Recently 3 years old grape-fruit gave the first commercial crop and yield was the same, as the Pakistan’s national average of mature trees 20 years old or older.

We are now training trees either to the central leader or to open vase systems. This is the first experiment of its kind in Pakistan. We are pruning trees to admit more light and thereby improve tree health and increase yields. By pruning 27 years old mango trees, we have increased their yield from 6 to 9.5 tons/per acre in 2 years again national average of 3 tons. Our yields were already double that of others due to advanced cultural practices.

We have established an Institute for Organic and Sustainable Horticulture and Agriculture Research. In this institute we will train other farmers, university graduates of both genders, in the sustainable agriculture methods in which we have already succeeded. We have produced 24 books on different fruits nuts and industrial crops the use of sustainable methods for raising them, in English language covering about 3000 pages. These will be published for use of teachers, researchers, extension workers, farmers and students. Their translation in local language will also be under-taken as many farmers do not understand English. We plan to introduce Integrated Pest Management in immediate future. Presently we use pesticides only one a year during dormancy.

We hope the information in the book will be useful to the readers.

In the end we like to express our gratitude to Mr. Mazhar Yousif for volunteering to help in publication of this book and its proof reading.

Karachi,                                                                                 M.H. Panhwar  &

2^nd May 1995.                                                                       Farzana H. Panhwar.

1.         INTRODUCTION

In 1965, we purchased 108 acres of agriculture and near Khesano Taluka Hyderabad (Sindh) to produce fruit crops. Climatic data of Tando Jam 5 km from this farm are given in table-I. The map No.1 shows agro climatic zone of Sindh. We introduced banana and mangoes on 50 acres each and left 8 acres for trials on other fruits. The land was precisely leveled in one acre plots (264x165 feet) by using dumpy level and tractor having rear end blade. An embankment 2 feet wide and 18 inches high was also constructed around each plot to hold irrigation water. Roads each 12 feet wide and 2 feet high were also built around every 4-acre. Irrigation channels were dug along both sides of each road, running east to west. Flood irrigation was the cheapest method as water charges were at a flat rate of about Rs.5.00 (US1.00) per acre per annum, irrespective of quality of water used. We were getting 636 acre feet of water annually for 100 acres. In the beginning conventional method of flood irrigation was used. The Agriculture Extension and Agriculture Research Sections were not geared to proper advice on fruit crops, as these were new introductions then. There was lack of literature in Pakistan on cultural practices involved in fruit production. Most of the extension bulletins written by Karim-Dino Rajpur and were based on Hayes “Fruit Growing in India” a pioneering work, based on the study of common country practices over centuries and lacking scientific supporting data. There was lack of books not only in the university libraries, but also in the market or private collections of agricultural officers. The recommendations for fertilizers, were in terms of such and such number of baskets (of unknown size of Farm Yard Manure (FYM), so many kg castor cake, so many kg of cotton oil cake plus NPK (from urea, potassium sulphate and SSP or triple phosphate and so on). The recommendations did not specify total fertilizers in terms of N₂, P₂O₅ and K₂O per tree per acre per annum.

The Agriculture Department’s recommended spacing for mango was 45x45 to 50x50 feet. The inter-space was to be used for inter-cropping to support costs involved in raising orchard. For Cavendish bananas recommended spacing was 6x6 feet and each mat having one mother plant and one sucker. For weed control of banana and mango, clean cultivation was recommended.

A fleet of laborers with local spades (about 10-12 inch wide hoe) were to inter-cultivate soil to a depth of 4-6 inches and repeat operation when weed growth became 5”-6” tall. In the climatic conditions as at Khesano shown in table No. I, weeds grow very fast and some 5-6 inter-cultivations were done under the mango tree canopy and 2 feet out side it. The inter-space between mango trees was cultivated with tractor. Inter-crops planted were; cotton in 1965 and 1966, wheat in 1965, 1966 and 1967/68, alfalfa (Lucerne) in 1967-1970, papaya in 1970-1973 and pepper in 1974-1975. The prices of cereals, cotton, animal products (milk and meat) as fixed by the government, were so low that costs of inputs or even managerial costs could not be recovered from the inter-crops. The wider spacing in mango was a folly. By 1977 we felt that even 41x45 feet spacing adopted by us for mangoes was too far apart and planted one tree at centre of every four trees, doubling the tree population and reducing diagonal distance between trees to 30 feet. The new plants interfered with old plants only 15 years later, when a pruning program was launched and every year pruning was done so that at least 25% of ground under the trees gets sun-light at mid-day. After 3 years heavy pruning has been limited to light pruning only, except for top working.

Farm Yard Manure (FYM).

Before applying FYM we had soil samples analyzed for NPK. FYM was readily available from near by villages, where animals were raised for draft, meat and milk and manure was collected for applying to the land. FYM was collected by villagers either from barn or from wild pasture lands, where animals grazed. In general it was free from urine, but contained weed seeds, browsed from the wild. Its age was about one week to 3 months. As it was purchased by volume about 800 cubic feet of it made a truck load of 8 to 10 tons: N: P: K contents in it are shown in Table-II below:

Table – II        SHOWING MACRO-NUTRIENTS (N: P: K) COMPOSITION OF FYM.

The Department of Agriculture was recommending 4 truck loads of FYM per acre per year. In general this would meet the N₂ requirements of banana per acre but not of K₂O, which had to be applied as extra. FYM decomposes slowly and only some 25% is utilized during the first year and therefore synthetic NPK chemicals had to be applied in addition. Continuous applications of FYM year after year do meet N₂ requirements, but decomposition of fresh material creates N₂ shortages of FYM must be applied in early winter when up-take of nutrients is low due to dormancy.

The Department recommended that all extra suckers, leaves and banana stems that have been harvested may be removed from the field, immediately as they contain lignin which will not be digested and will cause unnecessary problems and in addition may harbor bacteria, fungus, insects and damage bunches. We did what was recommended, although we were not convinced. The removal of material was costly. It took years to digest it in open and caused space and environmental problems.

Human faeces.

We had an idea that human faeces (without urine) were collected by “sweepers” and dumped out side the city of Hyderabad to dry and serve as landfill. The Municipality of Hyderabad allowed us to carry it away at Rs.5.00 (US$1.00) per trailer of 5 ton capacity. The material usually was a week to four weeks old and was hauled with the help of front-end loader and tipping trailer. Four week old material was not smelly but one week old material had smell.

The macro nutrients content in a sample of this material is shown in Table-III below:

Table – III      ANALYSIS OF HUMAN FAECES.

This material was better in the terms of ingredients and although each round trip from dump yard to land took 5 tractor-hours or Rs.80 (US$16.00) per 5 ton load, but ingredients in it made this material cheaper than synthetic fertilizers or Farm Yard Manure. It was poor in K₂O and supplementary K₂O was applied to banana and mango. Material was stocked on the roads until it lost smell and contractor used donkeys to spread it where needed.

Poultry manure.

We also found that banana suckers, leaves and steams could be composted by adding N₂ in any synthetic form as well as F.Y.M., human faeces and poultry manure.

We had poultry manure analyzed and found the following percentage of various ingredients.

Table – IV      INGREDIENTS IN POULTRY MANURE.

Poultry manure has large quantities of phosphates, which are unavailable in Khesano soils due to high pH, but the nearest pH poultry houses were about 160 km away and hauling cost was exorbitant.

Micronutrients.

Oil cakes are used as animal feed in Pakistan and are costly and therefore were not tried. The farmers were using large quantities of synthetic fertilizers and F.Y.M. In Thatta district climatic conditions were highly suitable for banana and though yield of 10 tons per acre were achieved yet nothing was scientific. Macro-nutrients were invariably applied in excess. There was no concept of micro-nutrients. The research facilities of the Government were not equipped to analyze micro-nutrients in soils and plant tissues. Private laboratories did not exist. The yields, therefore, had become stagnant. By removing banana waste materials, heavy amounts of potash were removed and these were not fully replenished by farmyard manure, which by 1980 had become too costly to use, as area under banana had hit 150,000 acres and mango about 100,000 acres from negligible in 1960.

Inter-cultivation of Mango and Banana.

We also found that the yield of mango was a maximum of about 3 to 4 tons/acre, against 10 tons/acre in Florida, Australia and South-Africa and to increase yields sustainable methods had to be practiced.

We also had noted that inter-cultivation of mango and banana 6 inches deep, by local spades (hoes) was cutting down feeder roots within 6 inch depth and plant had to transfer some energy to regenerate these roots, instead of suing the same energy for canopy growth and fruit development.

For the removal of banana suckers, leaves and stems, a full-time person was needed for every 2 ½ acres. Inter-cultivation 4-5 times a year on contract basis was taking about 32 man-days per acre. Banana waste was taken out from every 4 acres and dumped on nearest road, which in no case was more than 165 feet away, composted and put back in the field by donkey labor. Putting FYM or compost back in the field and spreading it, took 4 man and 2 donkey days per acre. This reduced profits. Another factor that was playing its role was the area under bananas in Sindh had increased from nothing in 1956 to 150,000 acres in 1980 and sale prices had come down to about 50%, where as Government subsidies on fertilizers and pesticides were being gradually withdrawn. There was inflation and urban labor problems. The Government instead of raising labor wages fixed the procurement prices of wheat, rice and cotton, very low, so that urban population and labor gets food and clothing very cheap. The purchasing power thus was reduced and so the prices of fruit. The growers margin was reduced so much that they could not afford to spend any amount on development or bring new areas under fruits or changing cropping patterns.

We also understood that continuous inter-cultivation had disturbed level of land in mangoes and the recommended practice of earthling around banana stems had caused depressions between the plants. Mono culture of banana and mango had proved disadvantageous to the growers. There was glut of bananas from October to March and shortage for next 6 months. Our first act was to replace Cavendish Dwarf with Cavendish Giant (Williams) and regulate its suckers to fruit in summer months. We could harvest about 75% crop in summer and get double the prices and 25% in winter at normal price. Another action was to visit Florida, California, Texas, Georgia. Hawaii and Australia to find out new crops, which can be grown in our areas, so that we do not sink in the mono-cultures. We also collected each and every bulletin issued by Extension Organizations of various countries of the World and the States in U.S.A., and any books on fruit culture or new fruits.

In the past 15 years we have collected 11,000 books and bulletins, established an office where 6 ladies (M.S in various branches of sciences) studied this material and organized a kind of office seminars to understand new methods in sustainability of agriculture and increasing yields. We also engaged M.S (Agronomy), as farm managers, supervisors and foremen to execute the plans prepared in the office.

The other farmers engage untrained and uneducated supervisors who control labor by use of force and threats.

Following are the field trials on sustainable methods, commercially successful on our 108 acre farm and results there of over the past 30 years.

Table – I         SHWOING THE AVERAGE MONTHLY CLIMATIC DATA OF TANDO JAM.

2.         UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, SYNTHETIC FERTILISER APPLICATIONS TO BANANA

With use of synthetic fertilizers, the yield of banana came down and over the first four years from 5.8, 8.1 and 7.05 tons to average of 6.1 tons in the years 4. Subsequently, it fluctuated between 5.7 to 6.35 depending on severity of cold in winters. Temperatures below 5ºC for a few nights continuously usually destroyed chlorophyll in leaves and delayed flowering next year. Late flowering usually produced small bunches and low yields. It was concluded that lowering of yield year after year was caused by reduction of organic matter in the soil as well as cutting down of feeder roots by inter-cultivation and removal of more potash in the banana stems, leaves and suckers, than applied in form of synthetic fertilizers. Application of 2 bags of potassium sulphate instead of one every month from first March to first October reduced chlorophyll destruction, but yields remained low. We therefore decided to switch over to adding organic matter in different forms discussed in the next chapters.

3.         USE OF FARM YARD MANURE (FYM) AS SOURCE OF NPK AND MICRO NUTRIENTS IN FRUIT CROPS (1970-74)

In the introduction, Table-II, the chemical composition of FYM has been discussed.

In the South-Asia use of FYM goes back to antiquity and it is invariably used on all kinds of horticultural crops. We did like-wise, but finding high cost of collecting, buying, transporting to the field and applying it to trees/plantations by donkey labor; we gave it up in favor of synthetic fertilizers and weed control by hoeing. After some years we found that yields had either decreased or at the best had become stagnant.

We, therefore, reverted back to the use of FYM and quantities applied were worked out from NPK content of it as given in Table-II. Knowing the FYM takes 2-3 years to digest, N2 in form of urea equivalent to N2 in FYM was added to mango and a year’s dose was applied once. In case of banana 4-truck loads of 8000 kg each were, applied in November and half bag (25 kg weight) of urea were applied 4 times in November, March, June and September and in case of mangoes in March and continued for some years. FYM created weed problems by bringing new weed seeds and invigorating the existing ones. Suppression of weeds was a costly problem and FYM, its transport to the site and spreading under crop was also equally costly. Yet it improved tree growth and yield of banana increased gradually over a period of 4 years from 6 to an average of 8.8 tons/acre in the year four and then became stagnant.

In case of mango there was improvement in growth and health of trees but they still had not reached maturity and yield was increasing year by year and its comparison with controls could not be quantified as different trees showed different yields. However, annual increase in trunk and canopy diameter was more in trees receiving F.Y.M. The reason probably was that FYM took nitrogen from soil possibly over the whole year for its decomposition and supply of synthetic fertilizers was not uniform enough to compensate soil nitrogen deficiencies for the whole year. Nitrogen made available from FYM, was also not uniformly spread through out the year. The organic matter built up was also gradual. In four year period annual application of FYM allowed building up of organic matter in soil and supplies of macro-nutrients became uniform and the yields established. The yield for the years were; 5.8, 7.7, 8.2 and 8.8. In the subsequent years yield fluctuated between 8.4 to 9. This shows that benefits of FYM are available after 3-4 years.

In case of mango there was improvement in growth and health of trees but they are still had not reached maturity and yield was increasing year by year and its comparison with controls could not be quantified and different trees showed different yields.

The Conclusion.

• It was apparent that use FYM alone or with supplemental NPK from synthetic fertilizers was better than chemical fertilizers alone, in terms of tree trunk and canopy growth of tree crop and also yield.
• In case of banana it increased yield when supplemented with chemical fertilizers. Yield increase was gradual and attending over 4 year period and no further increases occurred, possibly as FYM promoted weed growth.
• FYM brought new weeds and invigorated existing ones. There is extra expenditure on weed control.
• Application of FYM involved hauling of bulky material from a distance and applying it to individual trees, but the cost involved was paid back by extra yield. It also absorbed extra managerial charges.
• Weedicides are killers of soil fauna and ultimately result into soil deterioration and we were not using them, except during first few years. Mechanical methods were better than herbicides though continuous use of machines injures the soil.
• FYM helped in producing healthy soil and healthy trees, but weed problem multiplied.
• Synthetic fertilizer when used alone, reduce yield year after year, due to soil exhaustion.

Use of Farm Yard Manure (FYM) as source of NPK and Micro Nutrients in Crops (1970-74).

• FYM has low pH and in our soils of high pH of + 8.0, it produces local lowering of pH and thereby up take of micronutrients from soil.
• FYM besides NPK also supplies micronutrients which help increasing yield.

4.       COMPOSTING OF BANANA TRUNKS, LEAVES AND TRASH BY ADDING UREA AS CATALYST AGENT

The Department of Agriculture were recommending that dead leaves, banana suckers and stems, should be taken out of the field and thrown away as they cannot decompose if left inside the plantation. In the year 1965 and 1966, these were taken out and dumped in dry pit. It was true that they did not decompose in 2 years but lost water by evaporation and lay there as a pile of fibrous matter. We decided to add urea and water to it and cover the top with 6 inches layer of earth. It was found that pile had started shrinking and after about a year there is no further change in size of pile. We removed the earth and found that material had turned into small pieces by anaerobic digestion. We were now certain that banana wastes can be composted and reused.

We, therefore, took out banana, waste materials from the field chopped them in pieces 6 inch long and when pile become one foot thick, urea was added on the top and another one foot layer of banana waste was laid and urea added. In this way the pile was raised to five feet height. No water was added as stems contained adequate moisture. The pile was turned over every 3-4 days, as it was feared that water in the waste material will leach down, taking away nutrients with it-self. In a month’s time the pile shrank and rather was less moist. The pile then was turned over every week and moisture added, if needed. After 16 weeks it was found that the pile was no longer shrinking further and it no longer generated heat inside, showing that process of composing was complete. The time of year was mid March to mid July having mean monthly, temperatures of 24.5, 30, 33.9 and 33.3ºC and diurnal ranges of 11-17ºC.

This material was used in place of FYM in banana field and was supplemented by 2 bags of urea, 4 bags each of potassium sulphate and SSP, each bag weighing 50 kg. It was digested very fast and no traces were visible after 12-16 weeks depending on the season. The banana yield also increased to an average of 9.3 tons/acre while the control which were getting only N.P.K., in form of 8 bags urea, 8 bags potassium sulphate and 8 bags SSP, each bag weighing 50 kg, were not giving more than 6 tons/acre as an average.

5.       COMPOSING OF FARM YARD MANURE (1970-74)

We had been applying FYM to fruit trees as source of nutrients as well as source of organic matter. FYM source was excreta of cows and buffalos. These animals browse on wild growth in pasture lands, near the village. This FYM therefore, contain seeds of various wild grasses and weeds and in spite of helping tree growth, weeds growth, is enhanced and becomes problematic even after FYM is digested under crops. The weeds are both perennial and annual and once established recurrence is year after year.

To eliminate weed seeds, it was decided to compost FYM so as to kill these seeds before its application to banana plantation and mango trees. Farm Yard Manure available to us was fresh as well as partially dry, but the latter was not more than 3 months old. It was mixed with farm wastes like banana stems, leaves and suckers and leaves and twigs of mango trees and weeds growing along roads and watercourses.

Since we were using about 250 truck loads of 8 tons each or 2,000 tons of annually, it was brought and dumped on the roads in the farm and waste material mixed with it. Since C:N ratio in the material was low, ¼ bag of urea was added to each truck load of FYM and water sprinkled on the pile to help in decomposition, compositing was done through out the year and compost was applied to banana and mango by contractor using donkeys. Compost pile height was about 5 feet at the start and it was turned over manually every third day and process continued until no further heat was generated in the pile. In summer months when day temperatures were over 40ºC (average maximum of May being 42ºC) temperature in the pile would easily exceed 60ºC and seeds would lose viability. Even in winter the pile developed enough heat that seeds were made non-viable. Compost was found better than FYM as its volume was much less. It could be safely stored in open on the roads in arid climate of Sindh and applied to the field when needed. It acted fast and did not promote new weeds. However, weeds already growing under mango trees and in banana plantation appeared to have been invigorated due to extra nutrition from the compost. Compost had low pH and probably helped in up take of nutrients from soils it was in contact with. It killed juvenile mango trees if applied in excess. It also burnt bark of young trees if it touched the trunk. The tree health improved as compared to use of synthetic chemicals, because of micro nutrients present in the compost. Soils of Khesano are deficient in zinc, copper, iron, boron and manganese. These micronutrients were imparted by compost as random analysis of samples had confirmed.

In terms of cost, application of compost was costly because the waste materials had to be brought out from the field, to be mixed with FYM. Piles usually consisted of one truck load of FYM (8000 cubic feet) and almost equivalent quantity of trash was added. Usually there were 60 piles to be turned over every third day and 8 full time laborers were used. To take trash out from the field 3 other persons were busy year around. This made operation very costly. Applying 4 truck loads of FYM in the composted form to banana increased yield by about 73% i.e., from 6 to 10.4 tons per acre. The extra yield covered the cost of labor as well as raw materials i.e., FYM and trash. Compost from 4 truck loads of FYM was applied to each acre per year in 4 equal split applications. With each application ¼ bag urea and one bag of potassium sulphate but no SSP was applied. There, however, was a disadvantage that existing weed, growth became profuse due to extra nutrients. The operation was considered as success, as it was a profitable proposition. It was better than using farms yard manure alone or using only synthetic fertilizers. It was labor and management intensive and was keeping field staff on toes and overall management too alert.

6.       USE OF BANANA FIELD WASTE MATERIALS AND HUMAN EXCRETA FOR COMPOSTING (1973-1979)

The city of Hyderabad having population of 1.8 million did not have drainage system and bath rooms in the houses were designed for collecting of faeces by sweepers daily. The faeces were dumped in pits outside the city and land fill. Knowing fully that these will be rich in NPK and micronutrients, we entered into contract with Hyderabad Municipality to haul this material away at rate of Rs.5.00 (US $0.50) per 5 tons trailer. It was period of banana boom. All farmers surrounding our land were growing banana. They had space problem for dumping stems, leaves and suckers as Agricultural Extension was advising for removal of these. We had successfully composted the material with urea and FYM and asked them to dump the material on the roads surrounding our land. These 15 feet wide roads were about 8,000 feet long. In addition we had internal roads around each 4 acres. We hauled faeces with help of front end loader and a covered tipping trailer from a distance of 15 miles (25 km). The banana stems and leaves were chopped to 12 inches pieces for composting. After every 12 inches layer of banana waste a 3 inch layer of faeces was put by front end loader and piled until 8 feet high. No water was added as banana stems contained sufficient moisture. These piles allowed sufficient aeration because of nature of banana waste. Composting was very fast and in 3-4 weeks when pile reduced to 5 feet height, it was turned over by front end loader. After first turning over, it was no longer smelly and labor turned over every 3 days. Composting was complete in about 3-4 months. We used the material for our orchard. Since it was in excess of a year’s needs it was stored under sheds made from local materials at the farm.

We used the compost in banana at rate of 10 tons per acre per year and without use of supplemental N₂ or P₂O₅, but added only 4 bags of potassium sulphate annually. The results were the same as with 4 truck loads (32 tons) of FYM composted with banana waste and supplemented with 4 bags (of 50 kg) of each urea, potassium sulphate and SSP. The cost was less as less material had to be spread in the field.

We continued composting this material until 1977, when the Hyderabad city was provided with drainage and faeces were no longer available.

The stored material was used fro next 2 years, when we decided to use banana trash as mulch, as all other methods, involved expenses on hauling bulky materials.

7.       COMPOSTING POULTRY DROPPINGS

In 1987 poultry houses were established within 5 miles (8 km) of our farm and we thought of using it on the farm. Analysis showed that, N₂ in it is about three times, P₂O₅ about 27 times and K₂O about 6 times, those in Farm Yard Manure. Its cost is about triple that of FYM.

We brought a few truck loads to compost it with weed clippings from the farm. It composted much faster than FYM to which urea was added to improve C: N ratio but the end product had very high percentage of P₂O₅. We used the material in the holes dug for new trees, so that phosphate supply last longer, but its use as NPK source will provide excess doses of P₂O₅ and therefore it was not used.

It is felt that composted poultry droppings can be mixed with composted FYM to reduce P₂O₅:N₂ ratio in the mixture and applied to fruit crops.

We used poultry droppings in bio-gas plant and residue after drying was fit for animal consumption. It was handed over to a party to be mixed with fodder and used as cattle feed.

8.       Use of banana field waste materials as mulch in crop (1979-1990)

In 1979 we decided to replace Cavendish Dwarf with Cavendish Giant (Williams) as it could fruit in summer months against winter season of the farmer. We had raised enough suckers for 50 acres and while replacing the varieties all waste material consisting of suckers, roots, leaves and stems of Cavendish Dwarf was removed and piled on the roads. Land was precisely leveled. Immediately after replanting, the waste material was spread on the ground as mulch and any extra suckers or dead leaves from new growth were also spread between the plants. These suppressed weed growth and first harvest started after 18 months. At the end of first harvest the mulch layer was about 5-6 inches thick and continued to remain so, for the next 10 years. From 1980-1990 bananas waste materials like suckers, dead leaves and stems were chopped in pieces 12 inch long and spread between the plants. It was also found that mulch reduced evaporation from soil, which remains moist for longer time than un-mulched area and therefore instead of irrigating every week in summer, frequency was reduced to 10 days interval; in spring and autumn from 10 days to a fortnight and in winter from a fortnight to 3 weeks. This not only saved 33% irrigation water but reduced seepage losses of nutrients to ground water table and also reduced costs of inter-cultivation and cost of labor spent on removal of leaves, suckers and stems out of the field.

The outstanding advantage of this was that large quantities of potash in the waste material were returned to the soil. Since the decomposition of material was very slow, leaching of nutrients in the mulch was reduced. The practice was continued over next 11 years. The yield shot up to an average of 13.8 tons per acre per year. Soil samples were examined for lignin content. Lignin kept increasing for the first 5 years and from 6^th to 11^th year it remained stable, showing that even lignin gets digested in about 6 years, if adequate moisture and nitrogen is available in the soil. Since no inter-cultivation was done, land level remained precise and light doses of irrigation were found adequate. The mulch also reduced soil temperature in summer and increased them in winter, resulting into better growth and higher yields. The fertilizer dose was also reduced to half. Since the mulch had high C/N ratio, one 50 kg bag of ammonium nitrate was applied every month from 1^st March to 31^st October and one bag of potassium sulphate and S.S.P., every second month from March to October i.e., 8  bags of ammonium nitrate and 4 bags of S.S.P., and potash each weighing 50 kg. There was saving on the cost of fertilizers as well as labor. The results came to the notice of neighbors; some of them adopted this practice. From the results obtained, we concluded that mulching is the best method for disposal of banana waste materials and should be done for all fruit trees. It is also most economical way for disposal of banana waste material.

When banana stems, leaves suckers were used as mulch instead of being taken out, the yields in the first year came down. It was quite understandable that the large quantities of organic matter deficient in nitrogen chopped and left on the ground will take N₂ from soil for their decomposition and the amount of N₂ applied in form of synthetic fertilizers can not be regulated to meet uniformly the N₂ demand of this matter. This will then be provided by soil. The supply of organic matter and its quality also fluctuated. The material from discarded suckers was available mostly in spring and autumn. About 75% stems were available for mulch between April and September immediately after harvest of each stem and only 25% in next six mounts. Leafy material was available mostly in summer months and again in spring. The decomposition was maximum in summer and very little in November to February. The N₂ requirement, for decomposition of waste materials therefore, fluctuated and shortages occurred. In four year’s time, it got balanced enough to give uniform yields but during the first year yield came down and gradually rose. After 4 years yield became uniform due to building up of organic matter, its uniform requirements and supply of N₂ from soil as well as from organic matter.

We found that yield started increasing and after the third year, it stood at 13.8 tons per acre against 6 tons. When NPK were applied in the form of synthetic fertilizers. Main advantages of spreading banana trash were:

• Trash worked as mulch.
• Weeds were suppressed totally.
• Ground remained moist under banana wastes and water application frequency was reduced in summer from weekly to every 10 days, in spring and autumn from every 10 days to every 3 weeks. In the coldest month of the year i.e., January, only one irrigation dose was applied in the first week of January.
• Seepage reduced and so did nutrient leaching.
• Trunk height and diameter became bigger than all other methods.
• Suckers threw flowers much earlier i.e., in the 13-14 month as against 16-20 months by other methods.
• Bunch size, weight, number of hands and fingers increased.
• There was better acceptance of bunche