DUNG IS GOLD MINE

Part : 2 - Part: 3 - Part: 4

Part 2:  LAND HAS LOST ITS FERTILITY

If the nutritional elements from soil which are consumed by crops are not replenished after each crop season, the soil gradually loses its fertility . The food grains grown on such soil become nutritionally poorer and eventually the land becomes barren and is transformed into a wasteland. Table 1.3 shows the quantum of nutritional elements absorbed by crops from the soil, indicated as per acre consumption.

TABLE 1.3: The quantities of plant nutrients removed from soil by different crops (kg./ha)

"Handbook of agriculture" (1987) pp.213 Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

To replenish such nutrients consumed by crops from the soil, cattle dung or organic manure, is the best, cheapest, harmless and most easily available manure. Now, let us have a look at nutrients contained in dung and urine of different animals which help in restoring fertility to the soil. The following table indicates the contents of some of the basic nutrients of dung manure.

Table 1.4 The average nutrient contents of manure

"Handbook of Agriculture" (1987) pp. 215, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

Thus, if soil has to be prevented from becoming barren, it is necessary to apply 10 bullock-cart loads or 5 tonnes of dung manure for each acre of land. The remaining shortfall in maintaining fertility of soil is made up by dung and urine of sheep and goats which wander on farms everywhere. The Indian council of Agricultural Research has found by experiments that if the farms are properly ploughed and if 5 tonnes of dung manure is used for each acre, then our agricultural land is capable of giving the following yields of crops per acre:

TABLE 1.5: Yields of different food crops in soil enriched by optimum levels of bovine dung.

Handbook of Agriculture (1969) (ICAR) pp.103

However, when sufficient natural manure is not available, the productivity of crops per acre get reduced as indicated by the following table.

TABLE 1.6- Yields of different food crops grown on soil with sub-optimum levels of cow dung inputs.

 "India"- (1981) pp.201

Let us have a look at two other proofs which indicate the importance of natural manure. In a book titled "Cow in India" by Dr. Satishchandra Dasgupta, on page 43 and 562 the following indication about utility of natural manure can be found. In three farms of equal sizes, the first farm was covered with 2 1/2 " thick layer of natural manure and was cultivated. In the second farm, the layer was only 1/2" thick and in the third farm, no natural manure was used. The results were as under:

TABLE 1.7

The above results make it clear that the yield in the first farm was 6 and 31/2 times greater for rice and grass compared to the third farm which was without any natural manure. In another example in the government dairy on Telan Kheri when cow and bullock dung were used as manure on the farm, the annual yield of crop increased significantly with this practice. (refer Table 1.8)

TABLE 1.8- Cumulative increase in yields of crop and grass grown on soil enriched by bovine dung.
 

Report of Industrial Survey committee, Volume II

Is not the use of natural manure astonishing? In 6 years, food grain production went up by 178.5% and that of grass by 54.5%! Can chemical fertilizers do this without adversely affecting the capability and fertility of land? Why then are people burdened with huge capital expenses in setting up chemical fertilizer plants? Indian agriculture is burdened by more than Rs 1,500 crores as additional costs every year. The subsidy provided by government, of this additional burden is Rs 400 crores, which the government collects from people by way of taxes. The remaining Rs 1100 crores is recovered by the farmer by increasing the price of food grains. Thus, the poor population which consumes the food grains produced with use of chemical fertilizers, is crushed between the farmer on one hand, and government on the other. The high prices of food grains are the root cause of ever increasing inflation in our economy. (Note: The above figures of subsidy quoted by the author, though looked worrisome in the eighties, are peanuts compared to the subsidy burden in the nineties as indicated by following figures.)

TABLE 1.9- Subsidies provided in the Central budget from 1990-91 to 1997-98 (Rs in crores)

Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarted question , 2270

In view of this situation only, some time ago our (late) Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, during her broadcast, had advised our farmers to use compost fertilizers which is made by mixture of dung and urine of animals, their left over food in the form of roots of grass, the dead leaves of trees, etc. People must assert their rights to ask as to under whose direction and under whose pressure, the Government machinery and its bureaucrats are burdening the people with such unbearable and expensive cost of fertilizers.

Value of Services Rendered by Trees- Lakhs of Rupees!

According to a paper presented in the Indian Science Congress held in Varanasi in January 1981, the valuation of a 15 year old tree at rates prevailing at that time was Rs 15.7 lakhs. The bifurcation of this value was arrived at as under:

TABLE 1.10 - Value of a single tree.

The above estimates do not include the value of fruits and flowers yielded by the tree or the value of its timber when it dies its natural death. The above information was given by Prof. T.M. Das of Calcutta Agriculture university while delivering his address as chairman of the Indian Science Congress, deliberating on the subject of "Plant and Pollution". This has been reported by Times of India in its 5th January, 1981 issue on page 5.