BAIF is providing technical expertise to Hindustan Lever Ltd., for establishment of greenbelt on the industrial premise of Silvassa Detergents Factory, Dapada in Silvassa, Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. This project was initiated in May 2001 and the impact has been quite significant.
To demonstrate the feasibility of cultivating vegetables in a region characterised by annual rainfall in the range of 1800-2000 mm, humidity and shallow, lateritic and gravelly soils, an experimental plot was established in 2002. The traditionally grown crops by the tribal families are paddy, finger millet, pigeon pea, green gram and black gram. Since vegetable cultivation is not a popular source of income generation activity, intake of vegetables is poor, resulting in undernourishment and an imbalanced diet. A demonstration plot was laid out on .07 ha. Keeping in mind the harmful effects of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, it was decided to grow vegetables through organic method of farming. The plot was levelled into terrace beds and dry grass, leaves and weeds were collected from the afforested area and mixed in the soil of the plot at the time of levelling the land. The objective was to increase the organic matter in the soil, increase the water holding capacity and enhance the nutritional content of the soil. In the early part of June, a ton of vermicompost prepared from canteen waste was mixed into the soil and ridges and furrows were prepared on six small plots. In the second week of June, seeds of 10 varieties of vegetables were sown. Being rainy season, there was no need to water the plants. Inspite of an attack by insects in the initial stage which was countered by spraying neem oil, all the vegetables registered very good growth. However the growth of cow pea and cluster bean was hampered by heavy rains in July, resulting in their mortality. The total yield of the vegetables such as lady's finger, radish, tomato, cucumber, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, bitter gourd and brinjal was 461 kg. 15 kg of canteen waste is generated daily which is being used for vermicomposting.
The trial successfully demonstrated the organic cultivation of vegetables. As a result of the trial, fresh vegetables free of chemicals are available for the canteen of the factory. The produce is being supplied daily to the canteen which is making good use of organic waste to cultivate vegetables, thereby enhancing the health care of the staff of the factory.
This experiment has successfully demonstrated the recycling of organic wastes for production of organically grown vegetables beneficial for human beings and has emerged as an eco-farming model developed under adverse agro-climatic conditions. |
