For 53-year-old Lakshmanan, a former banana farmer near Modakurichi in western Tamil Nadu, switching over to Moringa has opened up a world of opportunities.Forced to explore options by regular periods of low rainfall, which hurt yield at his six-acre farm, he found the answer when he participated in a training programme in Madurai on Moringa cultivation and value addition. Three years after he planted the first Moringa tree, Mr. Lakshmanan now grows the plant on five acres. And it is completely organic. “I cultivate Moringa for leaves,” he says. “It can grow with relatively less water and hence is an advantage.” Value addition After initially selling Moringa leaves to domestic buyers in small quantities and at low cost, he
Month: August 2018
Erode organic farmers set to take the sugarcane plunge
Going organic seems to be yielding rich dividends for the Erode Uyir Iyyarkai Vivasaigal Sangam (Erode Uyir Natural Farmers’ Society). So much so that its members are raring to go a step further and bring into their fold about 1,000 acres of land in Tamil Nadu for organic sugarcane cultivation. The 64 members of the society have already undertaken organic farming on about 400 acres in the State. Formed two years ago, the agricultural society has secured group organic certification for most of its members and also runs a retail outlet in Erode to sell their organic produce including pulses, vegetables, turmeric, sugarcane jaggery powder and processed food items. Most of the value-added products are made by the farmers