Chaitanya Krishi Vikas Laboratory

22/11/2022

Why Indian farmers hesitate to practice Organic Farming?

They say, that organic farming has many benefits. It improves soil quality. It produces non-toxic food. It improves nutritive value of the food. It improves taste of fruits and vegetables. It reduces cost of production. Farmer gets more price for organic products. So on and so forth. Then why Indian farmers hesitate to practice organic farming? Why shopkeepers sell fertilizers and chemicals? Why government provides subsidy to the fertilizers? Why chemical pesticides and fungicides are not banned by the government? Is there any lobby behind it? Or multinational companies? Why Indian Agro-scientists are recommending chemicals? Are they blindly following western technology?
What do the Indian farmer say? Is he comfortable with organic farming? Certainly not. Why? Because it is not profitable for him. And anything that is not profitable, cannot be popular. You can’t force anybody to bear losses. Therefore, consistent campaign for more than 25 years could not convince farmers to practice organic farming. The only way to popularize organic farming is to make it more affordable and profitable.
Some people say why can’t we increase the cost of chemicals so that use of chemicals becomes unaffordable? Stop subsidies on fertilizers. Ban pesticides. Impose more taxes on chemicals. Why government doesn’t do that? Because such experiment is already done in Sri Lanka recently. And it backfired miserably. Sri Lanka faced its worst food crisis. Do you want to repeat same experiment in India?
Is Indian farmer so selfish or short sighted? Is he destroying his own land with fertilizers and excessive irrigation? Does he not worry about his future generations? Doesn’t he know that he is producing toxic food? Doesn’t he know he is exploiting ground water? Certainly he knows it. Then what are his compulsions? Let’s discuss it in next article.
Thank you.

20/11/2022

भारतीय शेतकरी सेंद्रिय शेती का करत नाही?

सेंद्रिय शेतीचे अनेक फायदे आहेत. सेंद्रिय शेतीमुळे जमिनीची प्रत सुधारते. विषमुक्त अन्नाची निर्मिती होते. अन्नाची सकसता वाढते. भाजीपाल्याची, फळांची चव सुधारते. शेतीचा खर्च कमी होतो(?). सेंद्रिय मालाला भाव जास्त मिळतो. एवढे सगळे फायदे असताना शेतकरी सेंद्रिय शेती का करत नाहीत? दुकानदार रासायनिक खते, औषधें का विकतात? सरकार रासायनिक खतांवर सबसिडी का देते? जालीम विष असलेली कीटकनाशके वापरावर बंदी का घालत नाही? यामागे कोणती लॉबी आहे का? परराष्ट्रीय कंपन्या आहेत का? भारतीय कृषीशास्त्रज्ञ पाश्चात्यांचे अंधानुकरण करताहेत का?
कोणत्याही शेतकऱ्याला विचारले, तर तो सांगेल, की सेंद्रिय शेती परवडत नाही. आता बाजारात असे अनेक तज्ज्ञ भेटतात , जे छाती ठोकून सांगतात की सेंद्रिय शेतीत जास्त फायदा मिळतो. पण गेली पंचवीस वर्षे सातत्याने प्रचार करूनही सेंद्रिय शेती शेतकऱ्यांत लोकप्रिय झालेली नाही. काहीतरी कारण नक्कीच असले पाहिजे. शेती हा शेतकऱ्यांसाठी पोटापाण्याचा व्यवसाय आहे. तुम्ही कितीही मखरात नेऊन बसवलं तरी जर परवडलं नाही , तर शेतकरी सेंद्रिय शेती करणार नाही. म्हणजे तुम्ही एकाच पद्धतीने शेतकऱ्याला सेंद्रिय शेतीसाठी उद्युक्त करू शकता. सेंद्रिय शेती रासायनिक शेतीपेक्षा अधिक फायदेशीर झाली पाहिजे. तरच शेतकरी शेतातील रसायनांचा वापर कमी करतील. अन्यथा जनजागृती करून काहीच फायदा होणार नाही.
आता यापुढील मुद्दा म्हणजे सरकारने रासायनिक खतांवरील सबसिडी बंद केली तर काय होईल? रासायनिक औषधांवर बंदी घातली तर काय होईल? किंवा रासायनिक निविष्ठांवर अधिकचा कर बसवला तर काय होईल? अर्थातच रासायनिक शेती महाग होईल आणि आपोआपच शेतकरी सेंद्रिय शेतीकडे वळतील, असे अनेकांना वाटते. नुकताच हा प्रयोग श्रीलंकेच्या सरकारने करून पहिला. तो त्यांच्या चांगलाच अंगलट आला. सेंद्रिय शेती परवडत नाही हे शेतकऱ्यांना माहित होते. सरकार आपल्या जीवावर असले प्रयोग करत आहे हे त्यांना कळले. त्यांनी सरळ शेती करणे बंद केले. या एकाच गोष्टीमुळे श्रीलंकेत सरकार पडले. प्रशासन विस्कळीत झाले. समाज उध्वस्त झाला. भारतातही असा काही प्रयोग केला तर यापेक्षा काही वेगळे चित्र दिसणार नाही. म्हणून असले प्रयोग करताना तारतम्य बाळगणे आवश्यक आहे.
मग आपल्याला प्रश्न पडतो, की भारतीय शेतकरी इतका स्वार्थी आहे का? तो आपल्याच जमिनीची नासाडी करतोय का? ? त्याला आपल्या पुढच्या पिढीची चिंताच नाही का? आपण देशाला विषयुक्त अन्न खायला घालतोय हे त्याला कळत नाही का? आपण गरजेपेक्षा जास्त पाण्याची नासाडी करतोय हे त्याला दिसत नाही का? त्याची काय मजबुरी आहे , हे आपण पुढील लेखात पाहू.

18/11/2022

17/11/2022

Agriculture is backbone of Indian economy. But the person who runs it, that is farmer, is in great distress. Reason? Lack of knowledge and lack of management skills.
We have an experience of Commercial agriculture, Agro consultancy, Soil testing, Fertilizer scheduling for last 25 years. We have tested above 1 lakh soil samples and provided advisory on nutrient management. Based on this experience, now we want to expand our services to a larger scale.
In this enterprise we will create a back office for a farmer.
Our function:
1. Crop selection
2. Crop scheduling/ rotation
3. Crop planning/ Calendar of operations
A. Nutrient management
B. Labor management
C. Plant protection schedules
D. Irrigation schedules
4. Crop monitoring
A. With daily data collection
B. Periodic crop photos
C. Satellite images
D. Drones
5. Weather reports
6. Market reports
7. Market records maintenance
8. Maintaining books of accounts
Farming is a continuous engagement with weather, people, markets and governments. A farmer has a limited time and unlimited tasks. Performing day to day activities on the farm is a challenging job. Our enterprise will help the farmer to focus on that. With good management practices we will help him to minimize his expenses and maximize the profits.

11/11/2022

11/11/2022

Masters of the Planet Earth
Does this earth belong to us? Are we the smartest species on this planet? Most of us think the same. But it is not true. In my opinion this planet belongs to bacteria. And they are the smartest species on the earth.
Basically, they are here millions of years before us. And they were doing good until last century. Bacteria are everywhere. They are in air. They are in water. They are in soil. They are in plants and animals. They are in food. They are in your digestive track. They are in your lungs. They are in your tissues; they are in your cells. They control your digestion. They control your respiration. Do they control your cell division? I don’t know. If somebody proves that, he will get the Nobel prize in Medicine.
As a soil scientist, I know that they are the masters of Topsoil. And topsoil is the base of our life. So, they are the masters of the life on the earth. Animal excreta goes into the topsoil and gets decomposed by bacteria. Plant and animal bodies after death go to the topsoil and get decomposed by the bacteria. Carbon cycle is rolled by bacteria. Nitrogen cycle is rolled by bacteria. Life cycles of all plants and animals are rolled by bacteria. Therefore, as I said, planet earth belongs to the bacteria.
What is agriculture? Till today, it was the science of growing food and fiber from the soil with the help of plants. And what we do after removal of food from the plant? We just burn the “waste”. Not knowing that that waste is a food of billions of bacteria who are the real owners of this planet. What will be the result? Desertification. If we starve bacteria from our topsoil, very soon we will turn our lands into deserts.
Therefore, agriculture in modern days should take this challenge. Soil scientists of tomorrow should take this challenge. Today “Soil Fertility Management” means only adding fertilizers to the soil. But that is causing rapid desertification. We, the soil scientists must develop techniques and protocols where we can keep the masters of the planet alive and happy.
Thank you.

09/11/2022

09/11/2022

Chaitanya Krishi Vikas Laboratory
Motivation…Education…Monitoring
Hello friends.
We all know that Agriculture is the game of uncertainties. Climate is uncertain. People are uncertain. Markets are uncertain. And above all, governments are uncertain. And only farmers are victims of all these uncertainties. This page will help farmers to take correct decisions in uncertain changing situations.
Who am I?
I am Vikas Murlidhar Rajarshi. Born in Thane, Maharashtra, on 1st March 1971. Got my primary and secondary education at Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Entered in College of Agriculture, Pune in 1988. Completed my post graduation in Soil Science in 1995. Started farming on our family land since then. Handled many irrigated and commercial crops. Started agro consultancy in 1997. Started a soil testing lab in 1998 at my farmhouse. Expanded the same in 2005 in a bigger town and in commercial space. In 2010 another lab was started in Pune, Maharashtra with some friends. I have checked more than 1 lakh soil samples in last 24 years. . We, through our labs also worked for government under RKVY and soil healthcard programs.
What is this business?
As you know, plants require 19 elements to complete their life cycle. Out of which 16 are considered mineral nutrients. In them 12 are called macro or micronutrients which can change the plant life significantly. Plants absorb all these nutrients from the soil.
Chaitanya Krishi Vikas Laboratory performs following functions.
1. Soil Testing
2. Water testing
3. Leaf/ Petiole Analysis
4. Manure/ Fertilizer testing
5. Interpretation of soil test report
6. Nutrient management. Fertilizer schedules, Fertigation schedules.
Benefits of soil water testing
1. Increases crop production
2. Improves quality and of the product
3. Increases the crop resistance towards pests and diseases
4. Maintains the soil fertility for the next crop
In CKVL the charges for one soil sample is Rs. 700/- and for one water sample is Rs, 300/-. But the benefits? We need not to tell you that. You can yourself better imagine.

What this page offers to you?
This page will help farmers to find practical ways to succeed in uncertain situations. It will talk climate. It will talk agro inputs. It will talk management skills. It will talk markets. It will talk government policies. It will talk everything that will help farmers to minimize expenditure and maximize profits.

So… Stay tuned. Thank You.