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POTENTIALITY OF COMMERCIAL ORGANIC HORTICULTURE – A CASEPOTENTIALITY OF COMMERCIAL ORGANIC HORTICULTURE – A CASE STUDY IN THE NILGIRISSTUDY IN THE NILGIRISN. Selvaraj, K. Ramamoorthy and B. Mohandaas
Institute of Commercial Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Ooty- 643 001
Ph: 0423-2442170 Fax :0423-2449382 email: selvanan@yahoo.co.in
The Nilgiris, the queen of hill stations, is the lungs of South India, due to the rich biodiversity and dense shola forests in the ecosystem. The soils of the district are rich inorganic matter, highly fertile and can support agriculture successfully. The climaticconditions prevailing in the district favour the cultivation of high value exotic vegetables,fruits, cutflowers and medicinal plants throughout the year. The district thus can boast of high-tech agriculture with its rich and varied heritage.During the last three decades, agricultural scenario in the Nilgiris has drasticallychanged due to extensive and intensive cropping system with excess use of chemicals,which has led to the cessation of microbial activity in the soil system, paved way to theincidence of new pests and diseases, and led to the attainment of major status of the pestsand diseases which were only of minor importance. Due to the continuous application of chemical fertilizers, the soil has become highly acidic (pH 3 to 4.5), with high depositionof salts and depletion of organic matter. Though the NPK status of the soil in the Nilgirisis high, due to the depletion of organic matter, the microbial activity in soil has slashedand thus the soil has become unproductive. The poor soil health has reflected in thedecline in the yield of priority crops like potato, cabbage, carrot and beans. The high costof chemical inputs, erratic rainfall and fluctuation in the market price of vegetables, havemade agriculture a big gamble, especially in the Nilgiris. Besides, monocropping of thetea in Nilgiris has weakened the economic status of the farmers due to the very low pricefixed for fresh green leaves, and the high costs incurred for chemical pesticides andsynthetic fertilizers. It has been estimated that the farmers of the Nilgiris district areindebted to an unimaginable Rs. 28 crores to around 127 pesticide outlets in the districtalone. The situation is so grave that it has become impossible for the pesticide companiesto recover the debts from the farmers. In this context, it has become mandatory to go infor alternative crops, which can fetch fast and regular income to the growers without posing threat to the environment. This is possible with organic farming, specifically with
 
high-value crops like exotic vegetables and cutflowers, which are of high demand in thedomestic and international markets.At this juncture, the Horticultural Research Station, TNAU, Ooty has emphasizedthe need for low-cost organic farming systems, which could be the only promising way togrow good quality fruits, vegetables, cutflowers and medicinal plants in the Nilgiris. Thestation has played a key role in integrating the various biodynamic organic farmingsystems for the promotion of vedic agriculture in the Nilgiris.
ORGANIC TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED BY HORTICULTURALRESEARCH STATION, OOTY FOR HILL HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Horticultural Research Station, Ooty, has developed integrated biodynamicorganic farming systems which includes the application of green manures like lupin, biodynamic compost, vermicompost and vermiwash. It also includes treatments of seed,soil and foliage with biodynamic preparations,
viz 
., cow pat pit, horn manure and hornsilica, application of native strains of biofertilizers like
 Azospirillum,
Phosphobacteriaand
 Rhizobium
, biocontrol agents namely
Metarrhizium anisopliae, Trichoderma viride
and
 Pseudomonas fluorescens
for the management of diseases. The system also employsadoption of suitable intercropping/crop rotation systems, use of botanical extracts prepared from the locally identified weeds, spraying of dasagavya, use of insecticidal botanical baits, low cost insect traps, agnihotra vedic homa farming techniques andspraying of Manchurian tea extract. Planting of different vegetables during different datesof a month according to the planetary constellations, in accordance to the vedic traditionis also being followed.
Experimental details:
Trials were laid out in the farms of Horticultural Research Station, Ooty to studythe effect of various farming methods on the growth and yield of certain priorityvegetable crops of the Nilgiris district. The experiments consisted of the following four treatments
 
(i)Integrated biodynamic organic farming system(treatments are listed below)(ii)Conventional chemical farming (as practiced by farmers)(iii) Biodynamic + Conventional farming system(iv)Absolute control (no set of treatments was given).
Organic farming practices developed for vegetables, cutflowers and medicinalplants by HRS, Ooty
The integrated biodynamic practices recommended for vegetable crops viz., potato, cabbage, carrot and French beans, which enabled obtaining the maximum yield,are listed below:
•
Use of late blight and potato cyst nematode resistant variety like Kufri Giriraj for  Nilgiris
•
Green manuring with lupin/buck wheat 15 days before planting
•
Seed treatment of potato tuber with 40 litres of 3 % dasagavya + 4 kg cow pat pit for 30 minutes for enhancing germination
•
Sprinkling of horn manure 75 g/ha dissolved in 40 litres of water to the soil at thetime of land preparation
•
Application of well decomposed farm yard manure @ 30 t/ha, biodynamic compost@ 5 t/ha, neem cake @ 500 kg/ha and vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha at the time of land preparation to increase soil fertility
•
Dolomite application @ 5t/ha during land preparation to adjust the soil pH to controlnematode infestation in potato and carrot
•
Incorporation of biofertilizers,
viz., Azospirillum
and Phosphobacteria @ 12.5 kgeach/ha to the soil at the time of land preparation which would fix atmosphericnitrogen and convert the unavailable nutrients to available forms for easy absorption by the plants.
•
Application of 
Metarrhizium anisopliae
@ 20 kg/ha at the time of land preparationfor the management of white grubs in potato, carrot and cabbage
•
Application of 
Trichoderma viride
and
 Pseudomonas fluorescens
@ 2.5 kg/ha each atthe time of land preparation for the management of soil born diseases like root rot in
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