MASSIVE ONLINE OPEN COURSE (MOOC) ON

ORGANIC FARMING

FIRST SEMESTER–PROJECT REPORT

Submitted to

MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KOTTAYAM

Submitted by

MEENAKSHI M

Reg. No. 210021084571

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

2022-2025

DEPARTMENT OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SCMS SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

PRATHAP NAGAR, MUTTOM, ALUVA

(AFFILIATED TO MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KOTTAYAM)

 SCMS SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

PRATHAP NAGAR, MUTTOM, ALUVA

(AFFILIATED TO MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KOTTAYAM)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this is the report of the original project work carried out
by MEENAKSHI M (Reg.No. 210021084571) of, Department of Bachelor of
Business Administration, SCMS School of Technology and Management,
Muttom under my mentorship and submitted for the evaluation of Module: 7
(Project Evaluation) of MOOC on Organic farming - JaivaKrishi: Arivum
Padanvumon 30.09.2021.

Signature of Mentor

Place:

Date:
 ABSTRACT

Organic farming is a modern and sustainable form of agriculture that provides

consumers with fresh natural farm products. Organic farming works in synchronization
with nature rather than against it. This objective is achieved by using techniques to
improve crop yields without harming the natural environment as well as the people
who live and work in it. Organic agriculture offers an exclusive amalgamatio n of
environment -friendly practices, which require low external inputs, thereby
contributing to increased food availability. Organic farming is gaining worldwide
acceptance since conventional farming gratifies the demand for both food security and
food safety especially during the pandemic year 2020-21 of COVID-19.

For enabling the Under Graduate students to understand the know-how of organic
farming activities and there by acquiring the related skill sets , Mahatma Gandhi
University has implemented the organic farming project as a part of the MOOC
course. In this report, I’ve included how different vegetable plants should be grown,
what all precautions we have to take and the care we have to give, to grow the plants
by using organic farming methods. I've also included in this report what all plants can be
grown in a limited space and which all plants can be grown very cheap and with
less care.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SL TITLE PAGE
NO. NO.

1. CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 1-2

2. CHAPTER 2 – MATERIALS AND 3-6

METHODS

3. CHAPTER 3 – OBSERVATIONS AND DATA 7-14

COLLECTION

4. CHAPTER 4 - PHOTOS 15-23

5. CHAPTER 5 – COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS 24-25

6. CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSION 27-28

 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1
Organic farming is a method of farming system which primarily aimed at cultivating the land
and raising crops in such a way, as to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic
wastes (crop, animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other biological materials along
with beneficial microbes (biofertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for increased sustainable
production in an eco-friendly pollution free environment. As per the definition of the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) study team on organic farming “organic farming is
a system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers,
pesticides, hormones, feed additives etc) and to the maximum extent feasible rely upon crop
rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral grade rock
additives and biological system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection”.
With the increase in population our compulsion would be not only to stabilize agricultural
production but to increase it further in sustainable manner. The scientists have realized that
the ‘Green Revolution’ with high input use has reached a plateau and is now sustained with
diminishing return of falling dividends. Thus, a natural balance needs to be maintained at all
cost for existence of life and property. The obvious choice for that would be more relevant in
the present era, when these agrochemicals which are produced from fossil fuel and are not
renewable and are diminishing in availability.
The main characteristics include protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining
organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical
intervention. Providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources
which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms. Nitrogen self-
sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective
recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures. Weed, disease
and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic
manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and
chemical intervention.

MOOC on Organic Farming aims to have a vegetable garden at every home so that we could
have non-toxic vegetables, also students can get more ideas about farming and practice it. I've
given my sincere efforts in growing the plants, with the help of my parents. I came to know
about new things on how to grow and maintain the plants and my knowledge of farming
increased a little bit more. I'm happy to continue farming with the same enthusiasm I had
when I started to edit.

2
 CHAPTER 2
MATERIALS AND METHODS

3
CHAPTER 2 – MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 LOCATION OF THE COLLEGE AND STUDENT

SCMS School of Technology and Management (SSTM) is an institution of excellence in
management and technology education, abiding by the rules and regulations of Mahatma
Gandhi University and is NAAC accredited with ‘A’ grade.
I’m residing in Thirumittacode, Pattambi, Palakkad.

2.2 CROPS SELECTED

The crops that I’ve grown include Drumstick, Chilli, Tomato, Amaranthus (Red), Ginger, all
of them 5 each.
2.2.1 Varieties
The varieties of crops selected are – Drumstick – Periyakulam 1 (PKM1), Chilli –
Bhagyalakshmi, Tomato – Anagha, Amaranthus (Red) – Arun, Ginger – Ashwathy.
2.2.2 Source of seed/sample
The seeds were from KVK Pattambi, RARS both situated in Pattambi, Palakkad.
2.3 AREA/NUMBER OF POTS
In the garden, I placed 25 plant pots, in which the seeds were sowed. But some of them didn't
sprout because of the poor quality of seeds. As I mentioned earlier, I sowed 25 seeds but 20
of them was sprouted.
2.4 CROP SEASON
Chilli, Tomato, Amaranthus (Red), Ginger were sown during the mid-week of June (Zaid
Season). Drumstick was sown during the first week of July (Kharif Season).
2.5 WEATHER CONDITIONS PREVAILED
The average temperature of June was 27.4 ° C. There was a rainfall of about 654 mm spread
over a period of 19 days according to the weather report. Sunshine hours were about 5.7
hours per day and the wind blew at 9.3 kph speed. During July, the average temperature of
was 25.8°C, with around 810 mm of rain spread over 21 days and an average 5.5 hours per
day. The temperature during August was 25.1°C with around 494 mm of rain for 16 days.
There was an average of 6 hours per day. During July due to heavy rain and wind speed of
about 9.3 kph some of see, Table 2 and Table 3 show that the number of Chilli and Drumstick
has been reduced from 2 to 4 after 30 days.

4
2.6 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND EQUIPMENTS USED
Grape hoe and Trowel are the tools I used for farming. Grape hoe was used to mix the soil
with Coco peat and the pots were filled with soil and manures using Trowel.
2.7 MANURES
As a basal application, we mixed Coco peat and bone meal with the soil. After 1 or 2 weeks,
we had sown the seeds. For each plant we applied the bone powder every
1-5 days. 2 tablespoons of the bone meal were added for each pot which was filled by 3/4 th of
soil. Along with the bone meal, onion peels, rice water and tea grounds were used as a top
dressing in the soil. Moreover, we used water, in which the onion was soaked for about 2-3
days, as manure.
2.8 BIO-PESTICIDES
The only pesticide I used is the anti-fungal organic pesticide to remove a type of
white fungus on the leaves of the plants.

2.9 CROP MANAGEMENT

For growing the plants, first, we had put holes in the plant pots. Then we filled it with
soil and also mixed the manures along with it. Then we watered it and let it remain like
that for about one week. Also, before we sowed the seeds, we put the seeds in water for
one or two days.

The Chilli plant sprouted after one week. After the Chilli plant became to leaf stage, we
took it and repotted it. It was watered and manure was provided accordingly. After about
a month or so, it has grown well. Flowers bloomed. But none of them turned into Chilli.
Then we started to observe that, the leaves started to fall off, and the reason was a type
of white fungus on its surface. The flowers were also falling. At first, we tried many
remedies at home. We mixed baking soda with water and applied, then later we used
some other remedies too but none of them worked. So, we applied an anti-
fungal organic pesticide (5 ml pesticide for 500 ml water) and also removed the
affected leaves from the plant. We continued doing this for weeks and finally, the fungus
began to disappear. After that, we always checked the leaves so that the fungus won't
come again. Then the flowers again started blooming, and they started to bear Chilli.
Even after the application of pesticide, the fungus again came but we immediately
removed the affected leaves. It bore 6 - 8 chillies till now. In between out of the 5 seeds
sown, 1 seed didn't sprout and 2 of them were destroyed due to rain.

5
There were 5 tomato seeds sown and 4 sprouted after 6 to 8 days. After it reached full
growth, it started flowering, and we got 5 - 6 tomatoes in total from 2 plants.

Amaranthus sprouted after 8-10 days. We had sowed 5 seeds and 2 of them sprouted. One
of them didn't sprout and the other 2 fell off due to rain. Manures applied are the same.
I t w a s v e r y e a s y t o g r o w . After 3weeks, the herb started to grow and it
bloomed and Amaranthus were fruited from the plants after some weeks.

There were 5 ginger seeds sown and 4 of them sprouted after about 3-4 weeks.
Manures were applied and was remaining as healthy plants. After 2 months when we
checked whether it has yielded any fruit, one of the plants had formed ginger and the
other plants were attaining the fruiting stage.

Drumstick seeds were sowed during July. Among 5 sown 4 sprouted as healthy
plants. Not much care was needed for this plant and didn't need that many manures as
other plants did. It bore 3 drumsticks still now.

We watered the plants twice during the day, morning and evening. For the Chilli plant,
more water is not necessary so we always took care that we didn't water it too much.
During rainy days we sometimes water the plants, once a day, so that the plants won't
decay from the excess water. We only use tap water for irrigation.

We also ensured that the plants get a sufficient amount of sunlight as there are
buildings around our place, sometimes it is difficult to get sunlight. So, we move the
plants accordingly to the area where there is more sunlight. When there is heavy
rainfall and wind, we tried our maximum not to get the plants affected by the rain and
wind and sometimes will move the plants inwards. Hence, the different stages of the
plants were at different sites.

The harvest of Chilli was done after 10-12 days the fruit was formed. Sometimes the
time gets a little longer according to the growth. For, harvest was done after 5-6days
after the tomato fruit was formed and after 5-8 days Amaranthus were harvested.
Ginger and Drumstick were harvested around 3 months after they had been sown.

Except for the Chilli plant, no other plants had any kinds of diseases. But for every
plant, there was a common problem that is the rain and wind. It leads to the damage of 2
plants of Chilli and Amaranthus.

6
 CHAPTER 3
OBSERVATIONS AND METHODS

7
CHAPTER 3 – OBSERVATIONS AND METHOD

TABLENO: 3.1

GERMINATION/PLANT STAND ESTABLISHMENT PERCENT

PLANT GERMINATION PLANT

PERCENT
STAND ESTABLISHMENT
PERCENT

Ginger 1 00% 1 00%

Tomato 40% 40%

Amaranthus 1 00% 1 00%

Chilli 40% 40%

Drumstick 80% 80%

TABLENO: 3.2

HEIGHT OF PLANTS IN CM (15 DAYS INTERVAL)

PLANT HEIGHT(cm)

1 2 3 4

After 1 5days Ginger 10 6 5 5

Tomato 13 8 6 8

Amaranthus 5 5 6 6

Chilli 7 6 6 6

8
 Drumstick 13 10 8 9

After 3 0 days Ginger 27 24 22 21

Tomato 29 25
_ _

Amaranthus 29 17 22 29

Chilli 23 24
_ _

Drumstick 28 25
23 24

After 45 days Ginger 40 43

40 38

Tomato 43 38
- -

Amaranthus 55 51
- -

Chilli 59 40
45 56

Drumstick 47 46
43 45

After 60 days Ginger 49 50

51 49

Tomato 55 51
- -

Amaranthus 59 40
49 56

Chilli 50 46
- -

Drumstick 58 46
43 54

9
 After 75 days Ginger 51 52
52 50

Tomato 58 57
- -

Amaranthus 63 51
53 60

Chilli 52 50
- -

Drumstick 65 52
45 61

TABLENO: 3.3

NUMBER OF BRANCHES (15 DAYSINTERVAL)

PLANT NO OF BRANCHES

1 2 3 4

After 15 days Ginger

_ _ _ _

Tomato 3 5 2
_

Amaranthus
3 1 _ _

Chilli 4 2 1
_

Drumstick 3 1 2 1

After3 0 days Ginger

_ _ _ _

Tomato 9 12
_ _

Amaranthus 2 1 1
_

10
 Chilli 7 5
_ _

Drumstick 3 2 4 2

After4 5 days Ginger

_ _ _ _

Tomato 12 15
_ _

Amaranthus 3 1 2 2

Chilli 18 11
_ _

Drumsticks 6 5 6 4

After6 0 days Ginger

_ _ _ _

Tomato 15 18
_ _

Amaranthus 4 2 3 3

Chilli 20 15
_ _

Drumsticks 9 8 10 9

After7 5 days Ginger

Tomato 17 19
_ _

Amaranthus 4 3 3 3

Chilli 22 18
_ _

Drumsticks 10 9 11 11

11
 TABLE NO: 3.4

DAY OF FIRST FLOWERING (DAYS AFTER SOWING/PLANTING)

PLANT 1 2 3 4

Ginger
_ _ _ _

Tomato 56th day 70th day

_ _

Amaranthus
52th day 65th day _ _

Chilli 42nd day 47th day

_ _

Drumstick 33rd day 65th day 31 st day 69th day

(Ginger plant will not bloom flower.)

TABLE NO: 3.5

DAY OF FIRST FRUITING (DAYSAFTERSOWING/ PLANTING)

PLANT 1 2 3 4

Ginger 73rd day

_ _ _

Tomato 75th day

_ _ _

Amaranthus 75th day 74th day

_ _

12
Chilli 70th day 74th day
_ _

Drumstick 49th day 51 st day

_ _

(Only one Ginger plant and 2 Amaranthus plants have reached the fruiting stage and
there are 3and 2, respectively, more to yield. One Tomato plant and 2 drumstick plants
are yet to fruit.)

TABLE NO: 3.6

HARVEST DAYS (DAYS AFTER SOWING/PLANTING)

PLANT 1 2 3 4

Ginger 83rd day

_ _ _

Amaranthus 85th day

_ _ _

Tomato 83rd day 83rd day

_ _

TABLE NO: 3.7

NO. AND WEIGHT OF FRUITS FROM EACH HARVEST

NUMBER OF FRUITS TOTALWEIGHTOFFRUITS (in

gram)

PLANTS 1st HARVEST 2nd HARVEST 1st HARVEST 2nd HARVEST

13
Ginger 1 35
_ _

Tomato 3 15
_ _

Amaranthus - -
_ _

Chilli 4 5 1 .2 1 .6

Drumstick 2 4 20 45

(Amaranthus will not have fruits)

TABLE NO: 3.8

CUMULATIVE YIELD (KG)

Ginger 0.025

Tomato 0.015

Amaranthus 0.08

Chilli 0.0014

Drumstick 0.054

14
CHAPTER 4
PHOTOS

15
Chapter 4 – Photos
4.1 POT PREPARATION AND LAYOUT

Figure no 4.1 - Sowing and watering

16
Figure no - 4.2 Cocopeat

Figure no 4.3 - Layout

4.2 FLOWERING STAGE
17
Figure 4.4 Flower of Chilli plant

Figure 4.5 Flower of Tomato plant

18
Figure 4.6 Flower of Amaranthus plant

Figure 4.7 Flower of Drumstick plant

19
Figure 4.8 Ginger plant

Figure 4.9 Chilli plant

20
Figure 4.10 Amaranthus plant

Figure 4.11 Drumstick plant

21
Figure 4.12 Tomato plant

22
Figure 4.13 Final products

23
 CHAPTER 5
COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS

24
CHAPTER 5 - COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
The cost that we spent on setting up the plants were not very high. We just had to buy some
seeds, manures, and all of them were cheap. With the limited space I was able to generate
vegetables that were much enough for my family for at least having a dish. We were able to
eat vegetables with no pesticides, and also by this, we were having a new hobby. We were
happy to grow some plants, having vegetables in them and eating them. Not only our physical
health that could be improved but also mental health. The positivity that we get from the
activities like farming is really big. Though we were not able to get much income from this
farming, we were able to cut down the expenses of buying vegetables for at least one day,
whenever the harvest was done.

The cost of bone meal was 80 rupees and of Coco peat was 200 rupees. The seeds cost 1 -2
rupees per packet of 5 and we were forced to buy them again due to the poor quality of seeds.
An extra price we had to pay was for the organic pesticide which was for 95 rupees, of which
only 1 /4th have been used.

In the market, the price of ginger per kg is Rs 60 and I yielded around 35g which is Rs 2.1
and the price of Amaranthus is Rs 40 per kg and we have got 15g making it Rs 0.06. The
tomato price per kg is Rs 20 and it will be Rs 0.6 for 30g. The Chilli costs about Rs.38 per kg
and we have got an average of 2.8g of chillies which makes it to about Rs.0.1064. Drumsticks
costs about Rs 150 per kg, and we have got about 10g of Drumsticks which is Rs. 15. Soin
total, we got about Rs 20.

Compared to the expenditure, the income obtained is less. But it isn’t a problem as we have
still more to cultivate and harvest and the materials bought for the farming are not finished
yet. So, I think that within a short time, more and more income can be obtained. If there was
more space and facilities available, then more plants could have been grown. But, since we
were able to make it in a small space, despite the pandemic condition, I’m happy and ready to
do more within the available space.

25
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION

26
CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION
 Almost all kinds of vegetables can be grown in limited space if we give them enough
care.
 Chilli plants can be easily grown in our area, but it would be better if we use a
disease-resistant variety of seeds. Since the area is limited, there is a very high chance
that the plant gets destroyed easily, either due to over-irrigation, or limited sunlight
before other diseases. But if we give enough care, the right amount of water, manures
etc., Chilli plant can be grown very well.
 Drumstick plant is easier to grow compared to other plants. It needs less care and
other inputs and the growth was also faster. Long beans plants can also be grown
quickly, but if it is trailing, then enough space should be provided. Since ginger are
root plants it is also very manageable to grow them without giving much care.
 So, in my opinion the most easily grown plant in my area is ginger, compared to
others. But poor-quality seeds were a major problem for me to grow plants which
affected almost all my plants. Another hindrance as the rainfall and wind which
cannot be avoided.
 Having a vegetable garden at home is very significant. Gardening can improve
your immune system, due to the beneficial bacteria found in the soil. Research has
shown that gardening helps you to get less sick and we can fight off infections easier.
 Also, we can get fresh as well as non-toxic vegetables too. By this, we can improve
our health too. We can save money on groceries. It is also an outdoor exercise, which
also helps us to relieve stress. So, in turn, it boosts our mood. Especially during a time
like this, when everyone around the world is suffering from not only the
COVID – 19 brutal so from other problems like depression, this isa healthier method
to cope up with all those problems.
 The list of advantages of organic farming at home goes on like this. So, I would
suggest that more and more people should do it so that we get a healthy
body, a healthy mind, and a healthy environment.

27