Agriculture enthusiast successfully grows rice on terrace using unique method

An agriculture enthusiast Sudhakar Patil successfully cultivated rice on his terrace using a unique method. He and his family have planted paddy in about three and a half hundred square feet. Now the paddy is fully grown and will be harvested within the next week. For this, they have used only bio-fertilizers.

Kohlapur: An innovative experiment of organic farming in the open space on the terrace of a house has been carried out at Kasba Bawda in Maharashtra's Kohlapur district. Sudhakar Patil's original business was to provide services in the banking sector. Along with this business, he also has a huge passion for agriculture. So he has been always carrying out various experiments in organic farming. And now he has done excellent paddy cultivation on the terrace.

Agriculture enthusiast successfully grows rice on terrace using unique method

Originally from Gadhinglaj, Sudhakar Patil built a house in Kasba Bawda in the last few years in two to two and a half thousand square feet.

While designing the house, he thought about how to make maximum use of the gallery and terrace space for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. Until today, he has grown many spices and fruits and vegetables on his terrace. And now, they are cultivating paddy on their terrace.

Agriculture enthusiast successfully grows rice on terrace using unique method

What to do while sitting at home in lockdown? While thinking about this, he came up with the idea of paddy farming. He is confident that this will provide enough rice for the whole family for the next few months.

They have used plastic barrels for sowing paddy. The barrel was divided into two parts, filled with soil and sown with a local variety of rice. They planted paddy in this manner in about three and a half hundred square feet. Now the paddy is fully grown and will be harvested within the next week. For this, they have used only bio-fertilizers.

After coming in contact with Subhash Palekar, an agronomist, he was interested in organic farming. Since then, he has done various experiments on his terrace. Along with vegetables, they also planted turmeric, black pepper, cardamom and other spice plants on the terraces. Besides, they have also successfully grown cereals such as tur and green gram. Patil's experiment on the terrace is being discussed everywhere and he has set a new standard for many.

While talking about organic farming, Sudhakar Patil said, "I have been working on organic farming by teaching it to farmers and promoting it as well. We have been growing organic vegetables for a long time now but during the lockdown, what new can we do is what we were thinking of. My family and I were thinking about how much rice, jowar, jaggery, pulses, oil are needed for us on a monthly/yearly basis. Then we thought, what can be grown during Kharif and Rabi seasons. After thinking of various segments, we thought of growing rice during the rabi season. They were sown during Rohini nakshatra and were grown without the use of chemical fertilizers. This is an idea that came to our mind when we were thinking of what to do during the lockdown. We have realised that in just 4000 square feet, we can grow all the needed cereals, pulses and vegetables that will last for the entire family throughout the year."