Dindigul (Tamil Nadu): Despite lockdown, a farmer, named Parali Malaichami of Perumalpatti village in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district has earned a decent income from his this year's mango farming.
Cultivating and maintaining mangoes on the land of five acres, Malaichami is also making a profit by growing other trees including guava, banana, lemon, papaya and coconut.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Malaichami said, "Usually, there is no system of growing intermittent crops between mango trees in our area. But I have done it as an exception. I have cultivated guava, banana, lemon, papaya and coconut in my five-acre mango grove. I have seen a huge yield of these plants as well. Generally, farmers plant only 40 mango trees per acre. But I have planted fifty to sixty trees and made good profit also from it. It takes thirty to forty years for one tree to match with another."
"If my method is followed, trees will get matched within ten to fifteen years. In typical mango cultivation, an income of Rs.2,500 to 3000 can be earned in one-acre cultivation. But by intercropping, farmers can see twice as much profit," he said.
"I wake up early morning and go to my grove and make sure that all the mango trees, intercrops and plants are all watered. Then I follow a system of irrigation wherein I allow water to flow simultaneously to all the trees through PVC pipes. This saves a lot of water," he added.
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Malaichami uses a less amount of chemical fertilizers and a large number of natural manures and never tired of adopting innovative techniques. He enlightens other villagers by educating them on the adoption of new techniques in disinfecting and protecting the crops. He explicitly encourages farmers to expose their techniques and methods to protect trees plants and vines infestation.
"The advice and guidance of Malaichami is very enlightening to small farmers like me. If I have any doubt about the cultivation of mangoes, I would come to him. It is only when we use his techniques on our land that we realize their importance. Those of us who have not yet adopted the intercrop cultivation system has just now discovered their usefulness through Malaichami," told Raja, a farmer from Reddiyapatti village.
"Malaichami advises and guides all the farmers regarding this inter-crop cultivation methods, irrigation techniques and about the pest control in order to earn the income as of 50 acres of land in just 5 acres of a mango grove space. For generations we are farmers. Mango trees grow in abundance in our place. We have also been cultivating mangoes in several acres of land. My grandfather and father would not combine any other crops like guava, coconut and lemon trees with mangoes. But I prefer intercropping with these crops. For a farmer earning from an acre of the mango-grove would be approximately only Rs. 2,500-3000. But by following intercropping one can easily double the income," Raja said.
