Jagarnath Prasad and Ajit Kumar, both marginal farmers, have reduced the cost of production and increased their income by using a concoction made from homemade curd in place of urea as fertiliser on their fields. Both have successfully increased their production of their Kharif and Rabi crops as well as vegetables, litchi and mango. The two farmers have been using a carefully prepared mixture of curd with water in a mud pot with a copper spoon inserted into in for 10 to 15 days and then spray it on vegetables, litchi and mango in place of urea, other chemical fertilisers like DAP, potash and pesticides. They also mix it with vermicompost to spread on the fields that provide sufficient nitrogen, phosphorous and potash to their crops. This grassroots innovation of using a dahi mixture is yet to be scientifically authenticated by agricultural and soil scientists. “I have come to know about use of dahi mixture in place of urea by farmers but have neither tested its sample in a lab nor can I give authentication till scientific result is available,” KK Singh, a soil scientist at Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Saraiya in Bihar, told VillageSquare.in.
