Earning rupees 6 Lakh per Acre from Natural Farming
It is perhaps Subhash Palekar’s greatest contribution to natural farming (after Jeevamrutha, if not even bigger) — the cropping patterns that are included in his books for various horticultural crops, vegetables, grains, cereals, cash crops etc.
These patterns are plantation blueprints that not just provide names of possible inter crops but provide precise placement and distance between main crops and the different inter crops that have been carefully selected to work in a synergistic relationship to provide nutrient / shade / support to other crops.
See, for example, the pattern attached in this post that he calls “Multi Cropping Millionaire Pattern of Coconut Plantation.” It includes coconut as the main crop (both tall and dwarf varieties) and seven inter crops namely Gliricidia, Vanilla, Arecanut, Black Pepper, Banana, Coffee and Chilli. (this is similar to pattern in the video but not the same)
The following video is a testimonial to the success of Subhash Palekar’s cropping patterns and how profitable they are. (the description below is by the person who recorded and posted the video to YouTube)
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Video Description (video included below this text)
Sri Krishnappa Dasappa Gowda has developed this model in 5 acres. He has divided that 5 acres into equal blocks of 36ft X 36ft. In this video, he explains that in each block of 36 ft x 36 ft (which is further divided into four 9ft X 9ft sub-blocks) he is growing around 170 [plants and] trees.
In that he is explaining about the yield he is getting in a 9ft x 9 ft portion of land (one sub-block). He planted 1 Banana tree, 4 Arecanut Trees, 4 Black pepper creepers climbing on Arecanut trees, 2 Coffee plants, 2 Gliricidia trees, 2 Vanilla creepers climbing on Gliricidia trees & 32 Ginger plants in each 9ft X 9ft area.
He says that the Yield from:
(1) 1 Banana Tree – 10 Kg X Rs.20/- = Rs. 200=00
(2) 4 Arecanut Trees – 25 Kg x 4 Trees x Rs.15/- = Rs.1500=00
(3) 2 Vanilla creepers + 2 Gliricidia Trees – 50 gms x 2 trees x Rs.3/- = Rs. 300=00
(4) 4 Black Pepper creepers – 1 Kg x 4 x Rs.400/- = Rs.1600=00
(5) 2 Coffee plants – 2 Kg x 2 Plants x Rs.80/- = Rs. 320=00
(6) 32 Ginger plants – 0.15 kg x 32 x Rs.100/- = (Rs. 480=00) (This income Rs.480/- is utilized for expenses)
Total income from 9ft x 9 ft (Sub- block) land = Rs.3800 = 00
So, for each 36ft x 36ft block (4 Sub-blocks + 1 Coconut tree + 1 Mosambi tree) the total income is approximately Rs.18000 = 00.
Explanation:- income from each 9ft X 9ft sub-block = Rs.15,200/- In addition to these blocks he planted 1 Mosambi (citrus) tree and 1 Coconut Tree in each 36ft X 36ft block and the income from them is Rs.2000/- and Rs.1000/- respectively. So, the total income from each 36ft X 36ft Block is Rs.18,200/- and rounded off to Rs.18,000/-
For 1 acre there are 33 similar blocks like this. So, the total income per acre is Rs.6 Lakh approx. (Rs.18,200/- X 33 blocks = Rs.6,00,600/- and rounded off to 6 Lakhs).
CONCLUSION : He doesn’t have any borewell in his farm and he says that his land is a double wet land and mostly it is rainfed, canal water is used very rarely during peak summer. Water consumption is 10% of regular farming. He suggests that all the farmers should adopt similar Natural Farming Methods and grow plants & crops suitable for their local climate and reap money. Wish you all the best .
Palekar sir’s coconut cropping pattern
Video by Sarath Pendekanti, Mobile : 09989853366.