“Key Informant Survey” of Production, Value, Losses and ... - DfID

with grass. When the field is left fallow there will be grazing by animals and hence
the scarcity of forage for milch animals is avoided. He owns a rubber estate at a far
away place (at border near Tamil Nadu) and he selected this place mainly due to low
rent of land. He is residing in a small rented house near his field mainly to
supervise the day to day operations in his field. Irrigation is mainly carried out by
water from the canal. During rainy season the water will be mainly muddy and during
summer periods there will be shortage of water for cultivation which will be
rectified by proper selection ie, drought tolerant crops like tapioca and guinea
grass will be grown and rest of the land will be left fallow. In land which is of
undulating nature terracing was done and in the terraces rubber is the main crop
grown and in the interspaces pineapple and cover crops like calapagonium were grown.
COCONUT PESTS In coconut field around his residence place mainly attack by rhinoceros
beetle, red palm weevil and leaf rot were observed.
INFORMATION SOURCES Normally the farmer depends on the advice of chemical dealers.
Rarely does he approach agricultural scientists or officers.
MANGO PESTS {Normally in homesteads of Kerala there will be 2 or 3 mango trees.} In
the farmer's field also there were three mango trees and during our survey time the
flowering started. In mango there was attack of shoot midge, leaf webbers, and
magohoppers. The variety in his field was varika mango and according to him the fruit
fly infestation was not noticed yet, but he observed some stray incidence of attack
by maggots that were yellow in colour but he has never seen the adult flies. He was
not practising the use of any baits or insecticide to control the maggots.
RUBBER & VANILLA In rubber the latex from the stem is chiselled out and collected in
coconut shells and later used for rubber sheet preparation. After collecting the
latex from 10 to 12 trees he obtains about 500 to 750 g of milk and this is used for
preparing a single sheet which fetches about Rs 30 to 40 in the market - this is very
low when compared to the previous price of 70 to 80 and so he wishes to grow vanilla,
which is fetching better market value and climatic conditions are suitable for
growing.
GOURDS & FRUIT FLIES He also grows vegetables in a small area. He raises snakegourd,
bittergourd and coccinia. The fruit fly infestation is severe in some cases for which
they spray insecticides. We advised them to set up traps. We also explained them
different cultural methods
#M007 DATE:08/03/04 TEAM: JR/MS Village Thannimoodu. A central government servant who
had his 20 years of service in the Supreme court, New Delhi, and obtained a voluntary
retirement from the service and now engaged in farming and allied activities in the
field. He considers that farming provides him mental satisfaction and keeps him in
good health. He had a severe back pain problem and had to spend a lot of money for
treatment and so he obtained a voluntary retirement from the service. His wife is
employed as a school teacher and his only daughter doing primary education. The
produce obtained is sold to the near by markets. He employs about 5 or 6 labourers in
the field daily and the scheduled time of work will be between 8am to 2pm @130/day or
between 8am to 4 pm @140/day.
CROPS The main crops grown include rubber, banana, coconut, tapioca, and vegetables
like cowpea, chilli, bhindi, and snake gourd and amaranthus.
PEST MANAGEMENT He is not aware of using any kind of traps in his field, only thing
they do is spraying the chemicals in the field as it may ward off the pest suddenly.
RUBBER CULTIVATION He is having a good command in growing rubber and major part of
his income is earned from the rubber sheet sold to the market. Depending on the grade
of his rubber sheet (either A or B grade) which is mainly connected with the type of
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