Calling Cotton and Grape Farmers

Farm Questions
1

this post is to reach out to the Cotton and Grape farmers…

anyone out there ?

Vivek

2

what is the message.

3

sorry for the confusion…

i am trying to communicate with cotton and grape growers, as i myself am one. so want to interact and learn from them.

Vivek

4

good. what is your problem.

5

It is clear. he wants to get tips and tweaks on cotton crop. If you are one. you can guide him interms of what yield he can get, what pests and how to handle so on…

6

thanks Sri… that is exactly i was looking for… :slight_smile:

i am looking to discuss crop variety, problems, normal practises, pests, cost involvement, labor part, technology, marketing, quality etc .
just a normal discussion, dont want to pesture the farmer :slight_smile:

cotton and grapes are nice crops… so just want to start some discussion for fellow readers to take their opinions,ideas and also for them to consider them as option for growing.

Vivek

7

Dear viks: (I am avid follower of your capsicum thread… your frank opinions inspired me to start writing on this forum. Thank you and appreciated)

This is my 1st season as cotton grower/farmer. I was in IT industry for over 15 years and this year I quit and started taking care of my family farm land. We have about 24 acres and its in cotton belt of Vidharba. I am expection about 9-11 Quintal per acre harvest this year.

Since this was my 1st year I am just following what everyone around my field are doing. However next year I am planning to do many experiments. It will be another 5-6 year before i could tell that I know cotton cultivation; but never the less I would like to experient especially few of the pain points that I have observed during the 1st year.

::Pain points::

  1. Weeds [removing weeds (nindan in Marathi)] is the most painful and expensive part
  2. Wastage of fertilizers
  3. sowing timing ( seeds are expensive and one have to time the sowing with monsoon arrival

::Few solution:: (again i am no expert in this area but just contemplating few options

  1. Mulching (not sure if its possible for huge area 25 acre?? cost would be too much)
  2. Brick fertilizer (instead of throwing loose fertilizer, plant smal brick of NPK next to plant)
  3. Prepare seedling ( sow in May 1st week and transplant after Mansoon settles. (Huge cost of trasplanting can be offset by the reduced weeding cost and early 1st flush in Oct (when the cotton price are generally high)

please comment and provide feedbacks.

regards,
Sairam

8

Hey Sairam,
well,
the three points you have mentioned are applicable to all crops. weeding is problem, and the only way is continuous maintenance, or mulching. i consider the cost factor, plus i am not much of a mulching supporter (plastic mulch) but favor more for natural ways (straw mulching etc)
but then cotton is not feasible in small land, so natural mulching is a problem when the land is huge.

and i too plan to germinate cotton seeds, and shift them into the farm, once they are ready. this will save a huge amount of time.
have you seen anyone follow this?

what variety/staple length and market are you targeting ?

Vivek

9

Hi Sairam,
nice to see a thought provoking post . Even when we looked at our overall expenses nindani (de-weeding ) costs lot of money .
Did you tried de-weeding machines ? ( Please check with padgilwar agro company - well known in nagpur ), they should have some thing . Recently I have visited blore krishi mela and I have seen a machine which does Ploughing and de-weeding ( Total cost 70k+ and 50% subsidy ) . I am also seriously thinking about such machine , it will save Rs 800+/acre ploughing + de-weeding costs .
Also mulching paper option can be explored .

Thanks & regards,
Prashant