Green Manure (selection / information tool)

Ladies & Gents,

Trawling through the TNAU website (Green Manure section) ([url=http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_majorareas_greenmanure.html]http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_majorareas_greenmanure.html[/url]), I have come across a rather handy application that can help you shortlist the recommended green manure or green leaf crops based on your site (farm). this tool takes into consideration your location, purpose etc and provides you a list of entities (plants) that would be an ideal choice. looks very useful this

tropicalforages.info/
youā€™ll need java to be able to see this website correctly, use IE (latest version) and then hit the ā€œselection toolā€ menu option

regards,
Brijesh

Brijesh,

Good source of info, thanks. However did not see anything on the disadvantages, or precautions to be taken during green manuring. Did I miss it? Will check again.

regards
cowherd

a fair overview of both

http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory29.html

like in all cases anything done without planning and due consideration of long/short term impact / returns can turn into a disaster, holistically green manuring seems to have a lot of positives over negatives but best to look at them beyond just the NPK mentality

i feel (pardon my ignorance on this subject) that any green cover that is allowed to spread without any management will eventually turn into a problem sooner or later though forests challenge this theory however forests have their natural ecology doing all the maintenance for them which may not be available in a farm or plain land

Have absolutely no doubts at all about the effectiveness of green manuring. Itā€™s highly recommended, and itā€™s impossible to carry out natural farming without adopting this practice, at least in small bits . Please donā€™t feel I am questioning it, not one bit, in fact I am staunch advocate of this method, though not in the textbook fashion mentioned in the link. What I am trying to say is that there could be certain pitfalls for someone new to the practice, and they never get over the initial reversal to try it out again.This occurs only when the method is not implemented judiciously.
But definitely yes, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives,thereā€™s more to gain and not so much to lose.

Any pointers on where to get seeds of green manure plants like horsegram, cowpea etc around Bangalore/Hosur? Local nurseries seem to be unaware of these plants.

No need to look for seeds of green manures. Cow dung of a grazing native cow does the trick. They normally feed on a variety of grasses and greens, often taking in the seeds. Once Jeevamrutham or Amruta Pani is prepared using the dung and applied to the soil a variety of green cover starts covering the soil . When these greens grow way to tall and interfere with the operations, they can be slashed down

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@cowherd, it is not predictable what sort of seeds grow from cow manure, unless you have been feeding them a controlled diet. Iā€™m looking specifically for nitrogen-fixing plants.

I just replied to your mails with the intention of trying to help a farmer or his query. Too bad that you chose to put the matter on the board without asking me. Whatever was conveyed as private message is being posted on the board without my knowledgeā€¦Ask your conscience if this is fair, if you have any that is.

If you let the Cow graze in natural surroundings it will choose what is required. It grazes on different types of grasses and weeds , and the diverse types of grass and weeds appear for a reason,balancing the soil. Hence for green manure these plants germinating from Cow Dung are sufficient. If you are specifically looking at nitrogen replenishment go for glyrecidia or legumes. But cover the whole area using only legumes, slash them down and cover the soil may be impractical as well as ineffective.

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Huh? Dude, you posted on the board for all to see yourself, and I donā€™t see anything personal in the message either. Not sure why youā€™re upset.

That is a feature of the board when used with the @ before a member name and replied to the unique email thus created - ā€˜post by emailā€™.
There is an email icon on top right of such posts made by email.

cowherd
Hope you doing well.

Edit: we can take down any message you donā€™t want posted here.

Our old life style and socio-economic setup is still concerned and applicableā€¦IndigenousTechnologiesinPlantprotection-2016.pdf (4.5 MB)