Methods for better absorption of water through digging of pits, using pipes, and mixing vermi-compost, for efficiency in water use, taught.
The CRA (Climate Resilient Agriculture-Water Root Zone Irrigation) Technique of planting saplings and growing trees with minimal water requirement was explained to the district officials on Sunday by K. Sathyagopal, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Conservation and Rivers Restoration Corporation.
How you can follow this technique at your garden
To begin with a pit of 2 feet is dug as done in conventional methods and additional holes are drilled further up to
1-foot depth in the corners of the pit using a crowbar depending on soil type. Four PVC pipes of 3-foot length and 3 to 4 inch diameter are placed vertically in the corners of the pit to create water-absorbing columns filled with river sand and compost. Sieved vermicompost or manure is mixed with river sand or red soil and applied in the bottom of the pit to a height of half a foot. Then the pit is filled with removed soil mixed with vermicompost or manure. The sapling is now planted in the pit after adding some more quantity of un-sieved vermicompost or manure and the pit is filled fully. PVC pipes are removed creating four sand columns that absorb water faster and is stuffed with soil nutrients which are two feet below the surface i.e. to the root zone. Once the sand column is saturated, the moisture spreads laterally and the entire root zone sphere will retain moisture enabling faster growth.