Indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides has resulted in resistance in pests, resurgence of minor pests and high levels of pesticide residues in food.

Availability of organically grown vegetables is very low in India. Much of India’s organically grown crops are destined for export.

In general, farmers hesitate to adopt organic farming due to fear and lack of information about how to control pest and disease attacks.

Pest and disease attacks occur mainly due to bad cultivation practices. Prevention is better than cure. To avoid problems, primarily steps have to be taken to increase long term soil fertility. Increased soil fertility means balanced nutrition and growth, with vigour and resistance to infestation and disease. To improve soil fertility, spray soil with well-rotted and sanitised manure.

In biodynamic agriculture we use a preparation called horn manure. This is cow dung, matured underground in cow horns over winter. This process increases availability of a wide range of nutrients for plants and soil.

Other soil improvement methods include applying good compost or vermicompost,incorporating homegrown green manure once a year, adopting a system of crop rotation and applying biofertilisers, for example nitrogen-fixing Azospirillum and Rhizobium, potash mobiliser, silica mobiliser and vesicular- arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi,which can aid nutrient uptake.

It is important to avoid adding excess nitrogen, for example by frequent application of cow dung slurry, raw cow dung soil or cow urine. Secondly, quality of seeds and seedlings should be optimised. Quality of available seeds can be improved by proper selection and care of the mother plant.

On Biodynamic farms, prior to sowing, seeds are soaked in a solution of cow pat pit (CPP) manure, a special compost made from cow manure, powdered eggshell and basalt dust, fermented with herbal preparations. Tests of CPP show a wide range of beneficial fungi and bacteria proliferate in it during fermentation.

Plants sprayed with the biodynamic silica preparation BD501 at four or five leaf stage show improved resistance to pests and diseases. Integrated pest and disease management means selecting adapted and resistant varieties, using clean seed and planting materials and choosing optimum planting and sowing times, as well as planting with adequate spacing and managing water carefully.

Field hygiene is critical. Heavily infected plant parts should be burned, insects and their eggs and larvae should be physically removed and destroyed, dropped and decaying fruit should be removed and put in the centre of the compost heap and overgrown weeds should be slashed and used in compost.

During the early period of conversion to organic practice, while soil is weak, crops suffer from pest and disease attacks, so it is advisable to adopt physical and biological control measures. In vegetable cultivation, new hybrid varieties susceptible to pests and diseases demand plant protection.

Bio-pesticides are ecologically safe, reduce the number of applications necessary and do not result in resistance in insects. Trichoderma harzianum and T viride are fungi that control fungal pathogens including Pythium, Rhizoctonia and Fusarium. Bacillus creeus and Bacilllus subtelis control leaf diseases such as Pytophthora root rot of alfalfa and quick wilt of pepper. Pseudomonas fluorescens bacterium deals with bacterial blotch, leaf spots,sheath rot and collar rot.

Sticky traps for controlling and monitoring insects are easily made by cutting 3x5in rectangles of plywood or study cardboard, painting them and fixing them to stakes or hanging them from wire supports.

Spread motor oil, plant resin or petroleum jelly on the board, leaving a small space uncoated for easy handling. Use yellow for aphids, cabbage root maggot, carrot rust fly, cabbage white butterfly, cucumber beetle, onion fly, thrips and whiteflies, bright blue for thrips and white for flea beetles and tarnished plant bugs.

Light traps help monitor and control moths and other night flying insects. They are easily constructed with readily available materials and a little resourcefulness.

Herbal extracts are powerful, and should be used only as a final remedy. Plants such as neem, tobacco, devil’s trumpet, ginger, turmeric and chrysanthemum can be devastating to insect populations.

To be self sufficient, develop herbal plant resources by raising them as hedges along the fence and in waste areas like slopes, gullies and rocky patches.

To make herbal extract, macerate and grind the plant material, soak it, allow it to stand for three to five days, filter and add water to create the final spray solution. Fully drench the plant at least once or twice a year.

Use at least two or three different materials in any extract, and change the combination every time.

With careful monitoring, trap crops planted at the perimeter or between rows can help protect crops by attracting pests away. The trap crop must be more attractive to the pest than the crop itself.

Prune or remove trap crops when pests become established. Spray the trap crops with herbal extract if the population continues to increase.

Pest and disease management should be carried out in a holistic way, by properly planning farming practice. Rather than searching for remedies let’s try to identify the root cause and rectify it by correct farming methods.

Jaison J Jerome is an organic agriculture consultant and leads training for the Biodynamic Association of India.

www.biodynamics.in

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