Inventory of Peasant Innovations for Sustainable Development an annotated bibliography

1. 
   Opium insertion in bottle guard stem increases the number of fruits. (Subhash, P.C.)
   

2. 
   Non-bearing papaya bear fruits when injected with Cholera vaccines. (Feroz, P.C.)
   

3. 
   If you cut a male plant of papaya the newer shoots bear fruits.
   

4. 
   If the jute grown after wheat a modular substance in jute roots leads to mortality of jute seedlings. (Nural Alam)
   

1. 
   If ‘Shazna’ graft (plant cutting) is planted after the first shower in chaitra. It starts bearing fruits within one year. (Awlad, Pers, Comm.)
   

2. 
   When ‘Shazna’ graft is planted upside down, the bearing of fruits is round the year. (Awlad).
   

1. 
   By sowing paddy in the month of Ashar one gets a full harvest, in Sravan only leaves and fruits, in Bhadra only husks and in Aswin nothing.
   

2. 
   Sow paddy to your heart’s content throughout the whole of Sravan and the first 12 days of Bhadra.
   

3. 
   During the last four days of Bhadra and the first four days of Aswin sow Kalai (Phaseolus var. radiatus) as much as you can (i.e., best time).
   

4. 
   One should sow peas after the first 19 days of Aswin and within the first 19 days of Kartik.
   

5. 
   Khana directs, the good cultivator, to sow mustard towards the end of Autumn. (The sowing of mustard, is very thermo sensitive and the saving time is quite narrowed).
   

6. 
   The cultivator who does not plant either in the month of Bhadra or Aswin and idles away his time and then too late in the month of Kartik and Agrahayan plants grown-up things in the field, is fated to see them perish from an attack of mildew and his barns empty.
   

7. 
   Sowing turmeric in Baisakh and Jaishtha, is bidding adieu to your chess-playing, weed out your soil in Ashar, and Sravan so as to make it perfectly fit in Bhadra, otherwise no harvest will follow.
   

8. 
   This is the direction of Varaha’s son Mihir; expecting Chaitra and Baisakh plant brinjals very cheerily throughout the other ten months. Apply ashes, if the plants are attacked by worms as the only remedy, pour water in case the ground is dry, and you will get fruits all the year.
   

9. 
   Plant betel in Sravan and the produce will be too much to be chewed up even by Ravana. Patols will doubly grow if planted in Falgoon.
   

10. 
    Plant plantains in holes one cubit deep each at intervals of 8 cubits, and do not cut off the leaves and it will yield you both bread and clothes.
    

1. 
   Kanthab (Jack fruit tree), Ashoka Kadali (plantain), Jambu, Lakoocha, Dadimo, Drakshya, Palibata, Vijapura (Matulanga), Atimuktaka, these are the plants propagated by means of cutting and then smeared with cow dung.
   

2. 
   Better than this method is the method of propagation by grafting. This can be done in two ways – the cutting of one plant is either inserted into the roots of another plant or on the stem of another plant.
   

3. 
   Graft should be smeared with cow dung. For transplanting, the plants should be smeared from root to the top with ghee (clarified butter) sesame oil, honey of the khudra variety of the bee of the ‘USHIRA’ (Andropogon laniger OR Andropogon citrarum), the ‘Bidanga’ (Embelicaribes) milk and cow dung.
   

1. 
   A small plot of land was selected by a farmer in 1950 where she planted trees. Before planting the trees she grew sugarcane on that plot. The bunds around the plot were raised up to two feet and made 1.5 feet broad. She grew sarpat on the bunds, which grew taller than sugarcane within three years. Width of the sarpat strip was one lattha (unit of measurement, one latta equals to 6.7″). After growing sugarcane for three years she planted trees in the whole plot.
   

Sarpat was grown around the border to hide the young seedling plants from animal as well as to make a barrier against their access. But in case they get an entry anyhow, it would be difficult to save the seedlings. So, she used to spray a solution, prepared by mixing cow dung manure, soil and water on the leaves and the whole plant. If any animals enters in the day or night it will not feed on the leaves. It will small the plant and then leave it. The smell of cow dung and mud is not liked by the animas. (Village: Isoulibhari, Farmer: Sonapati).

2. 
   Farmer Chowdhry Yadav of Isoulibhari village planted a jackfruit plant about thirty years back. After that it has borne fruits 4-5 times and that too, few in number (7-8 in each season). The plant produces flowers but they gradually dry up and fall on the ground. The taste of the fruit and size were found to be good by the farmer. The problem was in fruiting. The place where he planted the seedlings had stone pebbles (kankar) at 4″6″ depth but the farmer was not sure about whether it was due to the effect of stone or any other deficiency. On his part he tried the following:
   

1. 
   He once applied 2-3 kgs. of salt to the root zone of the plant at a depth of one foot.
   

2. 
   He also applied 10-12 kgs. of fishes at a depth of 1.5″ and covered with soil. Although he applied ‘saheri’ fish, he said that any kind of fish could be used.
   

3. 
   He pruned the tree many times so that new branches and leaves came out and the problem be removed. But even after taking all these measures there was not result.
   

4. 
   One old farmer of Saraya Bagha suggested that the problem of fruiting may be overcome if the soil around the root zone is replaced by clay (kali mithi) soil of low land area. He said that if that is done the plant root would get essential substances from the clay soil. Farmer Chowdhry when given that idea accepted it and said that he would try it as the last hope/measure. His middle aged son reacted saying that the tree has grown old and it is not possible to make it give fruits. The farmer did not agree with him.
   

3. 
   The trees like jackfruit and lemon cannot tolerate dirt around their root-zones. If people pass stool close to these plants they develop some abnormalities (stop bearing fruit, dry up, etc.) If the pieces of cloth used by the women during the menstruation period are thrown upon the lemon trees then the trees will dry up. (Village: Isoulibhari, Farmer: Balkrishan Maurya).
   

4. 
   The application of fishes to prevent the shattering/drying up of flowers in the plant proves to be effective and the results are temporary. Application of fishes before the onset of flowering will prevent the dropping of immature fruits only for the season. (Village: Isoulibhari, Farmer: Balkrishan Maurya).
   

5. 
   The manner in which fishes are to be applied is described. A ditch of 3-4″ around the trunk has to be made. Fishes are to be kept all around. Farm yard manure is applied along with water. After which it is covered by soil. (Village: Isoulibhari, Farmer: Balkrishan Maurya).
   

1. 
   Ploughing when dry, the soil comes up in clods which will crumble under rain. Wet soil when ploughed up, will form stubborn clods which remain hard for years to come.
   

2. 
   Primary ploughing should be deep, later shallow deep primary ploughing mixes the soil better, but deep ploughing later may still bring up raw sub-soil.
   

1. 
   One should plough the soil sixteen times (i.e., many times) for radishes; half the number of times for cotton, and half of that for paddy and none at all for betel.
   

2. 
   One should cultivate soil for radishes making it as soft as cotton, i.e., to the extremity of softness and for sugarcane plough it to dust.
   

3. 
   Khana directs, to the cultivators, to begin the ploughing from the east and surely all your aims shall be fulfilled. (Farmers of eastern Uttar Pradesh, if they plough from east to west, then puddling/planking is done north to south and vice-versa, Pers. Commn.—G.S. Saha).
   

4. 
   The man sets his hands to the plough either on the days of the full moon or the new moon, will be fated to suffer sorrows throughout the whole life. His bullocks will suffer from gout (i.e., remain inactive), and he will suffer from eternal lack of peace. He who violates this injunction of Khana will do so at his peril.
   

1. 
   The common belief regarding summer ploughing amongst the farmers of Hissar village, in the month of April and May was: it will open up the sils into ridges and furrows and, therefore, will not cause soil erosion. On the contrary, the fields which are not ploughed will have more problems of soil erosion. Airborne silt will reach the ploughed fields and set in the furrows thus making the soil richer. The losers will, therefore, be those who do not plough their fields before the onset of winds in April and May.
   

2. 
   As regards pre-sowing ploughing, the number of pre-sowing ploughings given by farmers was more in the soils kept fallow in kharif crops for the reason of absorption and conservation of rain-water. The scientists need to be contacted on this issue. If the field is to be kept fallow before sowing of rabi crops, the number of pre-sowing ploughing will increase. Again if the gap between kharif harvesting and rabi sowing is less, the number of pre-sowing ploughings will be less. The farmers also practiced pre-sowing ploughings in relation to rainfall during the month of September and October. Every time there is a light shower, they will plough the field and plank it.
   

3. 
   For gram the pre-sowing ploughings given are less because gram needs more aeration. Fields with many clods will provide more aeration. Clods also help in checking vegetative growth of the crop. (It is also called sometimes as clod mulching. ed).
   

4. 
   Is there any relation between depth of ploughing and crop to be taken and depth of ploughing in April, May and depth of ploughing at pre-sowing stage between pre-sowing ploughings and ploughing for the seeding?