Rourkela: Amid rapid degradation and pollution of natural resources of land and water, declining soil fertility, pesticide pollution and the problem of pest-resistance, farmers are now switching to alternative sustainable ways to conserve soil through organic farming.
Setting example for farmers in Odisha, 77-year-old, Uday Chandra Patra from Rourkela, a retired mechanic, is now scripting his success story in growing bananas through organic farming on several acres of land inside the campus of National Institute of Technology (NIT) in the steel city.
“We have grown worms in open pits which are used in the banana plants. Besides, we add an organic compost made up of a mixture of cow dung, curd, jaggery, chilly, ginger, neem and karanja leaves and many other medicinal plants which helps the trees to be healthy,” said Patra.
“Bananas do not grow in hilly terrain. The land here is…