Infected onion crop on 16.12.202 Improved onion crop as on 4.1.2022
Creation of water facility for irrgation
A field-cum-feedback visit has been conducted in an onion field at Peth Village, Ambegaon Taluka, Pune District. Shri Vijay Motilal Bhansali a farmer who is using the latest farming practices such as micro-irrigation, water harvesting and improved agronomic practices. The farm is located in areas where water is an issue of concern particularly for rabi onion. To address the shortage of water he created a well-defined modern water harvesting structure to covers the entire cultivation area (25 Acres) and installed micro-irrigation system. The farmer has been cultivating potato in his entire farm for a long time, but this year he has planned to switch to onion as a major crop during the late kharif season, covering about 5 acre area using irrigation facility through water harvesting structure. As onion is grown in large acreage, he has approached ICAR-DOGR to make a farm visit to see all of his ongoing activities as well as diagnostic visit to diagnose plant health issues that he encountered in mid-December, 2021 and for better crop management practices.
Consequently, experts from DOGR did a diagnostic visit on 16.12.2021 and diagnosed the problem faced in 45 days old onion crop, advised to use DOGR developed package of practices for improved plant health management. Meanwhile, the grower was quick enough to incorporate all of the remedies suggested for further improvement at that time, and experienced a good recovery of the crop from pests and diseases as well as improvement in canopy growth within a month. Further, he approached the Directorate once again to arrange a field visit to see the improved crop condition after following DOGR recommendations.
Accordingly, a team of experts from ICAR-DOGR, led by Dr. Amar Jeet Gupta, Principal Scientist (Hort.) and Dr. V. Karuppaiah Scientist (Agril. Entomology) and Shri H.S. Gawali, Tech. Asstt., visited his onion field on 4.1.2022 and observed notable improvement in the crop health and growth. The team has appreciated the farmers for his efforts in adopting DOGR technologies and the farmer in turn, expressed his appreciation for the DOGR package of practices and DOGR support. During this visit, the team examined the crop condition, diagnosed the pest and disease, and suggested to go for DOGR developed plant protection measures for onion thrips and foliar diseases once again in order to improve the crop and make it more profitable.
