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Ex-Chief Commissioner of Income Tax runs pomegranate nursery. Supplies super bhagwa saplings
“Post retirement from Indian Revenue Services, when I started farming at my village Narasimphappali, 30 km from Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh it was a big hassle to source good quality pomegranate saplings! I had to travel all the way to Mysore, Karnataka to get the plants. I planted 6500 saplings in the 2011. It set me thinking that it might be even more tedious for other farmers to get the saplings for their commercial pomegranate plantation hence I started the nursery in 2012 with 36 thousand saplings and sold in neighbouring farms. Since then there is no looking back!” shares Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa. All the saplings are prepared through air layer method.
Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa
Production capacity of the nursery is 4 lakh saplings per annuam. “We supply bhagwa and super bhagwa pomegranate saplings. Super bhagwa is the latest variety introduced by Rahuri Mahatma Phule Krishi Vigyan Pete. Ours will be the only nursery till date to have 1500 mother plants of super bhagwa pomegranate,” he adds.
Super Bhagwa is 15% better in quality than bhagwa pomegranate in terms of juice content, color, taste and size. “Ganesh is obsolete variety as bhagwa pomegranate has captured the exports and domestic market due to its bright red colour inside and outside the fruit. Now, super bhagwa is still an improved variety launched just two years before,” he elaborates.
All the saplings are developed without any chemicals with air layer method hence the survival is more than 90% when transplanted in the orchards. Explaining the method Mr. Narasimhappa says, “We give a cut of pencil thickness on the stem angled towards the shoot tip. It is usually a 2.5cm (1in) cut through a leaf bud. It will create a tongue that can be lifted. This tongue is then covered with small amount of moist sphagnum moss.” It is wrapped with thin plastic sheet and sealed with climate proof adhesive tape.”
Within 45 days the roots appear near the wounded area. “Then we cut the rooted stem and transplant in it a pot to let it grow. The moss from the roots is not removed. The pot contains a good blend of healthy red soil, farm yard manure and vermicompost. To boost the growth of the saplings we make in-house bio-fertilizer. In this way the saplings are multiplied and kept in the shade net. We hardened the plants and sell to the buyers to ensure the plants survival is good,” he adds. At the moment nursery has bigger plants of bhagwa variety and small plants of super bhagwa. “In some months we shall be developing 2 lakh plus bhagwa plants while 50 thousand super bhagwa.” Plants are always available for sale. No chemicals are used in any form throughout the process.
When asked about the benefits of growing naturally propagated plants over tissue culture Mr. Narasimhappa clarifies, “Plants developed through air layer propagation are more tolerant to adverse circumstances and mortality is less. The tissue culture plants are more susceptible to diseases because the growth of such saplings is luxurious. Thereby the plants are not able to withstand the tough times. Tissue culture plants cannot survive drought conditions.”
Pomegranate saplings get the flower from the day one but it is strongly recommended to remove the flowers to let the plant gain adequate strength. “The first crop can be taken after 18 months. On an average the yield can be expected as 10kg per plant,” he asserts.
Plant life will be longer and healthier if farmers do not use any of the chemical crop protection inputs like pesticides, fungicides, weedicides, herbicides and insecticides. The plants must be raised primarily with farm yard manure and natural protective measures. “Dashaparmi is the decoction of 19 leaves. It must be sprayed once in 15 days to keep the plants safe from all sorts of pests and diseases. In addition farmers can prepare lactic acid bacteria by fermenting the water obtained after cleaning rice for 5 days. Then mix desi cow raw milk into it and once again ferment for another 5 days. Spray this solution on plants’ roots and leaves to improve the fertility and resistance. Jeevamrutha should also be used once in 15 days. It certainly is more work to the farmer staying natural but it is 100% worth in the long run. ,” he states.
To fight with water shortage Mr. Narasimhappa says, “Farmers must not go for summer crop because water required by the plants is quite high. Instead they must opt for September-October harvest as that period water needed for irrigation is less. And mulching is a must-to-do activity in the farm to survive water scarcity.”
Mr. Narasimhappa’s farm is 200 years old spread in 50 acres. Primarily it is a pomegranate orchard in 26 acres while some acreage has groundnut, maize and millets cultivation. Remaining land has dry land farming. “Our best produce was 140 ton from 600 pomegranate trees following natural farming practices. Our entire farm produce is sold in Chennai market or Hyderabad based processing center,” he shares.
He concludes saying, “Being born and brought up in an agricultural family I had an extreme affinity towards farming however in 1973 I was selected in Indian Revenue Services. Due to the job I had been travelling across the country and could not be there on the farm. In the year 2009 I retired as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and then after I resumed farming full time. I revived the farm with a good mix of modern and natural farming practices. I am extremely contented to be a farmer now. I have only one advice that people must take up farming only if they are passionate about it and must prepare themselves well in terms of basic farming knowledge before the investment. Then success is assured.”
Contact details:
Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa
Plot No. 22, Ist Floor, Kamalapuri Colony, Phase-I, Adj. to Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad-500073.
Phone: 09912599909
Email: narasimhappa@gmail.com
“Post retirement from Indian Revenue Services, when I started farming at my village Narasimphappali, 30 km from Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh it was a big hassle to source good quality pomegranate saplings! I had to travel all the way to Mysore, Karnataka to get the plants. I planted 6500 saplings in the 2011. It set me thinking that it might be even more tedious for other farmers to get the saplings for their commercial pomegranate plantation hence I started the nursery in 2012 with 36 thousand saplings and sold in neighbouring farms. Since then there is no looking back!” shares Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa. All the saplings are prepared through air layer method.
Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa
Production capacity of the nursery is 4 lakh saplings per annuam. “We supply bhagwa and super bhagwa pomegranate saplings. Super bhagwa is the latest variety introduced by Rahuri Mahatma Phule Krishi Vigyan Pete. Ours will be the only nursery till date to have 1500 mother plants of super bhagwa pomegranate,” he adds.
Super Bhagwa is 15% better in quality than bhagwa pomegranate in terms of juice content, color, taste and size. “Ganesh is obsolete variety as bhagwa pomegranate has captured the exports and domestic market due to its bright red colour inside and outside the fruit. Now, super bhagwa is still an improved variety launched just two years before,” he elaborates.
All the saplings are developed without any chemicals with air layer method hence the survival is more than 90% when transplanted in the orchards. Explaining the method Mr. Narasimhappa says, “We give a cut of pencil thickness on the stem angled towards the shoot tip. It is usually a 2.5cm (1in) cut through a leaf bud. It will create a tongue that can be lifted. This tongue is then covered with small amount of moist sphagnum moss.” It is wrapped with thin plastic sheet and sealed with climate proof adhesive tape.”
Within 45 days the roots appear near the wounded area. “Then we cut the rooted stem and transplant in it a pot to let it grow. The moss from the roots is not removed. The pot contains a good blend of healthy red soil, farm yard manure and vermicompost. To boost the growth of the saplings we make in-house bio-fertilizer. In this way the saplings are multiplied and kept in the shade net. We hardened the plants and sell to the buyers to ensure the plants survival is good,” he adds. At the moment nursery has bigger plants of bhagwa variety and small plants of super bhagwa. “In some months we shall be developing 2 lakh plus bhagwa plants while 50 thousand super bhagwa.” Plants are always available for sale. No chemicals are used in any form throughout the process.
When asked about the benefits of growing naturally propagated plants over tissue culture Mr. Narasimhappa clarifies, “Plants developed through air layer propagation are more tolerant to adverse circumstances and mortality is less. The tissue culture plants are more susceptible to diseases because the growth of such saplings is luxurious. Thereby the plants are not able to withstand the tough times. Tissue culture plants cannot survive drought conditions.”
Pomegranate saplings get the flower from the day one but it is strongly recommended to remove the flowers to let the plant gain adequate strength. “The first crop can be taken after 18 months. On an average the yield can be expected as 10kg per plant,” he asserts.
Plant life will be longer and healthier if farmers do not use any of the chemical crop protection inputs like pesticides, fungicides, weedicides, herbicides and insecticides. The plants must be raised primarily with farm yard manure and natural protective measures. “Dashaparmi is the decoction of 19 leaves. It must be sprayed once in 15 days to keep the plants safe from all sorts of pests and diseases. In addition farmers can prepare lactic acid bacteria by fermenting the water obtained after cleaning rice for 5 days. Then mix desi cow raw milk into it and once again ferment for another 5 days. Spray this solution on plants’ roots and leaves to improve the fertility and resistance. Jeevamrutha should also be used once in 15 days. It certainly is more work to the farmer staying natural but it is 100% worth in the long run. ,” he states.
To fight with water shortage Mr. Narasimhappa says, “Farmers must not go for summer crop because water required by the plants is quite high. Instead they must opt for September-October harvest as that period water needed for irrigation is less. And mulching is a must-to-do activity in the farm to survive water scarcity.”
Mr. Narasimhappa’s farm is 200 years old spread in 50 acres. Primarily it is a pomegranate orchard in 26 acres while some acreage has groundnut, maize and millets cultivation. Remaining land has dry land farming. “Our best produce was 140 ton from 600 pomegranate trees following natural farming practices. Our entire farm produce is sold in Chennai market or Hyderabad based processing center,” he shares.
He concludes saying, “Being born and brought up in an agricultural family I had an extreme affinity towards farming however in 1973 I was selected in Indian Revenue Services. Due to the job I had been travelling across the country and could not be there on the farm. In the year 2009 I retired as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and then after I resumed farming full time. I revived the farm with a good mix of modern and natural farming practices. I am extremely contented to be a farmer now. I have only one advice that people must take up farming only if they are passionate about it and must prepare themselves well in terms of basic farming knowledge before the investment. Then success is assured.”
Contact details:
Mr. Muttuluri Narasimhappa
Plot No. 22, Ist Floor, Kamalapuri Colony, Phase-I, Adj. to Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad-500073.
Phone: 09912599909
Email: narasimhappa@gmail.com
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