Mr. Sundaram Verma
Agriculturist
Sikar District
Grow a tree with 1 litre of water may seem like a fantasy expression, but Mr. Sundaram
Verma has proved it possible. He has meticulously grown thousands of trees and has
saved over 7 lakh liters of rainwater in a couple of days.
Mr. Sundaram hails from Danta village in Sikar district, Rajasthan – a place known for
its dry weather and extreme temperatures during summers and winters. Due to lack of
rainfall in the area, there is severe water shortage. There are no water canals and the
ground water keeps depleting.
Being part of a family that were, for generations, involved in farming, the interest in
agriculture came naturally to Mr.Sundaram. Though a Science graduate who got many
an opportunity to get into the academic field, Mr Sundaram chose to pursue his line of
interest – agriculture!
Please tell us about the 1 litre water technique.
In 1982 I was sent for a 2-months Pusa IARI training course for Young Farmers in New
Delhi. I was the representative from the Agricultural Department of Rajasthan. There, I
had the opportunity to meet a senior agricultural scientist and learned farming
techniques.
We learned the technique of dry farming which was more prevalent and useful in the
colder areas of India where the river water and moisture in air can be used for irrigation.
However, this technique would hardly yield any result in a place like Rajasthan where it
hardly rains even in the monsoons.
I experimented the dry farming technique on saplings for trees rather than crops. The
experiment was successful. This technique worked exceptionally well on traditional
plants of Rajasthan like Rohida, Neem, Khejri and Ardu, Ber and Soujna. Plants like
Eucalyptus that requires high amount of water also responded well to the dry farming
technique.
Did you grow any fruits and vegetables using this technology or was it only
experimented for afforestation?
This is mainly for the forest plants. Plants that provide shade, fodder and timber for
construction. These plants can be sold easily as they don’t require official permission.
Commercial plants like seesham, Rohida. I am trying to grow Sandal wood using this
technique in Rajasthan
Plants for fodder are scarce in Rajasthan and other parts of India. Hence, growing them
makes it easily available to people for free or at a reasonable price.
I have planted trees in school grounds, farms, Panchayat-owned lands, cow sheds and
forest areas.
Please elaborate on the 1-litre water technique.
We must first understand that the water absorbed by the land during monsoon is lost
mainly due to two reasons:
1. The grass that sprouts consumes ground water up to a depth of 1 meter.
2. Due to natural reasons steam from underground water causes tiny pores on the
surface. This results in water leakage of up to 30 feet depth. Scientifically this
process is called capillary action.
So if the water loss due to grass and capillary action are tackled, the land will always be
blessed with enough moisture for plants to grow.
To apply this technique, one should select areas/blocks to grow plants. This technique
does not apply for a single plant. The selected block may be of any measure like one
bigha (0.40052356 acres), 1 hectare, 100 hectares or even 1000 hectares.
Once the block is selected, the plot should be deep ploughed, twice. Deep ploughing is
ploughing the land to the depth of at least 1 feet.
The first deep ploughing is done 5-6 days after the first monsoon rainfall in that area.
This is because during this time, whatever grass grows after the rainfall is destroyed by
ploughing. Then the land is left free to absorb maximum water during the upcoming
rainfalls.
The second deep ploughing is done soon after the last rainfall of the monsoon season.
In Rajasthan, the monsoons end in September. With years of experience, local farmers
can predict the last rainfall. When clouds starts moving at faster pace from west to east
and flies over the mountains, it is considered as the end of the monsoon season.
Another way to determine the last monsoon is using weather forecast from the
meteorological department.
Hence, here, the second ploughing is done just after last monsoon in September.
During this time, the first thing that is done is removal of any leftover weed from the first
ploughing. Now the weed/grass and the capillary-action at the top layer is countered.
Due to broken channel attained by ploughing, the water gets collected 1 feet below the
top layer and will never reach the surface beneath it - the layer that is 1 feet below the
deep ploughing is still capillary active.
Now, if the saplings are planted in such a way that their roots touch the layer where
there is capillary action i.e. one feet below the ground it will not require additional water.
The ground water that collects there will be sufficient for the plants to grow.
So soon after the second ploughing, holes 4-5 inch long and wide and are dug out to a
depth of 1.5 feet. Since the top layer is already ploughed, the holes can be dug easily
using a farming tool called the spud.
Saplings are planted 10 inches deep in that hole, ensuring their roots touch the
water/moisture collected in the capillary. Next, mud is added to the hole for up to 2
inches.
Then, we add 1 liter water to the remaining upper part of the hole which is about 6
inches (0.5 feet). 2ml of organic or chemical pesticide can be used to protect the plant
from insects or termites. After 3 or 4 days, the layer which was covered with mud above
the stem of the plant becomes dry and flakey. The dry mud must be loosened to prevent
capillary formation. This plant will not require additional water.
During winter the land does not lose its moisture as fast as during the summers. The
roots of the plants go deep into the capillary. The roots will further grow deep into the
soil in search of moisture.
On the other hand saplings planted during monsoon will have the roots on the top layer
of the soil because it contains enough moisture and it makes the root grow in the top
layer of the land. It survives the winter as there will be enough moisture. However it fails
to withstand the dryness of summer seasons because the roots do not grow deep to
reach the underground moisture.
Whereas the saplings planted using the dry farming technique will have the roots in
capillary. During the dry summer season the roots will grow further down into the ground
and ensure that it keeps getting required moisture from the land. We have observed that
such plants and trees remain green even during the summer season, withstanding
temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius.
Do you also grow fruits and vegetables?
Yes, we do. If the land is free from weeds/grass and the top layer is loosened regularly
to prevent any capillary action, fruits and vegetables can be grown easily with less
water. We have grown pomegranate, few vegetables and we also developed new
varieties.
Do you sell these fruits and vegetables or do you grow them only for personal
use?
My farm land has absolutely no water. It had water 10 years back when I had planted a
garden. But 5-6 years ago the water exhausted completely. This year, there was so
much heat and scarcity of water that we did not get the tankers that we normally get to
water the plants.
So, we devised a new plan. We placed plastic sheets between 2 plantation rows and
collected the water. That way, we collected around 20 lakhs liters of water, from 1
hectare, only from the plantations. These plantations required 10 lakhs liters of water
and the remaining water (10 lakhs liters) was used to grow fruits and vegetables which
we sold in the market. We grow fruits like pomegranate only for sales.
What were some of the challenges you faced while experimenting with this
technique?
The one liter technique has the capacity to turn a desert into a land full of green. So
ideally this is the best technique. But it involves budget for digging, watering the plants
etc.
The biggest challenge is to make people believe in this technique. They generally don’t
accept techniques that do not have minimum budget or no expenses involved.
Dr. Swaminathan personally visited my farm to see the working of this technique. Even
the Chief Ministers are aware of this technique. This method involves a long process.
The ONGC had started a pilot project which was for 3 years and had asked us to grow
plants using this technique. They said they have enough budget for the project and
would like to see a desert converted into green land. So we went ahead with the
plantation and the results were remarkable.
Even today those plants continue to grow well. Unfortunately, at the end of the 3 rd year
the officers changed and this technique was later not given much thought. No one
wanted to believe that this 1 liter technique could work even though a great and busy
scientist like Dr. Swaminathan gave tremendous positive feedback on this technique in
his reports.
Apart from fruits and vegetables, have you experimented this technology with
any other types of crops like medicinal plants?
No. I haven’t grown medicinal plants. But now I am trying to grow some medicinal
plants. I have also developed some desi/local varieties. Desi plants generally are great
in quality but don’t give a good yield. However, the plants I grow here, not only have
good quality but are also high in yield.
For example I am in process to grow a type of Chickpea (Kabul Chana) which have
thick seeds and were available only in export quality. Even today we don’t get chickpea
that has a test weight (1000 seeds) of 500gm. There is a separate department in India
that checks a farmer’s variety and also tests the quality. It is called as Protection of
Plant Variety and Farmers’ Right Authority (PPV&FR Act). The type of Chickpea that I
grow which is called SR1 is registered by them. This means that it can now be grown by
the farmers. It has a kind of patent and they have thoroughly tested and found that it will
be beneficial for the farmers.
Similarly, I developed native varieties of wheat, mustard and chilli. We would also like to
have desi wheat. However, farmers prefer hybrid due to better yield. The native variety
that I developed ensure good yield.
Like native wheat, the mustard seeds give more oil and better yield. Then, I also
developed a type of chilli. In India, there are two types of chillies that have more color
value than this chilli. Both are found in Bangalore. One is tomato chilli and the other one
is Byadgi chilli. The color values of these chillies in ASP unit are 125 and 126
respectively. Even though these chillies have high color values, they are not spicy. The
chilli that I grow is a little spicy and the color value is 117 unit, which is close to the
values of tomato and Byadgi chilies. People prefer this for its spicy flavor. The quality of
this chilli is very good but it’s also very expensive i.e. around 400-500 rupees per kilo.
So I basically try to sort and grow plants that have good quality and yield and are also
desi. In Rajasthan, there are 15 main crops that are sown which includes vegetables
and masalas. I have collected more than 700 types of desi crops out of which I have
given 400 of these types to the National Gene Bank. I developed further varieties from
these handpicked native crops. The Cluster Beans that I developed has the highest
gum content in India.
Have other farmers around you adapted this technique?
Yes, they have adapted this technique. I have grown around 50,000 plants using 1 liter
technique. This 1 liter technique has been accepted everywhere.
This year, along with the fruit bearing plants, there are 21 other types of plants for which
I will be using this technique. An institute in Amrit Dharti is helping me in this regard. We
are trying this technique on 21 different types of plants which includes fruit bearing trees
and sandalwood. We are confident that these trees can survive the 1 liter technique.
Also the Cluster Beans variety that I developed is grown from Haryana to Tamil Nadu.
This includes states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. It has given a good
yield. The Chickpea variety I created has been introduced in almost all the states. It has
been registered recently so it will soon be commercialized.
Is your technique suitable for all types of lands and for all seasons?
The sands of Rajasthan (balu) have very loose soil. Other states in India experience
better rain and the land is also more suitable in holding the rain water compared to the
balu soil of Rajasthan. Here the land consists of balu soil and loam (Domat Soil) which
is not considered suitable for all kinds of agriculture. Even in such conditions our 1 litre
technique has been successful.
An institute in Mumbai is also trying this technique. I have spoken to them over the
phone. In Bihar a farmer is successfully growing mangoes using this technique.
Currently, it is doing very well. But the actual success will be determined only in the
months of May and June which is the hottest time of the season.
This is a topic of research and the farmers have limitations. In states like Karnataka,
Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra rainfall is 2-3 times more than our
state. The capacity of the land to hold water is really good that makes the fruit plants
(grown using seeds) flourish in these areas. It is very common for the forest plants to
flourish. However, there is still scope for research on these fruit bearing plants.
Are you getting any government aids to continue research on this technique?
No, there has been no funding for this research. But I have received lot of awards for
this research and the variety of seeds I have developed. I have been invited by other
countries and UNO-based organizations like WIPO (Geneva), FAO (Italy), Ottawa,
Montreal, United Nations universities. Even in India I have been invited to all the
universities.
I have realized that budget is the biggest challenge & hurdle to take this technique
forward. Everyone is looking for a budget-friendly technique that requires less water and
is easy to use. Our politicians and bureaucrats talk about such techniques. Even our
scientists are working towards similar goals. This technique provides the solution we all
are looking for.
ONGC asked me to create a pilot project using this technique and get it verified by a
scientist. So I requested the Arid Forest Research Institute (Jodhpur), to get involved in
this pilot project. An Institute’s verification report will hold more weightage than a
scientist’s verification. I paid Rs. 30,000 as the project fees, as I felt that all the years
spend on this research needs to be certified.
They gave an excellent report on this ONGC plantation pilot project. This plantation
project work should have continued but things became really difficult when the officers
changed. The new officers didn’t agree and the project got stalled.
What kind of budget one should have in mind to start a project with this
methodology?
Initially, there is an approximate expenditure of Rs.350 per plant. The positive growth
result can be seen in 2 years. The major expense is incurred on the protection of the
plants by installing barbed wires and protection nets which are common for any kind of
plantation. One liter technique will cost around 1 lakh per hectare irrespective of the
plantation. It can be timber plantation, fruit trees or forestation for fodder. We don’t really
need much medical protection for these plants. Even the water used is very less. So the
cost of using this technique will be around Rs.1,00,000.
As far as the budget is concerned, farmers are already paying for the plants irrespective
of whatever technique they use. Using 1 liter technique is not going to add additional
burden compared to the traditional methods of watering crops regularly.
Thousands of saplings are planted in Kaveri basin. I had requested them to use this
technique to grow plants but never received any response. However, a village in Tamil
Nadu were not able to grow any plants. Whatever plants they grow would die by the end
of May-June due to lack of water. So they were asked to contact me. I gave them the
required information about this technique and they agreed to grow plants using the 1
liter technique. Similarly many institutions have contacted me in this regard and have
shown interest in using this technique for plantation.
So basically people are showing a lot of interest in using this technique. But I am not
able to visit all the places personally and spend enough days to help them with the
plantation. Apart from my age factor, I also need to take care of the things here. There
are many people who come for consultation. I also have a research work being carried
out. Currently I have about 200 varieties of Wheat, Mustard and Chickpeas. 10 years of
research on these plants require constant monitoring for the development of upgraded
variety for better yield.
If a farmer outside Rajasthan needs your help, would you be able to visit them
and practically show how it works?
Yes. I can definitely help them out. However, I am now 69 and I do have some heart
related health concerns and so, I am always accompanied by an attendant. We also
need to understand the farmer’s limitations.
Conversing with Mr. Sundaram Verma brings hope and the thought is rekindled
that where there is will, a way always gets paved. We wish him good health and
good wishes for all his ventures to bear fruit.
Address
Sundaram verma p.o. Danta ,Dhawayali kothi District Sikar,
Rajasthan, pin.332702
Agriculturist
Sikar District
Grow a tree with 1 litre of water may seem like a fantasy expression, but Mr. Sundaram
Verma has proved it possible. He has meticulously grown thousands of trees and has
saved over 7 lakh liters of rainwater in a couple of days.
Mr. Sundaram hails from Danta village in Sikar district, Rajasthan – a place known for
its dry weather and extreme temperatures during summers and winters. Due to lack of
rainfall in the area, there is severe water shortage. There are no water canals and the
ground water keeps depleting.
Being part of a family that were, for generations, involved in farming, the interest in
agriculture came naturally to Mr.Sundaram. Though a Science graduate who got many
an opportunity to get into the academic field, Mr Sundaram chose to pursue his line of
interest – agriculture!
Please tell us about the 1 litre water technique.
In 1982 I was sent for a 2-months Pusa IARI training course for Young Farmers in New
Delhi. I was the representative from the Agricultural Department of Rajasthan. There, I
had the opportunity to meet a senior agricultural scientist and learned farming
techniques.
We learned the technique of dry farming which was more prevalent and useful in the
colder areas of India where the river water and moisture in air can be used for irrigation.
However, this technique would hardly yield any result in a place like Rajasthan where it
hardly rains even in the monsoons.
I experimented the dry farming technique on saplings for trees rather than crops. The
experiment was successful. This technique worked exceptionally well on traditional
plants of Rajasthan like Rohida, Neem, Khejri and Ardu, Ber and Soujna. Plants like
Eucalyptus that requires high amount of water also responded well to the dry farming
technique.
Did you grow any fruits and vegetables using this technology or was it only
experimented for afforestation?
This is mainly for the forest plants. Plants that provide shade, fodder and timber for
construction. These plants can be sold easily as they don’t require official permission.
Commercial plants like seesham, Rohida. I am trying to grow Sandal wood using this
technique in Rajasthan
Plants for fodder are scarce in Rajasthan and other parts of India. Hence, growing them
makes it easily available to people for free or at a reasonable price.
I have planted trees in school grounds, farms, Panchayat-owned lands, cow sheds and
forest areas.
Please elaborate on the 1-litre water technique.
We must first understand that the water absorbed by the land during monsoon is lost
mainly due to two reasons:
1. The grass that sprouts consumes ground water up to a depth of 1 meter.
2. Due to natural reasons steam from underground water causes tiny pores on the
surface. This results in water leakage of up to 30 feet depth. Scientifically this
process is called capillary action.
So if the water loss due to grass and capillary action are tackled, the land will always be
blessed with enough moisture for plants to grow.
To apply this technique, one should select areas/blocks to grow plants. This technique
does not apply for a single plant. The selected block may be of any measure like one
bigha (0.40052356 acres), 1 hectare, 100 hectares or even 1000 hectares.
Once the block is selected, the plot should be deep ploughed, twice. Deep ploughing is
ploughing the land to the depth of at least 1 feet.
The first deep ploughing is done 5-6 days after the first monsoon rainfall in that area.
This is because during this time, whatever grass grows after the rainfall is destroyed by
ploughing. Then the land is left free to absorb maximum water during the upcoming
rainfalls.
The second deep ploughing is done soon after the last rainfall of the monsoon season.
In Rajasthan, the monsoons end in September. With years of experience, local farmers
can predict the last rainfall. When clouds starts moving at faster pace from west to east
and flies over the mountains, it is considered as the end of the monsoon season.
Another way to determine the last monsoon is using weather forecast from the
meteorological department.
Hence, here, the second ploughing is done just after last monsoon in September.
During this time, the first thing that is done is removal of any leftover weed from the first
ploughing. Now the weed/grass and the capillary-action at the top layer is countered.
Due to broken channel attained by ploughing, the water gets collected 1 feet below the
top layer and will never reach the surface beneath it - the layer that is 1 feet below the
deep ploughing is still capillary active.
Now, if the saplings are planted in such a way that their roots touch the layer where
there is capillary action i.e. one feet below the ground it will not require additional water.
The ground water that collects there will be sufficient for the plants to grow.
So soon after the second ploughing, holes 4-5 inch long and wide and are dug out to a
depth of 1.5 feet. Since the top layer is already ploughed, the holes can be dug easily
using a farming tool called the spud.
Saplings are planted 10 inches deep in that hole, ensuring their roots touch the
water/moisture collected in the capillary. Next, mud is added to the hole for up to 2
inches.
Then, we add 1 liter water to the remaining upper part of the hole which is about 6
inches (0.5 feet). 2ml of organic or chemical pesticide can be used to protect the plant
from insects or termites. After 3 or 4 days, the layer which was covered with mud above
the stem of the plant becomes dry and flakey. The dry mud must be loosened to prevent
capillary formation. This plant will not require additional water.
During winter the land does not lose its moisture as fast as during the summers. The
roots of the plants go deep into the capillary. The roots will further grow deep into the
soil in search of moisture.
On the other hand saplings planted during monsoon will have the roots on the top layer
of the soil because it contains enough moisture and it makes the root grow in the top
layer of the land. It survives the winter as there will be enough moisture. However it fails
to withstand the dryness of summer seasons because the roots do not grow deep to
reach the underground moisture.
Whereas the saplings planted using the dry farming technique will have the roots in
capillary. During the dry summer season the roots will grow further down into the ground
and ensure that it keeps getting required moisture from the land. We have observed that
such plants and trees remain green even during the summer season, withstanding
temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius.
Do you also grow fruits and vegetables?
Yes, we do. If the land is free from weeds/grass and the top layer is loosened regularly
to prevent any capillary action, fruits and vegetables can be grown easily with less
water. We have grown pomegranate, few vegetables and we also developed new
varieties.
Do you sell these fruits and vegetables or do you grow them only for personal
use?
My farm land has absolutely no water. It had water 10 years back when I had planted a
garden. But 5-6 years ago the water exhausted completely. This year, there was so
much heat and scarcity of water that we did not get the tankers that we normally get to
water the plants.
So, we devised a new plan. We placed plastic sheets between 2 plantation rows and
collected the water. That way, we collected around 20 lakhs liters of water, from 1
hectare, only from the plantations. These plantations required 10 lakhs liters of water
and the remaining water (10 lakhs liters) was used to grow fruits and vegetables which
we sold in the market. We grow fruits like pomegranate only for sales.
What were some of the challenges you faced while experimenting with this
technique?
The one liter technique has the capacity to turn a desert into a land full of green. So
ideally this is the best technique. But it involves budget for digging, watering the plants
etc.
The biggest challenge is to make people believe in this technique. They generally don’t
accept techniques that do not have minimum budget or no expenses involved.
Dr. Swaminathan personally visited my farm to see the working of this technique. Even
the Chief Ministers are aware of this technique. This method involves a long process.
The ONGC had started a pilot project which was for 3 years and had asked us to grow
plants using this technique. They said they have enough budget for the project and
would like to see a desert converted into green land. So we went ahead with the
plantation and the results were remarkable.
Even today those plants continue to grow well. Unfortunately, at the end of the 3 rd year
the officers changed and this technique was later not given much thought. No one
wanted to believe that this 1 liter technique could work even though a great and busy
scientist like Dr. Swaminathan gave tremendous positive feedback on this technique in
his reports.
Apart from fruits and vegetables, have you experimented this technology with
any other types of crops like medicinal plants?
No. I haven’t grown medicinal plants. But now I am trying to grow some medicinal
plants. I have also developed some desi/local varieties. Desi plants generally are great
in quality but don’t give a good yield. However, the plants I grow here, not only have
good quality but are also high in yield.
For example I am in process to grow a type of Chickpea (Kabul Chana) which have
thick seeds and were available only in export quality. Even today we don’t get chickpea
that has a test weight (1000 seeds) of 500gm. There is a separate department in India
that checks a farmer’s variety and also tests the quality. It is called as Protection of
Plant Variety and Farmers’ Right Authority (PPV&FR Act). The type of Chickpea that I
grow which is called SR1 is registered by them. This means that it can now be grown by
the farmers. It has a kind of patent and they have thoroughly tested and found that it will
be beneficial for the farmers.
Similarly, I developed native varieties of wheat, mustard and chilli. We would also like to
have desi wheat. However, farmers prefer hybrid due to better yield. The native variety
that I developed ensure good yield.
Like native wheat, the mustard seeds give more oil and better yield. Then, I also
developed a type of chilli. In India, there are two types of chillies that have more color
value than this chilli. Both are found in Bangalore. One is tomato chilli and the other one
is Byadgi chilli. The color values of these chillies in ASP unit are 125 and 126
respectively. Even though these chillies have high color values, they are not spicy. The
chilli that I grow is a little spicy and the color value is 117 unit, which is close to the
values of tomato and Byadgi chilies. People prefer this for its spicy flavor. The quality of
this chilli is very good but it’s also very expensive i.e. around 400-500 rupees per kilo.
So I basically try to sort and grow plants that have good quality and yield and are also
desi. In Rajasthan, there are 15 main crops that are sown which includes vegetables
and masalas. I have collected more than 700 types of desi crops out of which I have
given 400 of these types to the National Gene Bank. I developed further varieties from
these handpicked native crops. The Cluster Beans that I developed has the highest
gum content in India.
Have other farmers around you adapted this technique?
Yes, they have adapted this technique. I have grown around 50,000 plants using 1 liter
technique. This 1 liter technique has been accepted everywhere.
This year, along with the fruit bearing plants, there are 21 other types of plants for which
I will be using this technique. An institute in Amrit Dharti is helping me in this regard. We
are trying this technique on 21 different types of plants which includes fruit bearing trees
and sandalwood. We are confident that these trees can survive the 1 liter technique.
Also the Cluster Beans variety that I developed is grown from Haryana to Tamil Nadu.
This includes states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. It has given a good
yield. The Chickpea variety I created has been introduced in almost all the states. It has
been registered recently so it will soon be commercialized.
Is your technique suitable for all types of lands and for all seasons?
The sands of Rajasthan (balu) have very loose soil. Other states in India experience
better rain and the land is also more suitable in holding the rain water compared to the
balu soil of Rajasthan. Here the land consists of balu soil and loam (Domat Soil) which
is not considered suitable for all kinds of agriculture. Even in such conditions our 1 litre
technique has been successful.
An institute in Mumbai is also trying this technique. I have spoken to them over the
phone. In Bihar a farmer is successfully growing mangoes using this technique.
Currently, it is doing very well. But the actual success will be determined only in the
months of May and June which is the hottest time of the season.
This is a topic of research and the farmers have limitations. In states like Karnataka,
Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra rainfall is 2-3 times more than our
state. The capacity of the land to hold water is really good that makes the fruit plants
(grown using seeds) flourish in these areas. It is very common for the forest plants to
flourish. However, there is still scope for research on these fruit bearing plants.
Are you getting any government aids to continue research on this technique?
No, there has been no funding for this research. But I have received lot of awards for
this research and the variety of seeds I have developed. I have been invited by other
countries and UNO-based organizations like WIPO (Geneva), FAO (Italy), Ottawa,
Montreal, United Nations universities. Even in India I have been invited to all the
universities.
I have realized that budget is the biggest challenge & hurdle to take this technique
forward. Everyone is looking for a budget-friendly technique that requires less water and
is easy to use. Our politicians and bureaucrats talk about such techniques. Even our
scientists are working towards similar goals. This technique provides the solution we all
are looking for.
ONGC asked me to create a pilot project using this technique and get it verified by a
scientist. So I requested the Arid Forest Research Institute (Jodhpur), to get involved in
this pilot project. An Institute’s verification report will hold more weightage than a
scientist’s verification. I paid Rs. 30,000 as the project fees, as I felt that all the years
spend on this research needs to be certified.
They gave an excellent report on this ONGC plantation pilot project. This plantation
project work should have continued but things became really difficult when the officers
changed. The new officers didn’t agree and the project got stalled.
What kind of budget one should have in mind to start a project with this
methodology?
Initially, there is an approximate expenditure of Rs.350 per plant. The positive growth
result can be seen in 2 years. The major expense is incurred on the protection of the
plants by installing barbed wires and protection nets which are common for any kind of
plantation. One liter technique will cost around 1 lakh per hectare irrespective of the
plantation. It can be timber plantation, fruit trees or forestation for fodder. We don’t really
need much medical protection for these plants. Even the water used is very less. So the
cost of using this technique will be around Rs.1,00,000.
As far as the budget is concerned, farmers are already paying for the plants irrespective
of whatever technique they use. Using 1 liter technique is not going to add additional
burden compared to the traditional methods of watering crops regularly.
Thousands of saplings are planted in Kaveri basin. I had requested them to use this
technique to grow plants but never received any response. However, a village in Tamil
Nadu were not able to grow any plants. Whatever plants they grow would die by the end
of May-June due to lack of water. So they were asked to contact me. I gave them the
required information about this technique and they agreed to grow plants using the 1
liter technique. Similarly many institutions have contacted me in this regard and have
shown interest in using this technique for plantation.
So basically people are showing a lot of interest in using this technique. But I am not
able to visit all the places personally and spend enough days to help them with the
plantation. Apart from my age factor, I also need to take care of the things here. There
are many people who come for consultation. I also have a research work being carried
out. Currently I have about 200 varieties of Wheat, Mustard and Chickpeas. 10 years of
research on these plants require constant monitoring for the development of upgraded
variety for better yield.
If a farmer outside Rajasthan needs your help, would you be able to visit them
and practically show how it works?
Yes. I can definitely help them out. However, I am now 69 and I do have some heart
related health concerns and so, I am always accompanied by an attendant. We also
need to understand the farmer’s limitations.
Conversing with Mr. Sundaram Verma brings hope and the thought is rekindled
that where there is will, a way always gets paved. We wish him good health and
good wishes for all his ventures to bear fruit.
Address
Sundaram verma p.o. Danta ,Dhawayali kothi District Sikar,
Rajasthan, pin.332702
Last edited: