Special Features of Farming Projects
All integrated farming projects and master units should endeavour to include some special features such as a wheat grinding machine to produce flour, a bakery to produce bread, a cheap seed distribution centre (sulabha biija vitaran'a kendra), a free plant distribution centre, sericulture, a bio-gas plant to utilize the waste of dairy cows, solar energy, apiculture and a school and children's home.
A cheap seed distribution centre should collect good quality seeds and sell them at cheap rates. Seeds may be purchased from local farmers at the end of each harvest, or purchased at cheap rates in the market, or cultivated, but the centre should provide good quality seeds at cheap rates to the local people.
A free plant distribution centre should grow plants from seeds and seedlings for free distribution to local people. The following system should be used to prepare plants for distribution.
The seedlings should be grown until they are one and a half feet tall. The plants should then be uprooted and their roots soaked in water for half an hour. Next, the main root of each plant should be cut off one inch below the base of the plant, and the remaining roots should again be soaked in water for ten minutes. The plants should then be planted in a field or packed for distribution. Plants which are prepared in this way will produce large, sweet fruits. The fruits will be better than those produced from seedlings, but not as good as those produced from grafted plants. [Excerpted from “Ideal Farming” - Part 2, 20 February 1988, Calcutta]
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