It is no surprise that the production has shot up. Take the case of Tilak Dehury, they are all marginal farmers, even ignored growing of certain weeds along side the paddy plants being little aware of the fact that they cause more harm than good to the plants.

How did they come to know the basics of diseases and use of pesticides?

Thanks to an innovative literature of an agricultural scientist who has prepared a book `Bhagabat Chhande Krushi Bigyan' that contains agricultural advisories in verses of Oriya Bhagabat.

Identifying various diseases, pest attacks and weeds concerning various paddy plants and suggestions on remedial measures have become easy now.

The language chosen to put across complicated advises in simple manner to farmers is typical and colloquial Oriya.

The author, Arun Kumar Patra, has explained integrated pest and disease management, use of organic fertilizer and advisory on various models of agriculture in poetic form.

An officer of the State Agriculture Directorate at Bhubaneswar , Patra has applied scientific methods of agriculture to reproduce these facts in the book claimed to be distinct in the world of agricultural literature.

A blend of culture, religion and literature, the book has created enthusiasm among agriculturists as well as village heads as the 192-page book is written in Nawakshyari Chhanda (each line of the advisory in poetic form written in nine letters), a style followed in Oriya Bhagabat which has been translated from Sanskrit to Oriya in the 16th century by Jagannath Das, one of the `Panchasakhas'.

“If agricultural advisories are written in line with Bhagabat, it will be easier for farmers to pursue the simple scientific methodology while growing their crops. This is one of the most powerful medium to reach out to the farmers,” Patra claims.

In most of the descriptions in the book, botanical pest control methods have been given emphasis with special reference to `neem' based pesticides which is now being promoted.

Cultural practices starting from use of resistant and tolerant varieties of seeds, summer ploughing,

seed treatment before sowing, balanced use of fertilizers along with adequate application of farm yard manures or compost and water management have been emphasized as alternative pest control measures.

Indigenous technology for management of pests and diseases have been suggested in the book for safer agro-environment which includes spraying of cow dung slurry to control bacterial leaf blight at initial stage of the disease, keeping the rotted meat of snail and oyster in fields to repel and kill `Gundhibug', a pest which attacks paddy plant at milk stage of the crop.

Use of bio-fertilizers like Azotobactor, Azospirillum, Phosphorus Solubulising Bacteria (PSB) and Rhizobium comprises major component of organic farming. This concept has been given stress in lyrical form with an aim to safeguard the agro-eco system, the author says.

Stating that the book is aimed at creating awareness among all the five categories of farmers starting from innovators to laggards, the author says first two categories of farmers always grasp whatever is taught or told to them but the last three take time to respond to new ideas.

So, efforts are on through certain awareness campaigns to popularise the advisories among the first two categories of farmers.

“This book will work like music therapy because of its simple and understandable style of writing,” the author claims.

At least 30 per cent potential of rice yield comes down due to pest attack, diseases, different nematodes, and weeds.

“This book will help to easily identify the pest and diseases and their management with specific reference to integrated management so that agro-eco system can be conserved.”

The biological control of pest and disease by predators and certain parasites because of their death can be controlled to some extent if the farmers come to know their utility. There are certain types of pests which are getting killed through application of pesticides but by conservation of these bio-agents like rove beetles, ground beetles, spiders and mired-bug in paddy, the agro-eco system can be safeguarded. Other bio-agents like dragonfly and damselfly also feed on the crops pest and keep them at lower level causing less loss to crop.

”People must know that by safeguarding these bio-agents, crops are protected,” the author says.

Similarly, certain types of micro organisms (bacteria) exist in the field which gets killed. But these micro organisms should be collected and sprayed back into the field or crops as they kill the insects that cause damage to the growing crops.

Descriptions have been made in the book on the role of bio-pesticides like bacteria and fungus and their methodologies of application and concentration in controlling the pests. The methods for collection of soil sample and recommendation of the result of the soil test have been vividly described in the book.

Similarly, emphasis has been given on the role of green manures like `Dhanicha' and `Sun hemp' that help improve the physical property of soil and retain its fertility or health. “This is a major component of organic farming,” he says.

Asked as to why he preferred Bhagabat to other medium for his advisory, Patra, an amateur lyricist, says that in the past agriculture was based on experience and tradition. But now it is scientifically driven. Scientific researches and experiments made in the field of agriculture have to percolate down to the farmland through farmers.

Besides, its successful implementation depends on the language particularly its simple understandability, acceptability, system of extension and type of presentation before those for whom it is really meant – the farmers.

A group of farmers belonging to Madhupur, Malipada and Gothapatana area under Chandaka police station who attended an awareness campaign by the author recently opined that compared to the available literatures and media meant for agricultural development, the present advisory was more helpful because it could be read like `Purana' by the villagers and apply its advantages in their farm land.

Stating that he took around eight years to get the advisory into a book form, which also contained altogether 200 folk songs on the bottom of each page by poets of different times encouraging farmers towards traditional farming and tactics of various crops and food culture of Orissa, Patra maintains that it is always very difficult to reproduce any literature in Bhagabat style.

“You can well imagine how much effort has been put into reproducing these purely scientific methods in simple and typical Oriya language that too in poetic form”.

Published by Ankita Publications at Bhadrak, the book costs Rs 150. About 3000 copies of the first edition have already been distributed in the state as part of awareness campaign among the farmers. The English translation of the book was continuing while its Hindi version would come up after the task in hand is completed.

Graduated from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) at Bhubaneswar , Patra did his post graduation from Bidhan Chandra Agriculture College in West Bengal.