Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2.
Panchagavayya
. Photo by the author.
pesticide and fertilizer prepared wholly from the excretions of cows.
Despite the smell, plants love panchagavayya, we were told.
One of the founders of Thanal, S. Usha, explained to us how this stinky
liquid promoted plant growth while also repelling pests organically (the
later deinitely did not surprise me, given how bad it smelled). Plants
treated with panchagavayya were healthier, she preached fervently to the
crowd. She then proceeded to explain how to make panchagavayya over
several weeks, including how often to stir it, and when and how to apply
the final concoction to plants.2 According to her, panchagavayya
was a
traditional fertilizer and pesticide but was now regaining popularity, as
many organic farmers used it in place of synthetic fertilizers and pesti-
cides. Usha, who had been trained as a scientist in Kerala's agricultural
