DRDA to launch Nadep method of composting in Warangal Rural district

Warangal: ‘Nadep’ method of making organic compost, which has become popular among farmers in Western India, is set to be spread among the farming community in Warangal Rural district.

The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) is making efforts to promote the method in a big way.District Rural Development Officer Y Shekhar Reddy informed that the agency has planned to organise ‘Nadep Day’ in 279 gram panchayats of the district on March 2 and 9.

The programme is meant to popularise the method among the farmers in the district so that they could benefit from it.

He said SC/ST farmers; small and marginal farmers could construct the compost pits using the method under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme. The compost produced from the pits would be highly beneficial to the soil and increases the soil fertility.

The DRDA has been encouraging the farmers to construct the Nadep pits and at several places the farmers have been using. However, in order to make the method adopted on large scale ‘Nadep Day’ is being conducted, Shekar Reddy said.

The method of organic composting was developed by a Gandhian worker and farmer called Narayan Deo Pandharipande of Pusad in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra State. The name of the method is derived from his name and officially referred to as ‘Nadep Method’.

The compost making in this method is unique and helps making good compost. Large quantities of compost could be made with a minimum of human effort within a specific period of time. One could make 40 kilograms of organic compost with one kilo of cattle dung, the official explained.

The process involves placing select layers of different types of compostable materials in a simple, mud-sealed rectangular structure designed with brick and mud with enough spaces maintained between the bricks in partial honeycomb pattern allowing aeration.

The recommended size of the tank is of 10 ft (length) x 6 ft (breadth) x 3 ft (height). The important technique in the manufacture of Nadep compost filling should be completed within 24 hours and should not go beyond 48 hours, as this would affect the quality of the compost, he noted.

Efforts would be made to involve agriculture department for producing Nadep compost on a large scale as the system ensures availability of large amount of compost to the farmers on a sustainable basis without requiring continuous financial inputs, Shekar Reddy added.