Make-Your-Own Organic Pesticides

I am very impressed not only by the diversity of plants on the Navdanya farm, but the variety of organic pesticides and fertilizers used on the farm, as well. There are seven types of compost used at Navdanya. This includes vermicomposting (with worms and cow dung), a layer cake compost (a large and shallow hole in the earth filled with straw, green plant material, then a mixture of cow dung and urine, then covered with the earth and left to sit), and of course the leftover food compost, which seems to mostly be eaten by the dogs. There is also a barrel on the edge of one of the fields which contains cow dung, cow urine, sugar cane sludge (gur), and chickpea flour (besan) that is composted and then pumped into the irrigation channels of the farm. I have yet to discover what the other three types of compost could possibly be.

The cows checking in on how their waste is doing in the vermicomposting center.

 

 

A mixture of cow dung and urine applied to the compost layer cake.

The blue barrel compost.

We also recently had a study abroad group from New York visit and I sat in on one of their lectures regarding the making of organic pesticides at Navdanya. Since the videos I took will not load with this in-and-out Internet connection, I will do my best to explain what I learned. The pesticide we helped to make included leaves from the camphor tree, neem leaves, and a third plant that starts with a D. I thought they said daikon, but pointed to a large tree so I will have to look into the name of that plant. Shavings from a bar of natural soap called biotech were also added. These ingredients were all placed into a bucket of cow urine and mixed for application. One liter of this mixture is enough for one acre of pest protection. I was told this pesticide protects against all pests. Marigolds planted on the edge of the fields are also an effective method for deterring pests here.

The leaves used in organic pesticide making are crushed in a mortar pestle type device and then added to the cow urine.

Applying the pesticide to the rice.