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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>Someday, someone will discover a new Spinosad in bioslurry and be worth major $$$$$. The members of this list could approach an agroPharm company to do this research. I know this, or many, bugs or fungus is out there in someone's biodigester. <div><br></div><div>Joe Crescenzi<br><br><div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div>> Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 18:49:14 +0530<br>> From: chanakya@astra.iisc.ernet.in<br>> To: digestion@lists.bioenergylists.org<br>> Subject: [Digestion] "Pest Repellent property of dilute slurry" - contd<br>> <br>> Dear List users<br>> Many thanks to all who have continued to react and respond to my request. <br>> With special thanks to Frank Shields, Joe Crescenzi, Jaime Marti Herrero,<br>> Eric Buysman, Isiaka Taiwo, Krishna, Jagadeesh – your inputs are really of<br>> interest. It has spurred to take up this as a potential project in the<br>> coming months. In doing so I thought some clarification and Introduction<br>> is in order and therefore this longish response.<br>> <br>> I thought I will write a short note about my interest and my exposure to<br>> this option. It came way back in 1992 working with resource poor farmers<br>> of Tamil Nadu, South India where, just as Eric Busyman indicated, farmers<br>> fermented dilute cattle dung slurry and various local weeds and herbs and<br>> made a pest repellant that they filtered and sprayed as foliar sprays on<br>> crops such as rice-paddy (plant hoppers, paddy butterfly), ground nut (red<br>> hairy caterpillar), cotton (pink boll worms), castor (semi looper – Murali<br>> Krishna talked about – Spodoptera ), flower crops and vegetables such as<br>> tomato, brinjal, Lady fingers, Chilli, etc. They christened this<br>> decoction “Ural” in Tamil – loosely translated into English as “steepage<br>> /soakage”. These farmers belonged to the Low External Input and<br>> Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) network based in Trichy and as Eric<br>> responded, the outcomes were mixed. My interaction with these farmers<br>> (c.2000 farmers, in 10 districts of TN) circa 1997-2000 indicated roughly<br>> a similar mix of responses as Eric obtained in Thailand. Alas!! those<br>> were not the days of auto-focus, aim and shoot digital pocket cameras so I<br>> have very little documentation or organized data /study of its effectivity<br>> in the field.<br>> <br>> Should any one of you like to get more anecdotal details on diluted cattle<br>> dung slurry fermented with various local leafy materials, I suggest you<br>> could interact directly with kudumbamtry@yahoo.co.in [contact persons<br>> Oswald Quintal and Suresh Kanna]. I stopped taking note of this seriously<br>> when farmers and the network started to change the inputs (circa 2002) and<br>> began to mix fermented whey (dilute butter milk), clarified butter, milk,<br>> and traditional Indian medicinal herbs in small quantities thereby<br>> bringing in a large change in the “possible” active components or<br>> microflora. Such mixtures and fermented brews are too complex to study<br>> anyway.<br>> <br>> Our own researches (at IISc, Bangalore) showed that biogas digester<br>> residue (digestate from non-cattle dung biogas plants) encourage growth of<br>> all types of earth worms and their growth in turn reduce viable counts of<br>> soil borne pathogens such as Rolstonia and Rhizoctonia in our red soils<br>> around Bangalore. While farmers, who used cattle dung biogas plant slurry<br>> (as dried residue) onto paddy and vegetable nurseries reported fewer<br>> pathogens and very low weeds emerging in their nurseries especially with<br>> paddy and vegetable plots. Once again we did not document these at that<br>> time.<br>> <br>> Circa 2004-2006, the Horticulture Department of Karnataka State (south<br>> India) subsidized a concept of “bioreactor” where weeds and leafy<br>> agro-residues were ‘anaerobically’ fermented in open tanks and the<br>> resultant ‘anaerobic’ leachate was sprayed back on horticulture crops<br>> after diluting 1:5 with water. This was to serve both as a source of<br>> micro-nutrients as well as a pest repellant. About Rs25,000 (USD650) was<br>> the subsidy amount provided. Once again there were no ‘third party’<br>> documentation of the outcomes and effectivity in the field nor were the<br>> active principles identified.<br>> <br>> I thought we had missed the bus until I found that use of such pest<br>> repellants is once again growing and becoming popular among organic<br>> markets and it has the potential to grow further. As organic markets (and<br>> bulk dealers) test samples and ensure absence of pesticide residues, the<br>> use of diluted biogas slurry, I expect will once again become popular<br>> among organic as well as resource poor farmers.<br>> <br>> Thank you all. I will now begin to document such pesticidal and pest<br>> repellant outcomes. Any additional inputs from you all will be greatly<br>> welcome.<br>> Chanakya<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> -- <br>> Dr. Hoysall Chanakya<br>> Centre for Sustainable Technologies<br>> (Assoc. Faculty at Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and<br>> Urban Planning (CiSTUP) and Centre for Contemporary Studies)<br>> Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012<br>> ph 91-80-2293 3046; fax-91 80 2360 0683<br>> <br>> <br>> -- <br>> This message has been scanned for viruses and<br>> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is<br>> believed to be clean.<br>> <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Digestion mailing list<br>> <br>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address<br>> Digestion@bioenergylists.org<br>> <br>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page<br>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org<br>> <br>> for more information about digestion, see<br>> Beginner's Guide to Biogas<br>> http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/<br>> and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/<br>> <br></div></div> </div></body>
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