amaranth monsoon cultivation

Amaranth requires certain techniques to cultivate in the monsoons are it is highly intolerant to rainfall. The demand for amaranth is high & the makeshift mursery method is being adopted here.

Land preparation
The land selected should be at an open area. Shade areas should be avoided. The selected land should be further divided into smaller raised beds. Since it will not be possible to raise the makeshift nursery during monsoon season, preparations should be done at least one month before the onset of rainfall.

Repeated ploughings should be done on the land, & clods must be broken & weeds, stones other inert materials should be removed. The size of each bed should be 2 meters in lemgth & width & 20 to 25 cm high.

SOWING, FERTILIZER MANAGEMENT IS THE SAME AS THE EARLIER POST

RAISING THE NURSERY

Poles must be erected at the corners of the land chosen. Bamboo can be used here. The appearance of the nursery should be like that of a tent. So provisions must be made such that water does not collect at the top of the nursery, but falls freely at the sides, away from the beds.

Transparent Plastic sheets can be used to protect the plants from rain. The basic principle here is, using transparent plastic sheets, raises the temperature under the tent & this helps in germination & raoid growth of the seedlings.

Since only the top is covered , the sides are open & this allows good aeration. So the plants are protected like an umbrella cover

Here the plants take nearly a month to harvest as cooler temperatures during the rains affects growth drastically.

Photos and content by Pritham 'Heavy metal farmer' denzil dsouza