🌱 *Know ur plants and trees*
In continuation of our discussion on natural pesticides for plants, one of the potent one is *Jeevamrut*. Jeevamrut is a natural manure cum pesticide conceived by *Padma Shri Subhash Palekarji,* founder of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF). *Jeevamrut* is one of the four pillars of natural farming. When combined with mulching, it helps increase microbes and earthworm in the soil leading to healthy plants.
*Jeevamrut* comprises of :
*Cowdung*.. preferably of old cow which has stopped giving milk as all its energy and nutrition will be available in the cowdung bcos of it stopping milk production. Fresh desi cow dung is best for jeevamrut. Desi Cow dung contains millions of beneficial microbes and nutrition which is multiplied in jeevamrut.
*Cow urine* ..Cow urine has no shelf life…so can be stored as long as one wants and used at convenience. Cow urine is used to protect the plants from disease and improve the quality of flower and fruits
*Gud/Jaggery* ..any natural gud without bleaching put to whiten it can be used. Purpose of adding jaggery is they act as food for microbes to multiply.
*Pulses pd*…can be any pulse pd ie chana dal, moong dal, tur dal, etc. They act as food for the microbes helping them to multiply.
*Sajeev mitti/mud* ..a fistful of mud from untouched areas like forest, under peepal/vad trees r used. This is added to jeevamrut to multiply the good microbes found in the soil.
A homogenous mixture of above has to be made and stirred twice a day three times in clockwise direction during sunrise and sunset to help the mixture turn and microbes multiply. The preparation should be kept in a cool dark place, away from direct sunlight and kept covered.
Foliar spray can be done on leaves as pesticide or applied to soil through drip irrigation or manually.
Jeevamrut also helps to improve the ph of the soil and helps to retain moisture. This helps plants to absorb maximum nutrition in the soil.
Formula for home garden jeevamrut preparation:
Cow dung : 1 kg
Cow urine : 1/2 litre
Chana dal : 50 gms
Gud. : 50 gms
Mud. : fistful
Water. : 10 litres
Mix it and stir it for next 7 days, morning and evening. Once ready, 2 litre of jeevamrut can be diluted in 10 litre of water and used in plants.
This preparation formula can be used in proportion to one’s plants once a fortnight/ month depending on season, plant, nutrition requirement, etc.
Once ready, the jeevamrut has to used as quickly as possible…as it grows old, the microbes reduce reducing its potency, though it won’t get spoiled.
🙏 *Thank You*🙏