Keywords

5.1 Introduction

A wide variety of vegetable crops are grown in India because of its varied agro-climatic conditions. Thanks to the research efforts made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research through its different institutes and research programmes and the State Agri-varsities that the productivity and production of vegetables in India has been increased. As a result, the production of vegetables in the country has significantly increased over the past years and was 189 mt in the year 2020. In spite of good efforts of different vegetable crop improvement programmes in the country that have resulted in the development of improved disease and insect-pest-resistant varieties in different vegetable crops, they are affected with a number of diseases and insect-pests that adversely affect their productivity and production and thus are a major threat to profitable vegetable production in the country.

Vegetable crops are affected with a number of diseases and insect-pests of which the major diseases are damping off, early blight, late blight, leaf spots, powdery mildew and fruit rots, and the major insect-pests are aphids, caterpillars, cutworms, thrips, whiteflies and mites (Singh 2017). Although vegetable varieties resistant to diseases and insect-pests are available, the major method of control of these diseases and insect-pests is achieved through the use of fungicides and insecticides, respectively. Economic damage in vegetable crops especially due to insect-pests has led to excessive pesticide use by farmers, which has resulted in ecological, environmental and human health issues. The highest use and contamination of pesticides were found in Kerala followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rai 2015). As a result, most vegetables in the markets were found to be contaminated with pesticides such as Chlorpyrifos, Monocrotophos, Endosulfan, DDT and Lindane (Nishant and Upadhyay 2016). Thus, an important challenge in vegetable production is to produce healthy and nutritive vegetables by protecting them from diseases and insect-pests through the use of organic practices/methods. The initiative to meet this challenge was taken by some institutions, non-governmental organizations, social activists and individual farmers who started using organic practices/methods for the cultivation of vegetables. Among them, different types of liquid biofertilizers developed are being used.

5.2 Liquid Biofertilizers for Organic Farming

Among the methods used for organic production of crops, liquid biofertilizers of different names have been used, which are basically Vrikshayurveda-based and taken from the book Vrikshayurveda (c. 1000 CE) by Surapala (Sadhale 1996). Several variants of these liquid biofertilizers are now being used for organic farming (Vrikshayurveda, Panchagavya, Jeevamrit, Beejamrit, compost tea, Matka khad, Vermiwash and Amrutpani), which have been proposed by different workers with the objective of improving soil health and enhancing the biological efficiency of crop plants and food production for eco-friendly nutrient and disease management under organic farming situations. Although the commonly used bio-liquid formulations help grow food which is free from health hazards posed by synthetic chemicals (fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides), they are generally not very effective in controlling various crop biotic/abiotic factors, which end up reducing the crop productivity, a common experience of smallholder farmers who commonly use them due to their poor investment capacity. Thus, farmers are required to use different bioformulations during the crop season for different purposes.

Organic formulations based on cow urine and dung as such and/or after addition of neem leaves, mustard oil cake, mustard and rice husk/straw, etc. upon anaerobic fermentation provide not only useful plant nutrients for restoring fertility of the depleted soils and food for biotic activity but also other organic chemical molecules which have anti-fungal properties and are very helpful as biopesticides, biofertilizers and pest repellents (Nene 2006; Deshmukh et al. 2012; Parmar 2009, 2017, 2019; Naresh and Dhaliwal 2020; Jidesh 2019; Beniwal and Pandey 2020). Thus, the Vrikshayurveda-based, especially the fully fermented, concoctions help farmers grow crops and foods which are free from health hazards of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides without affecting crop productivity.

5.3 Kunapajala: The World’s First Fermented Liquid Fertilizer

Almost all texts on Vrikshayurveda (from 800 CE through mid-1900 CE) strongly prescribe preparation of Kunapajala. However, it is the 1000-year-old book Vrikshayurveda by Surapala which described a new concept of a biofertilizer under the generic name ‘Kunapajala’ (Sadhale 1996), which was a fully fermented, non-vegetarian liquid biofertilizer prepared by boiling animal products (meat, bones and fish) and by using locally available ingredients such as sesame (Sesamum indicum L., tila in Hindi) oil cake, germinated whole black gram (urd bean), milk, ghee, honey (to aid fermentation) and rice husk. This was the first fertilizer given to the world by Surapala. He had used Kunapajala in fruit trees, which supported excellent growth and development. Since then, a considerable progress has been made on these aspects. The descriptions of Kunapajala given by different authors are almost similar to those given by Surapala, and thus its preparation allows considerable flexibility to farmers in choosing constituents and their proportions and also in the procedure. However, preparation and use of Kunapajala had been virtually forgotten until AAHF published the English translation of Vrikshayurveda by Surapala in 1996 (Sadhale 1996). Even after its publication and description of Kunapajala, hardly any agricultural scientist took any interest in understanding and experimenting with it till Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayangarya first published a short note ‘Herbal Kunapa’ in 2004 (Ayangarya 2004). He called it Sasyagavya. Later, a herbal Kunapajala was developed and described by Nene (2012), which is now commonly used by farmers. Comparison of Kunapajala with other similar products has also been made (Nene 2018). Because of its historical origin and use, Kunapajala has been called the organic liquid manure of antiquity (Nene 2006) (Fig. 5.1).

Fig. 5.1
The page has illustrations of a sage, and another sage doing medication, in the background of trees, creepers, plants, a sun, a moon, and a star. The title reads urikshayurveda, the science of plant life. The text at the bottom reads by Surpala, agri history bulletin number 1, Asian agri history foundation.

Vrikshayurveda book by Surapala (c. 1000 CE)

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5.4 Herbal Kunapajala: A Multipurpose Bioformulation

Nene (2006), considering the limited use of the original non-vegetarian Kunapajala in India, developed a fully fermented vegetarian Kunapajala by substituting the animal by-products with cow dung and cow urine but retained other vegetarian ingredients used in the formulation of original Kunapajala. He developed a herbal Kunapajala recipe by adding chopped herbal plants (mostly random weeds from the fields) into the vegetarian Kunapajala fermentation tank (commonly used 200 L plastic drum) (Nene 2012). This was to take care of diseases and insect-pests affecting crop plants and to avoid the necessity of using different bioformulations during the crop season for different purposes. The fully fermented herbal Kunapajala is a multipurpose fully fermented bioformulation as it not only supports an excellent plant growth and development with good yields but also protects the plants from major biotic stresses and also from some abiotic stresses (protection from cold/frost and mild drought). Thus, it can serve the function of an eco-friendly nutrient, water, disease and soil health management system. An extension leaflet on Vrikshayurveda’s herbal Kunapajala has been prepared for the use of farmers in Hindi (Asian Agri-History Foundation 2020). Now, there is a need for additional research for determining the respective possible effects/roles of each of the ingredients used in the preparation of herbal Kunapajala on soil biota and plant growth.

AAHF’s experience in using Vrikshayurveda’s herbal Kunapajala and its different modified preparations based on it from 2004 to 2012 in tea had provided excellent results in protecting the crop from biotic and to some extent abiotic stresses and improving crop growth and productivity (Ayangarya 2006). It has helped tea growers in Darjeeling, Doab and Dooars districts converting two-thirds of their inorganic tea gardens to organic ones in northern West Bengal (Parmar 2009, 2017, 2019). Very similar and encouraging results have been obtained in several different field, vegetable and fruit crops in Kannur and adjoining districts of Kerala state since 2017 (Jidesh 2019). Similar work initiated by AAHF and GBPUA&T in the hilly areas of Nainital district in November 2019 has further confirmed that herbal Kunapajala is a multipurpose bioformulation and works as a biofertilizer providing nourishment to soil and nutrition to plants; provides protection to plants from major diseases and insects; and also provides a fair protection to plants from cold/frost damage and mild drought situations, thus confirming similar and earlier observations from Darjeeling, Doab and Dooars districts in northern West Bengal and Kannur district in Kerala state. Similarly, use of herbal Kunapajala in rice crop at the Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre at GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, during the 2019 kharif (rainy) season, produced very healthy crop (almost free from false smut disease) with a yield of 65 quintals/ha (Sunita Pande, Personal communication). Relevance of Vrikshayurveda and traditional knowledge for eco-friendly sustainable agriculture to meet MDGs in India have been appropriately discussed (Beniwal et al. 2020).

5.5 Preparation of Herbal Kunapajala

Herbal Kunapajala can be prepared with the following ingredients: (1) cow dung, 15 L; (2) cow urine, 15 L; (3) jaggery (gud), 2 kg; (4) germinated whole urd bean, 2 kg; (5) mustard or neem oil cake, 2 kg; (6) rice husk water (rice husk first boiled in water for 10–15 min and then cooled for 2 days), 2–3 kg; (7) finely chopped weeds, 20 kg; and (8) water, 10 L.

Take a 200 L plastic drum which can be closed with a tight lid. Place the first five ingredients above in the drum, then pour 10 L of water into it and then stir the contents well with a strong 5-ft-long wooden stick. Then add 20 kg of chopped weeds into the drum, stir and then fill the drum with water leaving 25–30 cm (9–10 inch) space above from the lid. Stir the contents well with the stick by stirring for 5 min each both clockwise and anticlockwise. Tighten the lid and leave the drum in a shade. Next morning, open the lid and stir the contents well clockwise and anticlockwise for 5 min each. One can see the bubbles in the drum after opening the drum. The same process is to be repeated in the evening and till the day when one does not observe the bubbles. Cessation of bubbles would indicate that the fermentation process has stopped and the herbal Kunapajala is ready. The completion of fermentation and preparation of herbal Kunapajala would normally take 12–15 days in summer months whereas 21–30 days in winter (cooler months). Strain the prepared herbal Kunapajala through a coarse cheese cloth to remove the debris. A second staining is recommended if this Kunapajala is to be used for field sprays, drip/sprinkler irrigation, etc. (Figs. 5.2 and 5.3).

Fig. 5.2
4 photographs. a. 2 men stand near a plastic drum and a man stands before them. They are in a grove of different trees. b. A plastic bucket with partially filled sprouted black grams and a container with oil cake. c. A closeup view of chopped leaves in a sac. d. The cow dung is collected in a container and 2 legs of a man are partially seen beside it.

Preparation of herbal Kunapajala. (a) A 200 L plastic drum. (b) Oil cake and germinated black gram. (c) Chopped weeds/plants. (d) Cow dung

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Fig. 5.3
2 photographs. a. Liquid organic manure is collected in a container. b. A group of people stands in front of a house. All of them wear caps and masks. A woman holds a log which is kept in a plastic drum.

Prepared herbal Kunapajala (left) and its demonstration in Uttarakhand (right)

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5.6 Importance of Herbal Kunapajala in Organic Farming

Herbal Kunapajala is a fully fermented liquid biofertilizer, which nourishes the soil, improves the soil through the growth of earthworms and useful microbes, improves the soil health, nourishes the plant resulting in enhanced vegetative and reproductive growth and better productivity and provides effective control and management of insect-pests and diseases. It has been observed that it protects the crops from light frost and also mild drought situation as it improves the water-holding capacity of soil. According to our experience and belief, it is one fully fermented organic bioformulation that can make an organic farming successful. Interestingly, because of its multipurpose characteristics, a farmer can do organic farming with it without the need of using any other organic material, especially useful microbes such as Trichoderma and Beauveria, micronutrients, insecticides and fungicides, as herbal Kunapajala can successfully provide all of these to soil and plants. Another important point is that the farmer can himself or herself prepare it easily and can include herbal plants in making it based on the requirements. For example, the farmer can include neem cake in its preparation if nematodes/soil insects are a problem in his or her field. Similarly, if a farmer has the knowledge of particular diseases that affect his or her crop, he or she can include specific herbal plants that are known to be effective against those diseases while preparing the herbal Kunapajala. According to our experience, it is only in special situations that there would be a need to use any other organic biofungicides or bioinsecticides. For such situations, we have developed different biofungicides/biopesticides to control the prevailing diseases and insect-pests (Ayangarya 2006; Beniwal and Pandey 2020; Parmar 2019).

Herbal Kunapajala is made from easily available ingredients, is easy to make and has flexibility in its preparation based on the needs. The farmer has a choice in choosing the constituents and proportions as per requirements (choice of oil cake and herbal plants and their ratios and procedure). It is eco-friendly, non-hazardous and user friendly with tremendous fertilizer value and affordable low cost. It is a liquid and reaches roots in a short time. Its complex ingredients are fermented and broken into simple low-molecular-weight products, which are easily available to plants resulting in quick and faster plant growth and development (Jani et al. 2017).

5.7 Using Herbal Kunapajala in Vegetable Crops

The prepared herbal Kunapajala can be used in vegetable crops either with or without dilution of 1:10 in the following different ways:

  • Treatment (dipping) of seed/rhizome/suckers/seedlings before sowing/transplanting (1:10 dilution)

  • Use with irrigation water (fertigation) in seedling nursery (undiluted @ 90–100 L/acre)

  • Pre-sowing irrigation fertigation of the field (undiluted @ 90–100 L/acre)

  • Fertigation at each irrigation water for crops (undiluted @ 90–100 L/acre)

  • Use in foliar sprays (1:10 dilution at 10–15-day interval, normally 2–3 times)

  • Easily applied through drip/sprinkler/microirrigation and hydroponic

5.8 Usefulness of Kunapajala in Different Vegetable Crops

Herbal Kunapajala has been successfully used in tomato, brinjal, capsicum, okra, chillies, cucumber, cowpea and Amaranthus. It has been observed that the application of Kunapajala enhances general growth and fruiting of plants as compared with chemical fertilizers (Asha 2006). This has also been observed in different vegetables applied with herbal Kunapajala in Uttarakhand (Beniwal, personal observation) and Kerala (Jidesh 2019). Herbal Kunapajala application has also been observed to extend the flowering and fruiting phases, resulting in 20–30% higher yields (fruits) and bigger size fruits. It is able to protect crops from diseases and insects due to production of higher amounts of glycine betaine and proline content—which is useful for osmotic adjustment and providing resistance to abiotic stresses in leaf. It also improves appearance of fruits as they look fresh and more attractive and also improves the shelf life of fruits, which is useful for transportation and marketing.

Herbal Kunapajala is known to improve plant metabolism, which on the one hand induces growth and higher yield and on the other hand results in enhanced biochemical defence, which lowers pests and diseases. It makes plants energy sufficient and thus improves their photosynthetic efficiency. Inclusion of energy components can increase the rate of linear electron transport and improve stomatal conductance, leading to better diffusion of CO2 towards carboxylation sites. Higher photosynthetic rate leading to continuity in simple carbohydrate formation results in higher starch reserve and higher energy. Healthy plants can optimize transportation stream and photosynthetic efficiency, resulting in higher crop productivity, better immunity leading to reduction of pests and diseases, increase in secondary metabolites resulting in better product quality, and also sustainability in production.

It is believed that during fermentation of herbal Kunapajala, intermediate products of decomposition, organic acids, combine to form ammonium salts which prevent the loss of ammonia and results in the formation of nitrates. Use of herbal Kunapajala reduces the loss of organic matter, which results in greater conservation of organic matter and nitrogen. During fermentation, growth promoters are produced in herbal Kunapajala which helps enhance plant and reproductive growth. There is a likelihood of production of phytochemicals due to addition of different weeds/medicinal plants, which may enhance plant growth.

In our experience, herbal Kunapajala has been shown to improve the growth and productivity in brinjal, tomato, capsicum, okra, chillies, cucumber, cowpea and Amaranthus. This is shown in Figs. 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 and 5.10.

Fig. 5.4
2 photographs. On the left, a man plucks brinjals and collects them in a bucket in a brinjal farming land. On the right, a man's hand holds a cluster of freshly plucked brinjals from the garden.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala use on brinjal

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Fig. 5.5
2 photographs. A close-up view of bunches of unripe tomatoes in the tomato plant. A man lifts the leaves and shows the unripe tomatoes.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on tomato production

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Fig. 5.6
2 photographs. On the left, a boy holds 4 capsicums in both his hands. A sac is placed in front of him for collection. He stands in the capsicum cultivation land. On the right, a small pile of plucked capsicums is on the floor in a room and a man crouches near.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala use on capsicum production

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Fig. 5.7
2 photographs. A man stands in the lady's finger farming land. A close-up view of 3 lady's fingers in its plant.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on okra production

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Fig. 5.8
2 photographs. Screen capture of chillies cultivation land. A text vertically displays kottiyoor panchayat on its left. Number 118 by 240 is displayed at the bottom. Icons including Facebook, lock, zoom, battery and time are on the top. A close-up view of the chillies in its plant.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on chillies

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Fig. 5.9
2 photographs. A close-up view of a cucumber with thorns hanging on a stem. A small pile of ripened cucumber is on the ground.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on cucumber production

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Fig. 5.10
2 photographs. On the left, a man stands in a farming land of bean creepers. On the right, is a screenshot of people walking in a line one after the other in the land of amaranthus. Coconut and trees are in the background. Number 36 by 240 is displayed at the bottom. Icons including Facebook, lock, zoom, battery and time are on the top.

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on bean (left) and Amaranthus (right)

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5.9 Nutritive Value of Organic Vegetables

It is recognized that organically produced crops contain significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates than the conventional crops (Worthington 2001). They have a better quality protein and nutritionally significant minerals and lesser amount of some heavy metals. Considering these qualities, they attract better consumer attention and fulfil better satisfaction. These differences occur due to differences in the management of soil fertility that affect soil dynamics and plant metabolism as a result of which differences in plant composition and nutritional quality are observed. Soil managed organically has more microorganisms, which produce many compounds including citrate and lactate that help plants by making them more available to plant roots that combine with soil minerals. Nitrogen from fertilizer affects the amounts of vitamin C and nitrates as well as the quantity and quality of protein produced by plants. As the organically managed soils present plants with lower amounts of nitrogen than chemically fertilized soils, it is expected that organically produced crops would have more vitamin C, less nitrates and less protein but of a higher quality.

5.10 Herbal Kunapajala and Nutritive Value of Tomato Fruits

Effect of herbal Kunapajala on the nutritive value of tomato fruits was studied in comparison with the conventional and organic farming (Deshmukh et al. 2012). The following changes were observed in the herbal Kunapajala-treated plants: (1) increase in the total acids, fibre content, total solids and ash; (2) increase in the biochemical constituents (soluble proteins, total carbohydrates and polyphenols) and also the taste, flavour and nutritional value of fruits; (3) increased lycopene—interesting from coronary health point of view; (4) higher ascorbic acid, proline and glycine betaine obtained, which are useful for minimizing oxidative stress; (5) increase in oxidative enzymes that confer antioxidant properties; and (6) higher carotenoids, which have a role in protecting cells from harmful effects of light and air and antioxidants. All these positive changes in tomato fruits due to herbal Kunapajala treatment are useful for the health of fruits as well as the consumer.

5.11 Conclusion

Vegetables are an integral and important part of the diets of Indians. Lately, their productivity and production have increased through the research efforts made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research through its different institutes and All India Coordinated Research programmes, State Agri-varsities and the private sector. In spite of the fact that a number of disease-resistant/tolerant varieties have been developed, diseases and insect-pests continue to be a threat to vegetable production in the country. For their control, excessive pesticides are being used by farmers, which have resulted in ecological, environmental and human health issues. One possible solution for this situation is the use of organic practices/methods for the cultivation of vegetables or the use of biofungicides/biopesticides to control diseases and insect-pests. In this, the role of liquid biofertilizers becomes important, several of which are being used by the farmers these days. In this list, there is also a bioformulation known as herbal Kunapajala, developed by the Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF) from the original Kunapajala described in the book Vrikshayurveda by Surapala (c. 1000 CE); it has shown a great promise in successful organic cultivation of different crops including vegetable crops and for the control of diseases and insect-pests. The AAHF, the proponent of herbal Kunapajala, has validated its effectiveness in different crops since 2004 in different crops and states and found it extremely useful. For the last few years, its use has been extended to smallholder farmers in Kerala and Uttarakhand who grow several different crops on their farms including the vegetable crops. These efforts have provided very useful and encouraging results in different vegetable crops and helped farmers in increasing productivity and production of their organic vegetable crops and thus their household income. They are able to organically cultivate their vegetable crops with the use of only herbal Kunapajala and are able to sell their produce as organic to the local consumers and local markets. However, there is now a challenge to do further research into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ aspects of herbal Kunapajala to find the possible reasons behind its effectiveness in increasing productivity and quality of vegetable crops. Also, there is a need to make arrangements to make it available on market shelves for its easy availability especially for the urban users.