A Farmer’s Daughter Shares
A personal blog by Sasi Rekha — farmer’s daughter, organic grower, and educator — sharing decades of ground-level experience in traditional paddy cultivation, vegetable farming, and homemade organic fertilizer production.
🌾 From the Field — Why I Write This Blog
I am a farmer’s daughter — and I say that with every ounce of pride I carry. I grew up watching my father walk the paddy fields at dawn, touching the soil with his bare hands before he did anything else. That image never left me. Today, I carry that same instinct into everything I do — whether I stand in a classroom or kneel in a field.
Our family farm grows over 100 traditional paddy varieties organically — native seeds that my ancestors preserved long before chemical agriculture arrived and tried to erase them. We grow rice, multiple varieties of vegetables, and different varieties of dhal — all without a single gram of synthetic fertilizer touching our soil. Everything we use comes from nature, prepared by our own hands.
Over the years, I have produced and used four core organic fertilizers on our fields: Panchagavya, Meen Amila (fish amino acid), Poochi Verati (pest repellent spray), and Vermicompost. I prepare each one myself. I apply each one personally. And I see the results in every harvest. In this blog, I share that experience with you — not just theory, but the real knowledge that comes from soil-stained hands and seasons of watching seeds become food.
My father always told me: “Feed the soil first. The soil will feed the plant. The plant will feed the family.” That one sentence is the foundation of everything I practice and everything I share here.
Table of Contents
🌱 What Are Organic Fertilizers — and Why Do They Matter More Than You Think?
Before I walk you through the fertilizers I make and use, let me explain what organic fertilizers actually are — because most people misunderstand the difference between organic and synthetic, and that misunderstanding costs them years of healthy soil.
Organic fertilizers come entirely from natural sources — plant material, animal by-products, and minerals. They do not feed the plant directly. Instead, they feed the soil ecosystem first — the bacteria, fungi, earthworms, and microbes that break down organic matter into forms the plant roots absorb naturally. This process takes longer, but it builds something that synthetic fertilizers destroy: living soil.
Synthetic fertilizers deliver nutrients directly to the plant in a fast-release chemical form. You see quick green growth — and then you see the soil slowly die beneath the surface. The microbial communities collapse. The soil hardens. The earthworms disappear. Year after year, you need more chemical input to get the same output. Our traditional paddy fields have never fallen into that trap — because we never started down that path.
On our farm, organic fertilizers do three things every single season: they improve soil texture so roots penetrate deeply, they introduce beneficial microbes that protect our crops naturally, and they release nutrients slowly so our paddy and vegetables grow strong and steady rather than fast and fragile.
🔗 Official Reference: USDA National Organic Program (NOP) — Official Organic Regulations
🪣 The 4 Organic Fertilizers I Produce and Use on Our Farm
These are not products I read about in books. I prepare all four of these organic fertilizers myself, on our farm, using traditional methods passed down through generations. Let me share each one with you in the detail it deserves.
1. 🐄 Panchagavya — The Five-Ingredient Miracle
Panchagavya holds a special place in our farm’s calendar. We prepare this ancient bio-stimulant using five products derived from the native Indian cow — cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd, and ghee — combined with additional natural ingredients like tender coconut water, sugarcane juice, ripe banana, and Thippili (long pepper). The fermentation process takes at least 15 to 20 days, and I stir the mixture twice daily throughout that period.
We dilute Panchagavya at a ratio of 3% in water and apply it either as a soil drench or foliar spray. On our paddy fields, we apply it at three key growth stages — tillering, panicle initiation, and grain filling. Every time, the results speak clearly: thicker stems, darker green leaves, and fuller grain heads at harvest. Our traditional paddy varieties respond to Panchagavya the way a tired person responds to a good meal — they visibly strengthen within days.
Panchagavya promotes seed germination, stimulates root growth, increases chlorophyll production, and builds natural resistance against common fungal diseases. I have watched it rescue paddy crops that looked weak after transplanting — within two weeks of a Panchagavya application, the same crop stands upright and darkens in colour. Nothing else I have tried produces that kind of visible recovery.
📌 Farm Tip: Always use milk and products from native Indian cow breeds (desi breeds) for Panchagavya. Jersey or HF cow products do not carry the same microbial richness and produce a significantly weaker preparation.
2. 🐟 Meen Amila (Fish Amino Acid) — Liquid Gold from the Sea
My family calls this preparation Meen Amila — a fermented fish amino acid liquid that delivers an extraordinary concentration of nitrogen and trace minerals directly to soil and plant tissue. We prepare it by layering small fresh fish (the kind too small for market) with jaggery in equal parts by weight inside a clay pot, sealing it, and allowing natural fermentation to occur over 90 to 180 days.
The resulting liquid is dark brown, intensely aromatic, and extraordinarily nutrient-rich. We dilute it at 1 ml per litre of water and apply it as a foliar spray or direct soil drench. The amino acids in Meen Amila absorb through plant leaves within hours — making it one of the fastest-acting organic inputs I use on our farm.
We apply Meen Amila on our vegetable crops — brinjal, ladies finger, bitter gourd, tomato, and cluster beans — especially during flowering and fruiting stages. The results on vegetable crops always impress me: the flowers set more reliably, fruit abortion reduces noticeably, and the final harvest weight increases. On our dhal crops, a single Meen Amila application during pod formation visibly improves pod fill and seed size.
Fish amino acids contain glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and other free amino acids that plants absorb directly without breaking down further. This is why the results arrive faster than most other organic inputs. Modern commercial fish fertilizers like fish emulsion operate on the same principle — but our traditional fermented preparation concentrates these amino acids far more effectively than most commercial products I have seen.
📌 Farm Tip: Prepare Meen Amila in clay pots rather than plastic containers. Clay breathes and allows the right fermentation temperature to maintain itself naturally. Always keep the pot in a shaded, undisturbed location during the fermentation period.
3. 🌿 Poochi Verati (Organic Pest Repellent Spray) — Our Fields’ Natural Shield
Poochi Verati means “pest repellent” in Tamil — and it does exactly what the name says. I prepare this plant-based spray using a combination of locally available botanicals that carry natural insect-repelling and antifungal properties.
Our standard preparation includes neem leaves, neem cake, ginger, garlic, green chillies, asafoetida (perungayam), tobacco leaves, and pongamia leaves — all crushed, soaked, and fermented for three to five days before filtering and diluting for field use.
We apply Poochi Verati as a preventive measure every 10 to 15 days during the growing season — especially during humid periods when insect pressure and fungal risk rise. On our traditional paddy varieties, it controls leaf folder, brown plant hopper, and blast disease without disrupting the beneficial insects our fields depend on for natural pest balance. On vegetables, it keeps aphids, whiteflies, and mites at bay without harming the pollinators visiting our flowering crops.
The key principle behind Poochi Verati is that it does not kill — it repels and confuses. Chemical pesticides eliminate everything indiscriminately, including the predatory insects that would otherwise control pest populations naturally. Our spray maintains the ecological balance within the field while keeping destructive pests away.
Over the twenty-plus years I have watched our farm use this preparation, our paddy fields have never suffered a pest outbreak severe enough to damage yield — and I credit Poochi Verati as a major reason for that record.
📌 Farm Tip: Apply Poochi Verati in the early morning or late evening — never in direct afternoon sun. High temperatures degrade the active compounds in the spray before they reach the plant tissue. Always filter thoroughly before loading into the sprayer to avoid blockages.
4. 🪱 Vermicompost — The Living Foundation of Our Soil
Vermicompost sits at the foundation of everything we do on our farm. We maintain active vermiculture beds using Eisenia fetida (red wigglers) and Lumbricus rubellus earthworms, feeding them with crop residues, vegetable scraps, dried leaves, and aged cow dung.
The worms process this organic matter through their digestive system and produce castings that I genuinely consider the most complete soil amendment I have ever worked with.
Vermicompost contains available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in balanced proportions, along with a rich population of beneficial bacteria and fungi that colonise the soil and protect plant roots from pathogen attack.
When we apply vermicompost to our paddy nursery beds before transplanting, the seedlings establish themselves faster, develop stronger root systems, and show markedly better survival rates after transplanting stress.
We apply vermicompost at two stages on our farm. Before planting, we incorporate 2 to 3 tonnes per acre into the soil as a basal application. Mid-season, we apply it as a ring dose around vegetable plants and as a top dressing on our dhal crop rows.
For our traditional paddy varieties — some of which are tall-statured heirloom types that respond poorly to heavy nitrogen — vermicompost delivers nutrients in exactly the slow, balanced pace these varieties evolved to use.
I also prepare vermicompost tea by soaking a cloth bag of vermicompost in water for 24 to 48 hours, then applying the liquid as a soil drench. This delivers the microbial fraction directly to the root zone in a form that activates immediately. The results on newly transplanted vegetable seedlings are remarkable — wilting reduces, root initiation accelerates, and early vegetative growth visibly improves within a week.
📌 Farm Tip: Keep your vermicompost beds consistently moist — never waterlogged. The worms require moisture to breathe through their skin. A simple test: squeeze a handful of bedding material — it should release only a few drops of water. Too dry, the worms migrate or die. Too wet, anaerobic conditions kill them within days.
🌾 How We Grow 100+ Traditional Paddy Varieties Organically
Preserving traditional paddy seeds is the most important work our family does — and I say that without hesitation. We maintain over 100 traditional paddy varieties through seed-to-seed cultivation, selecting the healthiest plants each season for seed saving. Varieties like Mappillai Samba, Kichili Samba, Karupu Kavuni, Seeraga Samba, and Kalanamak each carry unique nutritional profiles, growth habits, and pest resistance characteristics that modern hybrid varieties simply cannot match.
Every one of these varieties grows on our farm without synthetic inputs. Our organic fertilizer schedule runs like this:
- 🌱 Pre-sowing: We incorporate vermicompost into nursery beds and apply Panchagavya as a seed treatment (3% solution, 20-minute soak) before sowing.
- 🌿 Transplanting stage: We apply Panchagavya foliar spray 5 days before transplanting to harden seedlings, and drench transplanted rows with vermicompost tea to stimulate root establishment.
- 🌾 Tillering stage (25–30 days after transplanting): We apply a Meen Amila soil drench for nitrogen support and begin fortnightly Poochi Verati sprays for pest management.
- 🌺 Panicle initiation (45–50 days): We apply Panchagavya foliar spray and continue Poochi Verati. This stage determines final grain count — organic support here makes a measurable difference in yield.
- 🌾 Grain filling (70–80 days): We apply one final Panchagavya spray and one Meen Amila drench to support grain fill and reduce chaffy grain percentage.
This schedule keeps our traditional paddy varieties healthy, productive, and completely free of synthetic inputs from nursery to harvest. The soil improves with each passing season — we see more earthworm activity, better water retention, and stronger crop establishment every year. That is the compounding benefit of organic farming that no chemical system can replicate.
🥬 Organic Fertilizers for Vegetables and Dhal Crops
Beyond paddy, our farm grows a wide range of vegetables and dhal crops — brinjal, tomato, ladies finger, bitter gourd, snake gourd, cluster beans, cowpea, black gram (Ulundu), green gram (Pachai Payaru), and horse gram (Kollu). Each crop category responds differently to our four organic fertilizers, and experience has taught me how to match input to crop need.
For leafy vegetables and early-stage vegetable seedlings — Meen Amila and vermicompost together deliver the nitrogen and microbial support that drives fast, healthy vegetative growth. I apply Meen Amila foliar spray once every two weeks during the first month, combined with a vermicompost basal application at planting.
For flowering and fruiting vegetables — Panchagavya takes the lead. The natural growth hormones and cytokinins in Panchagavya improve flower set, reduce blossom drop, and increase the number of marketable fruits per plant. I apply it every 15 days during the flowering period, alternating with Meen Amila for trace mineral support.
For dhal crops — Vermicompost at sowing and Panchagavya at flowering produce the most consistent results on our farm. Dhal crops fix their own nitrogen through root nodule bacteria, so the primary need is phosphorus for root development and micronutrients for pod filling — both of which vermicompost supplies in biologically available form. Poochi Verati sprays protect the crop from aphids and pod borers throughout the growing season.
📋 How to Apply Organic Fertilizers — The Right Method for Each Type
Application method matters as much as the fertilizer you choose. Here is how I apply each type on our farm — and how you can adapt these methods for your own garden or field:
Liquid Fertilizers (Panchagavya, Meen Amilam)
Dilute liquid preparations accurately before application — Panchagavya at 3% (30 ml per litre of water) and Meen Amila at 0.1% (1 ml per litre). Apply as a foliar spray in the early morning before 9 AM or in the evening after 4 PM. Both preparations absorb through stomata — the tiny pores on leaf undersides — which open wider in cooler temperatures. Midday application wastes the preparation and can scorch leaves through rapid evaporation.
For soil drenching, increase the volume and pour the diluted liquid directly at the root zone. I use a watering can with a rose head removed for direct root zone application on individual vegetable plants, and a tractor-mounted sprayer for paddy fields.
Solid Amendments (Vermicompost)
Work vermicompost into the top 10 to 15 cm of soil before planting — this places the nutrient-rich material directly within the root zone where seedlings establish. For established plants, apply it as a ring dose around the stem, keeping it 5 to 8 cm away from the main stem to prevent contact burn. Water thoroughly after every vermicompost application to activate microbial activity and begin the nutrient release process.
Spray Applications (Poochi Verati)
Filter the preparation carefully through a fine cloth before loading into any sprayer. Apply at a coverage rate that thoroughly wets the upper and lower leaf surfaces — the undersides of leaves host the majority of pest populations and fungal spore germination sites. Apply every 10 to 15 days as prevention. If you already see pest pressure, increase frequency to every 7 days until the population declines.
🔗 Official Application Reference: USDA NOP — Official Guidance on Organic Production Systems (PDF)
🛡️ Are Organic Fertilizers Safe for Your Family, Children, and Soil?
On our farm, every person in our family — including children and the elderly — moves freely through fields treated with our four organic preparations. That is the clearest answer I can give you about safety.
Panchagavya, Meen Amila, Poochi Verati, and vermicompost contain no synthetic chemicals, no heavy metal residues, and no persistent toxins. They break down into the soil naturally and leave no harmful accumulation. Our paddy rice, vegetables, and dhal crops carry none of the chemical residues that contaminate conventionally grown food — and our family eats everything we grow with complete confidence.
The only precaution I observe is handling Meen Amila with gloves due to its strong fermented fish odour — not because it poses any health risk, but purely for comfort. Poochi Verati, while botanically derived, should not come into direct contact with eyes. Standard hand washing after working with any farm preparation is always good practice.
For certified organic farmers, verify every external input through the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) before applying it to certified land. Our homemade preparations qualify for organic use because they contain no prohibited substances under USDA NOP guidelines.
⏱️ How Long Do Organic Fertilizers Take to Show Results?
This question comes up constantly — and I give the same honest answer every time: organic fertilizers reward patience, and they compound their benefits across seasons. Here is what I observe on our farm with each of the four preparations:
| Organic Fertilizer | Visible Results Timeline | Application Frequency (Our Farm) |
|---|---|---|
| Panchagavya (Foliar Spray) | 3–5 days (colour change, leaf shine) | Every 15 days — key growth stages |
| Meen Amila (Fish Amino Acid) | 2–5 days (foliar); 7–10 days (soil drench) | Every 2–3 weeks during active growth |
| Poochi Verati (Pest Spray) | Immediate repellent action; pest reduction in 5–7 days | Every 10–15 days (preventive) |
| Vermicompost (Solid) | 3–6 weeks (soil improvement); cumulative across seasons | Once at planting + mid-season top dress |
I want to be clear about one thing that many new organic farmers misunderstand: the most important results from organic fertilizers happen underground and across seasons. The earthworm population in our paddy fields increases every year. The water-holding capacity of our soil improves every year. The crop establishment speed and seedling survival rates improve every year. These are compounding gains — and by Year 3 of full organic management, our yields match or exceed what neighbouring chemical farms achieve, with zero input cost for purchased fertilizers.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions — Organic Fertilizers from a Farmer’s Perspective
FAQ 1: What is Panchagavya and how do I prepare it at home?
Panchagavya is an ancient Indian organic bio-stimulant prepared from five cow-derived products — cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd, and ghee — combined with natural plant ingredients. To prepare it, mix 5 kg fresh desi cow dung, 3 litres cow urine, 2 litres whole milk, 2 litres curd, and 1 kg ghee in a wide-mouthed clay or plastic pot. Add 3 litres tender coconut water, 3 litres sugarcane juice, 12 ripe bananas (mashed), and a handful of Thippili if available. Stir twice daily with a wooden stick — always in a clockwise direction. After 15 to 20 days of fermentation in a shaded location, the preparation turns dark, develops a sour fermented aroma, and becomes ready for field use. Dilute at 3% (30 ml per litre of water) and apply as foliar spray or soil drench. On our farm, Panchagavya transforms weak seedlings, improves grain fill in paddy, and increases fruit set in vegetable crops consistently across every season we have used it.
FAQ 2: What is Meen Amila and what makes it so effective?
Meen Amila is a traditional South Indian fermented fish amino acid preparation — one of the most nitrogen-rich organic inputs I use on our farm. We prepare it by layering fresh small fish and jaggery in equal quantities (1 kg fish : 1 kg jaggery) inside a clay pot, sealing the mouth with a cloth and lid, and fermenting the mixture for 90 to 180 days. The natural enzymes in the fish break down protein into free amino acids, which plants absorb directly without further digestion. The resulting dark liquid delivers nitrogen, trace minerals, and growth-stimulating amino acids — including glutamic acid and glycine — that improve vegetative growth, reduce blossom drop, and improve fruit and grain fill. We dilute it at 1 ml per litre and apply fortnightly on vegetables and at key paddy growth stages. On our dhal crops, a Meen Amila application at pod initiation visibly improves seed size and pod fill percentage. This is genuinely one of the most effective organic inputs our farm uses, and I have never seen a commercially available organic nitrogen source outperform our homemade fermented fish amino acid preparation.
FAQ 3: How do I make Poochi Verati at home, and which pests does it control?
Poochi Verati is a traditional Tamil Nadu botanical pest repellent that our farm prepares and uses instead of chemical pesticides. To make the standard preparation, crush and soak 2 kg neem leaves, 250 g ginger, 250 g garlic, 100 g green chillies, 50 g asafoetida (perungayam), 500 g neem cake, and a handful of pongamia (Pungam) leaves in 10 litres of water. Allow this mixture to ferment for 3 to 5 days in a shaded spot, stirring daily. Strain the liquid thoroughly through a fine cloth before use. Dilute the filtered extract at 100 ml per litre of water and spray on crops in the early morning or evening. On our paddy fields, it controls leaf folder, brown plant hopper, stem borer, and blast disease pressure. On vegetable crops, it manages aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and mites. The key advantage over chemical pesticides is that Poochi Verati repels pests without harming honeybees, spiders, parasitoid wasps, and other beneficial insects that our farm’s natural pest control system depends upon. Apply preventively every 10 to 15 days — do not wait for pest populations to establish before starting your spray schedule.
FAQ 4: How much vermicompost should I apply per acre, and how do I maintain a worm bed?
On our farm, we apply 2 to 3 tonnes of vermicompost per acre as a basal dose at the time of land preparation, followed by a mid-season top dressing of 500 kg to 1 tonne per acre. For kitchen gardens and small vegetable plots, apply 500 grams to 1 kg of vermicompost per square metre of growing area and work it into the top 10 to 15 cm of soil before planting. To maintain a productive worm bed, feed your worms primarily with aged cow dung (50%), crop residues and dry leaves (30%), and kitchen vegetable waste (20%). Maintain bed moisture at 60 to 70% — always moist but never waterlogged. Keep the bed in a cool, shaded location between 20°C and 30°C. Avoid adding citrus peel, onion skins, meat, oily food, or processed food waste — these disrupt the worm population and create anaerobic conditions that kill beneficial microbes. Harvest vermicompost every 45 to 60 days by separating the worms from the finished compost. You notice the compost is ready when it darkens to a rich chocolate brown colour, develops a pleasant earthy smell, and crumbles easily between your fingers.
FAQ 5: Can I use these organic fertilizers together, or do they conflict with each other?
Not only can you use all four preparations together — I strongly recommend it. Each of the four organic fertilizers we use on our farm performs a different role, and together they create a complete plant nutrition and protection system that outperforms any single input used alone. Vermicompost builds the soil foundation and feeds soil biology. Panchagavya stimulates plant growth and activates soil microbes. Meen Amila delivers fast-available nitrogen and amino acids at critical growth stages. Poochi Verati protects the crop from pest damage so that all the nutrition you provide reaches its intended purpose — building yield. The one practical rule I follow is never mix liquid preparations together in the same tank. Apply each one separately. Panchagavya in the morning, Meen Amila as a separate drench on a different day, and Poochi Verati on its own spray schedule. Mixing can cause nutrient precipitation, pH conflicts, and reduced effectiveness. Use them in rotation and sequence — not simultaneously in the same application.
FAQ 6: How do traditional organic farming methods compare with modern certified organic standards?
Traditional organic farming as practised on farms like ours actually exceeds the minimum requirements of modern certified organic standards in most respects. The USDA National Organic Program prohibits synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, and genetically modified organisms — and our farm satisfies all three conditions naturally without any certification framework requiring it. What traditional organic farming adds beyond formal certification is depth of ecological understanding: we match specific preparations to specific growth stages, we read crop health through direct observation, and we adapt our practices to local soil, climate, and crop variety conditions in ways that no standardised certification protocol can fully capture. If you wish to sell your produce as certified organic and access premium markets, pursue USDA NOP certification through an accredited certifying agent and verify all your inputs through OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute). Our homemade preparations — Panchagavya, Meen Amila, Poochi Verati, and vermicompost — all qualify as permitted inputs under NOP regulations. The knowledge behind these preparations belongs to generations of Indian farmers who fed communities organically long before the word “certification” existed. That knowledge deserves both preservation and recognition.
🔗 Official and Authentic Reference Websites
- 🏛️ USDA National Organic Program (NOP) — Official Organic Regulations: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic
- ✅ OMRI — Organic Materials Review Institute (Certified Inputs List): https://www.omri.org
- 🌾 USDA NOP Handbook — Guidance for Organic Producers: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/handbook
- 🇮🇳 National Centre of Organic and Natural Farming (ICAR-NCONF), India: https://nconf.icar.gov.in
- 🌱 Down To Earth Fertilizers — NPK Guide and Application Tips: https://downtoearthfertilizer.com
- 🐟 AgroThrive — Fast-Acting Pre-Digested Organic Fertilizers: https://agrothrive.com
- 🪱 BuildASoil — Living Soil and Organic Fertilizer Education: https://buildasoil.com
💚 My Final Word — From One Farmer’s Daughter to Every Grower Reading This
I did not learn what I know about organic farming from textbooks — though I hold a Master’s degree and have spent 25 years in education. I learned it from my father’s calloused hands, from watching the soil change under good management, from tasting the difference between rice grown in living soil and rice grown in chemical dependency. That difference is real. It is measurable in flavour, in nutrition, in the health of the people who eat it, and in the long-term productivity of the land that produces it.
Our 100-plus traditional paddy varieties carry stories inside their DNA — stories of climate adaptation, nutritional depth, and cultural significance that took centuries to develop. We grow them organically not because it is fashionable or certified or marketable. We grow them organically because that is the only way that respects both the seed and the soil it depends on.
If you start with just one of the four preparations I have described — begin with vermicompost. Build your soil first. Everything else follows from healthy, living soil. Then add Panchagavya. Then Meen Amila. Then Poochi Verati. Give it three seasons. Watch your soil respond. Watch your crops respond. And when your family eats the food you grew without chemicals, you will understand exactly why we never stopped farming the way our ancestors taught us.
— Sasi Rekha
Farmer’s daughter | Educator | Organic grower | Seed keeper
Writing at RydeTravel.com
📌 Disclaimer: All farming practices and preparation methods described in this blog reflect the author’s personal experience and traditional knowledge passed through generations of farming. Results vary based on soil type, climate, crop variety, and application practices. Always conduct a soil test before establishing an organic fertilizer programme. For certified organic certification, verify all external inputs through OMRI and consult an accredited certifying agent before application.
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