This cost-effective and easy-to-prepare liquid fertiliser is one of those old-time golden farming solutions meant to offer multiple benefits to the soil and the plants and safeguard farmers’ interests. Noted soil activist SOIL Vasu has been propagating Thrishakti tonic among farmers and documenting its positive effect on various types of crops. Thanks to him, we are able to learn this method in detail and also its effects as demonstrated in the pictures shared by him.

If you want to prepare this for your kitchen garden, you will probably require it in much smaller quantities. Simply reduce the quantity of the ingredients by half or even more to get going.

Ingredients

• Cow dung: 10 kgs.
• Cow urine: 10 litres.
• Jaggery: 2 kgs.
• Turmeric: 100 gms.
• Water: 10 litres

Method

In a 30-litre plastic drum, put 10 kgs of cow dung, 10 litres of cow urine, 2 kgs of jaggery, 100 gms of turmeric and mix all these ingredients thoroughly with 10 litres of water. Cover the mouth of the drum with a gunny cloth. Keep it in a shaded spot where there is no direct sunlight. Stir the solution twice a day for four days. Thrishakti tonic will be ready on the fifth day. This quantity is sufficient for crops grown on one acre of land.

Application

Filter the solution and dilute it with 200 litres of water. Apply or spray in sufficient quantities on all parts of the plants. To ensure that beneficial microorganisms do their job with utmost efficiency, avoid applying it during daytime. Set aside evenings for this activity. You can treat your plants with Thrishakti every 20 days to get the best results.

Benefits

• Improves soil fertility.
• Improves crop yield.
• Provides required nutrients during growth stage.
• Controls sucking and chewing pests.
• Boosts immunity and thereby helps the plants to fight diseases effectively.
• Attracts farmer-friendly insects and other creatures.
• Dropping of flowers and buds reduces.

Thrishakti tonic being prepared at Dodda Gubbi village, Karnataka.

A farmer in A. Gonehal village, AP, is counting the number of pods in a groundnut plant which was treated with Thrishakti tonic.

Groundnut plants: The left one is treated with chemical fertilisers and the right one with Thrishakti tonic. Please note the difference. This type of trials and experiments have been going on with cotton crops also.

This is the scene of a demonstration plot treated with Thrishakti tonic in a village. The growth of all three crops was documented.

SOIL Vasu further explains why it’s been named Thrishakti (also called “Thrimurthy”):

Effects on the soil: It has a wonderful effect on the soil as it increases microbial population in it. With regular application, soil gets loosened and aeration increases. This solution is an effective soil nutrient and therefore increases soil fertility and more importantly, its structure. As a result, roots grow deeper and stronger and the yield increases.

SOIL Vasu

Effects on the plant: The size of the leaf will be broadened when this solution is applied regularly. Plants grow stronger with deeper roots. Immature falling of flowers and buds will be controlled. Yellowing of the leaves and other such issues which occur due to lack of nutrition will be dealt with easily. Thrishakti improves the quality of the buds/flowers and therefore the overall quality of the yield will be better than ever before. Interestingly, Thrishakti even increases the shelf-life of the produce.
Effect on pests: Sucking and chewing pests usually leave the plants suffering with all kinds of diseases. When Thrishakti is applied on all parts of the plant, especially on the dorsal region of the leaves laden with eggs of the disease-causing pests, the eggs fall down and the plants remain free from infections.

Storage

Any solution that has live microbes should not be stored beyond a few days. The efficacy of the solution decreases with longer storage. Apply this solution immediately on the fifth day.