Author: Vivek Deshpande
Publication: Sunday Indian Express
Date: June 3, 2001
Many years before the organically
inclined arrived on the scene, there was one man in Yavatmal district in
Maharashtra who had already switched to the what's now hip and mainstream.
Narayan Deorao Pandharipande (82) is better known as Nadep Kaka and for
good reason - he is the inventor of one of the seven established methods
of compost manufacture.
Pandharipande, a Gandhian with unflinching
faith in J. C. Kumarappa's Economy of Permanence, developed a manure from
cow dung known as 'Nadep Compost' after eight years of research 30
years ago. Kaka will not go in for a patent, instead he only wishes that
more and more people would use his manure.
"Today it has been acknowledged
as the best compost manufacture method by the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (IARI) in New Delhi. NABARD has come out with a finance scheme
on Nadep compost while the Madhya Pradesh government has patronised its
use", says Kaka.
Among all other methods- Albert
Howard, American, Chinese, Pusa, Indore and Bangalore- Nadep, raises the
manure quantity to the maximum multiple of the quantity of cow-dung used,
30 times. It is the only aerobic method of compost manufacture,
Kaka claims. "Investigations by IIT-Delhi have shown that Nadep compost
has the best nitrogen-phosphorous - potassium (N.P.K.) combination among
all composts," says Kaka. "Moreover, it is 3-4 times more effective than
the regular compost made from dung."
Kaka and his family manufacture
the manure in an enclosure at their self-constructed home at Pusad in Yavatmal
district, from where it is sent off to Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.
The family manages to produce 80 tonne of manure an year from the dung
of one cow at a production cost of Rs.1,000 per tonne.
Kaka has his micro-solution to the
country's macro-problems all worked out:. "India has enough material to
produce the necessary 240 crore tonnes of Nadep compost. This will
create employment for 8 crore people and will contribute Rs.1,40,000 crore
to national income. This will ensure a raise of Rs.1,600 in per capita
income and of course free us from the clutches of the chemical fertiliser
lobby," Kaka reels off. "Also since it involves use of bio-degraded waste,
it will help in keeping our villages neat and clean."
But the most significant spin-off
of Nadep compost is that it fixes nitrogen from air. The Centre
of Science for Villages, an institute for alternative science at Wardha,
has established that the percentage of Nitrogen in Nadep compost goes up
as it matures. "This means that this is the only method apart from
the two known natural methods, which fixes nitrogen from atmosphere," claims
Kaka.
Born at Khandva in Madhya Pradesh
in 1919, Nadep Kaka lost his chance for formal education following his
decision to boycott the British education pattern while at school in Nagpur.
He joined Gandh's Nai Talim at Sewagram Ashram, where he met Kumarappa
and was influenced by his philosophy of rural reconstruction. He
joined the Quit India Movement in 1942 and went underground only to emerge
at Pusad, which is now his home and hearth.
In 1949, he set up a garments shop,
Nadep and Company, at Pusad, but then turned it into a trusteeship venture
in 1965. "I would save 51 per cent of the amount in the bonus account
and would distribute the profit among buyers who would produce the receipts
of the goods purchased at the year-end," he explained. He still
had letters written to him by leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Dada Dharmadhikari,
Ramakrishna Bajaj and Vijay Merchant praising him for his novel approach
in trade. But sure enough, the shop shut down in the face of competition.
Kaka's faith in healing touch of
manure was sealed in 1965, after he suddenly got an epileptic feat which
affected his right hand. Doctors said amputation was the only remedy. Kaka
instead kept his hand embedded in cow-dung for hours, and to his surprise,
he found that his hand was healing up and was eventually cured.
"GOMAYE VASATE LAXMIHI, PAVITRA
SARVA MANGALA". Kaka quotes an ancient Rishi Vachan to explain the
importance of the cow in rural economy. "In cow resides the pure,
auspicious Laxmi," he translates. "Elements like milk, ghee, dung,
urine and curd have great utility," he says.
At his Dr Kumarappa Go-Gobardhan
Kendra at Pusad, apart from the Nadep compost, he has also developed "ruturaj"
thermostatic plaster made from cow-dung which moderates temperature for
all seasons. The Maharatta Chamber of Commerce and Industrices honoured
him for his invention with Late Ramabai Joshi prize in 1982. He is
also developed soaps, dhoup sticks and churna called Kumar Angarag, which
is said to work for skin problems.
