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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.
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