The 'plant' doctor will see you now

Until five years ago, M. Muthulakshmi, a farmer from Thoppupatti village in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, relied heavily on chemicals, including banned antibiotics like streptomycin, for her paddy crop. It was her go-to solution to treat bacterial blight, a deadly disease that affects crop yield. But, this crop season, she no longer uses powerful antibiotics. Muthulakshmi has transitioned to natural farming methods after heeding the advice of ‘plant doctors’ over local agri-input dealers.

The input dealers, who were ignorant about this new invasive pest, suggested a combination of random insecticides, which would’ve inadvertently aggravated the population of black thrips, an invasive insect species. “I learnt about it only after frequent visits to the plant clinic," Muthulakshmi says. Aware that the disease occurs primarily between October and December, she now sprays a natural solution made from cow dung as a preventative measure against bacterial blight. This approach has reduced her reliance on fertilisers, lowered plant protection costs, preserved soil quality, and, most importantly, has been a solution to antimicrobial resistance in agriculture.

Also read: Antibiotics abuse is poisoning us and our soil

What are plant clinics?

Given this reality, many farmers, such as Muthulakshmi, have visited plant clinics in the hope of finding solutions.

Developed by the Centre for Agricultural and Biosciences International (CABI) and initiated in India by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in 2012, ‘plant clinics’ are a technological model that educates farmers on preventative measures for pest management and focusses on sustainable crop practices. Just as doctors diagnose human diseases, plant clinics perform a similar role for crops. At a plant clinic, typically set up in a common area within a village, farmers bring samples of their plants to showcase pest symptoms. Each clinic conducts at least two sessions per month, with around 20 farmers attending each. During the peak crop seasons of November and December, clinics increase their frequency to hold weekly sessions.

Plant clinics are managed by plant doctors who are either experts, extension officers or progressive farmers who underwent CABI’s training modules on various plant health issues. These doctors either suggest biological solutions to the crops or, if needed, visit the fields to get a better analysis. “In the case of trees, such as coconuts and palms, when the samples cannot be brought, we visit the farm to get a first-hand analysis of the pest,” says P. Senthil Kumar, a plant doctor.

Precision equipment—including a tablet, microscope, magnifier, laptop equipped with DinoCapture (a software that allows users to capture images from a microscope and annotate them), and a projector—makes the plant clinic a mobile unit that can cater to different villages. All these tools help the farmer understand the type of disease on hand, its cause, patterns, and appropriate solutions, which are mostly na​​ture-based, to address it.

A 2018 MSSRF study on plant clinics states that plant doctors consult a panel of agricultural experts from CABI, MSSRF, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), and the Agriculture Department when faced with issues beyond their expertise. The panel, formed with specialists committed to offering support, helps tackle complex challenges. MSSRF currently operates 37 plant clinics across 205 villages in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, Odisha, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. The foundation has trained 190 plant doctors—including 47 women—conducted 3,180 clinic sessions, assisted 50,433 farmers (9,468 of them women), and tested 49,588 crop samples.

Tackling new pests

Recently, when black thrips started impacting the chilli crops in South India, farmers with no source of information and without any sense of direction used a combination of irrelevant chemicals. “It is a sucking pest that melts away the petals of chilli flowers, resulting in malformed chillies. Rather than using insecticides [alone], input dealers prescribed a combination of insecticides and fungicides,” Kumar says.

Plant doctors advised the farmers to grow tall growing crops on the border to prevent the invasion of insects. They also suggested setting up blue sticky traps and using neem-based pest repellants as control measures. “Input dealers pushed three to four chemicals as a solution. By visiting plant clinics, farmers could save 60% of the plant protection cost,” Kumar says.

Thangaraj M, a farmer from Pandikkudi village in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu, has been visiting a plant clinic for the past four years to consult with experts about various pests affecting his jasmine, paddy and lemon crops. “I also participate in their workshops to learn about changing climates. In one session, I learned how climate change contributes to the emergence of new pests and the ways farmers can adapt to it,” he says.

Also read: Gujarat’s tribals turn riverbeds into breadbaskets

Changing the perspective

A study conducted by MSSRF revealed that 90% of farmers rely on input dealers for guidance, 5% turn to their peers, 2-3% seek information from friends and relatives, and the remaining 2% rely on traditional knowledge. Shifting farmers’ reliance from input dealers to plant clinics has been a herculean task for the Foundation.

“Farmers were initially reluctant because input dealers were their primary source of pest management advice. However, plant doctors visited the fields, displayed magnified images of pests on laptops, and educated farmers in ways they could easily relate to,” says Dr. R. Rajkumar, Senior Fellow at MSSRF and coordinator of the Plant Clinic Programme.

Lately, being in the dairy business has become tough, as cattle are developing new types of diseases. Earlier, I used to struggle to get a veterinarian to visit for consultation. They are often unavailable during festivals or when busy with other cases. Most times, I had to rely on my husband to call the veterinarian or help take the cow to the nearby hospital. With plant clinics, the solution is just a text away.

The Plant Clinic Programme faces several challenges. While plant doctors recommend bio inputs, these are often less accessible than chemical alternatives in some areas. Input dealers remain a key source of agro-advisories, making it hard to fully replace their role. “However, periodic training for input dealers and collaboration with plant doctors can ensure farmers receive accurate guidance. Educating farmers on the importance of timely and appropriate input use can further address these challenges,” Rajkumar says.

{{marquee}}

Even experienced farmers have learnt a great deal from plant clinics. A 75-year-old farmer, Tirupathi Manickam, also from Pandikkudi, says he is a more informed farmer now compared to a decade ago when he used to farm merely for the sake of it. “It was through plant clinics that I was introduced to the scientific procedure of sowing. They taught me not to dry the seeds completely, the right season to sow seeds, and the importance of using unadulterated seeds to achieve a good yield,” Tirupathi says, adding that these learnings have been helpful in cultivating groundnut, paddy, and maize.

These tools have been especially resourceful for women farmers, as plant clinics have reduced their dependence on men—especially since most plant doctors double up as veterinarians. For M. Radha, a 41-year-old farmer from Thirumalaraya Samudram village in Pudukkottai, her primary source of income comes from selling milk from her seven cows. “Lately, being in the dairy business has become tough, as cattle are developing new types of diseases. Earlier, I used to struggle to get a veterinarian to visit for consultation. They are often unavailable during festivals or when busy with other cases. Most times, I had to rely on my husband to call the veterinarian or help take the cow to the nearby hospital. With plant clinics, the solution is just a text away,” she said.

There is growing demand from farmers and stakeholders for more plant clinics. While the MSSRF is working to expand its reach, its capacity as an NGO is limited. “To effectively scale the initiative, training Agricultural Extension Officers as plant doctors and integrating the Plant Clinic Programme into the existing agricultural extension system seems to be the most sustainable solution,” Rajkumar says. MSSRF also conducts online plant clinics for farmers, and is making efforts to develop AI-based plant health advisories.

{{quiz}}