No till rice field - new strategies

For next season no till will be done with fodder grass mulch. Fodder grass has been growing in the field at around 8 feet apart rows. Also growing the same in nearby areas, so that there is enough mulch, but still it looks like more fodder grass may be required to cover the 0.1Acre area completely. 

Cut the grass growing in the field and also fodder grass and mulched. Also planted some lablab beans seeds here and there and in one field cowpea seeds.

Plan is to cut and mulch the fodder grass in every month and also clear the grasses which is coming up so that next year will have a clean ground to start with and put the rice seeds in seed balls in advance so that they come with rain.

These dogs were guarding me when myself and Palani were clearing the grass. It took 3 days work to clear the complete area.

Growing rice for own consumption

I used to grow happy hill rice in grow bag on terrace. While counting the rice grains from a single plant, found that each head is easily 200 grains, like that 3-4 heads are there from each plant. Assuming 3 heads, we get 600 grains from a single plant, this is very conservative calculation, it can easily go upto 1000 from a single plant.

I was thinking if the productivity is so much growing food should be manageable. The major task in rice farming is about weeding in 0.1 acre and this has to be done at least twice. I thought this should be doable even if I have to do it by myself.

Mulching can be done in advance to make sure that weeds does not grow, this has to be monitored closely and if there are some areas with more weeds, that area has to be mulched more.

Some more calculations...

Average weight of a rice grain is 20mg, as per AI of Whatsapp. If we sow 500 gms of seeds and the productivity of each plant is 600 grains, simple calculation would give 600 * 500 gms = 300,000gms i.e 300Kgs. This is assuming all the plants survive and all give 600 grains. Anyway we have discounted to 600 grains, which can be boosted to even 800, if we think practically. At least 250Kgs should be a reasonable harvest to achieve.

1 acre is 43560 sqft, and 0.1 acre is 4356 sqft, if we have 500gms and each grain is 20mg, there are 25000 grains...i.e 25000 plants in 4356 sqft, i.e 5.7 plants in per sqft, which is quite reasonable.

Also we have to make sure that field is completely covered with mulch in the summer and before sowing remove all the weeds manually, there will be minimum if there is good amount of mulch.

Nature's way of farming

Fukuoka san always aligned with nature's way in the farming. He observed nature and made sure that crop seeds germinate when they naturally germinate in nature. That way nature provides protection for the crops. One example to this was that, when I planted turmeric in raised beds they never used to do very good, mainly because I put them when soil is sufficiently wet after the rain, so in this case mostly they would be germinating in the storage area itself, later grows in the soil. But now I can see some unharvested turmeric grows very well, when they germinate at the right time and grows well. Being root crops, they never gets overgrown by weeds.

Similarly you see rice seeds germinate on the road sides, they grow well, because the germination is at the right time, then they grow with weeds and survive. When we artificially put the seeds, then they are mostly delayed and loose in competition with weeds. So next time, for rice, planning to put seed balls and keep them in soil so that they germinate at the right time.

Taro which was not harvested, has come up very well

Ginger not harvested from last years

Turmeric from last year

Lady's finger which grew from seeds fallen from last year

Happy hill rice in backyard

 Happy hill rice harvested from 1st crop was sown again in the backyard. Cleaned the area thoroughly to remove all the grass and spread some cowdung and sown the seeds and spread farm made compost and then spread the cut grass. One variety of grass which grows from each cut piece was removed from mulching. Sowing was completed on 24-Aug-2024.

30-Aug-2024

03-Sept-2024

removed some mulch since some cut grass started germinating from each piece

09-Sept-2024

applied bit of cowdung slurry and also home made compost

20-Sept-2024

applied some decomposed grass and cowdung slurry...also bit of ash

26-sept-2024.

had sown horse gram and fenugreek seeds for nitrogen fixing purpose, also applied little bit of cowdung

09-October-2024

23-Oct-24

Lots of rice ear bugs seen, so may loose lots of the crop to it

A second thought about cover crops

 Initially farm had just many types of weeds, later thought leguminous cover crop may be better and introduced pureria javanica. Now there is napier fodder grass which also produces enormous amount of grass mulch.

In natural way of farming book, under chapter Fruit Trees, Fukuoka San says, to establish while clover as cover crop. White clover remains hardy for 6-7 years or 10 years with good management and after that weeds reemerge, mainly climbing and vine weeds, bindweed, kudzu and sorrels. Those plants resistant to clover survive and re-establish themselves.

Thus after 10 years weeds takes over again and this is not a problem as long as weeds do not interfere with farming operation. According to Fukuoka San soil becomes unbalanced when clover is grown year after year on the same land, emergence and succession of different weeds is more natural and conducive to soil enrichment and development.

Fukuoka San also says he has no intention of insisting a cover of clover, a weed cover will probably do just as well. Only issue is that weed cover may become very thick and cutting is very hard and it may also interfere with farming i.e fruit picking and tending trees. If weeds take over again he suggest to sow clover again or sow vegetable seeds.

Basically it may be just enough to grow weeds without disturbing soil, basic idea is to grow as many plants as possible so that all the sunlight is harvested and put back to soil.

Orchard Management

 I have a variety of cover crops in the farm - fodder grass, mexican sunflower, pureria javanica and have been planting vetiver also in some areas. In rainy season, it grows very tall and blocks the view and also wild boar stay in it and it becomes dangerous to walk around. But in summer season a green cover is a must since there is four months of summer season without a single drop of rain and without irrigation coconut trees and mango trees gets affected.

Made a plan to cut the fodder grass and shrubs twice an year in the middle of rainy season, after the rain stops all cutting and cleaning is stopped. But this time, even though started cutting after the planting, cutting went on, so it looks like may be a single cutting and clearing is enough.

Earlier I used to cut the weeds and gather them at the base of the trees which is a difficult task, now decided that gathering them at the base does not really makes a difference. 

So as of now, orchard management involves cutting the cover once and leaving them as it is. 

Turmeric crop

 Last year, turmeric didn't do well, so didn't harvest it. This year it is growing quite well without doing any weeding or fertilizing, only that fodder grass is growing in that area and keep on doing mulching with cut grass.

Till the soil improve to a good level, it may be better to harvest it once in every two year.