Season 2 paddy crop has started. Field was ploughed, using tractor with gauge wheel, this is the first time I am trying this. Need good amount of water in the field only then gauge wheel ploughing can be done. One good thing is that, any amount of green biomass can be put in the field, including branches, and all get incorporated in to the soil and finally levelling was done so that water does not get stagnated in one place. Totally around 70 cents ploughing was done in 3 hours and costed around 3000/-.
7Kgs of seeds were put in the puddled field by October 13th and on November 1st transplanting was done. Seed used is called Gopika developed by Sasidharan of Pulamanthol, Calicut, Kerala. Sasidharan developed this field by sowing Aiswarya and Jyothi together and it took around 9 years to develop this. He claims that 10 ton yield was obtained from 1 hectre using SRI method. Bunches of 3 seedlings were put and still seedlings were not sufficient for the 0.7 acre. In some area, seeds were broadcasted.
Here are some photos..
7-Nov-2014
Plants are recovering from the initial shock of transplanting.
21-November-2014
Plants are turning more green and weeds are also doing very well !!!. Since field was not flooded completely, weeds has come up and overtook the paddy. 5-6 women labourers were put for 3 days to completely deweed and field looks clean now. Weeds are a major issue, if we don't know how to handle them..after a period, once the rice has grown and covered the field, weeds are not an issue.
To make weeding easier, planning to plant them in line at 25cms distance as in SRI method. Also wanted to try azolla, but not sure if we always has to keep the field flooded.
weed infested area before deweeding
26-Nov-2014
It is becoming a challenge to control the weeds. After deweeding, water was kept reasonably well, but still weeds are coming. Started another round of deweeding, this makes my next plan very clear, at any cost it will be SRI at least for the 2nd season. It looks like density is a problem, in broadcasted area, there is more dense plants and hence weeds are less.
Broadcasted area, weeds are less.
Broadcasted area, weeds are less
6-Dec-2014
After weeding, now plants looks more healthier. As of now weeding cost is 40% of the total money spent, so definitely this can be reduced with line planting.
20-Dec-2014
Azolla was put in one area, it is spreading slowly...
Weed has taken over this broadcasted area, left this, no more weeding will be done here. I think if weeds are controlled, you can get a decent yield.
17-Jan-2015
Paddy started flowering..during my last visit saw some birds trying to catch some insects, so put some support for them in the field. This is a normal practice to control the insects, but my assistant Palani has not seen this before, so he didn't do it as expected.
1st Feb-2015
Myself with paddy
8-Feb-2015
Broadcasted area, grains have formed..rat attack in some places..
The taller ones are plants which came from last season's cultivation, they grew taller and already matured. This is a variety called Vysakh - an upland high yielding variety. Generally it is believed that plants which come from last season's crop will be weak, but it does not look like..even if left overs of last season may be enough for next season !!! to be seen.
In some areas..sunlight is blocked by nearby trees, there it takes time to mature..this has to be taken care in the next crop.
Crop slowly turning golden yellow..it is a delightful sight to see this.
22-Feb-2015
Almost ready for harvest, another 1 week to go..
9th March, 2015
Harvest is over..was done in 2 steps, there was some water in the field so it could not be completed on first day. Totally 11 women labourer's work was needed to harvest and process it and put it in sacks. Totally 54 para (in local kerala language, may be around 8Kgs) paddy was there. Totally 20,000/- was spent on this and 432kgs was got, so will get about 280Kgs of rice, enough food !!!
Number of tillers is between 10-15, had put only 2-3 plants in one place.
Some learnings
Broadcasting needs more skill to make plants uniform
Yield is less compared to other organic farmers since no manuring was done
Little more early weeding would have made it more efficient
May be case for SRI since watering is done from well and it becomes costly to flood also weeding cost can be saved and yield can be improved
7Kgs of seeds were put in the puddled field by October 13th and on November 1st transplanting was done. Seed used is called Gopika developed by Sasidharan of Pulamanthol, Calicut, Kerala. Sasidharan developed this field by sowing Aiswarya and Jyothi together and it took around 9 years to develop this. He claims that 10 ton yield was obtained from 1 hectre using SRI method. Bunches of 3 seedlings were put and still seedlings were not sufficient for the 0.7 acre. In some area, seeds were broadcasted.
Here are some photos..
7-Nov-2014
Plants are recovering from the initial shock of transplanting.
21-November-2014
Plants are turning more green and weeds are also doing very well !!!. Since field was not flooded completely, weeds has come up and overtook the paddy. 5-6 women labourers were put for 3 days to completely deweed and field looks clean now. Weeds are a major issue, if we don't know how to handle them..after a period, once the rice has grown and covered the field, weeds are not an issue.
To make weeding easier, planning to plant them in line at 25cms distance as in SRI method. Also wanted to try azolla, but not sure if we always has to keep the field flooded.
weed infested area before deweeding
26-Nov-2014
It is becoming a challenge to control the weeds. After deweeding, water was kept reasonably well, but still weeds are coming. Started another round of deweeding, this makes my next plan very clear, at any cost it will be SRI at least for the 2nd season. It looks like density is a problem, in broadcasted area, there is more dense plants and hence weeds are less.
Broadcasted area, weeds are less.
6-Dec-2014
After weeding, now plants looks more healthier. As of now weeding cost is 40% of the total money spent, so definitely this can be reduced with line planting.
20-Dec-2014
Azolla was put in one area, it is spreading slowly...
Weed has taken over this broadcasted area, left this, no more weeding will be done here. I think if weeds are controlled, you can get a decent yield.
17-Jan-2015
Paddy started flowering..during my last visit saw some birds trying to catch some insects, so put some support for them in the field. This is a normal practice to control the insects, but my assistant Palani has not seen this before, so he didn't do it as expected.
1st Feb-2015
Myself with paddy
8-Feb-2015
Broadcasted area, grains have formed..rat attack in some places..
The taller ones are plants which came from last season's cultivation, they grew taller and already matured. This is a variety called Vysakh - an upland high yielding variety. Generally it is believed that plants which come from last season's crop will be weak, but it does not look like..even if left overs of last season may be enough for next season !!! to be seen.
In some areas..sunlight is blocked by nearby trees, there it takes time to mature..this has to be taken care in the next crop.
Crop slowly turning golden yellow..it is a delightful sight to see this.
22-Feb-2015
Almost ready for harvest, another 1 week to go..
9th March, 2015
Harvest is over..was done in 2 steps, there was some water in the field so it could not be completed on first day. Totally 11 women labourer's work was needed to harvest and process it and put it in sacks. Totally 54 para (in local kerala language, may be around 8Kgs) paddy was there. Totally 20,000/- was spent on this and 432kgs was got, so will get about 280Kgs of rice, enough food !!!
Number of tillers is between 10-15, had put only 2-3 plants in one place.
Some learnings
Broadcasting needs more skill to make plants uniform
Yield is less compared to other organic farmers since no manuring was done
Little more early weeding would have made it more efficient
May be case for SRI since watering is done from well and it becomes costly to flood also weeding cost can be saved and yield can be improved
7 comments:
Its feast to eyes , greenery everywhere.
It is all monsoon magic !!
thanks nanda kumar
Nandan - the pictures speak far more than words - I am so happy to see your experiment and its results (am from the Fukuoka group)
Thanks Anand.
Dear Mr.Nandakumar
I am happy to notice your farming experiments. Your writings are good,informative and motivating.
I am also into horticulture influenced by the methods of Palekar. My farm is near Nanjangud in Mysore District. I am living in the farm with my mother and wife and two able assistants.I have 6 acres of land and have native cattle.
Wish you all the best.
Regards
Nagaraj
Surya Sasya Kshethra
Masage (Hosakote)
Nanjangud 571118
Mobile 9945686235
Nice to hear from you Nagaraj. Would call you some time, just to be in touch with like minded farmers.
Regards,
Nandan
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