Going organic - Experiment 101 - Replenishing carbon in the soil

Biochar is a 2,000 year-old practice to convert agricultural waste into a soil enhancer that can hold carbon, boost food security, and increase soil biodiversity, and discourage deforestation. While doing at the field can be harder, we tried to find possible alternatives.

In the processing of paddy into rice, normally the husks are a waste. Now, the mills have found a use for this waste - they use them as fuel to generate steam for boiling. The husks are fired within a chamber and come out as fine charcoal. 

We enquired around and thanks to Mr.Ravanan, owner of Best Builders in Kumbakonam, we identified a rice mill that was happy to let us have the charcoal (our version of Biochar).

Getting it to the fields was easy, but distributing it was whole another story. The tractors got loaded with the ash right from the furnace - the ash at that point was fiery hot. So, we had to unload it outside the field. The mounds remained piping hot for almost 2-3 days.

Right around that time, we had some rains - which made the fields soggy. We could no longer get a loaded tractor trailer into the fields. :(

So, finally, we settled for the next best alternative - here's a video of how we distributed the biochar in our fields. 

Applying Bio-Carbon Supplement from Anand Panimaya on Vimeo.

Perks of being a Farmer #1 - Farm-grown Produce

There are many things I enjoy about our fields and our efforts. I plan to share some of them with you through this series. 

வாழை - கற்பூரவல்லி (Banana - Karpuravalli)

Even though you can get bananas in the market, nothing compares to the joy of cutting down your own banana bunch. 

This bunch is of the variety karpooravalli, a very tasty fruit.

வாழை - மொந்தன் (Banana - Mondan) 

Karpuravalli is for fruits. This is for cooking. Makes for tasty bajjis, and an excellent fry.

புடலங்காய் (Snake Gourd)

The pandal (did you know pandal is an actual English word? I didn't) really looks as if a bunch of snakes hanging in the shade. Especially, the ones without stones tied are very gnarly and curled up, just like snakes.

கொத்தவரை/வெண்டைக்காய்  (Cluster Beans/Okra or Ladies Finger)

 The taste of tender cluster beans is very different from the slightly overripe beans we normally get in the market. Same goes for okra too.

பூசணிக்காய் (Ash Gourd)

 At home, we make a sambhar (curry) with this gourd, that is delicious and goes well with idlis.

கத்தரிக்காய்/பாகற்காய் (Egg Plant/Bitter Gourd)

Our favorite, and most used vegetable is the egg plant. Bitter gourd remains bitter in our preparations, since we slightly undercook it.

காஷ்மீர் மிளகாய் (Chillies - Kashmir)

The chillies were really pretty, but were a bit disappointing, since they were supposed to be really really hot. Instead, they turned out to be just borderline hot. 

Tempted a bit? A little envious? 

Will continue the series...

Start of Kuruvai

We started Kuruvai season with a mix of paddy, sesame, and mixed vegetables on our farm.  

The fields were being prepared for paddy transplantation and I caught a few snaps of the landscape.

A beautiful morning

A panoramic view of a part our farm

My Trusted Royal Hound (Royal Enfield Bullet 350)

This Monday, the paddy seedlings were transplanted into the fields. We used an automated transplanter from Thanjavur. Below is the video:

A Happy Harvest...

We completed harvesting the paddy crop on our Anandham Farm last week. Overall it was a very satisfying exercise for many reasons.

Higher Yield

We got 4.5 tonnes/hectare this season. So far, this is the highest yield for us. We usually get around 24 bags of paddy per acre (each bag is 60kg) - this time it was 30+.

Good Weather

Towards harvest season, we are usually very anxious about rain showers. A single downpour can cause significant damage to the well-grown crop - grains fall to the ground, crops get flattened, the less-expensive "tire machines" harvester cannot be used (when fields are wet, we have to use the "belt" machines, which are almost double as expensive as the alternative). This time there were no significant rains and we were able to utilize harvesters with tires. 

Quick Harvest 

Another major concern is the time taken from the start of the harvest to either selling the paddy or storing it in a secure location. This time, harvest was completed in two days - within those same two days, all the produce was bagged and sewn up. On the third day, we moved everything to the mill for conversion to rice. 

Escaped BPH

There was an extended period of cloud cover during December 2014. This leads to pest infestations and there were severe infestations of BPH (Brown Plant Hopper, Pugayan in Tamil) all over the delta area. Many fields looked like this. However, we had chosen a hardier variety of paddy (CR1009 - naturally resistant to BPH), and also applied bio-pesticides (mainly neem oil cake, and my dad's concoction of indigenous herbs) in anticipation of pest infestation. We had a minor infestation of False Smut (nel pazham in Tamil), but contained it with the above mentioned natural means.

Some thoughts

The Marketing Model

Even though the yield for many farmers was very much less than average (due to the BPH infestation and other reasons), the procurement price set by merchants/middlemen was very low (lower than last year's prices). Price for a 60kg bag of paddy was quoted anywhere from INR800 to INR870. For reference, we sold our paddy last year at INR900/60kg bag. 

One of the reasons was that the cultivated area, especially in the delta region was higher than in the previous few years. So, overall production expected to be more; price set less. The other reason is the chronic inavailability of affordable, and safe storage space. Additionally, many small and medium farmers depend on the proceeds of this crop to run their family for the next 4-6  months, and repay their loans. The merchants/middlemen make the most of these reasons and collude to set the price. 

We had already decided to stock part of our crop for sales later in the year and direct marketing of rice. Given the poor prices, we worked out the economics and decided to store the entire crop. This is possible since we are not dependent on the sale of this crop for sustenance. 

Role model?

Since we started Anandham Farms 4 years back, we've practiced the NPM model. This has been met with a strong dose of skepticism from the local farmers, which is partly due to the nature of the organic movement. 

The organic farming movement advocates extreme practices for a crop to be termed "organic". This includes immediate and complete cessation of use of any chemical inputs. However, for small and medium farmers, a single crop failure often stands between financial bankruptcy and wellbeing. So, they just ignore the call to turn to organic farming. 

My dad has been a staunch believer in the middle road of just abolishing the direct poisons (pesticides, weedicides, and fungicides) used in the field. We use green manure, manure, neem oil cake as base fertilizers. We augment this with natural preparations such as panchakavya, and agniastra. We watch the crops carefully and supplement them with fertilizers only when needed. We use less than a quarter of the agri department recommended levels for fertilizers. 

Using these techniques, we have never lost our investment on any of the major crops since the beginning. Our higher yields this year, I hope, will encourage more farmers in the area to try our approach. A couple of medium farmers have already started experimenting on small sections of their fields. 

A very simple recipe for a tasty snack

There are many ways to enjoy the Karunguruvai aval (poha) from our Anandham farm, but here is a quickie recipe for a tasty snack.

Ingredients

1. 100 grams naturally grown Karunguruvai aval from Anandham farms
2. 50 grams grated coconut
3. Natural jaggery - grated (white sugar is ok, if jaggery is not available) - to taste

Steps

1. Soak aval in fresh drinking water at room temperature
2. Drain water
3. Mix in grated coconut and jaggery
4. Roll into balls 
5. Enjoy!

At home 

It's a fun activity, if you have kids at home - they will enjoy the snack more, if they helped prepare it. My daughters (6 and 4) clean off any food item they helped prepare. 

Unexpected guests? No worries - healthy, tasty snacks are less than 5 minutes away. 

At Work

Need to recharge yourself? Feeling hungry, but don't want junk food? - Just store the ingredients in your office pantry or take them along with your lunch. Beware of sharing - your colleagues are likely to fight over your food, once they taste your yummy snack. 

தமிழில்: 

நம் ஆனந்தம் பண்ணையில் பாசத்துடன் விளைவிக்கப்பட்ட கருங்குறுவை அவலை சுவைக்க பல வகைகள் இருந்தாலும், ஒரு சுவையான, சத்தான தின்பண்டத்தை ஓரிரு நிமிடங்களில் தயாரிப்பது எப்படி என பார்க்கலாம்.

தேவையான பொருட்கள் 

1. கருங்குறுவை அவல்  100 கிராம் 
2. தேங்காய் துருவல் 50 கிராம் 
3. சீவிய அல்லது துருவிய உருண்டை வெல்லம் - சுவைக்கேற்ப 

தயாரிக்கும் முறை

1. அவலை சுத்தமான தண்ணீரில் ஊற வையுங்கள் (2-3 நிமிடங்கள் போதுமானது) 
2.  தண்ணீரை வடியுங்கள் 
3. தேங்காய்யையும், வெல்லத்தையும் அவலுடன் சேருங்கள்
4. மென்மையாக பிசைந்து, சிறு சிறு உருண்டைகளாக பிடியுங்கள் 
5. சுவையான தின்பண்டம் தயார். 

Our Participation in the Protest Against the Methane Extraction Project in Tamil Nadu, India

Today, we participated with our family in the procession and public meeting conducted in Mannargudi, against the Methane Extraction project planned for the Thanjavur and Mannargudi districts. This project, if implemented, will desecrate the fertile Cauvery delta region into wasteland. 

To show our opposition to the project, we distributed masks bearing the picture of respected Nammazhvar, who gave his life while fighting against this project. The mask signifies that the onus is on each of us to carry on the legacy of Nammazhvar. Watching everyone marching together with their masks on, strengthened our faith that the sons of the lands will prevail and save our Motherland. 

I posted a few pictures on Facebook. 

Notes from the last Paddy Crop on Anandham

Water Scarcity 

Our dependence on monsoons was never clearer, as Cauvery waters failed us yet again. With a delay in onset of monsoon, we had to pause the transplantation activities in the middle. Even though we have several borewell pumps on our farm, the lack of electricity wreaked havoc on our ability to irrigate even the nursery. Imagine the plight of small farmers. 

Government Plans

The huge gap between allocation and sanctioning of projects and their implementation was apparent. Community nurseries were proposed in every district to help farmers overcome the irrigation issues.

We were never taken up on the offering of our land for this initiative. I assume "for the records", the project was implemented fully and was a roaring success.

Loan Scheme

This seems to be the one scheme that works consistently well. I witnessed firsthand the number of small farmers and share croppers benefiting from the loans. We applied for crop loans from the Agricultural Cooperative Society as well as a nationalized bank. Certainly eased the cash flow during the time.

Insurance Fiasco

With the State Government announcing that all affected farmers would be reimbursed through their crop insurance, the mad rush to register for insurance began. Since we had obtained loans for most of our lands, our crop was already insured. I did join the throngs to register a small parcel that we hadn't included in our loans.

Everybody was optimistic that they would get at least some relief through the Government. However, the promised relief never materialized for anyone in the vicinity of our farming community.

Harvest and post-harvest

Harvest had to be done in two phases this year (see the first section on water scarcity). For the most part, it was pretty smooth. While not a bumper crop by any means, the yield met and slightly exceeded our expectations.

We wanted to experiment with baling hay this year. We ended up wasting all our hay (worth several tens of thousands of rupees), waiting for the hay baler to show up. Lesson learned.

Because of this delay, the next sesame crop got pushed back. With moisture drying up in the ground every day, this was very unfortunate.

To Sell or Not To Sell

Every year at harvest time, we discuss the need for good storage solutions, but so far we haven't acted on it. This year was no different. After lengthy discussions on the current price, expected price in a few months, the process involved in storing paddy long term etc., we decided to sell of most of our crop to the Government - through the Mobile TNCC center.

Then in a couple of months, the price went up significantly, leading us back to the discussion of building/buying a storage space.

The Bottom Line

We were in certainly in the black for this season. The food grains we stock for ourselves and direct distribution are not included in the value calculations.

Every time I post to the blog, I promise myself that I will post regularly hereon. Hopefully, this time it will stick.