Naturalfarmingpalekarway - Answer to clarification on seedbed for paddy

WE HAD THE FOLLOWING QUERRY FROM SRI K. SWAMINATHAN A PRACTICIONER OF ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING IN THE DELTA AREA OF TAMIL NADU:-

Dear Sir, Thanks. On a carefull reading of your articles on SRI and Zero Budget farming. If you can add how to prepare Seed Bed before transplantation under SRI, mentioning the requirement of seed per bed etc., it will be very useful.
Ok bye-
SWAMINATHAN.K


Answer for the above doubt is as follows:-

Before I go ahead with the answer, a small introduction on Sri K. Swaminathan. Sri Swaminathan is an advocate by profession. He hails from the delta area and his family has been actively into the agricultural farming of paddy for well over several decades. He is currently practising Zero Budget Natural farming. Now coming to the answer for the question,

Prepare a raised bed in the field itself. The recommended height of the raised bed should be 6" to 9" lower the better for easy handling. Ensure that the width of the bed is not it excess of 3 feet for easy management. Level the raised bed properly. Apply well decomposed organic compost on top. Don't be too much concerned as to the quantity of compost to be applied. Apply what you feel is required. It is enough that the compost should adequately cover the soil area. In the meantime, collect the paddy soaked paddy seeds in a thin muslin cloth and dip the seeds covered by the muslin cloth into the solution of Bijamurtham for twenty minutes. Remove the cloth covered seeds allow the bijumurtham water to drain off and then spread the dried seeds on the raised bed evenly. Cover the seeds with compost adequately to avoid birds picking up the seeds. Please make a thin coverage with straw to avoid direct contact with rainfall or sun. Keep sprinkling water regularly. On the fifth and 8th day please sprinkle jeevamurtham. You may transplant the saplings any time between 9th and 15th day. The earlier the better.

While transplanting, ensure that you do not pluck the saplings from the bed. Instead, remove the sapling alongwith the soil and plant it on the surface of the soil itself following the SRI technique. Deep transplantation is not recommended.

The requirement of seed per acre for a spacing of 22.5cm X 22.5cm is 3.5kgs.

Naturalfarmingpalekarway + SRI Paddy + pulses intercrop

How to integrate the benefits of Zero Budget Natural Farming Techniques with SRI techniques to enhance crop yield and protect microbial value of the soil?

This is a very useful one for the paddy farmer. The benefits of SRI are very well known and the techniques have been published in our blogspot earlier. This technique can further be modified and made more effective which we will deal later in this post. However, the agricultural universities in Tamil Nadu have been of the opinion that the paddy plant requires more nitrogen than what is available and hence have been recommending a basel dose of Urea. Some government agricultural officers have been recommending a top dressing in addition to basel dosage. Both these in my opinion are shortsighted and expensive approach to the problem though it will address the assumed shortage of Nitrogen it will only lead to more input costs for the farmer. Further, the increased application of nitrogen will invite pests and the farmer will have to spray pesticides spending scarce resources. It will be a vicious cycle of getting trapped into expensive advice and the consequent debt trap. This mindless and continued application of Nitrogen through salts like Urea will certainly affect the microbial value of the soil which is not what we work for. Farmer’s only capital is his soil health. He can not and should not allow it to be weakened. Now comes the question how do we address this problem? The answer is very simple. Ensure that you plant glyricidia plants all along the border of your land. This plant grows very profusely. You can harvest the leaves of this plant once in three or four weeks and integrate the leaves into paddy field. This leave is full of nitrogen. Hence, you can manage to get your Nitrogen on your own and at practically no cost. Further, you will be integrating the weeds three or four times during the crop period this will also bring in nitrogen to the soil. So you can understand that there is no need for external inorganic nitrogen for paddy cultivation. Hence, what we need is a holistic approach to the issue.

We have already explained you the fundamentals of SRI technique in our earlier post. We have also now addressed the question of source of nitrogen. P and K are very much available in the soil at the root zones of paddy and your regular application of Jeevamurtha will help in converting the P and K values to such forms which the plant can uptake easily. So you have no worry on major nutrients. Similarly, secondary and micro nutrients are available in soil and various forms. Regular application of Jeevamurtha will increase the density of a number of helpful and healthy microbes and will convert these nutrients into forms from which the plant can uptake them easily. (I can give you a detailed explanation on the sources and form of major, secondary and micro nutrients available in the soil. But it will only serve academic interest and hence I am avoiding the same) So you need not approach any dealer for your needs of fertilizer and the small and marginal farmer need not borrow at heavy interest rates. The Government too need not subsidise the fertilizer or waive off loans for this system of farming.

Once you have ploughed and muddled your soil apply 200 litres of Jeevamurtham per acre, when the soil of the field is in the stage of a smooth paste, take about 100 to 200 kilos of Ghanajeevamurtham blend the same in about equal quantity of the dry soil from your field and keep them ready. Now use one person to use the markers to begin marking the field for transplantation of paddy samplings (8 to 10 days old saplings for paddy and Bijamurtham treated seeds for pulses) and seeding of pulses. Apply a handful Ghanajeevamurtha mixture at every point where you intend planting the saplings. While one person does this application, the other person will continue planting the sapling In addition to the market you would need three people, one person will be applying the Ghanajeevamurtham mixture, the second one will be planting the paddy sapling and the third one will be seeding the black gram or mungbeans crop in rows. You will follow the system of rows of PADDY ALLOW A SPACE OF 30 TO 45 CMS THEN SOW A SEED OF BLACK GRAM OR GREEN MUNG BEANS OR PIGEON PEAS THEN ALLOW 30 TO 45 CMS AND PLANT IN THE THIRD ROW PADDY. You will repeat this process will until you complete your entire field. Your field will appear like this once completed.









(If your holding is large you can have more than one item of the pulses so that you can spread your risk more evenly. You will also have more number of items to consume and to sell.)

Once you plant, remember to pumping 200 litres of jeevamurtha every 15 days. Remember to spray jeevamurtha regularly as recommended. In addition, broadcast 100 kilos of Ghana jeevamurtha powder once a month on the paddy field. Your plants will be very healthy and will not require any special plant protection. If required you can always fall on Neemastra or Brahmastra or Agniastra depending on your situation to control pests and infestations. If you find pests and infestations in less than five percent of the area please ignore the same. At the stage of seed formation if the it is winter time spray 5% buttermilk solution. Alternatively, you can apply 5% solution of Sapthadhanyakuraarka. How to make all these items like Ghanajeevamurtham, jeevamurtham, neemastra, agniastra, brahmastra, buttermilk solution, spathadanyakuraaraka have been explained in the blog in my earlier posts.

You can harvest your pulses like black gram or greenmung or pigeonpeas in about 75 to 80 days. So you can conveniently harvest the seeds and then integrate the plants into the soil simultaneously between the rows of the paddy crop. Since pulses are dicot plants they carry lot of nitrogen in their nodules when integrated in the soil, the soil gets adequate source of nitrogen which the paddy plants can uptake if required. Further, these pulses will prevent pest attack on paddy plants. Subsequently, you can harvest your paddy crop.

Points to take note:-



Remember to mulch your field with Neemleaves or pungamia leaves alongwith jeevamurtham.

Seedtreatment of paddy should be done with Bijamurtham in the recommended manner before seeding in the seedbed. spray 5% solution of jeevamurtha on 5 day old sapling in the seedbed. Drench the seedbed with small quantity of bijamurtha half an hour before you begin transplanting.

For seedtreatment of pulses like blackgram (URAD)Greenmung (pasipayaru), pigeonpeas (thoovarai) please follow the recommended method very carefully and avoid damaging the outer cover of the seeds.

Ensure spacing of 30 cms between rows and 25 cms between plants for short duration varieties. Spacing will vary for other varieties.

New Year Greetings

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND STIMULATING TAMIL NEW YEAR TIME. TO THOSE OF MY MALAYALEE FRIENDS WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY VISHU KANI.

OUR NEXT POST WILL BE A COST COMPARISON BETWEEN INORGANIC CULTIVATION OF PADDY AND ZERO BUDGET SRI PADDY CULTIVATION.

Questions & Answers on the technique and practices

Shri Rajasekaran Ponniah has raised a querry on how to use Bijamurtham for Paddy and Black gram by a private email after going through this blogspot. I through that it would be better to answer this question through the blogspot itself so that along with Shri Rajasekaran Ponniah, others too can use the information. We must thank Shri Subash Palekar for developing this method which is proving beneficial to the farming community in general.

Question: How to use Bijamurtham for Paddy and Black gram?

Bijamurtham treatment for Paddy Seeds: Take adequate chlorine free clear water from your water source in a large wide mouthed can or vessel. Add small quantity of natural crystal salt (Kal Uppu). Now you can immerse the seeds in this water and allow the water to become still. This process should take about 15 minutes. Damaged and infested seeds will come up to the surface and float. Remove these seeds with the help of a strainer (tea vadikatti) and use it for mulching only. Now drain the water and allow the seeds to become dry. Add the prepared Bijamurtham and treat the seeds. Once this is done, the paddy seeds are ready for sowing into the seedbed.

Bijamurtham treatment for Black gram Seeds: Manually remove the infested and damaged seeds from the Black gram Seeds. Put the selected seeds into a thin cloth and soak the same well in the Bijamurtham solution for about a minute or two. Then open the cloth and allow the seeds to dry in shade till it is nearly free from external moisture. Now the Black Gram seeds are ready for sowing. Most Important: DO NOT RUB THE SEEDS TO AVOID DAMAGE TO OUTER COVER OF THE SEEDS.

SRI Paddy Cultivation under Zero Budget Naturalfarmingpalekarway - Some Photographs

At our farm in Kayapakkam, we have cultivated ADT 37 variety of paddy under SRI method. We have not used any inorganic fertilisers or pesticides of any sort. We have followed the techniques being propounded by Shri Subash Palekarji. The paddy plots will be ready for harvest in about two weeks or so. I give you some photographic idea for the farming community in general.

We have applied Jeevamurtham at regular intervals as suggested by Shri Subash Palekar. We had also used Neem Astra to control pests. The incidence of pest attack has been very minimal (as the paddy plants were sturdy due to application of jeevamurtha at regular intervals as well as due to spraying of jeevamurtha solution at regular intervals) and the growth as well as tillering has been profuse.
It is very satisfying to see this paddy field when there is mild sea breeze.

Other farmers had planted the same ADT 37 on traditional method following inorganic farming technique. They faced substantial incidence of infestation of the field and had to use expensive inorganic pesticides, etc., to control infestation.

Success story of Paddy farmer following Naturalfarmingpalekarway

Success Story of a humble farmer from Umayalpuram Village, Musuri Taluk, Tiruchy District, Tamil Nadu


Shri Annadurai hails for a humble village of Umayalpuram in Musuri Taluk, Tiruchy District. He hails from a traditional farming family and regularly cultivates his paddy field of about ten acres. Of course, he is one of the few farmers who is privileged to have a well irrigated land round the year as he has his own water supply from well maintained wells.

He has been independently farming for more than three decades. He has all along been cultivating the farm following the inorganic route advised by Agricultural Universities, Government Agriculture Department and distributors of fertilizers and insecticides ever since the green revolution. All he achieved was to line the pockets of distributors of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and could save very little for himself due to the high input costs and declining yeild.

In September, 07 he came across a line of hope in a message (was carried in the Tamil Agricultural fortnightly PASUMAI VIKATAN) which explained the concept of Zero Budget Natural Farming. The magazine had announced a conference to educate the farmers of Tamil Nadu on the Zero Budget Natural Farming propounded by Shri Subash Palekar. He enrolled for the conference and at the conclusion of the conference vowed to practice Naturalfarming following the technique of Shri Subash Palekar.

He went back to his village and began preparing two acres for paddy cultivation following Shri Subash Palekar method.

On preparing the land he applied 200 litres per acre of Jeevamirutham in his land and transplanted 25 to 28 day old “Ponni” paddy saplings in the traditional method planting. He successfully followed the application of Jeevamurutham, neem astra, Agni astra and hormone treatment. The schedule he followed is given below for the benefit of paddy farming community:-

1. The normal age of “Ponni” variety of paddy for harvest as per Shri Annadurai is 140 days.
2. His Saplings on transplantation was about 28 days old. He pumped in 200 litres per acre of jeevamurtha along with water before transplantation ;
3. His first spray was 5 litres of Jeevamurtha mixed with 100 litres of water on the 33rd day; (28+5)
4. He pumped in 200 litres per acre of jeevamurtha for the second time on 43rd day (i.e. 28 + 15 days);
5. He had a second spray of 10 litres of Jeevamurtha mixed in 150 litres of water per acre on the 48th day;
6. He pumped in 200 litres per acre of Jeevamurtha for the third time on the 58th day (ie.43+15 days);
7. He sprayed Neem Astra on the 63rd day though there was no indication of any pests as a proactive measure (Palekar recommends spraying only if there is any incidence of pests in the field. When there is no incidence of pest he says there is no need to spray any herbal pesticide at all);
8. around 85 to 90th day he found some incidence of “Kadhir Naval Poochi” (Ear head peg) and “Elai Puzhu” (cut worms) and hence he applied on the 95th day Agni Astra; This controlled the infestation completely;
9. Paddy started maturing by 110th day when he applied 5 litres of sour buttermilk mixed with 100 litres of water per acre as hormonal treatment to prevent shedding of grains and to increase the weight of the grain.
10. He harvested the grain around 145 days when he achieved 2100 kilos of paddy per acre with no inorganic input what so ever.

He is now very confident and is preparing the entire 10 acres of his land to plant short duration paddy under “SRI” system using Naturalfarmingpalekarway.

Let us take this opportunity to congratulate this enterprising farmer and wish his all the best in his future endeavors. Let us hope many more will emulate him in the days ahead.

Naturalfarmingpalekarway - Paddy cultivation at Musuri in Tamil Nadu

We are pleased at the success of Shri Annadurai a farmer from Musuri in Tamil Nadu. I understand that had attended the conference of Shri Palekar conducted under the auspicious of PASUMAI VIKATAN at Dindugal last year. After attending the conference he has followed the Palekarway and cultivated Paddy in his field. He has happily reported an yeild of 2100 kilos per acre on Ponni variety without any inorganic inputs of fretiliser or pesticides or inscetcides or fungicides or any other "dealer supplied" items.

We will shortly publish an interview of this successful farmer in our blogspot for the benefit of lovers of Naturalfarming and for the benefit of farming community in general.

We welcome informations and reports from those who know of other similar success stories so that we can share the same for the benefit of farming community.