Week #4 – Movement Forward

Pump-house getting ready

The pump-house is being worked on this week. The pump-has been bought – it is a 1.5HP Villers kerosene pump. The pump-house will have a cover and a door that will help us lock up the pump so we don’t ave to move it back and forth.

Crimson tide.... Tambadi Bhaji growing great guns

The tambadi bhaji (red amaranth) is doing really well, although we seem to have planted it too close together. We can expect a LOT of this in the coming weeks.

Aphid attack on the cluster beans plant

We noticed that the cluster beans plant seems to have attracted aphids. Miguel suggested we use Vikarsha (made from fermented leaf-extracts) as a pest repellent to keep these nasty fellows out.

Week #3 – Nutrients available around the farm

Some germinate others don't

In the 3rd week now, we find that some seeds have germinated, others not yet. Some plants seem to strain to grow, while still others are doing just fine.

We put together a chart to understand how we can get nutrients, especially the N, P and K from around the farm and what are the sources if we need to buy them.

Where to get your plant's nutrients from

We see the green growing each week as the nursery and the area sown expands. The growth is visible even from a distance.

Brown gives way to green

Weekly meetings are used to troubleshoot and plan for the activities for the coming week. Simple documentations techniques are discused. The farmers are encouraged to maintain farm diaries to record regularly, valuable information about sowing, germination, nutrients added etc.

Planning for next week

Week #2 – Clearing and Sowing

The field has been cleared and ploughed with a power-tiller

The plot has been cleared and tilled

The land has been cleared, the stone walls mended where they were broken, to ensure that stray cattle are kept out and the laat-stand has been taken down to make way for a pump-house where a 1.5HP kerosene+petrol pump will be installed. This will greately facilitate the watering of the field.

Beds have been made to raise nurseries for various crops. The first round of planting consists of tambadi bhaji (visible as red patches in the photo above), radish, spinach, chillies etc…

Seed collection

We have gathered seeds from different places (Auroville’s Annadana, Navadayna from Deheradoon, and some from our local seed stockists in and around Panjim).

Miguel Braganza provides support for the experiment

Miguel Braganza, who is closely linked with the Organic Farmers Association of India (OFAI) and the Peer Guarantee System (PGS) of organic certification is our advisor for this esperiment. He has committeed to visit Chorao once a week, every Monday afternoon to check on progress, torubleshoot and provide guidance. Thanks Miguel!

Shilan pokes around to see what's germinated

Nursery beds are covered with straw to keep the seeds warm and facilitate germination. Once the seeds sprout, the straw is moved back and they seedlings are allowed to grow under full sunlight.

Breaking New Ground

A group of women, who visited Chetna Vikas in Wardha have been inspired to  conduct an experiment in organic and chemical-free farming.

The plot in October 2010

Gita, Vandana and Shilan identified a plot of land where nothing has been grown in more than 15 years, so that we could be sure it was “organic”. The land abutts other agricultural land that has been fallow for several years.

This esperiment has two key aims:

1. to demonstrate that it is possible to grow vegetables without the assistance of any chemical inputs
2. to show that organic farming can also be profitable

The size of the land is about 2,000sq.mts and it falls under the category of Morod Land (i.e. upland areas). There is a dug-out well in one far corner of the property, but we ahve no electricity connection to install an electric pump. The traditional method os watering, using a laat, is installed but the farmers felt that this would make for very hard work, and therefore a kerosene+petrol pump would be useful.

We got the soil tested and we found the land is neutral, with high levels of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. We are still to receive the results for micro-nutrients.

Over 7 Ha Paddy Transplanted in Chodan-Madel

In a joint program with the Department of Agriculture, the Chorao Farmers Club has transplanted over 7 Ha of paddy in Chodan and Madel villages using our newly acquired mechanical paddy transplanter.

This is the first large scale initiative using mechanical transplanting methods — and is being undertaken as a solution to labour unavailability and costs in several villages across Goa.

Mechanical paddy transplanter being used in Chodan village

In this project — managed by our own project managers Namita Khandeparkar (Madel) and Gita Uskaikar (Chodan) — the nursery was prepared centrally (by Gita Uskaikar and the Department of Agriculture) and then used in the transplanting activity for the fields of 28 participating farmers.

Our farmers felt that this was more convenient and affordable than their current model because of the unreliability of agricultural labour. These experiments shall continue in subsequent seasons so we can evaluate the impact and benefits of these methods over the long term.

Caring for Mango Trees – Instructions