Week #7 – 100% Chemical-free Harvest!!

Bags full of 100% organic, farm fresh veggies

We’ve begun harvesting the vegetables from our plot.  There’s a steady stream of radish, knol khol, tambadi bhaji, coriander, methi, spinach and the occasional pumpkin form the last monsoon that was also grown 100% without chemicals. We are selling these vegetables in Chorao and also in Panjim.

Knol khol or gadde

Week #5 – Panchgavya, the plant tonic

Panchagavya - an effective plant growth promoter

Panchagavya, a preparation of 5 cow products (dung, urine, milk, ghee and curds) is abound with microorganisms – the ‘cooks’ that make the food present in the soil available to plants – and thus promotes growth and builds resilience of plants.

Typically Panchagavya can be made on-farm, but for this experiment we are using readymade Panchagavya. Jafar and Salma Ali of AgriHelp in Pallakad, Kerala make, bottle and send it to Goa (now available at Green Essentials). Detailed instructions on how to make Panchagavya can be found in  Dr. K Natarajan’s book available at the Other India Bookstore in Mapusa.

Spraying a diluted solution of Panchagavya on all plants

For each 1 ltr of water, 30ml of Panchagavya is used. A foliar spray of this helps provide leaves a boost and thus promotes vegetative growth, besides acting though increasing microbers in the soil.

A watering hole

The well being in one corner of the plot makes waterring difficult at the other end of the field. Thus, a water reservoir was made in the middle of the field where water is pumped and stored. From heere the water is further distributed to plants in the other half of the field. Panchagavya can also be added to water in this reservoir before watering the plants. LOTS of chillies are seen growing around this watering hole.

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.

Uh-oh! Pest Attack!

Several of us have had a problem with our Capsicum crop, as well as the local varieties of chillies that we grow.

The Problem: Leaves of the capsicum plan seem to be shriveling up and are not growing in size.

Shriveled up leaves of Capsicum

The diagnosis: Scientists from the KVK visited the farms where this seemed to be a problem. They suggest that this is a problem of fungal attack as well as that of white flies.

Dr. Prabhu and Dr. Rajnarayan visit affected farms

They also suspect that due to very high moisture levels (because of a low water table) and excessive watering the fungal attack was seen more in low-lying and not so much in upland areas.

Solutions: There were a couple of approaches taken to try and address the issue:

Sprinkle the following

1. wood/burnt cow-dung ash on the plants
2. a solution of burnt cow-dung ash in water (soaked for 24 hrs)
3. a neem-based water solution (though this was found to also contain the chemical epichlorohydrin )

It remains to be seen which of the above has been most effective.

Samiksha sprays her chilly crop with neem-based insecticide

Despite attack, Capsicum seems to be growing well in some pockets

Raising a Vegetable Nursery – in photos

As a follow-up from our Workshop on Growing Exotic Vegetables in Goa (conducted in September this year), ICAR’s Program Coordinator, Dr. Rajnarayan demonstrated the setting up of a vegetable nursery for broccoli, capsicum and Chinese cabbage, on the 30th of November, 2009

Beds are made, approximately 1 meter wide. They can be as long a desired

A clear walking path between two beds is important to access beds on both sides. Vermicompost and well-decomposed cow-dung are mixed into the beds

The compost and dung are worked into the soil and large, hard chunks of soil are either broken down or removed so that the bed is fine and powdery. Using a stick, furrows are made along the with the of the bed, leaving a gap of approximately 5cm or as wide as four-fingers

Seeds are sprinkled in a straight line into the furrows

Farmers giving a hand at sowing seeds into the furrows. Once seeds are sown, the furrows look like in the photo above (right)

After sowing seeds, sprinkle a thin layer of soil and compsot mix on the seeds (traditionally, several women simply take a stick and mix the soil around in a random manner, thereby sending the seeds under a few layers of soil. Namita brings in the hay that will be used to mulch the beds

Straw is then used to cover the beds (mulch) to keep the seeds warm and allow them to germinate. The straw can be removed as soon as the seeds are seen to sprout.

The beds are then watered. Farmers are adept in using their hands to create a light sprinkle (else the seeds will scatter); Sometimes a water can is recommended for a similar effect

Given the stray-cattle menace in Goa, it is advisable to ensure cattle cannot reacht he beds, otherwise the tender shoots will make for tasty meals! Using sticks and branches, a fence is made to secure the beds.

Cyclone Phyan ruins paddy crop!

Cyclone Phyan that struck the western coast of India caught several farmers unawares. November is no time to be expecting thunder storms! But the rains came and stayed for several days after that.

Harvested paddy that awaited threshing got innundated

Harvested paddy that was lying in the field awaiting threshing got caught in the downpour. Low-lying khazan areas were inundated for several hours and this led to rotting of the harvest

Inspecting losses and salvaging what can be salvaged

In some cases it was possible to salvage a part of the crop and let it dry

Sitting in water for several hours, the paddy has resprouted!

In many cases, the dampness and the heat resulted in the paddy sprouting seedlings again! This is of no use to the farmers. It can certainly not be eaten and replanting these is not possible for most, as there is a shortage of water in the later months when water is needed for the rice.