ragi - take 3

our obsessive affection towards ragi must be quite apparent to the regulars.
1. ragi - take 1 was planted in april 2010 and harvested in sept/oct 2010. it was a long duration, tall variety from karnataka.
2. ragi - take 2 was planted in jan 2010 and harvested in april 2010. it was a short duration (kulla kar - short variety) sourced from the local village.
both were transplanted in the field which has not been ploughed since we came here in jan 2010 and has been under constant mulch/cover since then.

time for take 3. and quite different from the previous takes.
using the kulla kar short variety, the chosen method was SRI - sytem of rice intensification. for us it was system of ragi intensification.
the concept is simple and has been shown to deliver good results for rice as well as ragi.
the 3 key elements were:
1. transplant young. we did it on the 10th and 11th day.
2. wide spacing. we spaced the saplings at over 8 inches.
3. single sapling only.
these elements allow a high level of tillering and hence a high output for lesser input.

with help from ananthu, sumathi and veda, we completed the transplanting in pretty quick time.
and just as we completed transplanting, it rained.
very nice.

and we are back...

it had to be something of impact to shake the cobwebs of the almost month-long blogging hiatus.

and it happened last night.
Rain sweet rain...

with camera on the blink, and a series of outages/dial-up downtime, and just one shower from june to date, writing enthusiasm was at a premium.

well now, all that is past and behind us.
welcome back to Farm, yeah.