Eating is an agricultural act - Wendell Berry

Sunday, January 18, 2015

2013-2014 production at TF

2013- 14 agri season - produce data

1. Paddy - 3000 kgs -> 1800 kgs of Rice.
Varieties: Kaivirai Samba, Mappilai Samba, Sura Kuruvai (sample fields - first experimental season) Vaikunta, Thuyamalli and  White Ponni (second season - own seeds).
Average yield - 950-1000 kgs of paddy per acre. Neighbours get around 1600 kgs paddy per acre. We expect that with more experience and better soil recovery, we could bridge the gap.
We have tried the SRI system as well as the conventional system. we are likely to use the latter more often than the former as we are unable to see much benefits.

2. Groundnut - 600 kgs of nuts. Majority converted to oil. Here our yields we comparable to neighbours.

3. Sesame - 50 kgs

4. Blackgram - 120 kgs

5. Greengram - 30 kgs

6. Ragi - 120 kgs

items 1 and 2 have thus far been the main crops for us - a reflection of the fact that it is the main crops in the neighbourhood.

we have extensively used the local workforce. we use tractors/machinery whenever other manual options are not available/feasible.

we have turned in a moderate profit overall.

along with the house building and all that, last season was quite something.

4 comments:

Navin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Navin said...

Interesting to read, As I am planning on entering farming, have couple of questions.

By conventional system, is it organic?
Are you practicing no-till?
Are you using drip or bore water?
What is the ground water level.

csm said...

dear navin -
1. yes, organic methods
2. no, we do till the land.
3. we have an open well. no drip irrigation used.
4. is very good in our area. ground water is around 15-30 ft from the ground in summer and during rains, it is almost 2-3 feet.

Kishore said...

Dear Sriram,
What are your thoughts on Fukuoka's method? esp. clay seed balls, supercropping, mulching, cover cropping...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr4HYBbWCb4