Travel to Farm, Looking back and path forward

I will be travelling to the Farm this week. Attending my niece marriage in my Native place and the farm is just 10 Kms away. Hopefully I can make few sorties to the farm within the 4 days of my stay. In India, travel cost is considered an unnecessary overhead. Spouse don't approve of travel for the sake of a farm visit. Spending about Rs. 15000/- or more per trip is not considered worth, especially if there is no urgent work over there. And there will be none. Things develop very slowly in villages and you cannot afford to hang around.

For each of such occassional visits (last visit was in July, 2013) I have to pack myself with clear agenda. This time, I intend to do the following

1)  Ascertain  'patta' status (proof of private ownership) of the farm which was actually a cluster of individual holdings purchased at different times. Even after few years of sale deed, still the patta change is happening very slowly. Many of them are still joint holdings. Patta transfer requires cooperation of Village officer, Thasildhar, Surveyor etc. Though the process is easy, they are not so easy to devote their time. They have long pending lists.  It is important to continuously drive this. Lobbying is what is required, but from remote you cannot do that.  The best method is to prepare a checklist and drive this using your helper.

2)   Deliver few instruction CDs to the team. Especially 'how to make organic Compost', Grafting techniques, Dry land farming, Recharging borewell with rain catchment etc are some of the titles i have chosen for first set. 

3)   Demostrate mixing of Panjakavya. Also learn from them on what options are available to continuously add nuterients to the soil.

4)   Decide for Wind or Solar power on the spot. Even though Solar looks attractive theoritically getting genuine vendors and resonable prices are not easy. Even if obtained, there is threat of theft and vandalism on the installation if left unprotected.  Farm fence is not suffient. How to protect solar panels and electric pump in the night?  Wind Pump looks better option in all ways. Rugged, long life, magestic symbol, less maintenance etc.  Need to decide on the spot and location for the installation.

5)   Discuss with the team on where investment and focus should be.  Thinking of the past 3 years, I find that 86% of my expenditure has gone in purchasing land. Only 0.3% for plantations. The future spend should be exact opposite. Exenses should go more towards plant material, equipment, Soil and Water and so on. Land should be Nil.

                Present Investment

	Land, Survey	86.0%
	Gate and Fencing	7.1%
	Salary	2.5%
	Boring, Pump, Tank	1.9%
	Equipment	2.2%
	Plating, Nursary	0.3%

6)   Finally shifting to Slow Lane. The more you hurry or become desparate, someone else will make money out of you. Therefore......

Shift to the Slow Lane

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Many entrepreneurs work hard to get increasingly more things done every day. As a result, they struggle to focus on doing one thing at time. This is becoming nearly impossible in a culture that rewards “multitasking”. When they do more than one thing at a time, they not only lose the quality of the work, but also the enjoyment. Moving at very high speeds is not only unproductive, but just plain unhealthy.

In response to “always on technology”, many entrepreneurs are now promoting a “slow down culture”. This reflects Steve Jobs’ instructions to his management team that they should focus on doing less, not more. They should do a few things exceptionally well every day.

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Refererences:

http://www.indiarealestateforums.com/news-feed-blogs/20-chennai/116-patta-transfer-procedure-for-tamilnadu-and-chennai

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aileron/2014/01/08/shift-to-the-slow-lane/



My experiments with Soil

Testing soil for chemical composition is like equivalent to today's medical tests.  After spending 200 dollars you will be given a complete 'profile' of your body in CD, Paper, graphs, certificates, conclusions only to confuse you further. You start reacting to the reports, you go mad very soon. If iodine is less, will you start consuming iodine? if calcium is less will you start eating calcium pills for example ? Beyond a point you won't know how your body will absorb them. Calcium supplements can interact with many prescription medicines, including antibiotics, bisphosphonates and high blood pressure medications leading to complications.

 Postmenopausal women were advocated heavy dose of calcium, which is now being questioned if at all it has any effect in preventing Osteoporosis (weakening of bone). Calcium accumulating on toes causing pain can be linked to your kitchen mosaic floor or calcium deficiency or excess calcium intake - no one knows for sure !  With increased adulteration in milk, people have stopped taking simple milk and yogurt. That is the whole problem.

I donot believe in making so much fuss about soil testing, analysis and choosing specific crops based on Ph factor. Soil conditions are always at a slice of time and specific to that period.  Soil should not be seen as a chemical compound but as a living entity. Just as for humans wholesome food is the answer for all ailments, the soil needs just the required biomass and water.

On a gross level what matters is the soil structure whether it is clay, sandy or in between and then the temperature. Crop can grow well with adequate supply of water, sunshine and biomass. Intervention with trace metals, organic and inorganic salts for a particular crop can give short term gain but can make the soil useless for other crops. Soil can grow almost any crop, given the right physical conditions.  How do you explain otherwise the rich red soil of Kerala, the dull clumsy clay of Panvel (Navi Mumbai), the dusty soil of Noida,  the rocky soil of Deccan all growing all types of crops. How otherwise you can account all rainforests that has multitude of genetic varieties growing on all soil conditions. Most of the crops that are grown today were once upon a time migrated or imported into the village and did not belong that region. But it grows. Potato, beans and cauliflower are not confined to Ooty alone. It grows well everywhere. So also Cabbage and others.  More and more organic farmers are proving the point...

Pot of useless contaminated mud, now thriving with living tissues

I had a lump of useless clay in one of the pots during my home experiment. It was having petroleum oil slick and detergent contamination. Visibly also it was looking worse.  Nothing grew in it and every attempt to grow anything including tough ones like money plant failed miserably. I did not throw the soil out, but took it as a challenge. Generous amount of cow dung, home made panjagavya were applied along with sufficient sunshine and time.  These inputs converted the soil into good one. I guess the microbes broke down the oil slick into its components. Within a period of two years, the soil has become fertile. Today there is throbbing life in that soil (See snaps).

Closeup. You can still see oil slick, but
is not behaving the way it used to be

I am confident that given any soil, we can always condition the same by adding biomass, grow weeds, make the soil workable and then use it for cropping. ANY CROP only limited by season and water.

Lack of water quickly hardens the soil whatever be the soil type. More than water, there is a moisture that is required to be preserved in the soil all the time. Too much water, the roots decay. Too less, the roots dry and the water carring capillaries in the root die down. Timing of water maintains required temperature as well. Watering little twice a day morning and evening is found to work better than watering once a day or excessive flooding once a few days. The continuous moisturisation of water is best achieved through drip irrigation or sprinkler. Both are found to be good technologies.  Dry air blown can carry away the moisture.

Therefore in RMF, the first step was to grow enough fence material so as to prevent dry air from blowing over the crops.  We have planned for 3 levels of plants - thorny bushes at outer layer (Bougainvillea, Casuarina).  useful bushes like Caesalpinia, Nerium Olender, Lawsonia inermis in 2nd layer and short trees in third row.  That will be followed by farm inner service road and then the crops.

For irrigation, we need powerful motors of 7 HP to operate Sprinklers or rain gun.  The farm will not have excess electric power or no electric power at all.  Therefore that idea is dropped. We will go for drip irrigation only mostly to take advantage of slow water filling, and gravity.

***

My farm cannot wait anymore - energy hungry

The farm is having around 1000 plants planted around the fence. They were undergoing stress as there had been stoppage of watering due to Pongal holidays for three days. Today work resumed and team of two had been only pumping water through the hand pump. Stressful indeed but need to be done to keep them alive.  Voice is coming out clearly from the team that they cannot hold anymore. There is no rain also in sight. Therefore I have to plan for energy requirement asap. Wind or Solar.

For emergency I offered to buy Subbu a small oil motor. He said NO. They are suitable only for open well not effective to pump from boring. Instead "even a 1/2 hp small motor is sufficient provided electricity is available", he said. 

Team has been communicated that we should fabricate solar solution in pieces.  Team came with "Texmo pump" as choice for 1.5 or 2 HP submersible. Need to find an inverter and solar cell manufacturer.  Iron stand can be fabricated locally.

*****

Experiments on Wind and Update on Wind Speed at Nachankulam - 3 Weeks

After 3 weeks of measurement at a height of 19 feet, the following are the findings. The wind Speed is averaging at 3 meters/second occassionally going upto 5 m/s. Day or night, there is no variation. It may be noted here that this is only average wind speed calculated over 12 hours span. Average 3 meters  means there could be periods of very low wind velocity say 0 and there could be periods of higher than 6 meters per second. That is good enough to pump water.

I guess if a wind pump is installed, it can take advantage of high wind intervals, pump and store the water at a height (Potential energy) to compensate for no wind hours. Day and night makes no difference for wind energy.



I estimate it should cost around Rs. 3 lacs in all to put a wind turbine which can sweep 5 meter diameter at a height of 12 meters (36 feet), complete with turbine, tower, water tank, installation, pumping and labour.

Meanwhile what I found by doing some experiments at home by making a small wind turbine (for my Son's high school science exhibit) is that generating electricity is less efficient than using the wind power directly. 



Wind Turbine out of Tin foil



Improvised by clipping, trimming
added color to exhibit

I had made a turbine cut out of tin foil and later improvished by clipping alternate wings (taking cue from ideal wind turbine design) to reduce drag.  The blade/disk is mounted on skating wheel which had a ball bearing supported through regular nut and bolt over a wooden plank. Once upon a time that wood was part of magazine shelf. 

This turbine is connected to a small mini motor extracted from a broken toy, through a rubber band.  A bobbin (extra from Sewing machine) helps hold the rubber band in place on the motor.   The motor is clamped to wooden stick with Lego toy metal piece and a normal school rubber cut in shape.  Now the windmill is ready. With a table fan in front or outside wind, this can operate at full speed.

Current generated was 1.5 volt not
enough to power LED

 With the current generated, I could NOT even fire a 3 Volt LED lamp !!. Unfortunately my entire time went in researching how to make a 1.5 volt LED using Joule thief circuit made out of scrap components and miserably failed. Finally I was able to prove generation of 1.5 volt and no more. Asked my son to find a multimeter at school to prove the point.  On the other hand, the wind turbine had such a physical strength when it was rotating (in front of a table fan) that I could not break the rotation so easily with my hand.   So i came to conclusion that ;

 a)   Generation of electricity is clean, has advantage it can be carried through a wire to another place.  But amout of mechanical energy converted into electrical is less.  Further storage of electricity during fertile wind period is inefficient because batteries can make energy loss. Cost per watt is also high.

b)   But raw power from wind turbine is very high and can be directly applied with levers to move things like operate a pump. Storage of water in the form of kinetic energy is highly efficient. Cost per watt equivalent is low.

So my vote is for wind pump and not wind turbine to reconfirm what i had posted in earlier postings.

End of story/-

Toilets in an Open Farm

 This is so fundamental and so needed, so much of importance has been given throughout history by eminent personalities like Gandhi. But it remains still elusive. Everytime i see a person defecating by the side of rail track in clear visibility to even foreign tourists, i feel so fallen. But when station arrives I forget, move past. Head towards a star hotel only to find the costly toilet doesnot have a hand shower. Have they not thought how inconvenient it will be to use paper for people with piles or differently abled.... Aircrafts have such a tiny toilets making so much noise because they use air and water, you get scared, embarrassed that you donot wish to go.  Airports are the best but have partially open dividers.


Trivancore Samasthan Guest Toilet

Surprisingly Mogal emperors have not made it good either. While they were lavioush in decorating everything with gems and marble, toilet is very rugged (Ref Amer Fort).  But Kerala kings had designed it more comfortable for even their guests (Ref Trivancore samasthan).

Moving past you live in giant apartments with septic tanks at basement which no houseowner would have ever visited, whose whereabout only the builder knows. There is no escape route for the toxic gases generated which often get routed through ill maintained cement pipes adjascent to kitchen vents or the gas gradually bouce back through the same internal route reach upto toilet to fill the bathroom and later attached bedroom mildly to pull long term health effects. Thanks to creature comfort - spilt A/C, false roofing, double insulation, curtains, no fresh air anywhere to let the air go out.

Coming back to the toilet. What is the best one  to have in an open farm ?  Western or Indian ? 

Western toiles are convenient in the sense one donot have to bend. Lazy people like me and People with perceived disability of knee joints prefer this. But this is only perceived. When "push comes to shove" any human being including heavy weights can always sit down without injuring themselves unless some doctor has operated their knees and made it a showpiece bolting inorganic metal pieces inside. But that is not the concern. For a proof observe the railway carriage, where often when western is busy and other is free people are at home.

Concern is that western toilets are effective only if it is constantly attended and kept clean and dry. That is impossible to achieve in public toilets. Especially when it is unisex, men use it differently than others and if the ring is not lifted for pee with few drops of spill, then no one can use it then onwards. Moreover western toilets are designed to be kept dry at the floor, which can seldom be maintained that way. complete water wash of the floor would be better than having a little water marks here and there. Imagine railway carriage where chained mug cannot reach you and there is no paper!

Western toilets may be a must for knee operated patients. It is not a priority for normal person in an open farm where people of different kinds will be visiting. There will be workers, officers, family members, students, research scholars... The only way to keep toilet clean would be through frequent water wash and that is better done in Indian toilet by pouring water in whichever way you want. If western is still required can be constructed at a ratio of say 1:5. ie., for every five indian, one can be a western, but kept under lock and key.

So Western toilet is out, atleast for first few commodes.

"Indian toilet is not only the oldest form but also the most scientifically proven form for human anatomy which the western world has been realizing of late and embracing it gradually" Reference Guruprasad.

The squatting position offers complete evacuation and healthy bowl movement. It is more familier, natural and occupies less maintenance.

Next question the following questions have to be answered.

a) Which type of flushing?
b)  How much water required ?
c) what will happen to waste if left open? Should it be closed ?
d) What will happen if flooding happens?
e)  Is there threat of ground water contamination ?
f) Can we use acid or detergents ?
g) What if toad, snake or other animals creep in. What should be the height ?
h) Who will clean the toilet after every use.
g) What is periodic maintenance required
h) Should it be available in the night (lighting condition)
i) Where will the manure be used?
j) Will there be odour ?

Most of these questions are answered by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabhinternational in his famous two pit design. Reproduced "Sulabh flush compost toilet is eco-friendly, technically appropriate, socio-culturally acceptable and economically affordable. It is an indigenous technology and the toilet can easily be constructed by local labour and materials. It provides health benefits by safe disposal of human excreta on-site. It consists of a pan with a steep slope of 25°-28° and an especially designed trap with 20 mm waterseal requiring only 1.5 to 2 litres of water for flushing, thus helping conserve water. It does not need scavengers to clean the pits."

Radhamurali Farms will use the following design. Toilet at 2 feet height having u tube to hold some water to act as buffer zone and then the tube landing to one of the pits two dug with JCB to be switched to another pit after 4 to 6 months. The pits may be partilly closed with wire gauze but open enough to allow sprinkling of dust, ash and other material.  The first pit will be covered with mud to become compost, added with microbes to accelarate decomposition  when the second pit is operational. There can be a no planting zone for 10-20 feet around, to be filled with shurbs of known kind.  Design to take care that snakes cannot enter inside.

Period. The balance work is easy. Local pulumber know most of it. I estimate this should not cost more than Rs.12,000/- (170 dollars) including walls and roofing.

Reference:

http://guruprasad.net/posts/why-indian-toilet-is-best-scientific-reason/
http://www.sulabhinternational.org/content/two-pit-system



Planning to go to market to buy Solar

I am yet to get a proper nominal quote from anyone for my solar pump requirement. Internet is of no use.  Vendors claims typically bear items like 'Solar Inverter', 'Solar cable' and even 'Solar Batteries' !!!.  I am only waiting to see 'solar installation' and 'solar labour'.  The companies are of two kinds,
a) Companies marketing solar panles
b) Companies selling agriculture pump sets.

Integrating both these are seldom done by big companies.  There exists some companies who claim they are solar companies, whose websites are still not fully updated.  Here is were 'technicians' play their 'solutions' role. A call to these companies will land you up in call centre type executive who cannot answer anything useful, but are good at followup without a gap. Second call would land you into the hands of these technicians or the super managers. Both quote  a very fancy price for 'bundled offer' and justify them in few mails and go blank. They always omit vital parameters that are important from customer point. Solutions are always based on what product they deal with and not what solution the customer wants.

DC Currnet of -48 volt, current conversion, water flow calculation, DC/AC pump, well depth, motor startup issues - all these concepts keep everyone busy because they are not supposed to be discussed by common man. Without de-mystifying these (like a corporate hospital doctor), many advisers mint money by claiming to show complete solution to customer without publishing the actual breakup costs(or show too much unwanted details). Government subsidy of 30% on solar product will be applied after a steep hike. Every quote is incomplete - either they omit installation, civil works, electrical wiring or even mouting frames.

Above all there is 15 years guarantee given by companies to justify solar cost !. As though energy is perpetual !.  Hello, technological obsolence happens within 2 to 3 years in every sector. Solar technology is changing day by day. 

An agriculture pump at the most will work for 5 years continuously. Each passing year, younger generation is looking at old technology as if it was of stone age. Thanks to consumerism induced planned obsolescence.  Why should anyone bother about a 15 year guarantee?. I can now laugh at the 15 Year Mod-Tap certificate I framed and hung in the wall of my office cabin proudly.  I used to obtain (certificate) for my CAT5 cabling in my office for structured cabling done. I should have paid a premium for the cable and RJ45 connectors.  CAT5 has become CAT6 and now optic and wireless within 6 years.....Company themselves are getting sold or changing brands every 3 years.

Finally after losing energy patience and some money, I have decided, that I will integrate each of these piece by piece myself by going to market and not browsing the internet.  Atleast i will get some learning.

a) Let me buy solar cells from a reputed company directly.  The cost of which I expect not to exceed Rs.50/- after subsidy per watt. I may need around 2000 watts to run 2 HP pump.
b) Then buy an inverter of 5 KV
c) Buy maintenance free batteries from a good company.
d) Buy submersible pump from the market which is proven for indian conditions and which can withstand fluctuating voltages.
e) Put the 10 x 10 feet pipe into the boring and connect everthing with local electrician and plumbers.

I am confident all of these can be done step by step. For example we can weld a solar frame to our convenience from a iron grill shop from where i made the gates.  Inverters are available from IT vendors. So also batteries.  Submersible is available readily in semi urban markets. They can be tested with inverter and battery.  Only I may have to invest in one or two consultants and some multimeters.

Wish me all the best. I have buying from my team over there.

****

Farming is full of Fun, thrill and ideas

One day Subbu was talking to me over phone from an open field. There was rains. He was standing near my farm and me in a metropolitan city apartment, safe secure and comfortable in my balcony. During middle of conversation he called for emergency and cut the phone abruptly.  In a local slang he later explained that there was thunder and lightning at that time. What if In case the lightning will strike the cell phone ! ? " Safety is important no sir..."  There in villages they have a strong opinion that cell phones that are active in conversation will attract lightning.  There are lightning strike cases sometimes hitting cow boys in the open because they were the tallest structures at that place. But i am not sure if static electricity will love cell phones because they transmit more waves during a conversation.



Field level innovation to mount anemometer



I offered to buy a bicycle to my farmer Kandan. No No No he refused. Reason ? he cannot ride a bicycle. I cannot convince him at this age. But what if i force him ?They guaranteed that he will walk the bicycle even if i purchase him one. I will do that anyway.

Mouting the anemometer itself was a great fun. I left it to them right from receiving parcel, unpacking, installation, trouble shooting and working it.  All of that they did themselves.  When they opened  the package, they would not have understood what the hell is this.  (i did not tell them).  It took many weeks for them to make it work. Subbu was dashing back and forth with anemometer on his bike to Villiyoor a nearby town to make a rod that you see in the picture supporting the meter box.

While i was breaking my head how to take meter readings in case we mount it on a tall pole..  I was imagining a solution whereby one pole will pivot over another pole at half its height like a scissors. whenever we need reading we need to hoist down the 2nd pole using rope and hoist up (like a check post).  But guys on the field came with this solution as it the picture. It works anyway. That only matters. Subbu says it is cool and comfortable at the top.

Farm output - a single ridge guard.

And while the commercial farming is months away, our entire output of the farm in produce is not a ton of vegetables. After tilling grinding, bulldozing, ploughing and tending.....  Not in kilograms. it is one single lonely ridge guard. Search in the picture below.  That too planted for fun !  We can make ridge guard chutny .

****

Energy for the Farm - From where it will come ?

After thinking for hours and working on various proposals, I have prepared this energy chart. This chart shows only what is available locally. For example it doesnot cover tidal power which is not available in my farm but is definitely an option.  The chart will be useful to clarify to myself where to focus and to shape the conviction. 

This is my own conclusion and can vary from place to place.  Note, I am not even considering running oil motor.  Oil motors require petrol or dieseal which are both dirty - high carbon footprint and costly/bad/subject to extinction.

On the other hand oil from bio-organic source is not advisable. That will lead to Food or Fuel conflict in the world and must be approached with caution.  Already there is conflict between Food, Fuel and Fodder.

***

Wind Speed at Nachankulam - First week of January, 2014

Now we have 7 days of data.   the data shows the wind speed is declining day by day. Speeds are high during day time and less during night.  The X axis indicates speeds in Meters / Second.  anything above 3 meters per second is considered reasonable. This is at a height of 19 feet. I must admit that the land is 10 feet lower than road level.

Suppose if I install a wind pump? Will I be able to store water and irrigate during lean periods.  Let me wait for few more days to see the trend.  Unfortunately we donot have any help from outside to know the wind velocity in this area, even though there are many professional wind mills available just 30 Kms away.

The wind mills quotes collected so far from different companies indicate that they cost anywhere upwards of 2.5 lacs for 12 meter tower with around 5 meter rotor wing diameter. That is a lot of money. I must be damn sure about the decision if it is to be taken.  The same applies to Solar also.



Mutton, Chicken, beef and 'farming'

There is chicken and mutton everywhere. Almost all Indian tastebuds are being converted to Non-Veg. Normally Indians used to have a menu of meat only on Sunday when it was considered a premium.  Now population is so desparate that they want it for every meal. Some even proclaim in office parties that they cannot live without it. When you go out for lunch, only 2 out of 10 will order for Veggie curry. Pure Vegetarian hotels are becoming a rarity. Even they sell more chinease varities than idly and dosa. What KFC has introduced just a few years before, now many local companies have started cashing in on this growing market.  Recently i saw TV advertisement of a popular (local ready masala maker) brand which has started packaging chicken pieces.

Thanks to Govt funding, the entire infrastructure development and investment is going more in favour of animal farming. Agriculture universities are training farmers day and night (take a look at any of KVKs training schedule) on 'goat farming' and chicken harvesting. Farm lands are being installed with poultaries. Farmers are being made to believe that the returns are high only on animal farms. Animal feed production is another market that is getting popularised. Even popular magazines on agriculture which support organic farming carry more articles about stories of animal farming.  While it is natural and essential for any natural farm to have a healthy cycle of food and manure through upkeep of few country animals, poultry and birds, here we are talking about large scale farms of the size of giant factories.  The 'animal factories' which produce juicy chickens  grow animals using various chemicals - growth hormones (roxarsone or nitarsone, arsenical antimicrobial drugs that also promote growth) steroids, antibiotics, injections and drugs. It is funny that educated India reliesh them knowing fully well about what harm the residue chemicals can do to them.  This is at a micro level.

On a macro level, think tanks and market survey companies are publishing statistics to potential foreign investers that meat consumption is the lowest in India compared to other countries. Prompting more investment and creating 'market potential' in a country which has highest population (stomaches) after china and highest number of agriculture farmers with small land holding. Govt wants to solve micro nutritional deficiency of population through costly poultry chicken and not through greens, pulses and vegetables which are cheap.

Net Net there is going to be more animal production for consumption and hence necessity for producing animal feed. What happens in America will happen here. Complete deforestation. Country lands will be converted to gracing land. One can see for example such acres of lands around Pune which had been converted to gracing grounds to supply beef to the erstwhile British colony.  Only corn, maize and low quality high volume vegetation will be produced in all farms because they have the potential to sell, consume less water and maintenance. In the garb of easy farming, many have already destroyed their food grain and vegetable farms and have ventured into maize cultivation.  Already India with its weak agriculture policies and a declining Food production (Inflation of food and dependency on imports are evidance of this) will having to compete with a strong industry backed Fodder production and bio-fuel (another evil).

More the animals, more feed and water will be required. Growing meat is not efficient. More Methane will be produced (much larger than the threat of carbon di-oxide) punching bigger hole in Ozone. Even Al-Gore who comes from a country having highest per capita meat consumption (Americans alone consume 28 billion pounds of beef each year) could not touch this topic as it has grown to epic proportions.  It takes 12 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of hamburger. 11 times fossil fuel is required to produce on calorie of meat. 2,400 gallons of water is required to produce 1 pound of meat, where it takes only 25 gallons to produce 1 pound of wheat.

To satiate hunger of Americans, already many of the forests in third world countries (example malasiya) have been de-forested to grow Sugarcane, corn, oil palm and the like. As Mahatma Gandhi Said in 1926, "To make India like England and America is to find some other races and places of the earth for exploitation. So far it appears that the Western nations have divided all the known races outside Europe for exploitation and that there are no new worlds to discover. What can be the fate of India trying to ape the West?...."   We now see that more of Indians have started exploiting Africa. Millions of acres of farm lands are being acquired from that poor country to be exploited growing fodder, biofuel and food to be exported at high cost to other countries.

RMF will not grow fodder and bio-fuel on commercial scale. RMF will grow them only for immediate, internal and local consumption for neighbourhood, that is if necessary.

References:
Our Choice - A Plan to Solve climate crisis - Al Gore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poultry_farming
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjas/article/view/46142
http://www.highstrangeness.tv/articles/algore.php
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-wastes-natural-resources/
http://www.tinytechindia.com/Template/index.php?id=70&Title=ON INDUSTRIALIZATION



The First Anemometer readings - wind speed measurement on Farm.

Now the Anemometer is working fine. Subbu discovered a small switch that had disengaged the meter. Now it is working fine after it was pushed back. Subbu and team  made an easy ladder path to climb up the tripod pole made out of Casurina poles connected with wooden steps and plank, at a height of 19 feet and says he enjoys staying over there.  Cool. 

The below are the anemometer readings that have been received from him.  The anemometer has counter measuring in xxxxx.yy where x is in kilometer and y in meters. He said he was waiting or y counter to come to zero before noting down. Then I corrected him and asked him to give two digit decimals also as it is without waiting unnecessarily.  Otherise they will become nervous. First three columns are inputs. Balance are calculated by me over excel sheet. 

 The first Anemometer readings.

Date	Time	meter Reading	Time interval in Hours	Incremental Distance Kms	Speed (KM)/ Hour	Speed Meters per Sec
01-01-2014	06:00	0	0.0	0.00
01-01-2014	17:00	343	11.0	343.00	31	9	day
01-01-2014	18:10	361	1.2	18.00	15	4	day
02-01-2014	11:00	625	16.8	264.00	16	4	night
03-01-2014	09:00	745.6	22.0	120.60	5	2	day/night
03-01-2014	11:00	793.5	2.0	47.90	24	7	day

I am not sure if I have done the calculations correctly. But common sense is saying it is reasonable. As per this measurement I am getting a wind speed comfortably above average.  3 Meters/sec is considered slow and 4 Meters/Sec is considered medium speed.  Surprisingly the internet is not having any information regarding the actual field measurements made in our part of country (or for that matter anywhere else) inspite of the fact that there is so much of hue and cry about wind energy and crores are being invested in.

The good news is that these speeds are at 19 feet height / 6 meters.  The actual windpump rotor if purchased will be at 15 meters height.

Another finding is that speeds at day time is high and night speeds are bit low. I cannot conclude anything now, but need to watch for atleast next 30 days before taking a big decision - wheather to buy a windmill or not..

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Sastha and the Sun God

There is a Sastha Temple near my Farm. A small one. That is a big landmark for me from the time I was doing site survey 3 years back. It is even visible in Google earth map. This small temple had a tinned roof supported by Palmyra wood (Borassus flabellifer) which was the only shade in the few kilometers radius. I

used to discuss and dream about my future plot from under this roof.Very hot in summer. The temple was constructed at an elevation on level with the village bund road, reclaiming a portion of a pond. The pond would be filled with rain water to the brim during rainy season and would dry up soon. My plot is just in front of the temple - the other side of the bund road at a lower level.

I have great devotion to this Sastha, for my "kula Deivam" (family deity) is also a sastha. But he is in nearby village called Chirumalinji officially called Rajakkalmangalam Peruvembudiyar.  From the beginning i had been dreaming of developing this temple also along with my farm in whatever way possible. Since the temple is a resting place for all passers by, it must be open, green and simple in its future outlook - more of bamboo, wood and less of cement.

One day in around July, 2012 during heavy wind knocked the roof of this temple which stood almost 80 years. I was told by the Dharma Kartha, now above 70, that he was born under this roof.  The roof gone, temple was exposed to hard sunshine. I was told the roof also knocked down the Ayyanaar statue which was beside. This photo I took before that.  That was a shock, but a truth which everyone had to accept. Perhaps destiny had it that way. Perhaps the Sun God wants to unite with Sastha.  I was expecting quick action from the committe who takes care of this temple to put a roof. To my surprise, nothing happened. They did not even visit for days togather. One full year went by and annual puja was also celebrated. But they put a temperory roof and promptly remove after the function. Still the Sastha is without a roof. I later learnt that such actions are generally taken slowly.

I attempted to mobilise resource and offered to put a temperory shelter followed by a permanent one taking alms and donations. But during the course of my making contact with the committee, i found that they were not encouraging any outsider intervention, fearing the power of deity would be lost. In such matters where celestial power is involved, it is better to wait and watch what elders are saying than take own initiative. The urge to define something natural as a problem and solve is something corporate trained guys keep doing it. But this is highly discouraged in villages. Incidents are taken at face value without any judgement - good or bad.  Moreover they mentioned that they must get "permission" from the God himself (through a special ritual) to find what he has ordained them to do and then do the needful.  Till then, it is left to nature to take care of itself.

In any case Sastha looks more beautiful now in open space. Perhaps I need to plant few nice flowering trees around till the committee would decide to build a pukka shelter. I was told by Dharma Kartha that he indeed took permission from VAO for such a construction, but did not get any further help from his clan. He is too old and far away from temple to reach here and do the needful.

Hopefully there is something cooking in the minds of devotees on how to go about for a pukka roofing. For myself I have decided to  donate a Stone Lamp Pillar (Kalvilakku). Beautiful oneas are being made in Kerala.

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Farm Status and Micro Planning for a week ahead

Around 300 saplings of Casuarina (Savukku) is still in polythene bags.  Subbu said it has already grown upto a feet and the roots are piercing out of the bag.  No more can they be contained and they need to be rooted at once. Earlier this decision was stalled owing to the fact that watering the saplings after it is installed on the ground would be difficult manually for Kannan using hand pump. Now that the routine in the farm is settled, Kannan gained more confidence he can handle this.. But alas!

The ground is as strong as a rock. spade/hoe is not going in. Subbu is to call a JCB tomorrow (Rs. 650/- per hour and Rs. 300 bata for driver) and cut a narrow furrow next to the fence to put the saplings on the ground. I think a couple of hours of work is enough. I asked him to make further furrows on east fence also so that we buy more of the saplings and plant them. One more helping hand for pumping water and we will be comfortable.

Last month we found a good nursery to purchase plants. The village is called Parassala in Kerala near Kaliyakavilai.  That is close to my native at about 2 hours driving. I sent Subbu and party over there for a picnic to find whats up. They said it will take a full day to see the entire nursery. So many plants. Rates are not cheap, but quality and volume is assured. I will buy remaining set of plants that I missed last time. Some of them are very obvious and I wonder why I missed them. By the way am I going to make a botanical garden or a farm ?

Common Name	Tamil Name
Teak	Teak
Coconut	Thennai
Hibiscus	Sembaruthi
Spanish cherry	Magizham
coral Jasmine	Pavazhamalli / Parijatam
	Kattu Karuvepillai
Bael	Vilvam
Pongamia	Pungai
Mahua	Illupai
Rain Tree	ToonguMoonji
Rose wood	Thodhagathi
Arjuna	Neer Marudhu
Portia Tree	Poovarasu
Rudhraksh	Rudhraksham
pambu kala chedi	Sarpagandha / Nava Konji
Singapore Cherry	Then Chittu
Galangal	Chittarattai
Indian cork tree	Mara Malli
Kaim	Neer Kadambai
Hill Mango	Kiluvai
Anjan	Aachi, Malai Athi
Wild Lime	Kattu Kichili

With such a hard surface (which had been tilled 6 months back), I wonder how I will make the soil pliable and soft.  I guess the answer lies in putting more cow dung and adding organic humus.  They must act on the soil and increase moisture content.  Bringing foreign soil and mixing is costly. I donot want to do that.  Presently cow dung is available from nearby farm (a truck load 1200/-).  Hmm.. I must buy a bullock cart - long pending one. I had advertised in forums with no reply for past 7 months. I think I must buy a trailer with 4 tyres that can be pulled by one or two bullocks. I donot like two wheeled ones as they will stress the animal if too much load or too little is present. Perhaps two trailers are required to be purchased.  One can be used permanently for fetching cow dung from nearby cow sheds and another for other uses. Last time how did they load and unload cowdung. They used hands and hoe. I wouldn't appreciate that. I must buy gum boots, hoe and plastic trays for compartmentalizing cow dung loading and handling.  Need to study this logistics aspect to make this work more interesting.

Kannan has not yet prepared the Gana Jeevamruthuam that I prescribed to Subbu last week.  Atleast the raw cow dung is being applied.  At this stage concepts like Zero budget farming, Natural farming, Permaculture etc are far far away. I need to dilute them and create stories and deliver somehow. If only I had some volunteers who can visit the farm and impart these knowledge I will be grateful. I can pay some honorarium. Otherwise I will have to act fast and courier diagrams and CDs and keep following over phone.

But the grass growth is seen dense after tilling the land last time.  The grass should act as mulch and protect the soil hopefully until it is opened for use later for cultivation. I feel once the border plants grow with watering by Kannan, they must create a micro climate and preserve the moisture for long time in soil. When I was touring in North west India recently I saw that many of the fields got their water only from the frost or dew. The plants were as healthy as if they had been watered. I am talking about desert climate.

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