Swale must be a myth on a tropical plain land. There is no secret Ingrediant

Kungfu Panda discovers the secret - there is nothing

Mr. Ping: The secret ingredient is... nothing!
Po: Huh?
Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po: Wait, wait... it's just plain old noodle soup? You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping: Don't have to. To make something special you just have to believe it's special.
[Po looks at the scroll again, and sees his reflection in it]

Po: There is no secret ingredient...


After a lot of suspense, drama, demonstrations, arguments, lectures, followups and practical trial and error, finally I  have given up on Swale. 15 hours of bulldozer time was used to dig the farm, but  Subbu was adament he did not want to dig a swale. Because of my pressure he created a small crack and left it at that. Later when I questioned him (debriefing !) he had very strong reasons. I need to give element of doubt to him because he is on the ground, I am not.

What is the reason why he is averse over Swale ?

I made a fundamental basic assumption based on my observation of the top soil that water is flowing "into the farm".  As per Subbu however, water is found actually flowing "out of the farm" during rains.  Even if I force create a swale, it will make no difference to water table, in fact add to the mess, make the otherwise plain land into ups and downs, occupy precious space and cost money to maintain it.

Somehow our permafrost friends had always been insisting on Swale as the only solution for water harvesting.  They used to swear by all stars that Swale and bird droppings are the magic ingredients for a natural farm.  I as an "intellectual farmer" by watching "colourful videos" using my "browsing experience" got into believing that. I reduced and started questioning only when the permaculture "courses" were offered for a "huge fee".   It was not supposed to be that way.

In plains, water soaking should be done uniformly all over the place by loosening the soil by tilling. In plain tropical land, rain is the source of water and it falls vertically from the sky, uniformly all over the place. It doesnot run from uphill to downhill as there are no hills.   There is necessity to create Swale only when there is a "slope" by the mountain side.  On a slope a swale will break the flow of water, stagnate and send it seeping into the ground. But on a plain land, it is difficult to predict which way the water flows.  They flow in all directions. With slight change in top soil topology in the neighborhood, the water, in the form of thin layer of sheet will alter its direction. So what is the point in accumulating water through a swale?

It appears that digging a large pond for rainwater harvesting appears to be wise and sensible solution. Soil tilling and small trenches leading to the pond. We have done that. I am glad. Thanks for Subbu's wisdom.