Climate and the Farm. Miscellaneous Topics

"Sir, the sun is so bright we have never seen this in the recent past.  Very hot Sun. I am just getting water from the neighboring well". In the background I could hear the motor and water sound. Subbu was bit worried about the stock of water. But he was satisfied that he had soaked the entire banana plantations with water to the effect there may not be any more requirement to irrigate them. They are already in fruiting stage.

"How many hours have we pumped water from neighborhood ?", I asked. I was worried on how much I need to plan for future to be self sustainable. He said "so far 7 hours in the past few days", that means we have filled mud pond (30x30x6),  the tank (25x10x6) and banana crops. A lot of water indeed.  They charge Rs. 100/- per hour of  water pumped.

What you set out to do may not be what you end up doing over the week is applicable not only to business but also the agriculture field.

So it is only the job of irrigating where all the time is spent now.  

1. The company who was supposed to send Polybags for nursery is nowhere in sight. Every time they say some excuse. Today they confirmed that they will dispatch. It costs Rs. 100/- per KG of polythene bags. I ordered 2 KG each of 4"x 5" and 6" x 7" size.  It was funny how to imagine the size of the bags would be based on the flat measurements of length and breath. For this I used excel sheet.  If 4" is the width of bag, 8" should be the circumference of the bag. Therefore using 8" circumference, the diameter should be 8"/3.14 = 2.54".  Using this, in excel you can define a circle with 2.5" length and 2.5 width. Once drawn on screen, you can satisfy if this size will do.  
2. Vettiver is not seen anywhere in sight. This was to be sent by a fellow farmer in Pollachi  The consignment sent by the vendor never reached. A drunken driver has lost it without watering it had dried enroute.  
3. The stone pillars for the shade house is still not having permission for transport.  
4. But the pursuit on drip irrigation is ON.  That is the only way forward for the water issues.

Boys always like to experiment.   But for this I need to keep inventing new projects. That is investment and not core business of growing plants. Nevertheless all round development and future proofing can happen only when you do all kinds of activities, not only growing crops.

Yesterday Subbu sounded joyful when he said he had purchased the first lot of 200 feet drip pipe and a host of connectors.   He was planning to first put this near the gate where few fruit trees and coconut plants are laid. This corner is farthest and tiresome to irrigate, so Kandan had suggested this place.

"Have you brought the instrument to puncture hole and tape to cover the hole if it is mistake?. have you brought connectors, joints and T junctions?"  The answer was affirmative from Subbu.

Subbu and Kandan fixing the drip pipes - their first experiment

The plastic tank kept above 15 feet from ground level having 1000 liter capacity that gets filled with wind energy should be able to create pressure using gravity to reach this spot which is around 75 feet away. The water will travel through an underground PVC pipe, emerge near the gate and connect with the drip lateral pipes. This will be Subbu's first experiment.  But for wind. There is no wind. Since yesterday the windmill is standstill.

A quick check at the climate and my own wisdom says that this Hot sunshine must end with a rain. The hot air should create low pressure which should bring thunder showers in few days from now.

Let's wait and see.......