Farm Actuvity Update 28-Jul-2016

There is no activity in the farm for the past few weeks.  There is intense heat and no rain till now. Though there is rich monsoon clouds all over India and there is flood as well, in our farm it is a drought. This is not unusual. We get rains only in November.

Therefore no water. Windpump is barely able to meet the needs.  According to Subbu,  last year was a drought without water and wind. This year we are getting wind at-least. Last year were were purchasing water at this time. This year however we are just managing.

The pond has dried out.  Fishes have been shared among workers. Subbu told the pond is dry. They should have saved at-least few fishes in the smaller tank, which they did not.

Meanwhile electricity officials have come and gone twice. Citing capacity inadequacy in nearby transformer, they seems to have identified another source.  I have lost hope and told Subbu not to pursue further. But Subbu is full of hope. Since we have paid for the meter, they must come back sir. I am not chasing them least they will ask for bribe. Let it come on its own

But that may be a long wait.  Not keeping quite, I asked Subbu if we can rent an oil pumpset. I guess it will be costly. The other alternative is to use our baby kerosene pump set and give a try. Subbu is very reluctant. He underestimates that equipment.  I insisted. Finally they are now trying the pump without success.  Initially the engine itself did not start due to long gap. It was serviced in Moolakaraipatti, a nearby hamlet.

As per Subbu, with a hose of 50 feet connected to the pump it is unable to draw water. But the machine is rotating and air is coming. I guess there may be air leak which doesnot allow the vaccum to be created.  Pump rotating is a good sign.  It is third or fourth day they are trying out all combinations.

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Rain has stopped. How long will the stored water last ?

There is no rain.
There is no wind.
There is no source of water.
But we are confident.

There is some water still in the ground level rain water pond (30x30). Subbu has used this water twice for planting sweet potato slips and watering them. The first water was given immediately after planting (called life water) and the second, one week later. This includes banana plants as well. He estimates the water will last for another two rounds of watering, which is for another 15 days. I guess it will be muddy water, neverthless...

The water from the pit had to be pumped out. For this a kerosene oil engine was hired. At Rs. 40/- per liter, Kerosene can run a 5 HP pump for one hour. We need 2 Hours of operation. The rental charge is Rs. 100 per hour. Therefore total 280/- for 2 hours pumping including rental and fuel.

The rented pump

Meanwhile there is very weak wind. The well oiled windpump is pumping around half tank of water (500 lts). This is enough to water the vegetable plots.

Either wind should blow or rain should come.  Surprisingly there is no monsoon rain at all. The little rain that came was due to a cyclone. There is no wind either. Perhaps it is changing its gears and may start to blow from different direction.

Energy Plans:

1.  We need to plan to purchase a kerosene pump for permanent use. This will be portable over a bicycle and can be shifted. water need to be pumped either from the rainwater pond to overhead tank or the cement tank to overhead tank in future.  I estimate it should cost Rs. 20000/- for the pump as well as engine.

2. In the absence of wind, we need to pump water from the bore-well. We cannot insert a submersible anyway. Therefore we need to insert rubber tube alongside windmill pipe and keep a centrifugal pump at the ground level to suck the water.

Source of power ?  

a)  Electricity is still far away. I sense trouble there. As the days come near to give the connection, the department people may ask more and more money. I asked Subbu to employ some intelligence and access how much bribe they may ask. If we need to reach from the nearest transformer which is in a village, then it will cost hell a lot of money. I am not going to invest.

b) The kerosene pump is good option. With a centri fugal pump attached, it should work. Though it is not environment friendly, but can be a stop gap for some time.

c) Mini Solar pump is an option. But even for 1 KV, the setup cost will be around 1 lakh rupees even if we donot use a battery. Just direct solar power should drive the motor which will pump the water from bore-well into to overhead tank in case of no wind. This will be hybrid green solution. There are no genuine suppliers that I know off. Going by my last year survey, solar industry has still not improved.  Solar is riddled with cheap Chinese panels and cheating at dealer level.  Need to explore more.

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