Logistics, Linear Programming Problem and my Wind Mill

Everywhere the impact is seen. Business Process are split into bits and pieces like a Jigsaw puzzle, scattered everywhere and outsourced to different entities.  Net result is that the big picture never re-appears.  All blind men are touching the elephant in all directions, getting different conclusions.   The big picture belongs to customer or the owner. Both suffer.

I thought this is only typical of modern Software Industry. Different fancy documents like Business Request, Functional Request, etc are generated by equally fanciful human resources and finally somewhere the customer request which was captured in one sentence gets expanded into a thick book of techno commercial interface guide, generating profit to all the partners until the last bit of his budget is squeeze and utilised.  The main work of meeting customer requirement gets replaced with satisfying some "framework" experts have created after a long time by which time the customer would have forgotten what he had asked.

What started on 22nd at Mumbai,  my consignment of  One Tonne of steel parts for Wind Mill from ABS factory has travelled to atleast four "Logistics Hubs" through TCI-XPS,  taken rest and finally arrived some 50 Kms near the farm.  Whew !.  While the physical consignment, unloading, reloading, lorry etc were happening in one slice of time,  in parallel the Information technology that is supposed to track the barcode of consignment, and display on the screen of the customer was lagging way behind.  Ideally what should result as customer online experience, becomes a night mare and frustration for the customer. Because you see on your screen your consignment not moving an inch and stay struck in each hub location cooling itself.  You can do nothing about it through your browser. You hunt for the phone number from web, call that guy at the hub with no response.  For him it is a daily routine.

You wonder why a 1 tonne should zig zag between 4 Ports and consume 10 days to reach in-land location ? Which according to your commonsense is an overnight journey.   That is Linear Programming Problem solved by logistics experts for you !

When the parcel reached Madurai outscrits on 27th, itself I took charge of following it very closely. Numerous calls and followups, resulted in delivery to Tirunelveli Hub today.  What is supposed to be door delivery consignment will start tomorrow through another vehicle and perhaps reach the farm, provided papers are in place.  Where are the papers? They are missing as per Tirunelveli Hub. In the different stoppages it has been lost by drivers.  Now ABS is mailing them again.

There is this task ahead.  We donot have hydraulic cranes.  We will employ 10 people to unload the three boxes, the heaviest is 700 Kg. (considering one man can lift 60 Kg and all of them can employ Archimedes principle) .  We also need to somewhere intercept the vehicle and escort to the village/farm which has no address. Subbu is waiting for this .....

Tailpiece Added on 31st May.

The call from lorry driver was received at 6.30 AM by me.  I alerted Subbu on a concall.  The vehicle was guided on its own upto Emankulam and was escorted from  there to the farm. By that time within 30 minutes, Subbu had arranged for 10 man power. I am not aware of their cost, but must be between 50 to 100 rupees each for 1 hour work.  The material was unloaded. Subbu called after anxious 45 minutes to say that they are unable to move the bigger box (weighing 700 kg). This was expected.

Had it been say an urban folk, he would have called for a suspension of activity, paid the driver extra for waiting, get into argument with their HO and called for a crane from near by town.  We did not do all of these, did none of these. Subbu promptly opened the trunk box with an axe,  moved the content of the box little by little inside out (They were mostly tower assembly parts)  and after few minutes the box which is lightweight was unloaded off the truck again put back to shape on the floor.   Period.

*****

Why I will prefer Bullock Cart ?

Subbu mentioned that coconut waste is available in Nanguneri (about 15 Kms away).  This is the coconut fiber waste available after using the fiber for making coir rope. I guess it will be semi fiber and powder.  They charge Rs. 100/- for a tractor load.  Looks cheaper. But the tractor rent would cost around Rs. 1000 for to and fro. Plus add Rs. 200 for loading and unloading for 2 persons.  That is lot of money totalling around 1300/- for one tractor load of waste.

Contrast that with a bullock cart (If I own one).  The bullock cart ride is free. Carbon free. Bullocks and the driver are the liability. But bullocks can be used for all purposes. The man can be paid a salary of 4000/-.  With this setup we can make a number of sorties in a month.  Time is not a constraint. The cart can take many hours to commute and return back. How does it matter ?  If I calculate what are the applications for which the bullock cart can be employed and how much money can be saved or some useful work can be done, the savings are mind boggling.

So I need a bullock cart.

****

Farm update 22 May, 2014

1.    Workers issue is not that bad.  The two new workers seems to have realized their moral responsibility. I understand they are coming at 7.45 AM itself. After all villagers are still holding the tradition of giving a word and abiding by it irrespective of their circumstances. They feel proud about their commitment.  That is what keeps the pulse alive and our job interesting.

2.  Manure to enrich the soil has been ordered. A Kg of vermi compost costs around 10/- and a truck of cow dung around 2300/-. Perhaps it may be further competitive outside, but the source from where I am buying would use the money to run a cow shelter aka Goshala. We need to find a transport to bring them to farm.

Table that will go on borewell top

One of the boxes with
Assorted spares of tower

One of the spare part of rotor assembly

3.  The Wind Mill is finally on its way through a cargo mover. It has left Mumbai today and should travel around 1600 Kms before reaching the destination - Our Farm.

The parts are given a liberal coat of red oxide followed by few layers of paint spray. They are carefully packed in special containers for rough handling. Everything has come out green in color as I have envisaged.

Guys at ABS are very friendly especially Chaitanya. Some of the delays were beyond their control. Delays in past two weeks were due to packing person on vacation and non-availability of carrier with less hops to transport.

4. Subbu has been sent to nearby town to fetch coconut waste fibers. This will be used for mulching and adding fibre content to the soil.

*****

Labor Problem in the Farm and farm updates

Farm Labor

1. The two new workers continue to come late despite several briefings to them. There was an SOS call from the farm yesterday. Otherwise soft natured, Kandan had taken courage to complain through Subbu that his companion workers are of no use. They continue to come after10 AM and  donot pour water, rest in shade and go home before sunset. Today around 30 plants had not been watered.  Due to summer heat they are dropping. Because of ommission by the new workers, yesterday Subbu called to discuss if they need to water in the night to save them. Kandan later postponed to today morning as he knows better about the plants. It has been decided to settle the accounts of the new workers at month end and look for someone else.
2. Today my friend from Chennai called me to enquire on farm labours for his organic farm .  He was willing to pay much higher amount, provide housing including cable TV in his farm. All he wants is a couple who can stay in the farm and work sincerely. But alas! he has not been successful in getting proper workers. His farm is in a bit advanced stage. Though not much documented, they are growing organic millets, paddy, vegetables etc.

It appears that there are employment opportunities like this everywhere, but there is scarcity of labour. Mainly due to NREGA scheme of the Government, the farming people have quit farming and has become lazy. This is a lesson.

My strategy now would be to invite people below poverty line, provide them and train them.

Wind Pump

The wind pump is still not visible from ABS.  It is waiting for special containers to be made by a specific supplier. ABS is specific to pack even the tower (top portion) into a box. I wonder. But they are adament. Perhaps packing is required as it is to be sent through XPS logistics via several passes.  If all goes well, today they would have dispatched, if not on Monday.

Farm Update

Farming should be a parallel activity. Not waiting for wind pump which is getting delayed, we thought of doing rest of the work. The following could be some activities that will happen.

1. Ploughing:.  It was decided to plough, because of the incessant rain that poured 10 days back for a week, the soil is soft. Therefore one single run using tracktor will turn the soil and aerate the same. It will also control the weeds. Simultaneously i wanted to spray mixed seeds for manure growth, but the simmering heat has again started. The seeds will not sprout. Therefore for the time being only ploughing.

2. Compost Shed: We would need continuous supply of compost. Therefore wanted to make a small beginning. Need to construct a low cost shed and build a vermi compost tank with rough unfinished bricks. I am yet to send the design after which the work will start.  Cowdung for this will come from neighbouring cattle shed for the time being.

3. Bullock Cart: I am nostalgic about buying a bullock cart. Perhaps I will be the only farmer to buy bullock cart in 21st century. But neverthless, I need one or two. Option A is to order and make one. There is an artisan in nearby village, I heared. But I am not sure how much it would cost. Option B would be to buy one discarded. So far Subbu has got only a very bad dilapidated cart and has discarded the proposal. Need to focus on the same. Bullock cart will be used to cart cow dung, grass etc between farms.

4. Seeds: I need seeds of all varities, now to be stored for 2 months and used. Seed collection will happen by word of mouth through contacts. I may have to sponsor travel. Acquire by Post or visit myself.  Presently a seed bank need to be built. Simple one should be one room, with shelf and mud vessels/pots to hold the seeds. Seeds can also be struck on cowdung cakes and dried in the sun.

5. Farm Pond:  The lowest point in the farm where water has got collected naturally and retained by Subbu's effort should be a natural pond. I suggested digging further and cementing the floor with clay obtained from another pond along with Gypsum. Subbu did not understand what is gypsum.

I need to write a letter on all above points to subbu, otherwise they will forget.

***

Karpuravalli Banana would go First based on pre-monsoon assumptions

There is heavy rain in South Tamil Nadu and in my farm.  Subbu was unable to speak to me as he is fearing lightning strike on his cell phone in open field.  We spoke after the rains. It is 4 days hence rain is there.  The Met has predicted a low pressure area in Bay of Bengal and a cyclone off Kanyakumari. So more rains, if not thunder showers are expected. That is good news.

For the first time I feel how a Farmer would feel about the rains.   When the ground is parched for many months and crop is dying, the rain will definitely bring happiness to everyone. I also realize the importance of water for farming.  Without water, nothing can be done. NOTHING.

Today the female workers came late and got mouthful of shouting. Even he gave the phone to me and I did my bit over the phone.  They promised they will come in time from tomorrow. Subbu is planning for an attendance register. So HR is born.

They have re-planted some stocks of casuarina saplings on the eastern fence side.  He asked me what should he do for the branches that are growing and spreading just above ground level. Coniferous trees have a habit of growing with huge bottom. I told him not to do anything. Once the tree grows to a height, automatically the bottom most branches will become less dense. Then we can take a call.

So our ground is soaked.  Subbu did a brilliant thing after hearing me many times. "We should not allow single drop of water to run off the farm. It should soak underground."   He has arrested the water by creating mud bunds so that the rainwater is arrested from run away. He was confident, even if it doesnot rain for few days also, the stored water can be used. That is great.  He also said that the soil is very slushy and asked me to go slow on inviting ABS. Vehicle will have problem. But I feel that is part of the game.

We are eagerly awaiting when the Wind Pump will be delivered.  I understand from ABS that it will be packed starting today. Only when it is installed and working, that we will come to know if we have solved the water problem.

Assuming water problem will be solved.... we are planning for next steps.  May, June and July are important months for agricultural activity. We cannot waste our time now. We need to prepare for monsoon.  Presently due to pre-monsoon rains (or Summer rain / Spring rain ?) I am restless on what all the possibilities that is opening up. Only when I want to refer my notes now that I realize that is grossly inadequate.

We need to start the crops.

We decided we will start with little bit of Banana trees. It is a 10 month crop. Best suitable for our climate and soil.  We have selected Karpooravalli variety. The reason Subbu gave is this variety is best suited for Organic cultivation according to him.

Karpuravalli (ABB): It is a popular variety grown for table purpose in medium rich soils. Its commercial cultivation is spread over in Central and Southern districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Bihar, cultivation is in patches under the name 'Kanthali'. Karpuravalli is a tall, robust plant well suited to marginal lands and soils, produced under low input conditions. It is also the sweetest among Indian bananas. Karpuravalli is occasionally seeded depending on the seasonal variability. Its ash coated golden yellow and sweet fruits have good keeping quality. Karpuravalli is highly susceptible to wilt disease, tolerant to leaf spot disease and well suited for drought, salt affected areas and for low input conditions.

The following is the process we may follow;

1. Tower assembly for windmill require some ground space. Once that is installed in another 10 days, the ground will be ploughed with hired tractor.
2. We will purchase mixture of millets, oil seeds, pulses, beans and other seeds each 5 Kg, mix them, soak them in cow urine, cowdung and water for a day.
3. Spread them over the field and allow it to grow for a month, plough them again into the soil.
4. Spread some more organic manure  and oil cakes and spread them. I may try some coconut coir waste and charcoal also.
5. Create raised bunds in the mud with tractor and start planting the saplings. They must be available in nearby town called Kalakkadu.

Then let us see how it goes...

The calculation is 8 Cents will hold 80 trees.  The proposed half acre or 50 cents will then hold 480 trees. So it is 500 trees in total.

Recalling back what I planned for the farm in theory, and what I am able to achieve until now, there is a big difference. But I am delighted that we are there....perhaps with a time difference.

What I planned 2 Years back

What I am doing now

Note that the compound itself has undergone change. Some portion has been eaten away and it looks like "Digger". That portion of land doesnot belong to me, but to someone else under a government scheme. I was cheated at that time. So that portion was circumvented. I may however take the owners help and plant cow grass in it with another temporary fence.

*****

Huge Shower in the farm

There is heavy rain in the farm. Subbu called me to say this while he is at the farm. That is a great news for everyone. I asked him to document by photographs where the water is stagnating.  Sir, I will tell you right away.  The water gets accumulated right in front of the shade we have constructed. It gets collected from all directions.

That is good. I told Subbu that this point is near the center of the plot. Therefore we cannot allow all water to get collected in the center. That point will be raised when we start cultivation. Therefore now is the time to plan for Swale on the outer edges from where the water comes into the farm.

Not a single drop of water should escape. It should soak down. Let us work towards it.  I said and Subbu acknowledged.

Meanwhile back home ABS friend has felt sorry for the delay in delivery.  The painter was absent and they are managing with a second guy. Spray Painting to be done.  Hopefully the windmill should leave the garage next week.

Farm Update 01.05.2014 - Coffee, Tea at the Farm and planning ahead

• A number of small items were purchased for the farm. The main theme was to setup a small kitchen for the 4 workers to have coffee/tea as and when they want. I told Subbu to  buy a brass pump stove.
  
  When I was a bachelor, I had used kerosene pump stove very effectively. Even today all over the country the road side restaurants are using them.
• Matching utensils, cloth, rope, drum for preparing additional panjakavya, hoe, farm tools were brought for a total of around Rs. 10,000/-.
• The new female workers are getting their first salary. Interviewed them over the phone.  Both were shy, but talked fluently. One is married and having 5 year old child going to UKG. The other is having two sons of age 8 and 9.  The husbands are not working properly. Assured them of stable career and growth if they put matching hard work in improving the farm. I hope we have made right choice of candidates.
• Supervising workers is going to be additional work. Initially I thought they will follow the system and process. But I heard they come late, donot turn-up at appointed hour etc. We need them by 9 AM and they can leave any time before evening. But they come at 10 when Sun is hot and there is nothing much that can be done. Presently I am just observing. I will prepare a work schedule and implement the same with some governance.
• Next 2 months are going to be very hot. Much hotter than it is now. Water has become major hurdle to expand the farm.
• We also need to prepare ourselves for July monsoon from now ON.  The farm B which is square plot, some 300 meters from the current farm  is without any fence and no activity. There was a theft of mud from there which was prevented by Subbu through night inspection.  During the course, need to have a cheap fence and plant live trees as fence as soon as we get showers.
• I need to plan for Lamp posts for the farm as it becomes dark immediately after 6 PM.  I need to find some suppliers who can provide Solar panel, battery, street light and lamp post with reasonable rate and having artistic design.

****

Wind Speed at Nachankulam 114 days

Today happened to be a cloudy day. Subbu is eagerly waiting for the shower. I am told, rain is coming everywhere except this place.  If it rains at least for a day, we can give some rest to the workers. Wind mill is also not coming anytime in this week.

Below is the measurement of wind speed upto a week back. The remaining readings are in another notebook which Subbu could not have access when he read this out today.  the graph is showing steady decline in the speed and is consistently low. This is a worry.  There is however small blips above 3 Meters/second. Unless the new wind mill is calibrated properly to work in low speeds.... let us wait and see..  It is going to be a challenge that after installation if the wind mill doesnot turn enough, then we are left with no other alternative. The handpump is being removed. The only possibility could be to rush for 2nd boring and install the handpump.

***

10 years of alternating rain, drought and shifting Seasons

Hi Subbu, I heard there is continuous downpour in Nanguneri (near by town which is 10 Km west of my farm). Is there rain in our farm ?.  No sir, nothing. The climate is as dry as it was for the past many days. There is no sign of any clouds.

Not my farm, but nearby

This is very natural and is expected in my farm. From my farm you can see the beautiful western Ghats silhouetted against the horizon.  You can also see wandering thunder clouds pouring rains over distant village. You can even smell rain. That is about it. The farm is neither near any mountain, nor near the sea. There are no water bodies or forest nearby. It is in rain shadow region.  No wonder it is a DRY LAND.  That is the challenge.

While thinking of this and browsing the internet, I came across some very useful first hand information in the net. Further analyzing the data I could prepare some useful notes.   Generally the rain, reservoir and meteorological data are not made available to public.  They are maintained in manual registers.   All measurements are monthly average rainfall in mm. i.e., amount of rain falls in a month.

I have selected three towns which are to the East, West and South of my farm land for the presentation here from the available data.  Of these the south town Radhapuram may experience more rain due to its natural position.  It lies ahead of a gap in western Ghats mountain range.  The other two towns mimic climate that of the farm.   

Tamilnadu  Anuual Rainfall.

The below graph must give an indication of what I can expect for myself.  Reference table above shows Tamilnadu State average rainfall.  From this we come to know that the state gets 81 mm rainfall every month on an average.  That should be our benchmark.

Comparing this with monthly rainfall average for over 11 years between 2000 to 2010 in three towns around my farm, clearly shows I can expect a decent rain of above 80mm/month only for 4 months.  

Strictly March, April and then October and November. This year there is no rains till now. The situation will become worse and will pickup only in September.  It is going to be a challenge to store the rain water for entire year in such narrow window.  the rain-fed crops can be sown only for one quarter which is the last quarter. I also hear that there is a shift of this rainy season to the right due to global warming. The second quarter rain is not guaranteed.

How does the climate change over a period of time ? 

A yearwise trend clearly shows that the volume of rainfall / month varies every alternate years.  There is a rhythm. One year dry and one year wet. If one year is 80mm/month the other year is only 40mm/month. There is also some flooding observed in 2008 and has upset the cycle, but is catching up.

This means that if this year is drought, we can recover next year and can expect dryness subsequent year. But this is a gamble. What if the subsequent year also happens to be dry ?

We hear that the el-Nino prediction for this year is not so great. Past year had been dry. Therefore I am hoping this year will be wet except for el-Nino factor. We expect the current year also will be dry only if we read the early warnings like the one below.

"Since 1951, the country has had 13 drought years (during SW monsoon), of which 10 have been during El Nino. The current patterns of El Nino are similar to the year 1968. "That year, there was a deficit of 11%. But this year, given local factors, we predict a deficit of 6% across the country," said Palawat"

Happy Farming.

***

Credits:

State Ground and Surface Water resources data centre

http://www.igu.in/17-4/2paper.pdf

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/El-Nio-may-hit-cauvery-delta-with-drought/articleshow/33840746.cms

My Farm Notebook is back as my companian

I had a notebook where I used to write (yes "write" with Sheaffer Ink Pen in vernacular language that I understand) all that I want to do and go about farming. Over a period it grew richer with content.

Like any amateur farmer, I started off with a list of items that I wanna grow as though I am a customer in a restaurant and someone was supposed to take my order.  Over a period of time when even basic issues such as fencing, water and Govt procedures dragged me down to crawling speed and the reality dawned on me that I am the waiter, chef and the cleaner,  that I realized the starting point is somewhere else.  Even a grain of sand will not move on the farm unless I move it.   I had to keep the notebook aside and rework my priorities. It is time now  after 2 years that I have taken it up again and started updating the book.

A page from my Farm Note book - written in my language

So what is in my book ?  Without such a notebook you seem to have read something somewhere, but cannot refer to it again. My memory is not that great.

My book consists of the following sections.

Farmer contacts : This consists of  name and phone numbers of other organic farmers with their primary crop that I recollect. usually phone numbers are found at end of articles, paper clippings, references. This will be useful later to purchase seeds from them.

List of Crops to be considered:  This is master list of crop names that our farmers grow. Fruits, vegetables, trees, feed etc. Just the names. From this master list I tick mark what I want to grow in Phase I. Decision is made through advise taken, my own intuition, availability of resource and so on. For example I may try tapioca but may not want to grow sun flower.

Financials of small projects :  This is income and expenditure with breakups of one crop as shared by farmers in their bragging stories. One farmer for example spent Rs. 165515 and earned 374485 from 2 acres in one year from vegetable farming. One day I may also post like this.  This will give an idea if you will make or loose money.

Market rates : of Vegetables for bench marking. This may be useful to select my priority later during steady state.

Organic Pesticide Preparation:  Very funny brew of organic preparations are recorded here in ink. For example powder 10 KG Neem seeds, save it in gunny bag and dip it on the path of water in irrigation canal. So that the powder spreads slowly with water. Useful to control decay of roots.

Procedure for crops :  Carefully written paragraphs on how to create nursery till cultivation. Especially useful for novice like me to understand how to do from ground zero. Soil preparation, seed preparation, germination, weeding and so on...

Notes on Ideas (not inventions) : My own ideas or anecdotes lest I should forget. Usually you get these all the time when driving, shopping or working in office. "I stopped thinking what I want (table top plants with poor lighting) to what plant wants (agriculture).

Combinations of crops : Which crop are preferred in a typical integrated farm based on practical knowledge of others.  For example Puducherry Ravichandran a farmer says - 10 acres gooseberry, 2 acres banana, 2 acres teak, 7 acres topiaco, 4 acre millets (3 kinds).

Cows : All information about cow varieties, feed preparation, their diseases and remedy in organic way. For example fever medicine will be : Onion 200 gm, pepper 10 g, Betel leaves 5 Nos, Cumin 5 Gm - grind, paste and apply on fore head.

Crop Cycle : Timetable.  Mostly based on climate, almanac, hearsay, earth science, market potential and so on... I feel if conditions are favorable, any crop should do well.   This will be very useful in future to commit to customers and deliver the crops when I start marketing.  Needs hard work on this page.

Crop spacing : prescribed Spacing between crops. Wrong spacing will have impact on productivity. Overall spacing will determine total yield. This is an area many people feel fancy talking about.  Too much of misguidance is also found.  Recently I read about one 'innovative' company in America, who will weed out extra lettuce plants if customer decides how much space he wants between two lettuce. They use cloud computing, robots and image processing to identify lettuce from background..and charge for their 'service'.. What if the farmer decides in the first place to plant in optimal gaps using simple cylinder with holes?

Useful Insects:  Names of insets that should be promoted. Also to make ourselves familiar with them.

Organic Manure Preparation : Various tips on preparing organic manure out of cowdung, fruit waste etc.

Farm Equipment : Suppliers and details of small farm implements.

(Farm Expenses : Maintained in excel under password protection.  A hard copy notebook of daily expenses is maintained at the farm with bills. I have never reviewed this in detail yet as my time is limited and precious when i visit the farm.)

****

Wind Mill and Don Quixote

It has become a bit longer wait for the wind pump. However it is worth waiting for.  Team at the farm is now better off with additional workers in this hot summer,  but still it is a manual job which we want to get rid off.

Chaitanya posing with his creation

My friendly engineer Chaitanya in ABS gives me constant feedback on the progress without any fuss. I can understand the odds against which they are racing for me.  We have kept a target of this week end to dispatch the material. The gear is in finished state and is getting its painting. To begin with Red oxide followed by silver I guess.

Aside is picture of Rotor with few blades fitted, just for a photo that requested. Chaitanya is hugging his baby which he passionately created along with his team.  The fully assembled wind mill be looking like a giant. No wonder  Don Quixote waged a war against the wind mills he saw for the first time.

Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."

"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.

"Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length."

"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone."

****

The biggest hurdle to farming and how to overcome ?

The biggest hurdle for farming while working will come not from difficulty in managing from distance. Not from lack of resource. Not from lack of confidence over field supervisors or lack of labour force. Not from your insufficient knowledge and experience. Not even from the fact that you are unqualified, dummy, first time farmer. Nor from the fact that you cannot differentiate Banyan tree from Neem tree.

The biggest challenge is going to come from your home. Every time your computer monitor shows some green field, you will be watched like a teenager with facebook. The near and dear has the potential to vanish and vapourise your dreams. What is supposed to be your pleasure will become permanent pain.  Continuously and non stop. To the spouse, money spent on farming is equal to dumping hard earned money into a pit. Farm is a demon sleeping with its mouth wide open to swallow all your savings. You are an underworld secret service agent whose intentions and bank transactions are burried deep in the soil with a malicious intent of destroying the family future.  The workers are blood sucking leeches who will cheat the 'innocent you' and are there to milk on you.

How do you steer your way forward and keep doing what you feel is right ? Precious time will be lost everytime you delay or postpone just because you have not won today's argument. Or the mood is not favourable yet.

When I mentioned that I also run a blog besides a farm, the instruction given to me was clear.  "Write on the wall to your friends that this project is not having my sanction."  But deep within, your spouse appreciates whatever you do, only that there is no 'confidence' on your 'skills'. Because you can't even fix a bathroom leak, how are you going to manage acres of farm....   The spouse are surrounded by people who provide all failure stories on farming. And it works like network marketing. Easy money, easy failures.  Therefore spouse donot want to 'sanction' and be with your 'failures', lest people ridicule about it.  That is natural.  But why should you fail in the first place ?

So you have two things to prove in order to continue farming and be successful.

a) Be transparent upfront to the spouse. Atleast on the gross expenditure.  The earlier the better even if it invites bitter evenings. For, any delayed disclosure will invite more trouble.

b) Be clear about your intentions.  Be well organised and be passionate about it.  Demonstrate this and explain it all the time.  Relate the environment, food security, future, child welfare and your career in a presentable manner. It is as easy. Having a healthy food, green locality and clean air is everyone's dream, not only yours. Therefore the story should sell by itself.

Not only that, if the issue is handled properly, the entire family will start supporting you.  You can plan summer holidays to work in the farm, and even if you donot get leave off, they will still continue to visit and add value. Without you.

The other thing is, like in real life how you plan right gifts for occasions,  you need to find what your spouse is interested more in. Is it medicinal plants, trees, animals, cash crops or aesthetic horticultural designs ?  Explore a bit and incorporate that as part of your plan. And show the photographs as proof.

If nothing else works, pretend to sell the farm. They will come running to say No. Stop, smile and ask what is to be done. They will advise you to do Farming till next instruction !  Keep doing.

All is well.

Farm Updates 15th April, 2014 - Fire protection, Tower manufacturing

Fire Protection

There was a fire in a neighboring field due to presence of dry grass and weeds. I understand fire department was pressed into service for putting up the fire as it had engulfed a nearby factory also. Due to hot summer all the weeds have dried up making the area potentially viable for fire.  

Subbu was suspecting that it could be the handiwork of some miscreants who after consuming liquor and ciggrette (or beedies if you like), throw the remains ceaselessly.  In our farm also there is thick growth of

Dried Weeds are prone to catch fire...

these weeds all over which have dried up now. If anyone will throw fire, the whole thing will burn including the little trees that we are bringing up near the fence.  Therefore decision has been taken to shave a portion clean of weeds adjacent to the fence.  This will be done by a bulldoser.  Costing around Rs. 2000/-.

Clearing the weeds also may help keep a check on wandering snakes if any.  But this will increase the temperature on the tender plants.  We need to plan for mulching.

Tower assembly tested before painting

It is for this reason that even though thatched roof tops are always preferred for the coolness they offer, I would advocate first a sheet of metal roofing and then the thatched roof using palmyrah leaves for any shelter that we would build in future.  Especially for animal shelters, inflammable material is strict No No. We can even use asbestos or tin roof in that place.

Presently there is already a resting place, made with dried and mended coconut tree leaves. That is ok as this is meant only for day time shade.  It is a favourite resting spot for workers. 

Tower Fabrication

Meanwhile back in Mumbai, the tower fabrication is in full swing. The required components for rotor and tower are being hand made.  Contrary to my thinking (one more myth gets burst) that the assembly will come ready made from "somewhere",  I could see that they are being manufactured in a large engineering workshop from the basic raw material for me. They are solid iron rods and V bars. That is good news and a proud possession to have.  The above photograph shows the tower that I had ordered getting manufactured.  12 meters in length.

The tower is prepared section by section, bolted and tested for quality check - indoors.  Then it will be painted for rust proofing and then color.  Preparing the rotor is even more elaborate process starting from cutting and welding the plates. Machining the wheels...  Interesting... 

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Foundation Dressed up

I got an update of the farm today. Subbu had to travel to nearby town to upload these snaps.  The work is satisfactory.  The tower foundation for wind pump has been dressed up and ready.  We have taken a call not to put an upper slab as the foundation itself is very solid. Upto a depth of 4 Feet on solid ground.  The top slab is found to be irrelevant as of now unless ABS compels it. (Process oriented companies generally kill creativity. I hope ABS is not !!)

Along side as a bonus we also have got the snaps of live fence growth.  Looks good. But the heat is visible very much. Plenty of water is required to reduce the temperature.  Must be a hard work for the guys over there now.

Bougainvilla blossoms

Causarina 

Farm Update (Random) on 5th April, 2014

1. New appointment : Two female workers have been appointed. It will take one month to confirm. Kandan needs a helping hand in this hot sun. He is unable to manage all by himself drawing water from hand pump and watering the plants across.  The mud is very hot.   He used to fill the tank in the morning and pour the water in the evening. His little daughter used to give him company occassionally. Now a days due to hot sun, he is not keeping well. Therefore one women worker was decided initially. But later it was her preference and also collective wisdom that we should have two female workers for safety and company for each other.  That means cost of wages will go up for me. But that is a happy problem. After all, the purpose of this venture is to provide more job opportunity.
2. The intensity of heat is so high that around 7 casuarina sibling plants have got burnt in above 39dec C and hot air. They were promptly replaced with stock available.
3. Wages :  I believe they had expectations of wages equal to NREGA (The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)  which comes to around Rs. 130/- per person per day. It was explained to them that we cannot pay that money much as there is no production yet.  The work is also less - only watering now.  We settled for little less. But in the mind i was thinking that these workers will in fact get more salary in the long run by working for me than working for Government.
4. What's the Plan: The justification for appointing them now is that they will slowly get used to a monthly salary routine (Our farm believes in monthly salary and not daily wages) and the farm and its developments. Once the water is arranged, there will not be work of drawing the water. Only irrigation. Then around 2 months from now, we can start creating raised soil beds and start the crops. Most of the crops will be local country organic varieties (Non-hybrid) and will be for seed generation. Therefore there will be plenty of variety, but small in quantity like a nursery. This will require the kind of skillset only women have - patience and routine tending.
5. I reminded  Subbu that we have temporarily deviated from our mission. In the sense that I wanted to appoint a female worker only after construction of toilet and a resting room.  That is a little away, not due to lack of efforts, but for water.  We can construct a toilet only when there is flow of water to water tank for flush out. Otherwise it is of no use.
6. Foundation is complete. we decided not to dress the upper portion of foundation with another layer of concrete. It is only for beauty and we don't require beauty now is what Subbu opinioned.  He had put 16 bags of cement and has done a 4 feet deep foundation - too solid.  We may spread small gravel stones on the top or even dress it up with cement after the tower is done.
7. Tower is getting welded starting today in its ABS factory some 1200 Kms away in Mumbai city.  I mentioned to the coordinator that we need that painted in green color. They were planning red color earlier like a typical cell phone tower.
8. I made friendship with a Goshala owner (Cow Protection centre), some 60 kilometers away. he has promised to supply a lorry load of cow dung manure some 2 months from now.  That should be ideal to enrich the soil.
9. The country is facing election in starting this week. There is frantic activity all over.  Someone in Govt level who is outgoing before election wanted to make quick buck. By promising that he will help me convert all pending patta at a cost of  whopping a lakh of rupees. They are cheats and they will not do that. I have experienced that already.  Moreover I have waited for 3 years and I can wait for few more years.  World is not going to come to an end. I have confidence in Government and taluka rules that it will protect the interests of farmers in the long run.  I refused the offer.  Farming is an activity which require long periods of "waiting". It is not a business model to make quick bucks. If anyone is making quick money either in farming, or in business, then we can be rest assured that he is compromising on something else. 

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Tower Foundation and Fun

Today I received the photos of the foundation my team has laid for the wind pump tower.  They have followed exactly the instruction diagrams and PPT that had been sent earlier and the explanation given over the phone. But....

The template was kept upside down. Bolts immersed in 3 feet concrete.  Concrete is curing already. This was completely unexpected.  Notice the triangular shaped frame in the picture. That is the template which will position the bolts in appropriate positions. Now that the template is placed upside down, the angle brackets will have holes juxtaposed. This is not a serious mistake, but the tower welders should know that. Otherwise during installation there will be a big challenge.

Now I need to communicate all these to ABS, which is underway.  Like Chinese whisper, I wrote something and ABS thought something else and they wrote me back saying template is only for temporary use and don't fix it permanently.   This is fun unlimited.

Foundation bolts fixed in concrete with template

Why this mistake happened ?  Because the original instruction diagram (given below) was so complex like Leonardo da Vinci's helicopter model, we were concentrating on measurements and trying to differentiate arrows from angle brackets.

Will you like your dog with its back up or lying on its back with legs up ? My mason thought the template will look more beautiful this way and fixed it.

Template design

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Wind speed at Nachankulam - 83 days

The below is observation for the past 83 days.  This time I have provided two lines, one for day and another for night. This dipiction gives a different prespective. It also establishes that Day time wind speed is higher than night.  There was an error in assumption earlier that night wind was faster. But stands corrected now. Day wind is faster than night. 

Secondly there are long periods of low wind, both day and night. Between 10th and 18th February the wind speeds were below 3 Meters / Second.  Here 3 m/s is the minimum speed required to kick start the rotor of the wind mill. May be it could be 2.5 m/s as per manufacturer. whatever it is, keeping some safety margin is better.  Such long periods of low wind means, we need to store water when it is available and use it judiciously.  This can be linked to the earlier post of water tank. Water tank is must now to store water. 

The good news is there is WIND.  So next month once the new ABS windmill is up and running, i should hopefully solve the water crisis.

Presently water is still being pumped manually using handpump. Kandan is unable to cope with the heat and the hard work. One more worker is under considertation for appointment, preferably a women. Women employees are good at pouring water to each plant as per their needs. After all they are mothers. I want to establish a gender balance from the beginning. Once the wind mill is up, then kandan and the new worker can start the nursary farm and keep expanding... That is the idea.

Subbu has made all arrangements on foundations for the wind pump.  Using the template couriered by ABS, the bolts have been fixed in concrete pillars beneth the surface.  There was a proposal to remove the handpump now in order to fix the middle template given by ABS. That is required for holding the wind mill pump assembly and transmission gear. But this idea was ruled out by me and the team. We will remove in the last minute.  We need water till the wind mill is delivered anyway which is 10 days away.

High Voltage Power Grid lines on the Farm

My farm is under High voltage Power lines. Giant towers in aluminium color each having two hands as if holding power mark the landscape.  They are a visual pollution and you get used to them and after few months and tend to ignore them. There are atleast three of them, one in my prime land. These are typically single circuit transmission lines, carrying three phase (and hence three cables) with voltage ranging above 115 KV.

Power Line In my farm

I was anyway not even knowing what was the boundary of my land when I purchased it. There was this tower and it served as landmark.  Later, only while during survey that I came to know I own one !.  But i was happy to have it, for reasons unknown.  It gave me a symbol.

Some people when they purchase the land are not even tolerant for an innocent electric pole. They are too sensitive about poles, holes and soil.  When I purchased, my criteria was cost, availability and remoteness from commercial activity.  I knew that power lines are considered a perceived threat and hence land would come cheaper. I never thought deeper into these. I was having a challenging mindset.   But was certain that area under power lines come under right of way for power companies and we cannot construct any permanent constructions. After all, I am going to do farming so it doesnot matter.  Ever since I have been keen on observing if there is any civilisation living under these lines.

There are few settlements seen in urban slums. But right of way is always kept clean,  devoid of any major constructions. I have seen people do healthy farming right below the tower from a train during my travel in rural areas. In urban areas too, there are apartments constructed on both sides of these lines and some even under. They give some assurance.

There are various theories about the threat of living under or near power lines. Those who think they are advance techno geeks, brush everything aside. And there are some who worry constantly about electric and magnetic radiation, that they never sleep well. Some more refer to research

At the time of Survey

 findings which correlate childhood lukemia in children to proximity to power grid. And others ridicule the authors as lobbyists. Whatever it be, there are equal numbers on either side always, so it depends which side you take.  The arguments are "equivocal and contradictory".

My observations are as follows;

a) Power lines are a threat - yes if a child will fly a kite in my farm. Luckily they are much higher in elevation. Above 30 meters say.  Even if a child will fly a kite and it gets struck in one of the lines, I doubt there will be shock. we have seen birds sitting on power lines all the time. cool. you need to connect two ends to burn yourself.

b) The power lines may be emitting EMF. Any radiation looses square of its power with distance. It should be too feeble to realise at the typical distance of 100 to 150 feet in which we will be working. So feeble that the EMF would be much lower than those coming from electrical circuits which constantly sorround us in our home and appliances.  A ceiling fan with its permanent magnets and electricity cutting through the coil all the time directly above our head would be worse than this.

c) However considering the magnititude of power in kilovolts passing in these lines, there will be some induction around it. Especially I have read that any farm fence running parallel to these lines will get induction over a period of time. That is like you get static from your nylon sox and you get a shock when you touch elevator or car handle. I do have a fence and it needs grounding.  The galvanised fence wire is held in place by stone pillars. Therefore by itself they donot have grounding. However the wire mesh has automatic grounding. Additionally we can have a metal strip installed.

d) General rule is not to build any cow shed or farmer quarters under the power lines. They can be placed as far away as possible to avoid any static issues or just to keep their mind cool. What will you do if you were to live in the farm. Just do it.

e)  Power lines produce a constant Hum noise. That is due to the wind blowing through them.  We cannot avoid it and is definitely a noise pollution. But over a period you tend to ignore them.

f) Power poles may keep the land price under check. Land mafia or resellers may not like to buy this land for residential property. Therefore we can do happy farming.

g) In case the power company comes for re-installation or any repair work, the farm activity will be disturbed. Worse still we may have to make way for heavy vehicle movement, remove fence etc. But that is very rare and they may have their own techniques to avoid disturbance to environment. At present no one is available to clarify these doubts from local power department.

h) Power Towers may protect us from lightning. Being the tallest structure in that area with lightning arresters, they will serve as protection

i) Using high power rain gun may be an issue. Luckily my farm has power lines running on the outer edges of the farm.  It is not clear if the rain gun when aimed at power lines with water flowing through it, will be an issue. It is better to avoid constant stream of water aimed at power lines. Otherwise regular water or mist or rain should not be a threat.

Further reading.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_power_line
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/realestate/msg021604038945.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZaVRt8Hgo
http://hps.org/hpspublications/articles/powerlines.html
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2699/electrifying
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20050602/child-leukemia-again-linked-to-power-lines
http://www.greatriverenergy.com/deliveringelectricity/safety/safetyaroundpowerlines.pdf

My Experiments on Water Tanking for Irrigation using gravity

Water storage and irrigation are an important aspect of Farming.  Storing Water when it is available and using it is needed with least energy is a must for dry lands.  Assuming wind pump will be installed by next month and the summer is fast approaching, I need to plan for water storage.  The pumped water and rain water need to be stored so that it can be used for all days with less energy. Since water tank would consume resources, there cannot be mistake in design and should be built with least cost.

My experimental setup on Cloth Hanger

The below doubts were always in my mind. Some of it had no answers in internet. Consulting an engineer will only add to more confusion.  So I ventured to find that out myself through home experiments. I used a plastic container as water tank, punctured holes, inserted think plastic tubes and started my experiment.  Used my cell phone camera and pictured the below using black chart paper for background on my balcony.  The below questions were to be answered.

1.  How to create water pressure using gravity ?
2.  Will the elevation of water tank above the ground level impact water pressure ?
3.  Can the water pressure from storage tank be used for sprinkler ?
4.  Will there be reduction in pressure due to coiling of tubes

Very tricky experiment

 Conclusions:

1.  Water pressure is the highest at the bottom of any water tank. This is due to weight of water pressing from above.  This pressure can be used to our advantage.  Once water is uplifted from ground level to an elevated storage tank, this pressure created by gravitational force or weight of water can be used to our advantage.  This also means that a taller and leaner water tank and a shallow wider tank may produce the same pressure at the bottom, given the volume of water being same. This is governed by formula P = gh where P is the water pressure, g is the acceleration due to gravity and h is the depth of the water at that point.  Here pressure P stands for pressure at any unit of water inside the tank and is same in all directions.

2. Water pressure increases slowly with elevation of water tank.  This experiment was very tricky. I failed in first attempt to understand the concept. I am still not convinced, but searched internet and repeated experiment with longer pipe.  then I have to believe it works.  The problem is everyone explains pressure increases as you move the water tank up further. But no one explains why?  Suppose if I move the water tank to sky high. Will I get infinite pressure at the bottom?

From Newton's Second law of Motion: 
Force = mass x accelaration
Force = volume x density x gravity
Force = height x area x density x gravity
Now force on per unit of area is pressue. Therefore  P=F/a
From the above equation P = height x  density x gravity

Here density of water and gravitational force remains the same. The only variable is height. Therefore as height increases so does pressure. Theoretically one must get additional 0.43 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure for every foot moved up. 

When I used a long and short tube under the tank to find the pressure,  the pressure was almost same on both tubes. However when I repeated the experiment with further long tubes I could observe there was difference in fountain height of water - pressure.

So water tanks need to be built at an elevation to stay above the highest level on the farm at the least.  At the most it can be at any height.  There will be gain on pressure if you construct a water tank at 10 meter or 20 meter elevation from the ground.  The cost however would keep going up. There will also be challenges of constructing a large tank at that height and of pumping water to that height.

I am going to use windpump to pull the water up-to 10 to 15 feet above the ground level. And the tank has to be a large reservoir to store water for windless days.  Hence water tank if I construct should be at an elevation of 10 feet above the highest point to be irrigated on the farm and large enough. Increasing the height would be advantageous, but need to decide on construction material to be used etc... This point is still open.

An indigenous portable sprinkler

3. The pressure created by water tank is not enough to operate Sprinkler or a fountain. Smaller sprinkler can be operated, but not the ones that require high pressure. Therefore using gravity we can use drip irrigation effectively.  Small portable sprinklers can also be used for vegetable beds if enough pressure comes from a larger tank. I saw the one shown here in my neighboring garden.  Very beautiful idea and gives confidence how we can fabricate one ourselves without asking 'companies' to do 'survey and recommend' a suitable 'solution' to our 'problems'.   Earlier I used to think that I will keep a water tank at 30 feet and generate enough pressure to run a sprinkler. The learning is showing otherwise.

4.  Speed of water is reducing when it passes through coiled pipes due to friction.  It is therefore important to create straight lines to enable smooth flow of water for long distance. Otherwise for drip irrigation, nothing to panic. The pressure from water tank is sufficient to push the water to the corner of any pipe as the decrease of pressure due to viscosity matter only when water is 'flowing'. A moving water may experience pressure dip. But a water which fills a tube slowly will get compressed further by incoming water to be expelled through drip outlets.

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Farm Update on 07th March, Planning foundation for Wind Pump

The week went by planning for foundation and following up ABS. 

Foundation Planning

Ready mix concrete  costs Rs. 4500/- per Unit which is 1 Cubic meters. I need 3 Cubic meters. The cement company gave me a quote of Rs. 16000/- for mixing 15 bags of cement and prepare the mix. They also make too much fuss about distance and charge very high for transport.

On the other hand if I do manually say as follows, I think i will hit almost the same rate. However this will provide me a good and heavy mix of cement and gravel to support the tower.  It will also give employment to few. So I spoke to Subbu who accepted to supervise. Here I go;

1 Unit of Granite Stones = Rs. 1000 ( I already have some left from my gate construction)

Transport  = Rs. 500

Cement 15 bags x Rs. 350 = Rs. 5000

Sand = Rs. 4000

Labour = Rs. 4400 (4 No of Unskilled, 2 Skilled for 2 days).  Here I disagree with proposal of subbu as practically I have seen that it will keep going for two more days also. So contegency planning is required.

Drum for Water = 800 (Rent)

Total would be around 15500/-.  We start from Monday the digging once ABS would send their template and foundation bolts.

Tower Installation Planning

On the groundwork plan, I got some complex diagrams from ABS. I removed unnecessary details and simplified it so that team can understand how the whole things work.  Especially on erecting the tower, pre-planning is required.  ABS wants 12 meters free space to assemble tower on one side and 15 meters on another to pull the tower.  In my farm, there are fences very next to boring point, and a 400 Volt electric wire running between two poles at 15 meters tangent carrying electricity for neighbouring farm. It is something I need to get rid of my farm in the long run.   I still have plenty of space on either side of bore hole to provide for.

Here goes the diagrams prepared by me. They must be self explanatory.  The best part I learnt how an A - Frame is used to lift a tower. It is done without using much of resources and machinery. In fact none. Only one person is required to lift !.   There isn't much material in internet to refer to. Therefore I had to guess from given engineering diagrams and refer few photos to draw this.

The above is only illustration for our training. The actual implementation may vary a bit and we will come to know only when it is done in next 2 weeks.

 

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