Drum Seeder - For Paddy

We have used the Drum Seeder to plant Paddy at our sathy farm. Around 22 cents.

DRUM SEEDER - AT SATHY APRIL 15TH 2011

                                                         
Divided in to two 11 cents each.We have called it Madhavan's technology and the other as Madhavan+Natural Technology.

In one plot we have used Mr.Madhavan's inputs.The land has been treated with Gypsum,Muriate of Potash and Super Phosphate and left idle after irrigation for 21 days.Weed Were burnt using Roundup after 21 days.DAP was applied before 24 hours and the seeds were sown using a drum seeder.The drum seeder seed preparation is a special process.I quote from Mr.Madhavan's Mail:
"As said earlier, the land preparation is very vital especially the leveling

The seed has to be incubated in the following pattern ( please ensure while doing this that you are not allowing the seeds to sprout too long as that will be pruned while dropping from the seed box)


1.  Day one 6am put the seed bag in the water
2.  Same day evening put the bag out of water over night
3. Day two put it in the water by 08AM and pull out evening by 5pm and keep in dark
4. Day three morning open the bag for seeding.

As mentioned earlier you can check the seeds on day two for sprouting if it has sprouted you may start seeding on the same day. as this depends on the temp of that region and type of paddy Seeds."

In the Second plot we have used Madhavan's Inputs and Natural inputs combined.(Ganajeevambratham+jeevambratham etc.,)

      An intersting You tube video(Bengali) on Drum Seeder

The First Drum Seeding was done beginning of April when the seeds did not fall off the seeder.The cause was found to be over sprouting.


The Experiment was repeated on 15th April.Seeds were allowed to sprout for two days and seeded.This time the seeds were falling of the seeder but there were bald spaces in the field.Levelling and speed of the seeder seemed to be the issue.The Seeder was tested at various speeds by Mr.Joby,Ganesh and Xavier at Sathy Farm


The Experiment has been repeated for the third time with the seeder being moved at various speeds,but the bald patches seem to continue.

LEVELLING FOR DRUM SEEDER

SPROUTED SEEDS FOR DRUM SEEDER

Local Paddy Variety(Pungar) at our Sathy Farm

Got a local paddy variety from a gentleman in Thanjavur (9443320954Mr.Jayaraman),who is doing a yeoman's service for natural farming,he has around 70 local rice varieties.The variety we have sown is a summer 80 day variety called "Pungar".

We have used the SRI (Systematic Rice Intensification) process to plant this variety.The seeds were treated with "Beejamrut" and left to sprout for three days.

 SPROUTED SEEDS

                                                  NURSERY BEFORE TRANPLANTING

The nursery was sown(26 march 2011) and plants were transplanted on the 15th day (10th April 2011).Only single seedlings were planted at a distance of one feet from each other.Manual transplanting has been adopted.We have planted pulses on the bunds of the paddy field.

SINGLE SEEDLING HAD GOOD ROOT FORMATION ON 15TH DAY

 

TRANSPLANTING DONE USING A ROPE WITH 1 FEET MARKING

We have three plots in one plot we have used organic inputs(azosprillum).The other plot one uses Subhash Palekar model and one has the Nammalvar Model.

17.4.2011 AMUTHA KARAISAL 
As per Nammalvar's Advice one days excreted cow dung from one cow,was mixed with a days cow's urine and 1 kg of country jaggery was added and let to ferment for 24 hrs.The fermented liquid was mixed with water in the ratio 1:10 and let in to the irrigation water using a dispenser.This Practice was continued weekly once.

20.4.2011 PANCHAGAVYA PREPARATION


5 KG COWDUNG,3 LITRES COW URINE,2 LITRES MILK,2 LITRES CURD,2 KG GHEE,1 KG GREEN GRAM POWDER, 1 KG KADALAI MAAVU,10 BANANAS,1 KG COUNTRY JAGGERY, 3 LITRES TENDER COCONUT WATER,100 GMS YEAST WERE ADDED AND MIXED TOGETHER.IN A DRUM.


As per Nammalvars advice the mixing is done 50 times clockwise and fifty times anticlockwise using a stick two times a day in the morning and evening.The stick is to be washed after each use.The mixture sahould be covered using a cloth or a proper cover to prevent insects entering it.The mixture can be used from 7 days though it is ideal to leave it for 48 days.It can be sprayed on plants or used in irrigation water in the ratio 1:33( 1 litre in 33 litres of water).The cost of this preparation works out to less than a rupee/litre.(When Diluted)

PADDY AFTER TRANSPLANT

7.5.2011 Panchagavya soulution sprayed to the crops.