Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
STORAGE OF GREENGRAM INSIDE PADDY
Storage of green gram has been found to be done very efficiently inside paddy bags. In this method up to 25 kg of green gram is first kept inside a polythene bag. This bag of green gram is then kept inside a 75 kg capacity gunny bag containing paddy on all the sides of the bag of green gram along with its top and bottom portion. After collection of this information, an On-Farm Testing was done by KVK to find out the validity of the system. There were 6 treatments and four replications as given below.
T1- Treating of green gram seeds with mustard oil @ 2 ml / kg
T2- Mixing of Azadirachta indica leaves @ 50 g / kg of seeds
T3- Mixing of Vitex negundo leaves @ 50 g / kg of seeds
T4- Storage of green gram inside paddy bag
T5- Treatment of green gram seeds with ethylene dibromide
T6- Control - without any treatment
The containers were, first, kept for a period of 8 months from November to June coinciding with the harvesting and sowing period of green gram respectively in the concerned rain fed area. Then the number of grains damaged were counted and after cleaning the seeds those were again kept inside the same containers for another 4 months without any treatment.
It was found that there was significant reduction in percentage of grains damaged in all the treatments as compared to the control. The percentage of grain damage due to EDB (ethylene dibromide) treatment was lowest but it was at par with storage inside paddy bag. The next best treatment was treatment with mustard oil. The effect of both the leaves were at par.
When the seeds were stored for another 4 months, as stated above, the average percentage of damaged grains increased to 6.3% in case of mustard oil and to 19.5% in case of storage inside paddy bag. But in other cases almost all the grains were damaged.
It is assumed that paddy would have created uncongenial environment due to its peculiar smell for death of the stored grain pests already present inside the green gram bag and also created a physical barrier for entry of pests from outside. Likewise mustard oil would have created similar effect due to the presence of sulphur containing allyl isothiocyanate. Green gram stored inside paddy bag is also found to be used safely as seed by the farmers.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
REQUEST TO PROFESSIONALS
My purpose of creating this blog is to know if any agricultural scientist is ever interested in reading any blog related to their profession? Ofcourse they may not be getting so much of time to spare. I want to post my experience in the field of agriculture related to my work with the farmers. I donot know if it will be of any value to any one. I also donot know if the contents can be searched by any search engine? If someone can help me in this regard I will remain ever obliged to him/her.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
BEUSANING OF RICE ITK 2
Beusaning
In brief, beusaning refers to light ploughing through a standing crop of rice. This is an indigenous practice developed by the farmers and largely practised in Eastern- Indian states when a traditional variety has been direct seeded. In spite of many improved technologies now available to boost productivity of rice tremendously, farmers are reluctant to part with this old practice. Obviously, ploughing in a standing crop sounds unscientific and there is a general consensus among the scientists that beusaning is primarily aimed at killing weeds and if that could be achieved by alternate methods farmers may not go for it.
Probable history of beusaning :
During the early period of domestication of rice, weeds would have created the most serious threat to its productivity and even to its survival. Out of the various methods tried to manage them, beusaning would have come out as the easiest, cheapest and quickest method, at some period of time, when traditional agriculture had turned out to be plough-intensive. Thus, while stale seedbed method and blind ploughing would have been developed for the uplands, their counterpart for the medium and land low lands should have been the beusaning. This, of course, would have led to reduced plant stand which would have been rather a boon by exerting less pressure on soil fertility and by maintaining a stable yield over years. When farmers would have become interested in increasing the yield they would have gone for addition of FYM, increase of seed rate and more appropriately the post beusaning corrective measures. This is how the history of beusaning could be envisioned.
Beusaning and post beusaning operations:
Various steps involved in beusaning and the follow up actions practised in Orissa are given in Table 1.
Table 1. Steps in beusaning and post-beusaning operations.
Practice- Oriya vernacular name, Meaning of the vernacular term
Ist ploughing- Kadhana, Opening of soil
2nd ploughing- Do-ora, Second ploughing
Ist gap filling- Batia bhanga or batia khelua, Splitting/distribution of clumps
Laddering- Pani mai, Laddering with water in the field
2nd gap filling- Kalabua khelua, Distribution of rice plants at dark green stage
By third week of germination the crop becomes ready for beusaning. Ploughing is done lightly with a narrow local plough (wedge shaped) of non-inverting type. It is worked in a lubricating to liquid state of the soil to save more of rice plants from incorporation for which a shallow submergence with 5-7 cm.of standing water is maintained during the operation.
Classification of beusaning:
It is noticed that all the five practices described earlier are not pursued in all the areas. More over, there are variations not only with the type of operations but with their number and timing as well. The variations are encountered across districts, blocks and even villages. Thus, beusaning can be classified into three broad categories like High Intensity Beusaning (HIB), Medium Intensity Beusaning (MIB) and Low Intensity Beusaning (LIB). Here intensity refers not only to ploughing but also to other componential practices. It is observed that intensity of beusaning is linked with rainfall pattern and/ or assured availability of water and extent of yield assurance in a particular area.
Comparison among beusaning types:
HIB: - It comprises of all the steps enumerated in the table 1. As usual beusaning is initiated after three weeks of germination. Second ploughing is done crosswise on the third day of first ploughing. The thing most peculiar here is that after this ploughing almost all the plants happen to be uprooted in the form of lumps having 8 to 10 plants each. First gap filling is done on the same day for which lumps are lifted up and held, by the support of belly, in one hand and with the other hand lump-lets having 2 to 3 seedlings are separated and thrown down to fill up the gaps. Simultaneously the already thrown lump-lets are oriented and weeds pushed into mud by leg. This is accomplished by two mighty male labourers struggling breathlessly behind each plough.
The second gap filling is done 10 to 12 days after the first gap filling. Before this operation the field is planked and weeded cleanly. In case of longer duration varieties, a third gap filling is often practised after 15 days of the second one. Second and third gap fillings are done by a special hand hoe meant to pick up a clump or portion of it essentially with soil.
MIB:- In MIB after first ploughing the field is left as such for 8 to 10 days after which laddering, weeding and gap filling are done sequentially in one day. In case of thick stand a second ploughing followed by gap filling is done, skipping laddering and weeding, on the same day. The gap filling is accomplished by hand or hand-hoe. In MIB more than 50 % of plants are completely uprooted while in case of the rest of the plants almost all the side roots are pruned.
LIB: - In this case the field is ploughed only once followed by one or no laddering. Keeping the possibility of drought in view, unlike the previous two, efforts are made to uproot / displace only around 30 to 50 per cent of plants and rest remains intact with slight disturbance. In case of immediate laddering, almost all the uprooted plants may die and hence laddering practiced only in light soils with thick stand. Gapfilling is not practised as the plants disturbed by such operation may die due to moisture stress and as such maturity may be delayed. In LIB higher seed rate of 150 kg/ha is used to check weed growth and compensate for killing of plants due to beusaning and other hostile conditions (1).
Basic advantage of beusaning and its scientific background:
Farmers are aware of the basic advantages of beusaning and opine that unless weeds are controlled, plant stand reduced and soil loosened properly, the crop would perish out of suffocation. That’s why the farmers of HIB and MIB areas emphasize on the age old adage that “beusaning should be done by one’s enemies”. Likewise the saying in LIB area is “the plant that bends is the one which yields”. Farmers of HIB area firmly maintain that unless beusaning is done all the water would be lost through percolation and let alone a drought year, there would be an utter failure of crops even in normal years. In many areas an unbeusaned crop which is normally unweeded too is either grazed by cattle or cut for that purpose by anybody of that locality. There is no need to inform the owner as such a field is thought to have been abandoned.
It is found that due to beusaning up to 70 percent of weeds are controlled; the plants produce more number of effective tillers and the panicles become much longer. On the contrary, when a crop is unbeusaned but weeded, there is little or no tillering and panicles are much smaller giving only 25 to 50 percent of normal yield. This occurs due to too high plant population coupled with poor fertility status and/or poor uptake. In fact, uptake of nutrients seems to be much higher due to beusaning which causes incorporation of some plants like rice, weed or green manure crops leading to better microbial activity. Uptake of nutrients is also accelerated due to formation of new roots following root pruning. However, the expected specific advantages of the individual operations are as follows:
First ploughing:-In it the plough is run wide apart with a view to opening the soil. It helps in reduction of percolation and better microbial activity by which the soil is softened and comes to a workable condition very easily.
Second ploughing: - Here ploughing is done at comparatively closer intervals in supplement to the first one with a view to uprooting the desired proportion of plants in relatively smaller size lumps.
Both the ploughings are of course intended to thin out the seedlings to a desired extent. Therefore, occurrence of thin population, presence of relatively younger seedlings and shortage of standing water compel the farmers to finish both the ploughings unusually on the same day. Same is also pursued when the soil is sandy threatening its early settling.
Laddering: - To ensure smoothening of the field surface, making rice plants unidirectional for better workability, and flattening of aged weeds, laddering is practised before second gap filling in HIB and first gap filling in MIB. Sometimes laddering is also done prior to start of beusaning to flatten outgrown weeds or green manure crops. Green manuring of sesbania is often practised in MIB area along with direct sown rice. In heavy soils of LIB area, laddering just after ploughing is avoided as it incorporates all the uprooted and some of the unuprooted rice plants; but when weeds are more, it becomes inevitable even at the cost of rice plants.
Apart from all these advantages, laddering is expected to homogenize the shock of beusaning to all the plants including those not uprooted. Normally a beusaned crop takes around 7 days more to mature. Unless all the plants are equally shocked, there may be unsynchronous flowering. This seems to be important when the variety is not fully photosensitive. Laddering is also found to kill pests like insects, crabs and snails.
It is found that with assured water availability it is not beusaning or transplanting but management as a whole that decides the yield. It is also learnt from experiments that if proper care is taken beusaning is not indispensable. Therefore, when beusaning is to be avoided in direct sown crops, the seed rate be reduced, the crop is to be properly weeded and FYM along with fertilizer are to be applied as required. As an unbeusaned crop seems to be more prone to lodging, because it grows taller and is not hardened, a lodging resistant variety should be preferred. Here, all P and K should be applied with three splits of N at 15 days (1/4N), 30 days (1/2N) and at P.I. (1/4N). When sown in lines, the first split of N is to be applied as basal with P and K. When beusaning is to be taken up it may be practised within 30-40 days with application of P, K and ½ N at beusaning, 1/4N after 15 days and rest N at panicle initiation stage.
As the different types of beusaning developed through ages, have stood the test of time, those may be practised in the respective areas only. But to treat the systems more scientifically the HIB system should be taken up with high yielding varieties and moderate dose of fertilizer, the MIB system with high yielding varieties, moderate dose of fertilizer and care to maintain optimum plant stand, and the LIB with high yielding varieties, lower doses of fertilizer and more attention for weed management. However, the varietal recommendation should be based on proper testing in the respective regions though it appears that photoperiod- sensitive semi- tall varieties able to withstand rigors of beusaning may come out as most dependable ones. It is reported that high yielding varieties like Shakti and Jajati produce 4.5 to 5.0 tones of grains per hectare under beusaning.
IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS
Early vs. late beusaning:- Age of seedlings at beusaning varying up to 40 days seems to have no effect on yield of rice crop. If it is beyond 40 days, the yield reduction is remarkable. However, in practice, in rainfed areas the farmers try to beusan the crop as soon as there is accumulation of water whereas in irrigated areas older seedlings (40 days) are preferred to reduce mortality. For this they never go for high seed rate as in rainfed areas.
· Under late beusaning when plants have grown taller the upper portion is either cut or grazed before beusaning so that during the operations the plants could straighten easily.
· Beusaning vs. transplanting: - Under rainfed situation, transplanting may not be always possible due to unavailability of water at the right time. As such, transplanting operation requires more water (around 25 cm.) while beusaning could be managed with 10-15 cm. of water. As the plants are uprooted and washed in case of transplanting their chances of survival is less under rainfed condition while in beusaning the plants are almost established in situ. Thus, a beusaned crop is more assured than a transplanted one. Again with fertilization a beusaned crop yields equally well like a transplanted one as beusaning seems to simulate the condition of transplanting in a field. Above all beusaning offers wider flexibility of its initiation any time after seedling stage up to maximum tiller number stage while transplanting is needed to be done at 4 to 5 leaf stage. Thus, for better assurance and less investment farmers prefer beusaning in rainfed areas.
· Pre- requisites of beusaning: - Traditionally beusaning goes hand in hand with two practices for its perpetuation. Firstly, the field is to be summer-ploughed so that the crop could be sown at the right time on a dry or semi- dry condition. Secondly, a white- based variety is altered with a black based one in different years for easier identification and weeding of volunteer and wild rice plants. To prevent farmers from growing same variety over years in the same field there is an adage that if a particular variety is grown consecutively for three years on the same field it turns out to be wild having awn and shattering characteristic, though in fact, the proportion of weedy rice (O.sativa f spontanea) becomes intolerably higher due to ineffective roguing.
· Stale seed bed: - For direct sowing of paddy in uplands during kharif, the seed bed is prepared well ahead of optimum time of sowing and is left as such for few days so that weeds germinate with onset of rain (pre-monsoon rains). These weeds are destroyed by another ploughing. This practice is pursued till 4-5 broods of weeds are killed followed by sowing. This method is known as stale seedbed method of sowing.
· Blind ploughing: - In this case paddy is sown into a well pulverised slightly moist soil. Three days after sowing, the land is ploughed with a narrow desi plough (non-inverting type). This helps in exposure of weeds which have just germinated and causes their death. By this time paddy is yet to germinate and so is not affected. As ploughing is done without feeling that a crop has already been sown, this method is named such. In Oriya this process is known as ‘mendha’.
· As per Richaria (4) during ploughing 10-12 % of tillers are separated from the clumps. Filling the gap by separated tillers instead of whole plant is known as ‘modified beusaning’ or ‘phalai’. By this method yield could be equal to a transplanted crop.
· Interesting observations obtained from a survey of three different districts of Orissa where the three different types of beusaning are practised are given in table 2.
Beusaning and post beusaning operations:
Various steps involved in three different types of beusaning and follow up actions practised in Orissa are as follows:
Table- 2. Comparison among beusaning types.
Sl. No. Particulars- HIB, MIB, LIB
1. Name of the district- Dhenkanal, Cuttack , Kalahandi
2. Land type- Terraced, Plain, Terraced
3. Annual rainfall- 1421 mm, 1501 mm, 1378 mm
4. Occurrence of rainfall- Assured in most years, Assured in almost all the years, Assured in few yers
5. Expectation of drought- Once in 4-5 years, Rare, Almost each year
6. Sowing time in medium land- June 2nd to 3rd week, June 2nd week, June last week to July 2nd week
7. Maximum crop duration in majority of medium lands- 145-150 days, 150-160 days, 140-145 days
8. Normal time of maturity- November 30, December 15, November 30
9. Start of beusaning- July 15, July 1-15, July 30
10. Final plant population per sq. m.- 40-50, 10-50, 60-200
11. Yield (average and maximum, t/ha) - 2.5, 4.5; 2.5, 4.5; 2.0, 2.5
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
1. Barik.T. (1991) A high seed rate for rice is useful in Orissa. Indan Farming. 41 (2): 23, 25.
2. Barik, T. and Rout, D. (1992) Beusaning with its multifold actions has sustained rice productivity through centuries. Presented at National Symposium on Resource Management for Sustained Crop Production, held at Bikaner, India from 25-28 Feb. 11pp.
3. Fujisaka, S., Ingram, K.T. and Moody, K. (1991) Crop Establishment (Beusani) in Cuttack District, India. IRRI Res. Paper Ser. 148. IRRI, Philippines. 9 pp.
4. Richharia, R.H. (1987) Rice in Abundance for All times Through Rice Clones. Pub. by Richharia, R.M.B-1 Punjab Bagh, Govindpura, Bhopal. 132 pp.
SOURCE: Barik T. 2004. Fundamentals of Field Crops (Part – I). Saraswat Publishers, Sambalpur,Orissa, India. 224 pp.
In brief, beusaning refers to light ploughing through a standing crop of rice. This is an indigenous practice developed by the farmers and largely practised in Eastern- Indian states when a traditional variety has been direct seeded. In spite of many improved technologies now available to boost productivity of rice tremendously, farmers are reluctant to part with this old practice. Obviously, ploughing in a standing crop sounds unscientific and there is a general consensus among the scientists that beusaning is primarily aimed at killing weeds and if that could be achieved by alternate methods farmers may not go for it.
Probable history of beusaning :
During the early period of domestication of rice, weeds would have created the most serious threat to its productivity and even to its survival. Out of the various methods tried to manage them, beusaning would have come out as the easiest, cheapest and quickest method, at some period of time, when traditional agriculture had turned out to be plough-intensive. Thus, while stale seedbed method and blind ploughing would have been developed for the uplands, their counterpart for the medium and land low lands should have been the beusaning. This, of course, would have led to reduced plant stand which would have been rather a boon by exerting less pressure on soil fertility and by maintaining a stable yield over years. When farmers would have become interested in increasing the yield they would have gone for addition of FYM, increase of seed rate and more appropriately the post beusaning corrective measures. This is how the history of beusaning could be envisioned.
Beusaning and post beusaning operations:
Various steps involved in beusaning and the follow up actions practised in Orissa are given in Table 1.
Table 1. Steps in beusaning and post-beusaning operations.
Practice- Oriya vernacular name, Meaning of the vernacular term
Ist ploughing- Kadhana, Opening of soil
2nd ploughing- Do-ora, Second ploughing
Ist gap filling- Batia bhanga or batia khelua, Splitting/distribution of clumps
Laddering- Pani mai, Laddering with water in the field
2nd gap filling- Kalabua khelua, Distribution of rice plants at dark green stage
By third week of germination the crop becomes ready for beusaning. Ploughing is done lightly with a narrow local plough (wedge shaped) of non-inverting type. It is worked in a lubricating to liquid state of the soil to save more of rice plants from incorporation for which a shallow submergence with 5-7 cm.of standing water is maintained during the operation.
Classification of beusaning:
It is noticed that all the five practices described earlier are not pursued in all the areas. More over, there are variations not only with the type of operations but with their number and timing as well. The variations are encountered across districts, blocks and even villages. Thus, beusaning can be classified into three broad categories like High Intensity Beusaning (HIB), Medium Intensity Beusaning (MIB) and Low Intensity Beusaning (LIB). Here intensity refers not only to ploughing but also to other componential practices. It is observed that intensity of beusaning is linked with rainfall pattern and/ or assured availability of water and extent of yield assurance in a particular area.
Comparison among beusaning types:
HIB: - It comprises of all the steps enumerated in the table 1. As usual beusaning is initiated after three weeks of germination. Second ploughing is done crosswise on the third day of first ploughing. The thing most peculiar here is that after this ploughing almost all the plants happen to be uprooted in the form of lumps having 8 to 10 plants each. First gap filling is done on the same day for which lumps are lifted up and held, by the support of belly, in one hand and with the other hand lump-lets having 2 to 3 seedlings are separated and thrown down to fill up the gaps. Simultaneously the already thrown lump-lets are oriented and weeds pushed into mud by leg. This is accomplished by two mighty male labourers struggling breathlessly behind each plough.
The second gap filling is done 10 to 12 days after the first gap filling. Before this operation the field is planked and weeded cleanly. In case of longer duration varieties, a third gap filling is often practised after 15 days of the second one. Second and third gap fillings are done by a special hand hoe meant to pick up a clump or portion of it essentially with soil.
MIB:- In MIB after first ploughing the field is left as such for 8 to 10 days after which laddering, weeding and gap filling are done sequentially in one day. In case of thick stand a second ploughing followed by gap filling is done, skipping laddering and weeding, on the same day. The gap filling is accomplished by hand or hand-hoe. In MIB more than 50 % of plants are completely uprooted while in case of the rest of the plants almost all the side roots are pruned.
LIB: - In this case the field is ploughed only once followed by one or no laddering. Keeping the possibility of drought in view, unlike the previous two, efforts are made to uproot / displace only around 30 to 50 per cent of plants and rest remains intact with slight disturbance. In case of immediate laddering, almost all the uprooted plants may die and hence laddering practiced only in light soils with thick stand. Gapfilling is not practised as the plants disturbed by such operation may die due to moisture stress and as such maturity may be delayed. In LIB higher seed rate of 150 kg/ha is used to check weed growth and compensate for killing of plants due to beusaning and other hostile conditions (1).
Basic advantage of beusaning and its scientific background:
Farmers are aware of the basic advantages of beusaning and opine that unless weeds are controlled, plant stand reduced and soil loosened properly, the crop would perish out of suffocation. That’s why the farmers of HIB and MIB areas emphasize on the age old adage that “beusaning should be done by one’s enemies”. Likewise the saying in LIB area is “the plant that bends is the one which yields”. Farmers of HIB area firmly maintain that unless beusaning is done all the water would be lost through percolation and let alone a drought year, there would be an utter failure of crops even in normal years. In many areas an unbeusaned crop which is normally unweeded too is either grazed by cattle or cut for that purpose by anybody of that locality. There is no need to inform the owner as such a field is thought to have been abandoned.
It is found that due to beusaning up to 70 percent of weeds are controlled; the plants produce more number of effective tillers and the panicles become much longer. On the contrary, when a crop is unbeusaned but weeded, there is little or no tillering and panicles are much smaller giving only 25 to 50 percent of normal yield. This occurs due to too high plant population coupled with poor fertility status and/or poor uptake. In fact, uptake of nutrients seems to be much higher due to beusaning which causes incorporation of some plants like rice, weed or green manure crops leading to better microbial activity. Uptake of nutrients is also accelerated due to formation of new roots following root pruning. However, the expected specific advantages of the individual operations are as follows:
First ploughing:-In it the plough is run wide apart with a view to opening the soil. It helps in reduction of percolation and better microbial activity by which the soil is softened and comes to a workable condition very easily.
Second ploughing: - Here ploughing is done at comparatively closer intervals in supplement to the first one with a view to uprooting the desired proportion of plants in relatively smaller size lumps.
Both the ploughings are of course intended to thin out the seedlings to a desired extent. Therefore, occurrence of thin population, presence of relatively younger seedlings and shortage of standing water compel the farmers to finish both the ploughings unusually on the same day. Same is also pursued when the soil is sandy threatening its early settling.
Laddering: - To ensure smoothening of the field surface, making rice plants unidirectional for better workability, and flattening of aged weeds, laddering is practised before second gap filling in HIB and first gap filling in MIB. Sometimes laddering is also done prior to start of beusaning to flatten outgrown weeds or green manure crops. Green manuring of sesbania is often practised in MIB area along with direct sown rice. In heavy soils of LIB area, laddering just after ploughing is avoided as it incorporates all the uprooted and some of the unuprooted rice plants; but when weeds are more, it becomes inevitable even at the cost of rice plants.
Apart from all these advantages, laddering is expected to homogenize the shock of beusaning to all the plants including those not uprooted. Normally a beusaned crop takes around 7 days more to mature. Unless all the plants are equally shocked, there may be unsynchronous flowering. This seems to be important when the variety is not fully photosensitive. Laddering is also found to kill pests like insects, crabs and snails.
It is found that with assured water availability it is not beusaning or transplanting but management as a whole that decides the yield. It is also learnt from experiments that if proper care is taken beusaning is not indispensable. Therefore, when beusaning is to be avoided in direct sown crops, the seed rate be reduced, the crop is to be properly weeded and FYM along with fertilizer are to be applied as required. As an unbeusaned crop seems to be more prone to lodging, because it grows taller and is not hardened, a lodging resistant variety should be preferred. Here, all P and K should be applied with three splits of N at 15 days (1/4N), 30 days (1/2N) and at P.I. (1/4N). When sown in lines, the first split of N is to be applied as basal with P and K. When beusaning is to be taken up it may be practised within 30-40 days with application of P, K and ½ N at beusaning, 1/4N after 15 days and rest N at panicle initiation stage.
As the different types of beusaning developed through ages, have stood the test of time, those may be practised in the respective areas only. But to treat the systems more scientifically the HIB system should be taken up with high yielding varieties and moderate dose of fertilizer, the MIB system with high yielding varieties, moderate dose of fertilizer and care to maintain optimum plant stand, and the LIB with high yielding varieties, lower doses of fertilizer and more attention for weed management. However, the varietal recommendation should be based on proper testing in the respective regions though it appears that photoperiod- sensitive semi- tall varieties able to withstand rigors of beusaning may come out as most dependable ones. It is reported that high yielding varieties like Shakti and Jajati produce 4.5 to 5.0 tones of grains per hectare under beusaning.
IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS
Early vs. late beusaning:- Age of seedlings at beusaning varying up to 40 days seems to have no effect on yield of rice crop. If it is beyond 40 days, the yield reduction is remarkable. However, in practice, in rainfed areas the farmers try to beusan the crop as soon as there is accumulation of water whereas in irrigated areas older seedlings (40 days) are preferred to reduce mortality. For this they never go for high seed rate as in rainfed areas.
· Under late beusaning when plants have grown taller the upper portion is either cut or grazed before beusaning so that during the operations the plants could straighten easily.
· Beusaning vs. transplanting: - Under rainfed situation, transplanting may not be always possible due to unavailability of water at the right time. As such, transplanting operation requires more water (around 25 cm.) while beusaning could be managed with 10-15 cm. of water. As the plants are uprooted and washed in case of transplanting their chances of survival is less under rainfed condition while in beusaning the plants are almost established in situ. Thus, a beusaned crop is more assured than a transplanted one. Again with fertilization a beusaned crop yields equally well like a transplanted one as beusaning seems to simulate the condition of transplanting in a field. Above all beusaning offers wider flexibility of its initiation any time after seedling stage up to maximum tiller number stage while transplanting is needed to be done at 4 to 5 leaf stage. Thus, for better assurance and less investment farmers prefer beusaning in rainfed areas.
· Pre- requisites of beusaning: - Traditionally beusaning goes hand in hand with two practices for its perpetuation. Firstly, the field is to be summer-ploughed so that the crop could be sown at the right time on a dry or semi- dry condition. Secondly, a white- based variety is altered with a black based one in different years for easier identification and weeding of volunteer and wild rice plants. To prevent farmers from growing same variety over years in the same field there is an adage that if a particular variety is grown consecutively for three years on the same field it turns out to be wild having awn and shattering characteristic, though in fact, the proportion of weedy rice (O.sativa f spontanea) becomes intolerably higher due to ineffective roguing.
· Stale seed bed: - For direct sowing of paddy in uplands during kharif, the seed bed is prepared well ahead of optimum time of sowing and is left as such for few days so that weeds germinate with onset of rain (pre-monsoon rains). These weeds are destroyed by another ploughing. This practice is pursued till 4-5 broods of weeds are killed followed by sowing. This method is known as stale seedbed method of sowing.
· Blind ploughing: - In this case paddy is sown into a well pulverised slightly moist soil. Three days after sowing, the land is ploughed with a narrow desi plough (non-inverting type). This helps in exposure of weeds which have just germinated and causes their death. By this time paddy is yet to germinate and so is not affected. As ploughing is done without feeling that a crop has already been sown, this method is named such. In Oriya this process is known as ‘mendha’.
· As per Richaria (4) during ploughing 10-12 % of tillers are separated from the clumps. Filling the gap by separated tillers instead of whole plant is known as ‘modified beusaning’ or ‘phalai’. By this method yield could be equal to a transplanted crop.
· Interesting observations obtained from a survey of three different districts of Orissa where the three different types of beusaning are practised are given in table 2.
Beusaning and post beusaning operations:
Various steps involved in three different types of beusaning and follow up actions practised in Orissa are as follows:
Table- 2. Comparison among beusaning types.
Sl. No. Particulars- HIB, MIB, LIB
1. Name of the district- Dhenkanal, Cuttack , Kalahandi
2. Land type- Terraced, Plain, Terraced
3. Annual rainfall- 1421 mm, 1501 mm, 1378 mm
4. Occurrence of rainfall- Assured in most years, Assured in almost all the years, Assured in few yers
5. Expectation of drought- Once in 4-5 years, Rare, Almost each year
6. Sowing time in medium land- June 2nd to 3rd week, June 2nd week, June last week to July 2nd week
7. Maximum crop duration in majority of medium lands- 145-150 days, 150-160 days, 140-145 days
8. Normal time of maturity- November 30, December 15, November 30
9. Start of beusaning- July 15, July 1-15, July 30
10. Final plant population per sq. m.- 40-50, 10-50, 60-200
11. Yield (average and maximum, t/ha) - 2.5, 4.5; 2.5, 4.5; 2.0, 2.5
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
1. Barik.T. (1991) A high seed rate for rice is useful in Orissa. Indan Farming. 41 (2): 23, 25.
2. Barik, T. and Rout, D. (1992) Beusaning with its multifold actions has sustained rice productivity through centuries. Presented at National Symposium on Resource Management for Sustained Crop Production, held at Bikaner, India from 25-28 Feb. 11pp.
3. Fujisaka, S., Ingram, K.T. and Moody, K. (1991) Crop Establishment (Beusani) in Cuttack District, India. IRRI Res. Paper Ser. 148. IRRI, Philippines. 9 pp.
4. Richharia, R.H. (1987) Rice in Abundance for All times Through Rice Clones. Pub. by Richharia, R.M.B-1 Punjab Bagh, Govindpura, Bhopal. 132 pp.
SOURCE: Barik T. 2004. Fundamentals of Field Crops (Part – I). Saraswat Publishers, Sambalpur,Orissa, India. 224 pp.
STORAGE OF PADDY ITK 1
STORAGE OF PADDY INSIDE PURA
Storing of grains of different crops for future use is one of the most important area where lot of indigenous knowledge is available in different societies. Such practices still find an important place in the rain fed areas as here people have to depend upon the major crops as their food which are produced only once in a year. In Orissa farmers have discovered the insect protecting ability of the paddy straw and so use it for preparing structures made of ropes of this straw. In the district of Bargarh farmers have been found to prepare such structures called pura, puda, puduga or olia of different sizes to store starting from 50 kg to maximum 30 quintals of paddy. For preparing such structures first of all ropes of around 1 inch diameter are prepared and are coiled to form a bin (storage) like structure on the inner side of which a layer of dried straw is put to maintain the shape of the bin. This also helps to close the gap between the ropes of straw. For storing of small quantities of paddy, say 50 kg, portable structures are made while for heavy quantities the structures are made over raised platforms. Paddy has been found to remain unaffected by insects up to 6-7 years in such structures. Paddy which are to be used for seed in the during the next season are usually kept in small portable structures and those meant for consumption purpose are kept in bigger structures. This practice is abundantly practised in the rein fed regions of the district for the aforesaid reasons. It is to be noted that in the irrigated areas paddy is sold to the modern mills from the field itself after threshing.
SOURCE: Barik, T. and Barik K.C. 2006. Indigenous Knowledge, Agricultural Festivals and Farmers’ Informal Experiments of Bargarh District. Extension Education bulletin no. 27. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bargarh Orissa university of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, 751003. 44pp.
INDIGENOUS TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTIONIndigenous knowledge is considered as a part and parcel of traditional agriculture. Such knowledge have developed through informal research made by the farmers over centuries. These are developed by the local people and refined by its users and so very often unique to a given culture and society. These are simple, sustainable, adaptable, stable, harmless and depends upon the locally available materials.
Largest number of such technologies have been evolved and are maintained in the rain fed tracts till date. With the introduction of Green Revolution agriculture many of such technologies have been forgotten due to adoption of the so called modern technologies. But with the emergence of 2nd generation problems in the irrigated areas the scientists are thinking critically to collect such information for blending them with the modern technology for the sustainability of the latter.
Indigenous knowledge encompasses all the areas of human welfare including field / garden / orchard crops; human and animal health; and environment and ecology. In this booklet an attempt has been taken to collect information related to agriculture and agricultural festivals of the Bargarh district covering both the rainfed and irrigated areas.
Farmers are the masters of their system and from among them some ceaselessly try to modify the existing practices for overall improvement of the system. Development of ITKs can certainly be traced back to such type of mentality of these category of farmers. If we make a close look on the farming activities of some farmers of the present time we can certainly find out such farmers even today. And their peculiar activities may be accepted by other farmers in course time and those may one day be designated as indigenous knowledge in future. In this booklet such type of things have also been included in the name of "Farmers' Informal Experiments". Such experiments are made by the farmers themselves for which they would have got the initial idea either from own observation/ intuition / curiosity; or would have heard / seen such things during their interaction/ exposures. In this booklet efforts have been made to collect both the old practices adopted by a group of farmers (ITKs) and the new methods followed by a single farmer (FIE). Often the latter acts like a demonstration for other farmers of that area.
The booklet is a collection of few such practices collected only from the adopted villages of KVK and so it is like a drop in the ocean. The ITK section also includes some special recipes prepared by the local people and 4 agricultural festivals.
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Therefore it is reported that
"There is general agreement that concepts ‘indigenous knowledge’ (IK), ‘traditional knowledge’, ‘local knowledge’, ‘community knowledge’ and ‘rural peoples’ knowledge’ are all terms for knowledge belonging to grassroots people. While certain distinctions can be made, these terms often refer to the same thing. In the area of research, farmers’ knowledge, which they have been putting into practice for decades, encompasses not only IK, but also scientific and other knowledge gained from foreigners. Some of the farmers’ knowledge has resulted from experimentation and the observation of their environment"[Ghosh, S. 2002. Farmers’ Knowledge and GIS. Kisan World, 29 (4): 31-32].
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Source: Barik, T. and Barik K.C. 2006. Indigenous Knowledge, Agricultural Festivals and Farmers’ Informal Experiments of Bargarh District. Extension Education Bulletin No. 27. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bargarh, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, 751003. 44pp.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
ORGANIC WEED CONTROL
A farmer named Mr Jagannath Sahoo of village Budula, Orissa, India developed a wonderful idea of controlling weeds in vegetables during rainy season by covering the interspaces with the fresh leaves of Bhalia (Semecarpus anacardium). He first observed that the incidence of weeds in ginger (Gingiber officinalis) was much reduced by using the above leaves as mulching materials. Then he tried it with other vegetables and was successful. Mr Sahoo revealed this in a farmers’ fair and then a trial was conducted at KVK to find out validity of this innovation. From the preliminary study it was found that when the interspaces were covered with a single layer of fresh leaves the weed control was up to 50 % and it increased to 70 % due to covering with double layers. Apart from the mulching effect the leaf is expected to contain some poisonous chemicals.Source; Barik, T. and Barik, K.C. 2006. Indigenous Knowledge, Agricultural Festivals and Farmers' Informal Experiments of Bargarh District. pp. 42. In: Extension Bulletin No. 27, Published by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bargarh, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
VERMICOMPOSTING VIDEO
Source: Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, 751003.
SWEET SEVENTEEN
TECHNICAL POEM ON 17 ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS REQUIRED FOR PLANTSPlants fall in love, with those sweet seventeen,
Which keep them healthy, wealthy, and ever repaying. (1)
NITROGEN is a part of protein*, and keeps plants green*,
Absence yellows leaf lamina, whole plant stays thin. (2)
If it is root and pod, PHOSPHORUS is thought,
Pink corn stem; or deep green (leaves), in rice is a must. (3)
POTASH in nothing but pot-ash, wished by crop of tubers*,
Food of luxury*, gives resistance*, or else a tip burner. (4)
CALCIUM or lime forms cell wall*, and corrects pH of soil*,
Should be thought for peanut, or pops will reduce oil. (5)
Chloplast interveinal (of leaves), may be due to MAGNESIUM,
If proceeds from bottom to top, while olds develop pigmentation. (6)
SULPHUR like calcium, appears first in young growth,
First fades green, then chlorosis, mind for mustard as an oath. (7)
Interveinal chlorosis, is the universal rule for IRON,
First in young then all leaves, in various pattern. (8)
Lack of COPPER causing dieback, is known to you all,
Old leaves turn dry and papery, and new ones become small. (9)
Frenching of citrus, khaira of paddy, and white bud of maize,
All are due to lack of ZINC, mainly seen in young age. (10)
Patch of chlorosis turning interveinal, first in middle leaves,
Soil is deficient in MANGANESE, as is marsh spot of peas. (11)
Water-soaked small patches, cauliflower hollow-stem,
Browning, decaying young tips, BORON corrects them. (12)
MOLYBDENUM is essential, to make nodules (of legumes) rosy*,
Prevention of whiptail (in cauliflower), by this becomes easy. (13)
Stuffy roots and wilted plants, are due to CHLORINE,
Sand culture proves it, but generally not seen. (14)
Being a part of B12* (vitamin B 12), and essential for legume nodule*,
Forages (crops) require much of COBALT, to supply plentily to the cattle. (15)
CARBON, HYDROGEN and OXYGEN, make total seventeen,
Don’t mind for these three, they are never limiting. (16)
N:B: The star marks indicate normal functions of the concerned elements and others are due to deficiency if not mentioned otherwise.
Reference: Barik, T. (1988) Sweet Seventeen. Technical poem on seventeen plant nutrients. Karsika, the magazine of College of Agriculture, OUAT, BBSR. 32 : 15-16.
* All credit of this publication goes to the College of Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India.
* All credit of this publication goes to the College of Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India.
Monday, September 14, 2009
LOW COST RICE HUSK STOVE
The low cost rice husk stove has been developed by me. It has a square size of 22cm x 22cm and height of 32cm. It can contain 2.5 kg of husk which burns at a stretch for 1 hour. It is found suitable for a five member family for cooking rice, dal and curry. The stove is manufactured using an empty oil tin of 16 litre capacity available in any grocery shop. For the whole process of manufacturing, a tin cutter, a hammer and a pliers is used. For preparing a cylinder, which is fixed in the middle, a cost of Rs 50.00 (approx $1.00) and for the whole stove a cost of Rs 80.00 is required excluding the labour charges.
Source 1. Anonymous. 2000. KVK Designed Rice Husk Stove. pp.3. In OUAT KVK Newsletter. Directorate of Extension Education. Volume 02, No. 02.
Source 2. Barik, T. 2009. Low cost rice husk stove. Indian Farming. Volume 59, Number 4: pp. 12-13.
N:B: All the credit goes to the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India and ICAR, New Delhi, India.
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