Efficacy of Shadenet to control Algae

Some of you had mailed me regarding the efficacy of the Shadenet over SST. Algae formation was a major problem we were experiencing in our tank, especially during the peak of summer. The situation became quite critical last year - Pictures before shadenet

Using some local ingenuity, we started working towards a potential solution that could at least control the problem, if not eliminate it - Shadenet over SST

It has been about 5 months and we are happy to note that we have not had the need to clean the tank yet. Algae build up has started in the last few weeks but is greatly reduced. Earlier, we had to clean the tank almost every 4-6 weeks during the hot months.

In conclusion, Shadenet was indeed useful in mitigating algae to a large extent. Only one word of caution - with 1600 sq ft of Shadenet material resting on metal wires, it does get quite heavy (especially after a rain or so). Ensure there is good support on the sides and proper reinforcement is available to avoid falling of metal pillars.

Drip Irrigation : Be ready for maintenance

Over the years, several users have inquired about pros and cons of drip irrigation. Though there is abundance of published information from an academic and marketing perspective, I will try to elaborate it from a practical perspective based on our experiences.

• There is no doubt that drip is more efficient in terms of water usage. However, it comes with a cost. Such costs should be evaluated in the context of the intended crop and the value of the produced output. Often installation can become very expensive, especially for vegetables since laterals are closely spaced.

Typical Drip Irrigation System schematic

•  Though drip irrigation requires less labor during irrigation, it requires manpower to maintain the system. This involves frequent cleaning of disc filters, periodic flushing of sub mains and laterals, checking of drippers for water flow and regular check for leaks. In our experience, it takes about 2-4 hours for 1 person to check and rectify leaks etc on a 5 acre Mango UHD plot. Obviously, it is subject to number of corrections to be done. We perform flushing, drip checks almost every other week.

• Dissolved salts in the water pose a significant challenge with drippers getting blocked. Though online drippers are easier to clean, inline laterals are almost impossible to clean manually. Acid flushing is recommended by experts, however it is not easy to procure acid in open market in wake of the recent acid attacks. 

Standard assembly between water mains and drip line

• Consideration should be given to the local geography and fauna. Rocky soil can hard on the laterals after a while. Often small ruminants or dogs may chew laterals which will immediately need replacements. At Savera Farms, we experienced pea cocks punching laterals for a quick shower during our hot summers!

• In India, there are subsidies available by state governments for small acreages and NHB for a plantation project, but most of these programs may not be feasible for small or hobby farms.

• If you are considering using 4 LPH drippers for irrigation, I would highly discourage from using them. They easily get blocked since the cavity in the drippers is smaller. You are better off using a 8 LPH dripper and decreasing your irrigation time by half. 

Hopefully, this helps and look forward to others adding their feedback and perspective to this list.

Moringa Leaf : Dehydrator Concepts

This year marked the first year of Moringa Leaf production at commercial volumes at Savera Farms. During our pilot phases, we attempted various post-harvesting techniques like Air Drying. While Air Drying is recommended by some, we found it to be generally inefficient. Moisture levels were uneven and direct / indirect exposure to the sun resulted in discoloration of dry leaves. In the herbal supplement market, color, smell and consistency is highly regarded - and we tend to agree with our discerning buyers!

Since then we have discovered multiple leaf drying techniques and decided to use a dehydrator. Simply explained, a dehydrator is a device which uses warm air to dehydrate the fresh product enclosed in a container. European and American users often use counter top dehydrator models to preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables. Drying fresh produce using this method not only preserves the nutritional content but also does not physically damage the fresh food item.

While commercially marketed dehydrators can be cost prohibitive for a small operation, we were able to use a simple design to construct one for our purposes. There are a few providers of commercial scale dehydrators but during our negotiations, the purchase and setup cost quickly rose to multiple lakh INR. Instead, our initial design included solar dehydration but to increase efficiency we later included a heat lamp so the device could be used indoors as well. Various solar dehydration / cooking methods were popularized in India during 1970s and 1980s. Readers should take inspiration from those tried and tested methods to attempt their own design. There is quite a bit of information available online to modify designs based on your specific utilization.

Looking for 'A Few Good Men' for the Savera Farms team!

Those of you who have seen the 1992 military classic 'A Few Good Men' would remember my favorite quote from this movie - You can't handle the truth! The truth of our reality is that we are looking for motivated and qualified team members and it has been hard to find them. This is also part of the reason why we have been absent for the last few months from Blog-sphere. Last few months have been very busy for us with our first Mango season and commercial production finally underway for Moringa leaves. We are looking to grow our small team and would love to hire a few more managers.

 

Our immediate resource needs are : 

Farm Operations Manager : This person will manage parts of our Mango and Moringa plantations and work with existing farm managers. Responsibilities will include overseeing farm activities, harvest processing, managing irrigation tasks, equipment maintenance and overall responsibility of directing daily labor. Ideal candidate should have related experience, preferably under 35 years of age with high energy. Candidates will need to be fluent in English & Tamil.  Competitive pay rate will be offered and will be based on experience and skills. We provide upgraded accommodations and transportation for our staff. Work location would be our farms in Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu.

Marketing Associate : We are also looking for a Marketing Associates for our Chennai operations. Primary responsibility will be managing existing clients. This will include regular order entry, demand planning, QC and managing delivery of produce. Candidate should be familiar and open to learning basic accounting for invoicing and payment collections. Ideal candidate would have experience with developing new clients in Chennai area for fresh fruits and herbal products. Candidates with background in sales and marketing for food products would be preferred but this is not a requirement. Base compensation would be guaranteed with sales bonus as part of performance incentives. Local transporation would be provided. No accommodation will be provided.

We are reaching out to our readers for their trusted referrals. Please keep our opportunities in mind for those looking to similar employment. For more details, always feel free to drop us a note at saverafarms@gmail.com or info@saverafarms.com. These are exciting times at Savera Farms and we want you to be a part of it!

Algae control : Shadenet to the rescue

At Savera Farms, a large part of our irrigation is done using drip lines. Accompanying infrastructure includes extensive network of pipes, valves and a few storage tanks. Currently we have two storage tanks which service our daily needs. Over the years, we have battled a few maintenance issues with these tanks with one being the frequent issue of controlling Algae blooms. Some of you may recall our earlier posting on this topic where we received a few useful tips from the readers.

At certain times of the year, Algae blooms become a significant problem for us. We have discovered that rising temperatures and sunlight are Algae friendly if other supporting conditions are available.
Our assumption that monsoon / winter months, would contain Algae growth proved incorrect. Due to the Algae, our sand filters would often get choked with thick green sludge resulting in pressure variance between inlet and outlet valves and stress on the filter.

 The big 'green' problem

Finally, it was decided to take the bull by the horns. 8 columns were erected on the perimeter of our tanks and one in the center to help support a canopy. Shadenet (75%) was re-purposed to form a canopy over the pillars. Additional flaps were designed on four sides to prevent any direct sunlight penetration during sunrise and sunset. Initially, we thought this solution may be excessive in effort and limited in impact but we were determined to give this a try.

 

Wire was streteched along the perimter and diagonals of the tank. 

                                                         Shadenet was stiched to the wire.  

 

Cool, clear waters. Note the brick is visible in 5 feet depth

 

Side flaps were stitched in the end to further reduce penetration of sun rays

 A week after the shadenet implementation, crystal clear water can be seen in the tanks. Algae growth has been almost completely eliminated. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this solution shall prevail. In the coming months, with the onset of summer, we will have a better idea how the shadenets hold up and to what extent our localized ingenuity worked.

Commercial Sprinkler System at Savera Farms

For this year, one of our goals was to install a sprinkler based system for our short term crop. At this time, we are under pilot for 4 acres of CO4 fodder and high density Moringa (leaves) using sprinkler system as the primary irrigation delivery.

Earlier in the year we had inter-cropped CO4 grass within our Mango plots with wide spacing. This impacted our Mango plants due to nitrogen deficiency created by CO4. Although our inter-cropping was 'experts approved' no one advised us of the nitrogen deficiency CO4 can cause. Since then we decided to separate the CO4 grass cultivation to prevent further impact to our Mango plots.

As part of increasing our short term crop portfolio, we decided to venture into Moringa leaf cultivation. Although the trade mostly comprises of traders and middle men, we feel encouraged by a recent spurt of processing units in India. We feel there is a good scope for expansion into Moringa leaves cultivation given its significant  health benefits and (slowly) growing acceptance &awareness. The biggest advantage is that it can be processed, packed and stored - unlike most short term crops. Note : Most buyers we got in touch with turned out to be brokers. Cultivators should establish contact and visit processing facilities of end customers during their crop planning phase.

During our plot design phase, we decided not to go for lateral based drip irrigation due to its high installation and maintenance cost. Inline and online drippers are often challenging to clean/unblock when dealing with intensive cultivation. Rain gun was considered but its limited irrigation area and high water pressure requirement was a deterrent. Eventually, we decided to implement a sprinkler based system. Low maintenance cost, fixed infrastructure (unlike rain gun that requires to be moved around) and uniform coverage were attractive features. Since we are still in pilot phase, the only disadvantage we can foresee is of water penetration into the soil. That may need to be mitigated by extending irrigation time. We hope once CO4 and Moringa take root, extensive watering will not be essential.

A view of the pilot plot after the sprinklers were installed. The sprinkler installation matrix is similar drippers but adjusted to crop, soil, irrigation and spacing considerations.

We took advantage of a recent bout of summer monsoons to disc plough the moist plots. 

Healthy red soil, post ploughing..

Finally, the sprinkler test in progress!

We have recently started with the sprinkler systems and are expecting a learning curve. Are there any cultivators which have hand-on experience with the setup, maintenance and usage of commercial grade sprinkler systems? I am sure all of us can benefit from hands-on experts ..:)

Combating Algae

May has been a very hot month this year with the mercury crossing 42-43 degree Celsius. I do not think last 2 years have been as hot. We should be getting a couple of showers this week which should cool down things considerably. Last couple of monsoons have been deficient and we are hoping this year we get ample rains.

We have noticed that in the last couple of months, algae growth in our irrigation tanks has increased tremendously. We have emptied the tank totally dry, scraped the walls and floors and refilled it. However, a couple of days later, the green matter re-emerged.

I believe it is due to the extreme heat, however the challenge is to contain it to an acceptable level. Our current school of fish (katla and 'tiger shark') in the tank have not been very effective in combating the problem.

Below is a pic of our staff 'fishing' out algae. They love to get into the tank this given that they get a chance to cool off in the simmering heat.

Has anybody expressed this issue? If so, we would be happy to hear some suggestions how to control the issue. 

Right amount of GAP is great!

In the past year, we have received several questions around best practices and methodologies. To some, we have been able to respond contrasting our experiences with their unique situation and circumstances. However, Savera Farms is in the learning phase as well. We lean on advice and materials from those who have tread this road before us and have several years of experience on us. This posting is a growing collection of references we have used around GAP - Good Agricultural Practices. All of this is in the public domain and freely available.

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• GAP in Indian context. Very extensive guidance on various aspects of farming operation setup and procedures, including plantation crops. Click here 

• Comprehensive study on Indian produce export potential with details on production, post-harvest management and grading requirements for various international markets. Click here

• Key stats on the state of Indian agri. Interesting, detailed and with detailed trend analysis which shows we may be loosing our agriculture lead to other countries in many areas. Click here 

• Overall cultivation, harvesting and packaging GAP. Focus on fresh vegetables and dairy. Has a self assessment section, aligned for American producers but applicable for India as well. Click here

• Fairly recent publication on Indian Poultry and Egg Production Industry. Not in depth on GAP, provides high level recommendations. Lists key industry indicators and contacts. Click here

• For those in Paddy, this Thai govt document seems pretty comprehensive Rice production SOP (standard operating procedure), includes record keeping templates. Click here

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If any Agri-Consultants decide to leverage this material or contents of our blog, please do not charge aspiring agri-prenuers for such information. Please remember you got it at no cost so pass on the favor. It's just good karma! We have heard of some unscrupulous types leveraging our images & documentation for profit. :-(

In the meanwhile, hope you enjoy the following picture, it certainly rings true and close to home at Savera Farms! It is a true labor of love.

All materials are copyrighted by respective publishers. Enjoy the read!

Deweeding via Rotavator

Monsoons in 2012 were highly deficient in Tamil Nadu and a few districts in the state were declared drought hit. In Sivaganga, there were a few showers in August and September. The next 2 months which typically receives more rain, went dry.

The first week of 2013 witnessed continuous drizzling for a couple of days. With the soil moist, we put the mini tractor Rotavator to work to incorporate the weeds into the soil that had accumulated since the last deweeding.

Following are a few photos and recent videos of us deweeding Mango acerages at Savera Farms.

The 'aligners' proved to be helpful to operate close to our Alphonso saplings without casualties. After initial oversight by the farm hands, the operator was able to confidently plough close to the plants and speed up the operation.

 

The organic (bio-mass) replenishment is among the best ways to revive the land. As an added incentive, we noticed a flock of white-herons have started frequenting our plots for worms, even in days when we don't plough!

Reliable performance and speed of operation are significant advantages for mechanized deweeding in this manner. It is important to setup a regular schedule to deweed plantation crops, especially in the early phases. Training the labour force and maintenance of equipment have not been intensive so the rewards of Rotavating far outweigh the costs.

In the News : Savera Farm

Last year Savera Farms was featured on a popular Indian agriculture related forum. Please find their feature article on us via this link.

http://www.agricultureinformation.com/mag/2012/01/savera-farms

It was just now we realized it has been a year since this article was published but we did not get a chance to share it. Since this article was published we have completed Phase 1 work of about 50 acres and today we are on trajectory to wrap up Phase 2 development of approx 40 acres by summer 2013.

Hopefully some of you will find the article interesting and feel free to share your feedback and agri related experiences with this community.. It would be great to hear publicly from our readers who have recently started their own agri-operations.

Cheers!

Making of SST #2 : Random Rubble Irrigation Tank

Last month, we concluded the cultivation and development of Phase 2. This consisted of several dozen acres of Mango UHD and Melia Dubia (15x15 ft). During Phase 2, we also decided to proceed with inter-cropping of fodder crops. The large acreage required another sub-surface tank (SST) for irrigation.

Last year, we constructed our first tank. In case you missed reading that posting, you can find it here . This time around, we decided to use random rubble instead of bricks. The former has a significant cost advantage over bricks.

The new tank is 22 ft x 22 ft x 10 ft which translates into approx capacity of 1.35 lakh litres.

Steel reinforcement grid 8"x8" being laid to contain the hydrostatic pressure from the bottom of the tank

Construction of the side walls with random rubble.

Walls erected up to the ground level..

Tank ready, drip system installed!

Initial testing of tank at half capacity.



















Last time around, inner and outer sides were plastered which led to budget overruns. This time, we did not plaster the walls, instead suffered from several leaks due to gaps and partially due to poor workmanship. Subsequently, we ended up plastering the exterior sides which seems to contain the leaks. 

Due to different material and design, we were able to save considerably even though cost of cement and labor has increased in the last one year. We hope to be able to service the entire plantation between our two SST tanks including future Phase 3 needs.

Taming Monsoons - Season 2..

Last year, I had posted a blog on directing some of the rain water through channelization to avoid soil erosion and flooding of cultivated land. In case you missed it, you can find it here. We have been taking steps to further control the adverse effects of the much needed monsoons and thought of sharing some of our progress thus far.

Last month, we de-silted the channels. Excess gravel was used to make bunds along the channel bordering Melia Dubia plot (to let the water go beneath rather than flowing into the channel). Of course, this would be a problem when there is excessive rain and Melia Dubia trees (close to the bund) would be waterlogged. In that event, pipes would have to be placed under the bunds.

We have had a couple of good showers this week, which gave us an opportunity to evaluate the water flow and stagnation points and accordingly prepare before hitting the main monsoon season.
Another improvisation that was made this time was 'compartmentalization ' of the channels. A stretch of 4 feet deep channels were followed by a foot deep trough (10 feet long). This was done to enable filling of 4 ft deep compartment before flowing into the next compartment and retain as much water as possible and replenish the underground water table.

Water flowing into one of the 4 ft deep  compartments.

A 4 ft trough filled almost to its maximum holding capacity in a 45 min shower.

Drop by drip!

A couple of you had requested to post a blog on drip installation, so here are my initial thoughts and learnings. At the outset, designing and installing drip may seem to be a daunting task but once you have gone through the process, the science and technique can be mastered. Firstly, let me break down the essential components of a drip system -

1) Head Unit: This connects the water source (borewell) to water carrier system (PVC pipes). Depending on the quality of water, it may contain a hydro-cylonic filter and a disc filter to remove sand particles and impurities.

This is our head unit. Blue tank contains heavier impurities which need to be cleaned periodically. Finer impurities are filtered by disc filter (black)

Three control valves that control the water in each direction. This is IMPERATIVE (for big farms) and will save you a lot of walking.













2) Water carrier system: There is mainline that connects the head unit to the end of the plot. Typically, perpendicular to mainline are sub-main lines. The pipe size of sub-mains are smaller than main line. At the junction of main and sub-main lines is a valve to control the flow of water for a particular section of the plot.

Two valves for mango and vegetables. It is a good idea to have separate valves for each to control irrigation and fertigation.

It is always a good idea to have a bypass pipe (the one leading into the tank) to avoid high pressure and potentially bursting of pipes.
We used this while irrigating Brinjal. Area under irrigation was much smaller compared to the outflow of pump, hence water had to be pumped back into the tank (yes, not the most efficient method! )




3) Laterals: This is the pipe that actually delivers the water to the plant. There are two types of laterals - Inline and Online.

• The former is used typically for vegetables, bananas where continuous wetting is required or roots grow laterally or the spacing between plants is close (in cm). There are built-in drippers inside the lateral pipe. 
• The latter is used for orchard crops where the distance between two trees may be large (in meters). In online laterals, external drippers need to be attached to the lateral. The holes in laterals come in multiple spacings (30 cm, 45cm, 60 cm etc). Like wise, the drippers come in different water discharge rates - 4 Liters per hour (lph), 8lph etc. Depending on the crop, water requirement, operating time, your drip installer should be able to tell you which one is suitable.

Online dripper

Inline dripper















  


Some DOs and DON'Ts

1. When you are dealing in big acreages (10 acre +), it is advisable to use a JCB to dig out the trenches. Digging manually is not only inefficient but very time consuming. 
2. When reviewing a drip design, ensure you have the ability to control water to all sections of the farm in a centralized manner. In other words, it is a good idea to have 4 'control valves' for the four directions. Closing one of them should completely shut off the water for that part of the farm irrespective of 'local valves' position. This will save you a lot of walking.
3. You should perform 'flushing' of drip lines (both PVC pipes and laterals) periodically (once in 15 days) to avoid clogging of pipes.
4. If you plan on inter-cropping between orchard crops, make sure there are separate pvc pipes/valves for both for fertigation purpose else you will end up fertigating both the crops at the same time. In other words, you will end up fertigating Urea on Mango and Brinjal when it is only needed for Mango. It seems common sense but a leading drip irrigation provider did not figure this before we pointed this out.
5. Use pressure compensated drippers if your land has a gradient.
6. At the time of irrigation, make sure the pressure valve reading does not exceed 2 kg/cm^2. Higher pressure can lead to bursting of PVC pipes.
7. If your drip irrigation schedule involves multiple sessions (typical in bigger farms), always open the second section's valves first and then close the first section's valves. Again pressure build up can damage the pipes.
8. It is a good idea to have a bypass valve at the water source to create multiple water sources for shadenet or labour quarter etc.
9. If you plan on having avenue trees or trees not irrigated by drip, it is again a good idea to have water outlet points that can tapped from PVC pipes that lead to a central tank. So every time you run the borewell to fill up the tank, you can irrigate trees that are not irrigated by drip.
10. Ensure that the laterals are not very long. More the distance from submain, lesser will be the pressure at the last dripper. Installation folks should be able to tell you what is the maximum length one can go without realizing drastic pressure loss. In our case, it was 40m. This will vary depending on the outlet pressure, topography of land, water requirement of crop etc. 

Hopefully some of these suggestions will save you time and effort. Feel free to respond with additional suggestions for other readers.

Successful Indoor Cultivation

Over the last few months, a few people have inquired about our goals for Hydroponics in 2012. As always, we'll keep everyone posted around our progress, until then here is a succinct write up on key aspects of this efficient and profitable agri practice.

8-step guide to Successful Hydroponics

1) The Right Environment
Having the right environment is critical for your garden. Key elements to a successful garden room include relative humidity, temperature, CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and air circulation/exchange. The ideal humidity for a garden room falls between 40 & 60 percent. Some plants like higher humidity, but know that higher humidity can lead to problems with fungus and disease. Temperatures in your grow room should be between 68 – 75 F degrees. Temperature changes will lead to variations in humidity levels. Assuming you have good air circulation/ exchange, your garden room will naturally have between 300-400 PPM (parts per million) of CO2; higher CO2 levels should accelerate growth rates. If you choose not to supplement CO2 in your garden room, it is important to address the air circulation/exchange so that your plants will receive fresh CO2.

2) Start off with Good Water
The water you use for your plants will determine how well your plants will grow, regardless of what you add in terms of nutrients and supplements.PPM (parts per million) or EC (electrical conductivity) are the measurement of the salts in a solution. Neither PPM nor EC readings will tell you what is in your solution / water, but rather are indicators of the solutions ability to conduct electricity. Ideally, you want to start of with a low PPM or EC then you can add nutrients specified to your plants requirements. You can reduce the PPM of your water using a Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) unit then build your nutrient solution around what your plants need. pH (potential hydrogen) measures the acidity or alkalinity of your solution on a scale of 0 – 14. When working with hydroponics you typically want your pH to fall between 5.8 and 6.2. When growing in soil or coco you want your pH between 6.0 and 6.8.

3) Choose a Method
Ebb & Flow gardens flood and drain a tray of plants with a nutrient solution at regular intervals. A drip garden provides nutrient solution to the plant through tubes & emitters (drip stakes) to each plant. Aeroponic growing mists an oxygenated nutrient solution directly to the roots of a plant. NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) gardens create a slow moving nutrient solution -‘film’- that flows over the roots of the plants. Organics have become a preferred method of growing. Choose the size container you want, an organic soil/medium, an organic fertilizer and water by hand.

4) Choose a Medium
Growing mediums act as the anchor for the plants root system. Some add nutritional value to your plants while others simply give the roots something to hold on to. Some mediums to consider are soil, soil-less mixes, coco, hydroton, rockwool/stonewool, or silica stone. Coco is available in both a loose and compressed form. Coco is made from the husks of a coconut, and it is very pH stable and provides good moisture retention and natural aeration qualities. Hydroton or clay pebbles are made from expanded, pH neutral clay. They tend to hold water well and have great oxygen to water ratio; this makes hydroton suitable for hydroponic and soil gardens. Rockwool is made from stone that is heated then spun into fibers. It is then compressed into starter cubes, grow blocks, or slabs. This medium has excellent oxygen to water ratio. Rockwool works best in an ebb & flow and drip systems. Silica stone is a rock that contains high levels of silicate which helps slow transpiration rates of plants. This is especially helpful in garden rooms that have temperatures above 85 F degrees.

5) Nutrients
Like humans, plants require food (nutrients) to grow. Nutrients come in organic and synthetic varieties and are available in both liquid and dry form. Nutrients can be separated into two categories, macro and micro nutrients. The macronutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. The micronutrients or trace nutrients include iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum and chlorine. If the nutrients are deficient or are abundant you may see burning, curling or yellowing. You do not want to over or under fertilize. Most nutrients/fertilizers will have an N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) on the front of the bottle. In the vegetative or growth stage the “N” will typically be higher. In the flowering or bloom stage the “P” will typically be higher. You may also consider implementing additives/supplements into your nutrient mix

6) Lighting
High Intensity Discharge (HID) is the preferred lighting in a garden room. The two types of HID lighting commonly used are HPS (High Pressure Sodium) and MH (Metal Halide). HPS lamps deliver more of an orange/ red spectrum, which is ideal for most plants in the flowering/bloom stage. Another type of lighting ideal for plant growth is T5 lighting. T5 lighting is a high-output fluorescent light with low heat and minimal energy consumption. It is an ideal light for cuttings, mother plants and short growth cycles. All plants require light in order to grow and bloom. Most plants grow and bloom according to the amount of light they are given. In the growth or vegetative stage plants typically want 15-18 hours of light. In the bloom stage you reduce the amount of light your plants get to 10-12 hours.

7) Testing Equipment
There are many different meters available for testing pH, PPM, EC, temperature, humidity, CO2 and light levels. Single meters are available as are combination meters that test and/or monitor your environmental conditions The important thing to remember is your garden will only be as good as the limiting factor. Water, nutrient, light, temperature, humidity, CO2 & circulation are the elements to a successful garden room. By “dialing in” these elements, you will ensure a successful and bountiful produce.

8) Optional Accessories
There are many items available to help your garden grow. Organics, controls, fans, blowers, plant stakes, relays, nutritional supplements and the lists go on. Consult with your retail supplier to discuss what the best accessories for your garden are. Good luck!!

Credits : http://www.purelyhydroponic.com

Ultra High Density Mango (UHD) planting complete!

We started our mango planting on Oct 11, 2011 and once again the sun god was cooperative enough to make the process fairly comfortable. A total of 10 acres was planted using this innovative cultivation technique promoted by Jain irrigation. The spacing grid we followed was 3m x 3m.

In retrospect, UHD land preparation had its own share of challenges.
Due to the close spacing, moving around within the plot was not easy after the 3 ft x 3ft x 3 ft pits were dug by a JCB (do not even think digging by manpower! ). We ultimately dozed every alternate mound of mud so that the terrain could be more accessible (this is something we should have done in the first place, transporting the soil elsewhere by a tractor).
Secondly, due to higher number of pits, the requirement for farm inputs like FYM, vermicompost is huge! So if you are not in a position to procure enough inputs, I would not recommend this farming technique.

Crossing these mini mountain ranges was not fun. Gravel soil made the area very slippery and manuring was next to impossible..

So we hired a JCB to doze down every alternate mound off soil.

..and in the process our tractor driver learnt a lesson or two about skillful driving between the pits!














After the initial manuring of FYM, Vermicompost and coir pith manure (15 Kg total), all pits were covered and peg marked.

Ready for peg marking..


















On planting day, we had 6-7 teams of 2 members working in parallel, in addition to 3-4 more people who helped with the logistics and transportation of saplings from nursery to the field.

Mango is susceptible to root rot during heavy rains. So we made a drum full of Bavistin solution (2 gm/L of water) and saplings were immersed in it before planting.

We did not apply any FYM during planting but added 200 g of Neemcake (fertilizer cum insecticide) and 100 g of Single Super Phosphate (enhances root growth)

Planting in process..

















..and 5 days later we completed 10 acres of UHD - approx 4500 saplings.

















UHD method of cultivation involves continuous pruning once the saplings reach 1-1.5 m height. I will provide more info when we get to it. For now, all of us are thrilled that we were able to achieve our objectives in relatively good time. Having completed phase 1 of the project, we will be taking a break for a few weeks before we commence the next phase.

Shadenet - One big green ship in a sea of red!

In our long list of infrastructure development initiatives, shade net was an important one. Primarily because we needed an area to store the saplings which arrived almost 3-4 weeks before scheduled planting. Apart from storage of new saplings, we intend to raise a vegetable nursery within the structure. For now, we plan on sowing enough brinjal seedlings for about an acre on the field. Once we are done with this, we will try getting adventurous with some of the other exotic and not-so exotic veggies - just to prove the concept before scaling it up.
Following are some of the pictures of the shade net construction.

A total of 91 of these clamps were used for this structure measuring 120 ft by 60 ft. Distance between 2 successive poles was 10 ft.

Getting the structure intact..

A round of rotavator was performed before putting the fabric. (This was done to make the soil fine for the nursery)

Stretching the fabric..covering the top of the structure.Fabric was a mix of 50% and 35%. (35% means only 65% of sunlight penetrates through the roof)

Sewing up the corners..

A simple mix of cement mix, stones and sand was used to keep the base sturdy.

The sides need to be earthed up (about 8-10 inches high). This not only keeps the wall erect but also prevents rain water from entering inside.

Completed..

Sub surface Tank construction: A mini project in itself..

Things are starting to heat up at Savera Farms while the temperatures have finally started to decline. We are 3 days away from planting Melia Dubia and all of us have been busy with drip installation, manuring, and getting ready for planting our first batch of saplings. Due to a busy schedule especially on the infrastructure front like shadenet, water tank, drip etc, I have not been very regular on the blogging..
This post is on construction of Sub surface tank which essentially will be used for water storage. Three borewells will feed in the water and there will be one outlet that will irrigate approx. 30 acres via drip pipes. Due to a big acreage and moderately high water requirement, a tank was deemed essential. In addition, storage is essential especially in areas with regular power cuts.
My photo timestamps show that it took us 7 weeks to complete this. The dimensions are 40 ft x 40 ft x 5 ft and has a storage capacity of approx 2 lakh liters.
Below are some of the pictures of the tank construction and hopefully will give you a good idea on this engineering marvel!

JCB was able to dig the pit in approx 8 hours..

Constructing a solid foundation is imperative due to pressure exerted by underground water level during monsoons. We used a mix of cement, stones and sand.

Walls are erected..

Working on the partition walls..

Reinforcing the side walls with 'chicken mesh'. Cement was plastered over the mesh to give the structure more strength.

Plastering in process..

One of the three borewells is finally functioning.

Engineering marvel is finally up and functional!!
















Next week, we will be attaching SST submersible pump to the drip setup. More details on drip in the coming weeks!