Market Insights and Nutritional Trends from Nestle's chief

We recently came across a rare interview with a major food marketing and processing firm. It is not often when a well known food brand leader engages the Indian media to share their vision and goals. Parsing between the marketing nuances, we thought Nestle's Worldwide Executive Director Mr Nandanand Kishore, had some interesting observations about food and nutrition trends.

• First, the marketing spiel. Nestle's largest portfolio of brands is in the processed food and snack categories. While such foods are inherently not healthy, Mr Kishore coined an interesting term, 'Responsible Pleasure'. He believes that between the fried snacks, frozen processed foods and such, it may be possible to strike a balance between taste and nutrition. Right there, we knew that he seems like a seasoned marketing professional but what caught our attention was what he felt about Indian nutritional intake later.

• For the first time worldwide, over 50% of the worlds population is living in urban environments. Not surprisingly, India is leading the pack of rural exodus to urban centers. This metric expected to only move one way. Mr Kishore spins consumption of processed food being better as fresh food consumption in India. The point we almost agreed with is that Indian consumers are often not aware of the food source. Chemical fertilizers and harmful pesticides remain constant hazards among fresh produce. Processors like Nestle claims to screen out such tainted produce making their processed products relatively safer.

• By 2050, India's demand for food and nutrition is expected to double. Food production is definitely not at pace with the projected demand. For instance, though India is the world largest dairy producer, it is not because of our production efficiency. Our per animal productivity is 10th in the world for dairy. At the end of the day, food suppliers and distributors will gravitate towards the cost effective source of production and today Indian agriculture practices have become outdated and needs major infusion of funding and technology.

• Nestle is leading the pack of over a dozen major food brands to reduce the salt, sugar and fat content in their products. Allegedly, hundred of million tonnes of transfats have been removed from current snack and processed products. With that said, we still felt the aggressive F&B industry marketing really puts the onus of healthy snack choices on the customer and most Indian customers are not very informed.

• Lastly, Mr Kishore seems to have a noble cause close to heart. Women often receive less nutrition in developing nations like India. Supposedly it may be due to them being late or last in the family eating order. This has long term impact during pregnancy and during the girl child's youth. Babies who suffered malnutrition have been shown to be predisposed to Diabetes and Blood Pressure ailments as adults. Upto 30% of Indians are said to be Diabetic which translates into the largest Diabetic population in the world.

Overall, the interview was worth a watch. Mr Kishore pitches processes food industry as a long stay in our society and ventures a few data points which indicate the safe & smart production with ethical & efficient distributed will prevail in an increasingly competitive industry. The community should take heart that this should translate as opportunities in agri production, packaging, value addition and as always, in marketing. What do you think?

Azolla Cultivation 101

To supplement our growing fodder needs, we have been busy developing alternate (and hopefully cheaper!) sources. Once such alternative on our list was Azolla. Due to competing priorities, Savera Farms Azolla initiative had been on the back-burner but recently we have begun our Azolla trials. 

For those who may not be familiar, Azolla is a great source of protein and we are hoping to reduce a significant portion of concentration mix once our initial attempts are successful. It is quite easy to cultivate and one does not need many resources to get started. Supposedly, it is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins and several key minerals. On a dry weight basis it contains 25 - 35 percent protein, 10 - 15 percent minerals and 7 - 10 percent of amino acids.

During our trials :

• 10-15 kg of sieved soil was uniformly spread over the Silpauline pit.
• Slurry was made of 2 kg cow dung and 30 g of Super Phosphate mixed in about 10 L of water. This was poured onto the sheet and additional water was added to raise the level to 10 cm. 
• About 0.5-1kg of mother azolla culture seed material was spread uniformly over the water. After a mild stirring of soil and water, the Azolla bed was allowed to settle.

 

Sieved soil with cow dung slurry 

• Fresh water was sprinkled over the Azolla immediately after inoculation to make the plants upright.  
• In about 5 days, sprouted Azolla had started to spreads across the bed. In the coming days, this is expected to develop into a thick mat.

 

                                                                    Azolla in Silpaulin pit

•  Per our instructions, a mixture of 20 g of Super Phosphate and about 1 kg of cow dung will be added once in 5 days in order to maintain rapid multiplication and encourage a daily yield of 500 gms.
• About 5 kg of bed soil will be replaced with fresh soil, once in 30 days to avoid nitrogen buildup. Periodically, fresh water will be replenished as well. 
• Mature Azolla beds are expected to yield upto  25-40 tonnes of dry matter per hectare. Their rapid, thick development is represented in this staged visual.

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There is a lot of research being done on Azolla and it has proved itself to be a legitimate source for fodder supplement and even biomass for renewable fuel production. In India, several organizations like Natural Resources Development Project (NARDEP) have been spearheading the use of Azolla for rural applications. Here are a few tips from them :

• It is important to keep Azolla at the rapid multiplication growth phase with the minimum doubling time. Therefore biomass (around 200 g per square meter) should be removed every day or on alternate days to avoid overcrowding.
• The temperature should be kept below 25°C. If the temperature goes up the light intensity should be reduced by providing shade. If possible, it is best to place the production unit where it is shady.
• The pH should be tested periodically and should be maintained between 5.5 and 7.
• The Azolla bed should be cleaned, the water and soil replaced and new Azolla inoculated once every six months.
• Wash the Azolla to get rid of the cow dung smell. Washing also helps in separating the small plants which drain out of the tray. The plants along with water in the bucket can be poured back into the original bed. 
• For use as a livestock feed, the fresh Azolla should be mixed with commercial feed in 1:1 ratio to feed livestock. After a fortnight of feeding on Azolla mixed with concentrate, livestock may be fed with Azolla without added concentrate.

This was an interesting video we found online touting the overall potential and opportunities with Azolla. Hopefully this will spur a few of you onto an entrepreneurial track!

Credits : http://www.vknardep.org/

Future belongs to nations with grains not guns

MS Swaminathan is one of the pioneers of India's Green Revolution. While most of us have only read about the Green Revolution and even fewer have actually experienced the impact, Swaminathan has lived through it. Giving up on a lucrative career in medicine, he pursued Agriculture Research and went on to become an architect of India's paradigm shift from being a grain deficit state to surplus in less than 30 years.

NDTV recently honored Swaminathan among the 25 greatest living Indians. In this recent interview several interesting points were discussed. We found the interview a grounding experience because it was a good reality check with a peek from the past. It is clear that the current, younger generation is not very interested in pursuing the agri sector and maybe rightly so with volatile agricultural returns and easier wage alternatives. However, in this interview Swaminathan reiterates the struggles faced by our predecessors to attain our current state of self-sufficiency and shares his opinion about what the future may hold.

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
George Bernard Shaw
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/past.html#YIGPtxpoMX0W7BWf.99

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, 
but by the responsibility for our future.

                                                                       

                                                                            -  George Bernard Shaw

Processing CO4 fodder for Goats & Sheep

After much delay, we were able to procure the chaff cutter machine last month. CO4 fodder which was screaming to be harvested finally saw the light of day of being chopped and processed.

The machine comes with a 2 hp motor and is available from Agri Engineering dept under subsidy. There is approx 50% subsidy available and the beneficiary pays about Rs 15000/-

While the stem of the fodder had become yellow and hard, it was chopped up and mixed with sheep manure. Eventually, we should get some good decomposed manure in a few months. Using the chopped material as a mulch was considered, but a couple of horticulture experts warned us about the risk of attracting termites.

I had posted a blog on the diet of goats and sheep a few weeks back. In case you missed it, you can find it here. 

Green fodder is chopped separately and the sheep seem to enjoy the taste of their new food.

CO4 fodder was harvested manually and will the bush cutter.

Part of the process was to finely chop the stalk for compost processing. Usually, we would try to use the fresh, succulent stem as part of animal fodder as well.

Deweeding by Brush cutter

As part of our efforts to mechanize farm operations, brush cutter is another implement which we have added recently to our growing list of machines.
The machine marketed by Oleo mac is a very handy tool to keep the weeds under control in areas of intensive cultivation and is powered by petrol. In our experience so far, it consumes 1 litre in 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on thickness of weeds).

Brush cutter in action

 

Before pic..

After pic..

Currently, we are using the brush cutter in a couple of plots where fodder is being cultivated as an intercrop with mango. Deweeding by rotavator is impossible due to close spacing, as a result this machine works well. As an effort to reuse agri waste optimally, the weeds that have been cut will be used to mulch the mango plants.

If any of our followers use better, more efficient weed management methods, feel free to share the information.

Sheep procurement at Tirumangalam market

Savera Farms made its debut in the animal husbandry department by purchasing 20 female and 1 male sheep from Tirumangalam market (approx 20 km from Madurai) last week.

We reached Tirumangalam market at 8 am and the place was a total chaos. The first impression I got at the entrance gate was that there were thousands of people in there and no animals. Puzzled, I followed the vet who accompanied us and went further in. After a short walk into the compound, we saw the animals we were seeking. There were primarily goats and sheep in all shades of white, black and brown.

First glance...Dude, where are the animals ?

We are family..

Osmanabadis from Andhra.

I need a home..

We went around the market and looked at animals from various farmers/brokers. Apparently, the animals are not sold by weight but rather on face value. After getting an idea on what the prevailing rates are, we went on a small shopping spree to procure our first herd from various sellers. Negotiations, theatrics and some more negotiation followed. Finally, we were able to procure them for an average price of Rs 3000 per female and Rs 5000 per male.

The animals we bought are Ramnad white cross variety and are considered suitable for this part of the state. These animals will primary be our grazer and 'weed-control' herd, so lineage of the animals is not of prime importance at this time.

We also saw the promotional scheme by TN animal husbandry department where the government pays for 4 goats @ Rs 2500 per animal to economically disadvantaged/ widowed women. The beneficiary has the choice to select the animals from the market and anything above Rs 10,000 is borne by the buyer.

 Animal husbandry dept officials handing out the animals to a beneficiary

It took us about 3 hours to complete the procurement process.

Loading in process..

All loaded up, ready to go...

The procurement process was a great learning experience. It can be overwhelming given the chaos etc but a couple of hours into it, one tends to feel a little more comfortable. In everyone's interest, I would highly recommend others to share their experiences as well. 

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.

Tractor mounted spraying (Moringa)

With this post, we complete 2 years of blogging today! 

Our journey into this new territory has been full of interesting experiences, most of them good and all of them educational. They say, a road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. However, a couple of years back when we embarked on this project, we undertook a journey not taken by anyone within our family and friends. In the true Techie fashion, we have learned on-the-job, taught a few and are glad to be more than hanging on!

I feel content that we kept our focus intact and tried not to deviate from our goal. Across our crops, we have concluded UHD / High Density planting of 3 Mango varieties, developed a small forest of Melia Dubia plantations, within 7 months started generating revenue from Moringa pods and finally the farm looks lush green where we have CO-4 fodder. Much progress has been made since the 5 palm trees that dotted our southern acreages a couple of years back. A lot of people have been instrumental in guiding us along the way and I am grateful to our families, friends and supporters who are often wiser and smarter than us.

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Today's post are 2 videos on a subject that we cannot stress enough - mechanization of farm operations. Mechanization is the need of the hour and any progressive farmer has to keep abreast with the latest tools and machines available to make the maintenance phase as efficient and 'labour independent' as possible. At this time we spray every fortnight and it usually takes us 6 hours for our 850 trees. We hope to reduce our spraying to one-half to (once a month) with a solid dose of organic spray.

A recent addition to our farm machinery is a tractor mounted sprayer system. These are videos of when it was initially put to test. Videos can be accessed in the following links:

 

Moringa Spray part 1  

Moringa Spray part 2

You can also view these and other videos at our YouTube Channel :  Savera Farms Youtube Videos

As always, if you have embraced efficient methods of mechanization, we are always looking to do things better, faster, cheaper. At the moment we are exploring various configurations of Rain-Guns for our fodder acreages. If anyone has experience with the Sprayer systems or Rain-Guns, we look forward to some recommendations and words of advice..

Pruning of Mango UHD Video

First round of pruning was started in Mid march. Most of the plants were above a couple of feet which got us started with the first round of pruning.It was great to see the primary branches with red tender leaves emerge a couple of weeks later.

The Great Indian Bull Run

A couple of months ago on our way to the plantation, we were desperately flagged off the road by a few pedestrians. Unknown to us, a panic stricken wave of people and animals were just around the corner! Watch to see what happened next..

Disclaimer : All references to the bullocks, men in whites and Amma are purely satirical and not any reflection on them individually. Enjoy! :)

Music Credit : Letter from Dublin by Rick Clarke

Farmer Profile : Small scale Integrated and Organic farming

Some of you may have seen this video but wanted to share this inspiring clip with our community. Simple and integrated farming practices do not have to cost a lot of money - just some hard work, knowledge and patience..hope you enjoy it :)

Credits - YouTube channel : PeteMcCormack2

Mango planting videos

Videos of our UHD Mango plantation are below. At the time of planting, 200 gm of Neemcake and 100 gm of Single super phosphate were added. The former is an organic insecticide while the latter promotes root development.  Manuring was complete earlier to expedite the planting process. Saplings were dipped in 2gm/L Bavistin solution which mitigates fungal infections.

Happy viewing!

http://youtu.be/NNt-vufb254
http://youtu.be/tDhe8OhOD1g

Melia Dubia post plantation videos

You can access the videos online at www.youtube.com/saverafarms -

Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

Melia Dubia planting in process

Pre Planting Video

We plan on planting Melia Dubia saplings tomorrow - exactly after 7 months since we started land improvement. It is a big day for all of us here at Savera Farms. Following is a video prior to planting. Next time, I shoot a video, you should see the saplings on the ground!

Pre planting video..

Case IH STX 500 Quadtrac World Ploughing Record

 

We are almost done with our initial ploughing. The soil is deep red and full of promise. It is good that this tract of land has not been cultivated for a while so the soil is not 'tired'. A few weeks of aeration will be needed and we should be good to begin the final tilling. I am looking forward to the next phase : Soil preparation, pit digging, drip irrigation design and finally sowing.

While looking online for inspiration to speed up our ploughing, I came across this video. Seems like a fun thing to do, not sure if I would ever want to plough over 200 acres in less than 20 hours!!

Diggin' it deep..

JCB lending a helping HAND..

Ploughin' its way through..

Gone in 60 seconds!

 

In this video, JCB is cutting an extremely hardy and thorny shrub called Juliaflora. Locals use this as firewood.