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Today in our farming woes, a tale of field drainage challenges: One of our best fields (supposedly) is a 1.5 acre piece of land through which the entire village's rain water passes. This means it is often water logged with serious salinity in patches.
(note the empty patch)
(note the empty patch)
Photo below shows the before condition of the fields - i.e. before we did anything.
We hoped tht good land preparation would improve things. We chisel ploughed to break any hard pan, & improve soil absorption, & made beds to raise the plants over the furrows & the water level
We hoped tht good land preparation would improve things. We chisel ploughed to break any hard pan, & improve soil absorption, & made beds to raise the plants over the furrows & the water level
So, we:
1. Chiseled
2. made Beds
3 and 4. photo of completed beds
(note from the standing water tht the furrows are not connected yet. We did that manually later since still haven't figured out an efficient way to do that using the ridger).
1. Chiseled
2. made Beds
3 and 4. photo of completed beds
(note from the standing water tht the furrows are not connected yet. We did that manually later since still haven't figured out an efficient way to do that using the ridger).
This was far from enough so we dug more drains/naalis to connect the beds together and made some deeper nalis on the edge to drain excess water out and help lower the water table. Parts of the field where the water table was at the level of the ground refused to dry up.
We also planted jantar and rotavated it hoping that improved organic content will help fight off some of the salinity. (although I don't have much evidence on that :D). The saline patches become hard as rock when dry and nothing except pigweed seems to grows there.
Meanwhile in the other half, we planted some makai & soy bean, but both got overwhelmed by weeds. These waterlogged soils specifically seem to encourage them and nothing else grows. The makai was meh and the soy bean didn't germinate till the next season. Had lush weeds though.
Meanwhile, the great rains of July/Aug hit. Major calamity, water table wouldn't lower for a long time. We hired labour to dig the marginal drains deeper. Rotavated the weeds & jantar and started over. Half the field was too wet for a tractor so making the beds took a few months!
Problem solved? Hardly. The catchment area for this rain water coming here is around 200 acres. That water isn't managed so easily. We tried to get an excavator to make the marginal drains deeper - its been 5 months, the field isn't dry enough to be able to get the excavator in..
So we investigated the problem. How long has this saline patch & high water table been an issue here?
1. 09/20 - the saline patches & the wet patches r visible.
2. 03/17 - 2 years before we leased this land.
3. 03/09 - >10 years ago, salinity persists
4. 04/05 - still there!
1. 09/20 - the saline patches & the wet patches r visible.
2. 03/17 - 2 years before we leased this land.
3. 03/09 - >10 years ago, salinity persists
4. 04/05 - still there!
Clearly we are trying to rehabilitate a land that has been a problem area for well before we started working it. So do we wait another few months hoping for it to dry enough to get an excavator in?
Do we plant some eucalyptus and fruit trees and let them grow for the next few years?
Do we invest money in subsurface drainage with perforated pipes since we already invested in fencing this land? Very costly option though.
Or do we forget all about it and terminate the lease & move our operation elsewhere?
#BaraniFarmingWoes
#FieldDrainageIsAPain
#BaraniAgriculture
#BaraniFarmingWoes
#FieldDrainageIsAPain
#BaraniAgriculture
