The Duck Project fundraising campaign

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We have been thinking about ducks in the paddy crop for many years. We kept postponing it since we are already buried under a daily intense workload, and taking up something more is always an extra effort and needs a good reason to do so. There have been studies where they combine ducks (and or fish) with a rice crop in Southeast Asia with success. Ducks take care of the weeds, fertilize the field, and stimulate rice plant growth by moving around the plants throughout the day. They also control pests by eating insects, snails and what not.

Last year was a very difficult paddy year when, because of various reasons, the weeds overgrew the paddy crop and we had to spend an enormous amount of labor (and money) on weeding; we lost entire plots of paddy and on a lot of fields the crop was reduced heavily. It became clear that unless we find a way to control the weeds better the crop will become unviable. This summer we have been initiating a new project to integrate ducks into rice cultivation. We purchased 53 ducks and learned a lot about growing them up and herding them around. After they were grown the Lake Estate farm of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram took them over. Now we got a new flock of 222 young birds, which have been introduced in the paddy fields this season where they control weeds very effectively and plants look healthy where they have been introduced. To take care of 6 acres paddy we would need to bring in 1200 ducks. For this we need to increase infrastructure on the farm substantially. This project has the potential to change the face of the farm; to integrate ducks to increase production and move closer to the ideal of natural integrated and healthy farming on a larger scale.

With the Duck project, we are participating in the
AVI USA Matching Campaign 2023.
When you donate through their site this month,
they will double the donated amount.
Click here and double your impact this December!

(For FS account holders, you can also transfer your donation directly and anytime on account #0465)

Have a look at the budget calculated for the project if you would like to know the details.

A Long Summer, 2023

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Ducks at Annapurna
This summer we have been initiating a new project to integrate ducks into rice cultivation. We purchased 53 ducks and learned a lot about growing them up and herding them around. After they were grown the Lake Estate farm of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram took them over.
Now We got a new flock of 222 young birds, which will be introduced in the paddy fields in the coming season and we hope they will help reduce the labor of paddy weeding and increase rice yields.

Fence Pilot 3
After having done a small concept pilot (1) we worked with a contractor to put down around 120m fence (pilot 2) We have arrived at the third pilot where we mechanized most of the lifting of pillars and cuddapah slabs and hired in a few more people to build the next 80m or so last month.
We are looking at the results and will continue with this project after the monsoon in January. We think the last trial will be best for us with less labor cost and better quality of fence.

Irrigated area extension and installation solar pump
We are in the process of extending our irrigated area with two more acres. This area will be mainly used for animal fodder. We are aiming to bring back the grain feed for the dairy herd and increase green fodder. This project was made possible by a donation through Waterlink.
Then we installed a solar pump on one of our rainwater catchment areas and so we pump rainwater into the fields with solar power. Another step towards a more sustainable way of farming. The pump was donated by a well wisher.

Annapurna Farm “Summer” Cheese
We had a usual drop in demand of produce/products in Auroville during summer. Our cows do not agree with this human behavior and keep producing milk like usual. This summer Massimo from M&M Cheese offered to trial some semi-hard cheeses to help us manage the milk flow in these low demand months. We are happy with the taste and texture of this new cheese: Annapurna Farm ‘summer’ cheese. It’s a mild cheese, semi-seasoned 60+ days; and have been exclusively available on the our CSA basket list and M&M Cheese Shop at Kuilapalayam.

And Paddy begins at Annapurna,Season 2023-24

End of the Fiscal Year 2022-23

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In the past few months, we have been busy harvesting paddy, including drying, cleaning and bagging the harvest. We also procured millets, paddy and pulses from Auroville as well as from bioregional organic farms. The procuring of products happens through our Foodlink Grains activity which is based at Annapurna Farm. Most farms have very limited storage capacity and no way to process the grains. For about 10 years Annapurna has been the grain basket for Auroville. We look at the needs of various dry goods in Auroville, procure where needed and possible, store, process and deliver to Foodlink in Auroville when there is demand for these products.

Image ID: drying varagu (kodu millet) at the granary, March 2023

Then there was the end of the financial year-end accounts including stock checking and updating! For 35 years Annapurna always kept accounts in an unofficial way; over the years self-developed a management account system that was based on trust and was sufficient to steer and oversee the farm. From 2022 we are asked to deliver accounts that are to the government standard and can be audited by the CAG. This was a lot of learning and asked much more time to deliver and lots of explaining to be done to the accountants about how it all works in reality on a farm.
We were also confronted with new rules of the FSSAI, the food safety organization of the government, which is making it more difficult for small players like us to stay alive. Then we saw a dramatic raise in millet prices, which in itself is great, but has repercussions for the farm which are quite challenging.
More about all that, and more, later.

Faiza calved mid-March
Faiza’s calf and the young bulls

Sesame Harvest 2023

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We harvested the rain-fed sesame crop from the far-out plot [id: 373] this week. It took us 3 days to finish the harvest* from 4 acres, but we managed to harvest most of the crop in time without seed loss [shattering] due to over-ripening.
*Sesame is harvested when the leaves turn yellow and start drooping and the seed capsules are green/lemon yellow by pulling out the plants.

Once the bundles come to the drying floor, they are stacked and “smoked” as a traditional post-harvest pest control method and left to mature till the seed pod is ripened. After 8 days the plants are taken out of the pile and dried in the sun. During the drying process the seed capsules will open and the seeds fall out on the floor. Once all seeds are on the floor, the plant stalks are removed and the seeds are dried, cleaned and stored in plastic airtight containers and flushed with CO2 because sesame seed is easily infested by weevils and bugs during storage. Before processing or sale, seeds are washed and re-dried.

Looking back over this season of rain-fed sesame crop, there was just enough rain to get the seeds germinated and plants established in the early stage and a few light rains to develop the crop. Rain-fed post monsoon crops are quite risky and it is very important that we get the right amount of rain at the right time or one can easily loose the crop when rains fail or are too heavy.
As plot 373 was tilled for the first time for the cultivation since many years, we did not observe the overwhelming growth of weeds and avoided weeding altogether. We protected the field with a solar powered electric fence to keep out the pigs, deer and village cows/goats.
Sesame at Annapurna is processed into ‘Gomasio’ to make the cultivation economically viable. Gomasio is a dry condiment/seasoning made using toasted sesame seeds and Himalayan salt (Classic Blend) and another with addition of pepper to the original classic blend. This is a low-sodium, nutritious, umami-rich seasoning that you can complement with a variety of foods, especially salads or simply plain rice and ghee!

Sesame capsules (pods)
Ladies coming back with the harvest.

Other Crops and Paddy Updates

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We finished harvesting the first paddy (CO43) and the straw was put into bales. We had to rush the bales to the store because there were predictions for rain.
The next variety (called Annapurna – used for complete rice) is ripening and can be harvested soon. The last variety; our red rice “Poovan samba” is coming into the heading stage in the fields and will be harvested last.

  • CO43 harvest getting ready for the storage.
  • Straw bales waiting to be picked up.
  • Manjula in Annapurna fields.

As the paddy season passes; we have a sesame and mustard crop getting ready for harvest on the far out plot(id 373) which was sown in the newly planted gliricidia plantation. This crop was sown in the end of November as a post monsoon crop. These are rain fed crops and need little water only.

  • Plot 373 in early December 2022
  • Sesame | Mustard field, January 2023
  • Sesame in the flowering stage.
  • Mustard flowers.

Here’s the new tractor implement – mulcher in action, preparing a field (plot 392BB south) to sow green gram + cowpea + ragi mix under irrigated conditions. This is an experimental plot where we work in alleys between Gliricidea rows with micro sprinklers. We hope to expand this type of cultivation in the years to come.

  • Shredding gliricidea alleys before plowing.
  • Shiva prepares the field for sowing.
  • Micro sprinklers between alleys.


Paddy Harvest Begins

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Last sown “Poovan Samba” on the left and first sown CO43 ripening on the right, Annapurna January 2023

At Annapurna, we began our new year starting with the paddy harvest. As the sequence of sowing paddy in multiple seedbeds, we have paddy starting to ripen from late December to early March.
This year weather favored us with light rather than no showers close to this harvest. We hand-harvested early sown Bhavani (test field) and CO43 seed field for precision while the rest of the 3.5 acres were harvested using a track combine harvester – a smaller machine than a regular combine harvester; a bit higher on the price point but works efficiently in the wet field conditions without making deep tracks on the paddy fields.
Currently harvested paddy is being sun-dried, followed by winnowing to clean and separate filled grains from empty husks. This particular seedbed was into the heading – flowering stage during rainy-cloudy days which does have negative effects on the pollination process. We will be curious to see how many bags (KG) this early sown paddy variety fills.

Pests & Predators | Paddy Fieldnotes Dec 2022

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Early sown varieties, Co43 and Bhavani (seasonality test) are past flowering and currently are in the ripening stage. As explained in Principles and Practices of Rice Production by S K De Datta,
“At the time of anthesis (blooming or flowering), the panicle is erect in shape. The panicles flower begins at the top, middle and lower thirds, occurring on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd day after stage – heading. Rice is highly self-pollinated. The florets open from 0900 to 1500 depending on variety and weather. They open early on bright days and late on humid and cloudy days. The stamens elongate and anthers move out of the flowering glumes as pollen is shed. The pollen grains fall on the pistil, a feathery structure, through which the pollen tube of the germinating grains will extend into the ovary. The lemma and palea then close.”
Further, the panicle takes 25 to 35 days to fully ripen. Grain development is a continuous process in the sequence of flowering and the grain undergoes distinct changes before it matures fully in 3 stages – The milky stage, Dough stage, and Yellowing & ripening stage. The milk stage is observed when a milky white substance begins to accumulate, usually seven to 10 days after heading. The dough stage occurs about a week later as the milky substance begins to change and become the texture of bread dough. When rice grains first become firm, they are at the physiological maturity stage.

Rice panicles drooping down as the grain ripening progresses.

At this stage, we have the next round of pests circling the paddy fields – small birds – Finches and peacocks (Leaf rollers and stem borers are the first ones). At Annapurna, we host a large number of migratory paddy birds at the beginning of the paddy season who eat insects through the puddled fields where at the times young paddy seedlings become collateral damage. The paddy landscape includes tall, medium-sized trees scattered lightly throughout to host the diversity of birds to perch and nest on; which also keeps a fair check on the paddy insects-pest population. We also have a large number of peacocks on the farm who similarly serve Predatory skills as well as beauty.
With the paddy ripening, we now observe small birds flocking around the ripened panicles to pick grains. In the past season we observed peacocks keenly visit fields once the crop is fully ripened and lodged (on the ground), but this season we find them frequently visiting our semi-short variety – CO43 fields pecking on drooping panicles.

Top ripened grains grazed by birds.

We manage to keep deer and wild boars away from the paddy with the electric fence which is also one of the elements that add to paddy economics. But the peacocks and birds may need a different solution, we will be busy quantifying the damage and exploring ways to manage such pests in the coming weeks.

Paddy and Other Fields Notes | December 22

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While we are still busy with the second round of the weeding through direct sown paddy fields, we have early sown paddy coming into the flowering stage.

But paddy is not the only one coming into flowering but also Rosella and Corn. Rosella is being harvested for the processing jams and syrups while corn will be harvested in January to further trial corn flour.

View from the 3rd Banana plantation and papayas
At the end of July 2022, we extended the existing 1.5 acres of banana plantation by 0.5 acres. This plot is planted with “karpurvalli” banana suckers selected from the older plantation.
We did away with the variety of Poovan, as it was found to not suit our soil conditions. We are also testing and observing four different varieties一 Red, Robusta Dwarf, Yelakki, and Rastali一 to explore greater taste and diversity within the plantation.

Casuarina Harvest

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In September we harvested around 3 acres of casuarina trees. The 3 plantations were 8-10 years old. These were rainfed crops and the trees had become nice and tall.
In the last years, wood prices have been very low and there was no incentive to harvest the trees. But then recently the price shot up and we were happy to have them cut and earn some cash for improving the farm’s machine park.
We agreed on a weight base price and the contractor Mr. Parsuraman did all the work. We had to keep track of the weight of the wood that was transported out.

The income of the harvest bought us a few machines which the farm badly needed. Our tractor-operated rotavator which was almost 30 years old and worn out, needed to be replaced. We bought a machine which is a size wider because our current tractor can power a slightly bigger machine which will save time and fuel.
Then we bought one more brush cutter to be able to keep the electric fences weed-free and clear the bunds of the paddy fields in the season. By now we have many km of electric fences to maintain, and we needed more equipment to keep up with the work.
This week we received a mulcher. This machine is tractor-mounted and will cut vegetation like green manure crops, grass and weeds, crop residues, shrubs, etc. We hope we can make a step in reducing soil tilling and increase/improve mulching techniques.
While increasing production we try not to increase labor but make people more effective through mechanization. Labor is becoming too costly and is more difficult to get nowadays. We train people in the use of these tools through which they become more effective, and we can reward them better, which in turn motivates and attracts people to the work on the farm.

Paddy Field Notes | November 2022

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Earlier this month we closed in transplanting paddy, a total of 20 acres with primary 3 varieties – Annapurna (farmer’s select), Poovan Samba (red) and CO43 (white; for parboiling) along with “Bhavani’ for seasonality test and a couple improved red varieties, long grain basmati for seed production.

After field preparation and transplanting; weeding the paddy is an extensive task and expense. We are testing various methods to reduce the weeding efforts; starting with a direct seed drill using a paddy drum seeder (hand-operated) to give a breather from continuous transplanting to start weeding early, dryland weeding techniques (couldn’t test extensively this season) and cutting overgrown weeds (grasses) through selected growing paddy fields.
In the best-case scenario, we receive a good amount of rainfall at the beginning or before the paddy season that fills 3 of our ponds enough to keep the fields wet that controls weed growth to some extent. Wet paddy fields are also easier to pull weeds out whereas dry hard fields slow down the process.
In season 2022-23 we observe very light rain (SW) at the beginning of the paddy, usually NE wind turn by the end of October but not this season. As ponds were running dry, we pause and yet continue through the season to finish the transplant by pulling in borewells and diesel pumps to irrigate the crop extensively. While struggling with the weather, we observed an uncontrollable amount of weeds coming through some paddy fields (extended dry conditions). CO43, one of our early short-erect straw variety and test direct sown Annapurna was the most affected; as we deal with these early planted fields, there is the next round of weeds building up in later planted paddy.

But the second week of November has brought us enough rainfall to fill one of the pond to its capacity. For now we can switch off borewells and fossil fuel for the paddy season.