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.


Alley Cropping System | Gliricidia plot:392BB [Jun – Oct 22]

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The natural diet of bovines largely comprises wild grass, tree leaves and weeds. Increased domestication, however, has motivated farmers to rely on grain-based diets, as it makes it easier to maintain large herds of cattle and harvest higher yields of produce, be it meat or milk. Grains, in comparison to grass, are easy to store, to purchase in bulk, as well as to produce. Second-grade-broken grains are often easily available (read: cheaper) for dairy.

Annapurna dairy currently relies on grains, i.e. millet-based concentrate as well as home-grown fodder and paddy straw. While fodder (greens) is much more nutritional and natural to cattle, the quantity needed for consumption is relatively higher. To grow such quantities, one would require advanced pastoral management (optimum grazing), water, land, as well as protection of the land from other wild vegetarians.

The often asked question to us is how one farm off 135 acres, the answer is to make a system that serves the need of sustaining an organic farm.

A closer look at gliricidia 323BB will help to understand this better as it aims to sustain the rotational fodder for the dairy along with irrigated food crops, such as green gram, late sesame and corn.

For years, Annapurna has been cultivating the most outlying pieces (15-20 acres) of the land under dryland gliricidia plantations to produce fodder and biomass. These gliricidia were originally planted as a dryland crop to biomass for composting-mulching, and nitrogen-fixing to the soil, create organic fodder for the dairy along with far-off land protection and erosion. Food crops used to be grown between the lines of gliricidia as well.

In the month of June 2022, with the help of increased rain harvesting capacity over the years, we prepared alleys (spacing) between gliricidia to cultivate fodder under irrigated conditions. This plot was prepared by shredding down gliricidia alleys to provide the biomass for the first rotation with fodder crop 一 Phaseolus Tribola and perennial fodder Sorghum.

This system was visualized by Tomas years ago as a mean to reduce yearly compost input (creating biomass | organic matter). In the coming season, we intend to observe if the plot will be able to sustain itself with the biomass created from the gliricidia and legume crop rotation. This plot will further rotate into food crops and eventually into a fruit plantations; banana.

The aim is to slowly move towards minimizing the reliance on millet grains to having the herd predominantly fodder (grass)-fed while extending the land under long-term cultivation. As of today we harvested about a ton of leguminous fodder – Phaseolus Tribola and test cut of the perennial fodder sorghum from 392bb.

Alley Cropping System*

Hedgerow intercropping, also referred to as Alley cropping system is a type of strip cropping or agroforestry practice, in which fast growing trees and shrubs are established on the arable lands and annual food or forage crops cultivated in the “alleys” between the hedgerows. The shrubs or trees are usually planted in rows of 2.0 m to 6.0 m apart, with crops cultivated between rows. The trees or shrubs managed as hedges are pruned periodically during cropping phases to prevent shading of companion crop and the pruning applied to the soil as green manure and / or mulch. This improves the organic matter status of the soil besides proving nutrients, especially nitrogen. This system also creates a more favorable microclimate for crops by shielding them from drying winds. Trees or shrubs and crops components are managed to be complimentary rather than competitive.