https://scroll.in/magazine/887024/birds-fishes-and-butterflies-meet-the-eco-managers-of-west-bengals-paddy-fields
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Monday, August 13, 2018
Conservation of FRV 2018 at ATC Fulia
ATC Fulia has been conserving Folk Rice Varieties for the last 17 years by collecting seed across the state and India. This year more than 400 FRVs have been transplanted by July and this has set record as we have been able to transplant it by July 2018.
All the seedlings of 15 days ( approx) were transplanted singly at a spacing on 12 x 10 inch keeping 3 feet gap around each plot. It was maintained by following the principles of flowering asynchrony as followed Dr Debal Deb, renowned folk rice conserver and Ecologist. Further, to prevent cross pollination we fill the plots with short duration varieties like Shatia, JP 90, Pari etc and there by more than 500 nos of plots have been established.
We do not use any outside organic matter cattle manure etc except floating azolla , released 22 days after first intercultural operation. It grows and multiplies in the fields having 1 inch of water . It gives N and other nutrients besides organic matter and suppressing of weed.
Analysis of soil microbial status shows that it has nearly 10 times higher microbial population than its counterpart that is chemical farms and soil organic carbon in nearly 0. 75%. This takes care of rice growth. After rice we grow a legume - lathyrus.
This year we had to apply external input like rice flour and molasses @ 15 kg each / ha. to boost up growth in some plots.
ATC Fulia has been conserving Folk Rice Varieties for the last 17 years by collecting seed across the state and India. This year more than 400 FRVs have been transplanted by July and this has set record as we have been able to transplant it by July 2018.
All the seedlings of 15 days ( approx) were transplanted singly at a spacing on 12 x 10 inch keeping 3 feet gap around each plot. It was maintained by following the principles of flowering asynchrony as followed Dr Debal Deb, renowned folk rice conserver and Ecologist. Further, to prevent cross pollination we fill the plots with short duration varieties like Shatia, JP 90, Pari etc and there by more than 500 nos of plots have been established.
We do not use any outside organic matter cattle manure etc except floating azolla , released 22 days after first intercultural operation. It grows and multiplies in the fields having 1 inch of water . It gives N and other nutrients besides organic matter and suppressing of weed.
Analysis of soil microbial status shows that it has nearly 10 times higher microbial population than its counterpart that is chemical farms and soil organic carbon in nearly 0. 75%. This takes care of rice growth. After rice we grow a legume - lathyrus.
This year we had to apply external input like rice flour and molasses @ 15 kg each / ha. to boost up growth in some plots.
- First Phase Seedlings in earthen trays
Single Plant Transplanting
King Fisher in search of food
Transplanting of 15 days old seedling
D Mandalghat II , Belpukur of Shyampur II Block of Howrah district West Bengal, India has a unique feature of fish (Prawn) cum paddy culture in low lying paddy fields of Patnai 23, a long grain rice selected by Sir Daniel Hamilton during early 1920s at Gosaba block of South 24 Parganas. More than 100 acres are covered by this tall Indica variety having duration of 145 days. Prawn comes to rice fields via a canal linked to River Hoogly. In this stretch of land , there are 30 MUGRIS , a kind of fish catching bamboo made device. It is made of narrow splits of bamboo. Initially, they get 10 kg of prawn each day by giving evening labour of 1.5 hours and one hour in the morning by 12 people . On an average 300 kg prawn ( mainly) is being harvest earning about Rs 75000/ ( Rs. 250 a kg) and in 4.5 months time it comes to around Rs. 3.3 lakh. They use little bit of chemical fertilisers but no pesticide but the waste dye from nearby Anantapur garment (banyan) factory pollutes the rice ecosystem and hampers growth of prawn jeopardising the livelihood of the farmers. They want this natural rice ecosystem alive for their long term livelihood. Mr Ajit Mandal is one of the leading farmers of that area.
Monday, June 18, 2018
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