This is the second consecutive year of incessant rains all over Telangana, stretching for a good 5 months from June to October.
This has hit our vegetable cultivation big time and we will take at least 2-3 months more to get back to a point of getting yields. This is assuming the rains have really ended and our current planting will go well.
The main problems are that land preparation and all other operations become impossible when the rains continue for days non-stop. Water logging causes death of the plants, however much drainage we try to provide.
If you are a vegetable farmer, how do you manage vegetable production through the rains? This is probably a common problem in some parts of the country such as the North East - what ideas and techniques can be applied to overcome this?
Thank you. I may have explained to you that I farm in Hawaii as well as Pacific coast of Canada.
I suspect the rainfall you have is similar to Hawaii and I am on the island of Kauai one of the wettest place on earth and it can rain 8-12 in in a day sometimes with flash flooding.
I have dealt with this problem in two different ways although I shall not claim that it has been 100 percent effective.
I have built raised beds 12 in deep filled with compost in some areas and I have terraced other areas. Some of my raised beds are also terraced but I have made 1 in holes in the walls of the terrace to allow for draining.
I have noticed that areas where I have started permaculture with bananas and papayas are also very protective against flooding and absorb water and provide ongoing composting by virtue of the trees falling and decaying all the time. So I do not have the perfect solution if I have many different ways of dealing with the one problem obviously but I think you have to anticipate the floods and prepare ahead and there are different solutions for different areas.
Also planting vine crops like coyote squash and other types of squash is useful in that you may salvage one drop at least since they thrive in these conditions…
The pictures you sent also make me me think if the land needs trenching all around to manage the water and if this water can be channeled into a holding area for usage during the drier months…
Generally raised bed technique is adopted. Your picture shows you have also followed same. But the size of bed shall be 6 feet wide and 3 ft depth, which is ideal where water clogging is prevalent. Two parallel drip lines can be run with the gap of 3 feet on the raised bed. On either side of the raised bed, 2 Ft wide canals shall be dug and this dug up soil can be used for making raised bed. In this canal, dry and wet leaves or farm waste materials can be filled as mulching. Through this canal, excessive water during rainy season can be drained out. Or if there is little spells of rain, this mulching materials will keep moisture in the soil and act as a manure too.
Thanks. We got a 3’ trench dug this year but the rains have been unusually heavy and continuous. Looks like we need to revisit the plotwise drainage.
Thanks, it appears that we will have to redesign our beds/ridges for the next rainy season. Permanent structures are out of the league but I am thinking of wider, higher beds.
Coyote squash sounds completely alien around here, but will dig to see what other crops might make sense.
While drainage is problem#1, how do you manage land preparation, sowing, interculture while the soil is slushy? The rainy season has been a complete holiday from work for our folks
In Canada the springs are wet and cold but I have more work with the vegetables inside my home. I have grow lamps and sew seeds for lettuce/salads corn green beans corn . Some like lettuce cauliflower broccoli and other cooler crops will be transferred directly to wet cold soils but corn will be transferred to the hothouse that I built of 5/8 in polyester for several weeks sometimes waiting for weather and soil to get hotter before transplanting outside…other crops are simply grown inside the poly tunnels hothouse raised beds permanently like okras Asian beans water melons and musk melons and tomatoes…
@shanmughant Welcome back, nice to hear from you after a long while.
From the video, I am picking it as (very) raised beds + mulch.
Keen to gather all the ideas and have a perfect plan before the next rainy season. Thank you.
I also use plain cardboard without any ink at the bottom of the raised beds as they ensure no weeding will be needed for years and the cardboard decomposes in 6 week usually…
Last year , my 8 Acre farm , 50 kms from Pondy, near ECR experienced Floods like river flowing thro my Land–Devastating— 3.5 acres of Karuppu kavuni rice, 2 Acres of sugarcane and Fruit trees ( Small ones) got wiped off completely.
Worst was that the Top soil was flushed away leading to poor soil conditions–I am a natural farmer for last 6 Years
Sounds terrible. Hope you are able to get things back to normal quickly.
We have been discussing options for vegetables but am guessing rice and sugarcane will need different management for such situations.
Back in the day we studied about such rains in Cherrapunji and Meghalaya. We joke in our farm team that TS is now part of North Eastern states; can include TN/KA too.
I am terribly sorry to hear this. I feel like you when I lose trees to windstorms in Hawaii and in Canada where I farm.
Not sure about exact topography of your land but I suspect that you will need to invest in trenches and raised beds to address the problem and you will need to get a machine operator to do the work. It would also depend on what you intend on growing and whether there is a possibility to store the water in retention ponds to be released when you have dryer conditions…
Also invest on trees around your property that absorb lots of water. I use hybrid poplars and weeping willows to suck up excess water in wet spots in Vancouver area just outside and there must be tree varieties that do same in the tropics…
May be think about keeping animals cows? laying hens ? To produce compost to replenish your soil. Hen manure is good for fruit trees generally because it’s acidic and cow manure for just about everything else…
I wish you luck and good fortune for the future…
