Overflowing Irrigation Tank: Manapet, Bahour, Puducherry, INDIA

This is part of a system of Irrigation tanks  in the Bahour Commune of Puducherry, INDIA. This is the Manapet Tank..With a just a couple of days's of rainfall, the tank is full and overflowing... Most of the tanks in Bahour are full now. These tanks are of great value to the ground water  recharging as well as to the local agriculture.  Many of the tank systems are under threat from encroachments, pollution, neglect from the people as well as the state..but thanks to the active Tank Associations in Bahour, they are exist today...

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From Seedlings to Seed Again!!!

A shot from my field trip to Magdi, Bangalore.

Nursery of paddy variety called "Rathnagiri", a vary tasty rice as claimed by the local farmrers. Once the nursery of seedlings is about 25 to 30 days old, they are transplanted into the main field where they will take another 4 months or so for maturing. Then the rice is harvested, dried, processed (boiled and dried) and pound to get rice. And before the paddy is processed, the farmer selects the best grains and dry them well and keep them in special seed storage bins with pest repelling plants so that he/she has quality seeds for the next crop. So from seeds to seedlings and back to seeds or rice, how much work is there ?!!!

Imagine, if the poor farmers did not toil, what will we do for our delicious food grains?

Agriculture is one area where indigenous knowledge and expertise is so much that even the experts dont fully understand the systems in its wholeness. A thousand salutes to the poor Indian Farmer !!!