Prepare against unseasonal rains to protect the produce from our fields

How far to continue under the threat of unseasonal rains?

My Dear Farmers,

During Kharif 2010, there was very harsh experience with many farmers whose standing matured crops of Mung, Udid, Soybean,Sorghum, Bajra, etc. were damaged and our friends succumb to the enormous losses due long wet spell. We may take some lesson from it and get prepared for such unseasonal rains to protect the produce from our standing crops like TUR (Arahar), cotton and other kharif or rabi crops. We can take some measures to cut the losses from such rains at maturity.

What can be done? 

• Have you seen the shop vendors in weekly bazaar sitting with their goods for sale in a small tent of canvas sheets hanged on three bamboo sticks (two vertical and one horizontal), and stretched at four corners tied on the iron nails or bamboo pegs? Definitely, my farmer friends have seen it. 

Temporary cover

• How the run off water coming down from the tent is not allowed to damage his goods? Very simple. The platform to keep the goods is a raised bed by 3 to 5 inches (15 to 25 cm) simply using small stones supplemented by some soil. The furrow is prepared at borders by digging with a small crowbar or by a hard iron nail and the soil coming out of it is put on the platform.  

• Such little conscious efforts and small investment can save large amount of losses. Why not to take this model on our farm where we are growing our crops for years together? For an individual it is very easy and feasible.

•  If you are convinced, you can decide following things according to your choice and investment capacity. It can be temporary portable unit.Location of the platform required for the crop harvest before threshing based on convenience and labor cost for transport,

• Dimensions of the platform needed for the crop
• The field may be divided in suitable grids, each of which may be of about an acre area, provided with the space for platform.
• Materials to be used for the platform and tent i.e quality of tarpaulin or simple plastic paper sheets,
• Bamboo or iron pipes,
• Height of the platform and 
• Materials to be used for raising it.
 



Platform

• If you decide to have good quality tarpaulin on large scale, a pool can be developed by a group of 10 or more farmers. Contribution of small amount from each of them will make it big pool of >10 tarpaulins. There is every possibility that every one of the group members may not require the tarpaulin at the same time. We can formulate certain rules for custom hiring the items from such pool for members and non-members. It may be further developed into a private entrepreneurship by few rural youths.
  
  
• May I add here that Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola has demonstrated a portable emergency cover for the threshing floor. It is round in shape. It can be seen at the Post Harvest Technology Museum at this university's Post Harvest Scheme.