Latest Harvest of BG 352 - Sudu Kekulu

The machine disgorging the paddy late into the night.


I used the services of a combined harvester to cut, thresh and bag my paddy on Friday. The machine worked into the night as it can perform its duties at night as it has lights. The cost to me for the 3 acres was at the rate of Rs9.000 per acre. The total harvest though not weighed, was 90 bags, which is not excellent, but satisfactory when compared to my neighbors who suffered loss due to severe disease towards the end of the cycle.



The open hands collect fallen paddy by scooping it up and then cutting it with the rollers. However there is an element of paddy that gets left behind if the fallen paddy has got soaked making it difficult for the machine to scrape the sheaves from the ground.


The combined harvester at work in a paddy field, cutting, threshing, disposing of the straw and collecting the paddy to be disgorged into sacks from time to time.

one day they will either pull a cart or end up as tasty morsels, how will you know?

The one on the left born on Dec 26th 2009 is known as Tsunami as he was born on the tsunami anniversary and the other fellow born exactly two months later and at birth was almost the current size of Tsunami was named Mahanami

recent pics from the rajarata

A tomato plant before flowering.


One of my vegetable plots with tomato in the foreground and watakolu in the background framed by the paddy fields


The photo was taken at dawn as he sun was rising from the East burning the morning dew on the rice fields. This dew also gives moisture Mornings are very cold and one has to be completely wrapped up in bed with at least a sheet. This in contrast to the unbearable heat in Colombo.

the fields two days ago, to be harvested on March 19th

New Birth

The male calf born three days ago will either end up on a table as ninety


five percent do or be of some use.

.We will try along with the other male born two months ago use them to pull a cart or to use them to plough where the tractors have failed as described in earlier blogs.

A little appreciated fact despite all the pretend talk to the contrary, is that there is no use at all for bulls. At least in India cow dung is valued and collected along the roads also and the males play there part in this.

Don't forget there is limited fodder for cattle feed so a considered plan is essential in achieving the dual goals of maximizing milk production and prohibition of cattle slaughter, if that is part of the government policy.

As usual in anything agricultural there are unelated issues that always puts a spanner in the works of achieving the productivity and potential from our land. Until these conflicting aims are resolved there is no point in making silly stetements and scoring political points to fool the public.

This is but one example of many similar issues.

milling is no easy task in choosing the shade

I spent the best part of the morning at the local paddy mill, where people go to mill their paddy be it parboiled or regular. I needed to top up my depleted supplies to my shop on the farm, so I had to take all the types I had in store this time.

My orders for red basmati has suddenly increased, as I gave demonstrations on how it was to be cooked. CIC sell it as a Golden Crop rice at Rs 170 a kg but I can assure the reader that theirs is not as fresh as mine. This rice was grown in a few fields in the adjoining property so I have a limited supply, and I regret selling the main supply as an out-grower for CIC, as it would have been better to sell it direct to my customers, as the huge loss I incurred would have at least resulted in a break even situation.

I milled it into two shades of red, and while I had less of the lighter shade, milled, I suspect the demand will be for the lighter shade though I can tell you the darker red is much tastier. This Basmati can be eaten on its own as it is really tasty, but one can only eat it in small quantities.

I also milled my red samba and red long grain both into different shades of red to suit the likes of different customers. I also milled the white Pokuru Samba that has a grain that is between normal Samba and the tiny grain of Keeri Samba.

It costs Rs 2 to mill a kg of paddy. On average 3 kgs of paddy yields 2kgs of rice. Therefore the milling cost of a kg sold is Rs3. If one puts the rice through the machine that eliminates stones, that adds a further 50 cents to the milling cost.

One has to be on site to agree on the shade to be milled as the individual customer preferences is not known to the miller, and cannot be communicated even by the provision of a sample as those in charge rarely manage to follow your orders.

I brought more than 500 kg of milled rice on this visit as suddenly the demand for my rice has increased due to the price increases elsewhere. I have not changed the price of my rice for many years, and now the external prices have exceeded mine, and therefore the customers see the worth in mine, whereas some thought it too expensive in the past. My red rices both are sold at Rs75 kg while the Basmati retails for Rs 125 and the Pokuru Samba at Rs 85.

agriculture and village upliftment are just not related

A fundamental problem all our armchair politicians get into is to make statements on behalf of rural areas that are totally meaningless and illogical. They have never really lived in the villages and do not realize that there are few real farmers in the rural areas. Rural upliftment and agricultural growth are different concepts.

If one takes improvements of agriculture into account, one must look at all aspects that can at least double the productivity, which is quite possible with little extra effort. This should not be used in the context of helping farmers as that will only make agriculture more unproductive. The so called farmers have no idea of agriculture as they have just fallen into it as a matter of history and more as a failure on their part to find anything more productive. More than half the recipients of the agricultural subsidy still lose on paddy production, further perpetuating their dependency and not pushing them out into some more meaningful income source releasing lands to more productive larger scale farmers to farm.

In my humble opinion lets take each aspect I referred to separately, namely agriculture and rural upliftment. Improvements in agriculture can only be possible with modern techniques, like levelling paddy fields into more economical units so that productivity of the land can double and cost of production can halve by the use of large tractors. We just cannot afford the small scale as we just do not have the people who want to be in this field. Then we should get rid of the major scourges, like monkeys and peacocks that reduce the harvest by leaps and bounds. My most recent crop of mangoes was all destroyed in two days by a herd of monkeys, leaving none for me to sell! It is easy but has to be done at government level like darting all the monkeys so they become sterile and not reproduce. There is no shortage of these species so the reduction in numbers is not an issue. New varieties that are appropriate for the soil conditions along with proper guidance in their growing is important. Farmers in my area who have farmed rice for generations are still completely unaware that simple processes and practices can improve yields immensely.

With regard to rural upliftment in living conditions, the most important area is advising people on ambition, skills based on liking, and commitment towards sustainable income generating vocations. None of this is being properly implemented in the much talked about Gamidiriya program. I am in a Gamidiriya village and I can honestly say it is a total failure as the "hakiyawa" or abilities of the recipients are not ascertained. So the money lent for the vocational training is completely wasted as is the money lent to get people started in aspects of trade. It is important that a proper aptitude test be performed prior to such disbursements.

I am so full of hope as to the possible, but know no one who wishes to tackle this complete about face in attitude and will just have to fight my battles to convince others to the reality and then to the direction I propose.