This is brilliant.. thank you ...especially respicting local sensivites....i am an Indian living in Sweden desperately searching for human answers as the country is distrying its soil....❤
I loved this. Learning loads. Am a permaculture fan, like you, and live in a very dry part of SW France, getting drier every year, with no well, no stream, only city water with restrictions on water usage whenever it gets hot. We have 4000L of rainwater stored in tanks but it's not enough to water the plants throughout a really hot summer and certainly not enough for household use despite harvesting grey water and using compost toilets. So we have a little digger and the idea of swales and ponds is becoming more and more attractive! Looking forward to watching part II !
We are living in a semi-mediteranian area in a town near Cape Town, South Africa, with quite wet winters and harsh hot summers. I find your videos very helpful. You explain exceptionally well in few words.
@@SimpleEarthSelfReliance ek het in Aberdeen en Graaff-Reinet grootgeword. I miss the Karoo. The closest I usually get is a visit with our daughter in Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo
First of all thanks a lot for all these great videos. One suggestion while digging swales, the soil can be dumped a foot or so away from the edge of the trench. This will avoid the soil slipping back into the trench. We have done this on our farm, we have not encountered any issue.
i guess Im asking the wrong place but does someone know a trick to log back into an instagram account..? I stupidly lost my account password. I love any help you can give me!
@Bobby Skyler I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
This dude must me REALLY freaking out with all of the unprecedented drought Europe is experiencing as I type. France. Germany. Spain. UK. NO longer a severe problem for developing nations.
What A Great work you are doing Sir. Loved ur passion , dedication & commitment . God Bless . I learn a Lot & I am sharing your video & website to others to benefit.
Love this video.👍 Imagine what could be accomplished in America if the forestry lands built the same techniques. And it'd be nice to see all these old vacant cow fields turned into Food Forest. Organic produce shouldn't be something that comes on a truck for a 1000 miles.🤔 It should be something you can walk to👨🌾.
I recently found your channel and have been watching and liking what I see. Even though you are in India and I am in Washington state US I find what you are sharing applicable for where I am. I have been really trying to apply more and more permaculture practices on my ranch. I also like the way you present your video. Being a new youtube producer I am always looking for what I like and how it was done. You are there! You have a new subscriber in me. I also plan on sharing your channel on my social media and channel. Thank you!
Hey Blake. Thanks for your kind words. Actually I left India a few years back and now my wife and I live in Sicily, Italy. I checked out your Dakota Fire Hole video. Nice work. Very informative. I learned how to make the DFH itself, plus the value of birch bark and the scraping of the birch bark. Lots of things. Thanks man. It's good you're putting what you know out there. Very helpful. God bless my friend!
Jaganath, I hope I spelled that correctly. Thank you! I hope Sicily is treating you well. I am finding the youtube community is the most valuable resource of UA-cam. The friendships and knowledge I have gained have been invaluable. The things I have gleaned from your videos is that you are kind, and you really care about our planet and helping others. You are the kind of friend I value. Have a great day.
Hey Blake. Yeah I just go by John now, my original, Christian name. Thank you again for your kind words. That's very generous of you. Yeah the UA-cam community can be a great thing at times. Such a valuable instrument we have at our disposal. Thank you for using it to provide such helpful information. Be well my friend. Look forward to more videos....
Thanks so much Jagannath for the videos. I recently found your youtube channel and I've been going through all your videos. awesome work! I see that you haven't finished the 2nd part of the project. I'm really interested in the process of building the pond in details and how to seal it etc.. I was wondering if you could possibly make a video of the process, when you go back to finish the pond. if it is possible that would be wonderful. Thanks again for your videos and for sharing your knowledge with us
Hello Ivan. Thanks for your nice comment. Yes I plan to finish the video now that the rainy season is over... Just a note however, the pond is a recharge pond - with a sandy bottom. It is not meant to hold water, but rather to recharge the farmer's well located next to the pond.
@@TheNaturalFarmer It would be great if you could go back and revisit the site for a new video. I'm sure it would be really popular, and much appreciated. :)
Thanks for sharing. Why don't you build the "berm" of the swale on the up-slope side of the ditch and provide an "armored" drop down into the ditch. Seems you would minimize erosion this way.
Sure. Good idea, especially in the middle of a tilled field. I made it in the classic format here, but that's usually assuming there's at least a bit of ground cover to hold the soil. You bring up a good point Barry. Thanks for sharing that.
Wow! Great job you did here! Will you make a video for us to see how the pond and the well are filling? Also - where is part two of this video? couldn't find it...
+Karen Orr Thanks Karen. Yes, I definitely plan on making a second part to this video. We have to time it with the end of the rains. I'm up north presently in Uttarakhand, but I hope to go back to Ettimadai late November, possibly December. I can tell you now that by the beginning of July the well had already risen 20 feet, but some of this simply due to the monsoon. Do gauge the full effect, we will need to measure it at the same time we measured last year....
+ Rudra Patel It's near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Small village called Ettimadai. I should be uploading the part ii for this video in the next week or so...
Thanks very much for these videos. I like your hat. Do these methods increase insects in the region they are created with greater amount of running & still water? Biting flies & mosquitoes. Would having land without surface water lower amount of insects?
Thanks for your comment. Mosquito eggs hatch within 24-48 hours. So yes, there is a risk, depending upon the speed of your soil percolation. Shallower, wider trenches have a greater surface area of absorption - and therefore percolate faster - than deeper/narrower trenches. Obviously sandy soils absorb faster than clay soils. Dig a small hole, fill it with water, time the percolation, fill it a second time, time it, a third time, etc. By doing this and comparing it to the type of rain you get, you can start to estimate how well the water goes in. You can set it up so the trench backfills into the pond at a much lower level (trench water level). By then putting fish in the pond, which eat the mosquito eggs, you help eliminate the problem. With trenches and ponds there are a lot of little tweaks one can do to avoid the problem you described. It just takes practice and experience, and of course observation. Does that help answer your question?
Hi John, I like your approach. I face similar challenges in my demonstration farm where locals are very suspicious of any perceived danger of encroachment. Well, I need your help to get started, but in East Africa. What's your take? do you invite participation in this region?
I know this is a long shot to get a response, but why must the CCT be on contour in this situation? Would it not matter more that the bottom of the trench is level as the overflow is going into a pond and not over the lip? And why not just make a ditch around the plot that goes straight into a pond or well?
@@TheNaturalFarmer I live in the same district. If you're visiting again please let me know. Our farm (we've been growing naturally for 5 years now) with flat land, gradually slopes away from the well. Noticed a similar challenge in the Ettimadai farm as well.
Do you have the address of this farm. I would like to pay a visit to understand the current situation. Our ancestral farm lands down South Tamil Nadu have become barren lands with sea water coming up in bore/ wells. It is far worse and what suggestion you have for us?
Hello Jagannath, I will be visiting Chennai, tamil nadu in July '16. Will you be in kerala around that time, would love to share some time with you, if possible? Thanks
sir some people r throwing water directly in ground water using bore well. is it safe to put rain water directly in ground to increase ground water level? and pls suggest me a best technique to increase ground water in my 15 acre field (city Hoshiarpur, state Punjab, India). our ground water was at 60’ when i was child now just in 20 years it is 190’. field is well leveled, no soil erosion, and good monsoon in summers. pls suggest best technique to increase ground water. and is it possible that any how we can get same 40’ ground water level?
Jagannath, I really like your Videos, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us! I am an absolut Beginner in permaculture but I find many things that I am already doing the permaculture way for a long time. I still hwve soje difficulties to understand swales, especially how they should work in the tropicwl wet/dry climate. A I am writing this the monsoon started today delayed due to El ninjo, I guess. So plenty of water will come for the next month but will my swales have any effect in the dry season? I also have a problem digging swales since my garden is full of big trees. I can not just follow the conture that easy.
Harald Summer Hello Harald. Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, swales only have an effect once water has been present. If you catch rain during monsoon, then that rain can be "stretched" during the dry season. But swales need rain to function. That being said, there is a way to stack material or mulch in the swale trench to help harvest humidity from the air, but normally you will start to get benefit from the swales once the rain begins... I hope this helps.
Maybe. An a-frame can be operated with one person, and it's pretty easy. But it takes smaller measurements, which can mean more 'zig-zags' on the landscape - something I try and avoid. I use the water level when I have a partner who knows how to use one. Otherwise, if working for clients, I use a laser level. It's expensive, but it's my an essential investment for my business. But as far as low-tech and inexpensive solutions go, the water level is my first choice, and maybe a-frame my second choice.
The Natural Farmer thanks for your answer, John. We would like to teach people in SA how to determine contours, so we’ll probably give them the option of both methods.
First of all thanks for the video. I have one doubt on how to dig a trench. My farm is next to road. Through road water goes to lake which always gets dried. So I thought I will dig trench between road and my farm. While creating a trench should the side of trench facing road side should have high elevation or the side facing my farm should have high elevation. Please guide me. Thanks in Advance
I apologize for the delayed response.... "Open" side of the trench should be receiving water. High side of swale (trench) should be downhill of water flow...
+Bryan Jagdeesh In the swale? To maximize production. It's not shown here, but on the Indian farm we planted rice in the swale. Makes sense, right? Rice likes water, water's in the swale. You can mulch the swale with wood chips as well. Hope that helps...
In this video we made one contour trench and a few "border" trenches - ie trenches that don't follow contour but attempt to prevent water and soil from leaving the land at the border. It's hard to explain trench spacing without a diagram. Do you have a copy of the Permaculture Designer's Manual? It's explained there. Or I'm sure you could find some diagrams with an internet search. Sorry I can't be of more help...
+Hrishi Bandhu Depends on the slope of the land. Make one across the longest contour of the land first. With all of your questions, it might be a good idea for you to take a Permaculture Design Course (PDC).
Thank you making such a educative video. I need to contact you Mr. Jagannath either on Mail/Wats app or any other mode as you prefer. This video is as similar to the issue I am facing in my land. But problem looks quite much massive in our need your suggestion here. I will share the photos and other details once you share me your details.
Thanks for your efforts to recharge groundwater. It is heartening to see that you make efforts on water conservation. I would like to repeat such things at my village, initially at our field. Do you assist on such initiatives?
We're pretty busy with our project here in Sicily, but I might be able to offer some input. Write to me at jknaturalfarmer@gmail.com and we can discuss what you're doing. I believe that groundwater recharge is one of the most effective things one can do for the planet.
Jagan = world nath = ruler/protector It's the name of one of Krsna's incarnations But I've left this name. I've returned to my birth name, which is John
Its been a while (rock catchments).. I hope that the COVID-19 "lockdowns" have not affected you too much. We had to cancel classroom presentations until there is an effective vaccine. :-( ¡Saludos desde Mexico!
why doesnt the driver put the JCB over the marked aria and scoop as the lay of the marked aria ,ssems a much better ,& easyer way to me,rather than working fron the side.
MrsMika Well the first was the monsoon came quite early so we couldn't dig anymore. Which is actually a good thing. The other was the farmer didn't fully understand that we were creating a recharge pond - in order to recharge his well - rather than a catchment pond, which he could pump from. I hope to return and rework the design to give him a catchment pond, if that's what he prefers. This work will have to wait until early next year though..
Hi Jagannath, Well I'm late to this party by two years, but I've got an idea. When it comes to soil erosion into the river can anything be done about that? Can a dam or gabions be placed in the river to slow down the water movement and let the sediments fall out? Then when the river level is low the newly harvested sediments can be placed along the banks and sown with grass to prevent more erosion. Cheers, Bill
Sure. All of those things are possible. But they require a motivated client, money, effort... Not everyone is able to understand the importance of this type of work. But the solutions you mentioned will work well.
Umm. Water is relative. Where I lived in Kerala we got 3,000L/m2. Many places in the world get much less than 820l/m2. Different climates, different rainfall. That's just life.
@@TheNaturalFarmer 3000L/m2 is like double what some rainforests recive, a massive amount of water. But yeah, not very usefull if It rains all at once, I guess...
@@Hansulf Yes. You got it. A small amount of rain, distributed well over the warm months, is better than having an enormous amount of rain at one time. Masanobu Fukuoka's climate in Shikoku, Japan is nearly perfect for natural farming, for example.
@@TheNaturalFarmer Yep... For example where I live we have 450L/m2 and are practicly all during winter 😂. On top of that we have lime bedrock, so too much percolation and alkaline soil. Best place for farmin ever...
Over the years I've learned that there's always someone with more rain and always someone with less. This was shot some years ago in India. Now we live on Sicily. Where are you located?
Permaculture with your approach of 1:1 farming can be applied even to DryLand in India ? Any documentary or information available by you for practicing Permaculture on Dry Land.
Shiv M Hey Shiv. Thanks again for the comment. Yes, if we allow for the biomass to grow (weeds) on any piece of land, then we can conceivably practice 1:1 farming on that land. But as we all know, growing biomass requires at least some water. This is why I always teach my courses starting with water - if we catch water, then we will have more life in the system. If we don't, then we won't. The Permaculturist Geoff Lawton has done a lot of amazing work in drylands. So has Brad Lancaster, not to mention Anna Hazare at Raleghan Siddhi here in India. Check out those guys for more reference at present. This summer I hope to go to New Mexico in the U.S. and make a 1:1 video there, as it is a dryland condition, but that won't be for a month or so... I hope this helps.
+The Natural Farmer Excellent video! If you are in contact with Brad Lancaster, you may want to ask him about Mr. Phiri Maseko's rainwater harvesting farm near Zvishavani, Zimbabwe. He puts open-work, stone-lined, pits in his contour trenches to improve infiltration into the subsurface. You can see them in a UA-cam video about a Mr. Phiri Maseko. The geology of his area reminded me of the granite hills (mountains) I saw in the background of your video. You may find some of Mr. Maseko's techniques useful because he takes advantage of the nearly impermeable nature of the old igneous intrusions as catchment areas (i.e. like British Gibralter) and as an impermeable layer under his soil downslope beyond the outcrops. (old geologist)
+Brooks Anderson Yes, yes, yes. This is a great piece of information to share. Thank you! You are correct. The area is similar. Brilliant. We work in an area up by Mumbai that is much more degraded than the area in this video. Mr. Phiri's stacking stones and material on the surface of the rock and then using a pipe to let gravity feed it to a pit below is brilliant. I have never thought of that. I will be able to put it to use very soon. Thank you! In this video we used an earth moving machine for the first time in a project. I am not a big fan of this. I definitely prefer manual labor as it renders the farmers more independent, and there is less time pressure - you always have to make hasty decisions with heavy machinery as the clock is always ticking. I much prefer to do a little, observe, reflect, do a little more. Very good stuff here. Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for taking time to reply. I "retired" as a geologist a couple of years ago down here in old Mexico, Here in the North of the country' climate change-induced drought is turning areas I knew 50 years ago as semiarid to desert and water tables are dropping to seriously deep, and increasingly saline, levels. I have written a short rainwater harvesting manual, in Spanish, containing rainfall data from some 20 towns spread across the state so that people can size their own storage tanks. You are correct about machine use. D10 "Cats" were renting at U.S. $7,000/day on my last military base project. I find your videos very helpful because they SHOW how to do things. I wish you well and am looking forward to more of your videos.
Yeah, for better or worse. I'm pretty much an accent chameleon. They just seep in. That and the fact that when I used my normal accent, nobody could understand me. I had to bend it toward the existing conditions. Makes a big difference actually. Good to hear from you.
The Natural Farmer haha man i feel what you say! I was in Kingston Upon Hull (northern england) for a few years. Haad Fooked meei aaccent oop, maaitte... Lol any ways, appreciate the stuff that you do, really think we need people like you! my dream for now is just to do what you do now...at-least when I retire. Cheers!
Hahaha! You captured the phonetics pretty well in that written phrase! Nice work! Thank you my friend. I feel very lucky to be able to do this work. I don't take it for granted for a second. Good to hear from you!
The Natural Farmer yo man! I moved back to southern India, my father and his friends had been planting trees since last year. last year they planted around 130,000 trees and this year around 200,000. with a success rate of 95%. if ur interested, you can come over, check out and give some ideas, suggestions, etc. weve been planting in and around our small polluted city. All industrialists together have spent a lot of time, effort and money. If you could suggest us some efficient measures to water them during dry seasons would be great! The city is Tirupur in the state of Tamil Nadu. its a semi arid zone. check out the link, cheers facebook.com/VanathukulTirupur/.
Wow! Very impressive! Was A.P.J. Abdul Kalam involved in the project? Water is the most important issue here, as you've understood. It's very easy, and sometimes destructive, to just take and take water from a borewell - especially in India. Very serious groundwater issues are in store for India if something doesn't change. The problem is not lack of water, but lack of value for water. In principal, we should all be trying to catch, slow and sink every drop of water that enters our land - whether from the sky or a neighbor's overflow. We do this by reshaping the land with contour trenches and plantings like vetiver and other deep rooted grasses, as well as shading trees over ditches. If you put the effort and the money in at the beginning of the project, it will benefit your and your farm for a lifetime. Stopping and slowing water a) prevents erosion and b) recharges precious water storage under the surface of the land. Are you familiar with Ralegan Siddhi and the work of Anna Hazare?
Thank you for skipping the message, “man is bad, bad, bad, and we have ruined everything and we must change.” That message has changed to how we can improve what we have today. Thank you.
If you drill a hole in the middle of a river you could fill up the aquafir in many parts of the country. Once you have the hole in the river drilled it will fill forever.
This is brilliant.. thank you ...especially respicting local sensivites....i am an Indian living in Sweden desperately searching for human answers as the country is distrying its soil....❤
Thank you and bless you for this. Love from South Afrika
I loved this. Learning loads. Am a permaculture fan, like you, and live in a very dry part of SW France, getting drier every year, with no well, no stream, only city water with restrictions on water usage whenever it gets hot. We have 4000L of rainwater stored in tanks but it's not enough to water the plants throughout a really hot summer and certainly not enough for household use despite harvesting grey water and using compost toilets. So we have a little digger and the idea of swales and ponds is becoming more and more attractive! Looking forward to watching part II !
Thank you, Juggernaut! This world needs people like you more than ever!
:)
What you are doing is great and so smart!
Hope more people listen to you.
We are living in a semi-mediteranian area in a town near Cape Town, South Africa, with quite wet winters and harsh hot summers. I find your videos very helpful. You explain exceptionally well in few words.
Took a year longer to find these, but very good for my applications as well. Groete vanuit die Karoo
@@SimpleEarthSelfReliance ek het in Aberdeen en Graaff-Reinet grootgeword. I miss the Karoo. The closest I usually get is a visit with our daughter in Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo
First of all thanks a lot for all these great videos. One suggestion while digging swales, the soil can be dumped a foot or so away from the edge of the trench. This will avoid the soil slipping back into the trench. We have done this on our farm, we have not encountered any issue.
Great! Thanks for the tip! I normally dig Swales by hand and am able to control things better, but your suggestion is helpful...
The Natural Farmer if I want to get advise from you for my farm what should I do? I am from Kerala the neighbouring state of tamilnadu,
i guess Im asking the wrong place but does someone know a trick to log back into an instagram account..?
I stupidly lost my account password. I love any help you can give me!
@Bobby Skyler I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im trying it out atm.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Bobby Skyler it worked and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thanks so much, you saved my ass!
John, Thank You! For sharing the knowledge & enabling the farmer on path to sustainable living
Thank you!
Fantastic work….this will make a tremendous difference!
You are doing a brilliant work. 🙏🏽👏🏽
This dude must me REALLY freaking out with all of the unprecedented drought Europe is experiencing as I type. France. Germany. Spain. UK. NO longer a severe problem for developing nations.
its scary.weve had 3 rain events to trap water.i
Your works are very encouraging for us in India
Thank you, this is so educational, I plan to apply to my small land
What A Great work you are doing Sir. Loved ur passion , dedication & commitment . God Bless . I learn a Lot & I am sharing your video & website to others to benefit.
Thank you :)
Love it, mate. I'm enjoying your work.
Thank you Clarence
Great Video brother, You inspire me, keep up the good work
Thank you :)
Love this video.👍 Imagine what could be accomplished in America if the forestry lands built the same techniques.
And it'd be nice to see all these old vacant cow fields turned into Food Forest. Organic produce shouldn't be something that comes on a truck for a 1000 miles.🤔
It should be something you can walk to👨🌾.
Thanks for a great video !
You're welcome. Thanks for your nice comment.
I love what you are doing
Thank you Blake
I recently found your channel and have been watching and liking what I see. Even though you are in India and I am in Washington state US I find what you are sharing applicable for where I am. I have been really trying to apply more and more permaculture practices on my ranch. I also like the way you present your video. Being a new youtube producer I am always looking for what I like and how it was done. You are there! You have a new subscriber in me. I also plan on sharing your channel on my social media and channel. Thank you!
Hey Blake. Thanks for your kind words. Actually I left India a few years back and now my wife and I live in Sicily, Italy. I checked out your Dakota Fire Hole video. Nice work. Very informative. I learned how to make the DFH itself, plus the value of birch bark and the scraping of the birch bark. Lots of things. Thanks man. It's good you're putting what you know out there. Very helpful. God bless my friend!
Jaganath, I hope I spelled that correctly. Thank you! I hope Sicily is treating you well. I am finding the youtube community is the most valuable resource of UA-cam. The friendships and knowledge I have gained have been invaluable. The things I have gleaned from your videos is that you are kind, and you really care about our planet and helping others. You are the kind of friend I value. Have a great day.
Hey Blake. Yeah I just go by John now, my original, Christian name.
Thank you again for your kind words. That's very generous of you.
Yeah the UA-cam community can be a great thing at times.
Such a valuable instrument we have at our disposal.
Thank you for using it to provide such helpful information.
Be well my friend. Look forward to more videos....
Nice layout.the purpose is to collect 50% more water to the pond and farm
thank you for well explanation and details rendered
Thank you!
Thanks so much Jagannath for the videos. I recently found your youtube channel and I've been going through all your videos. awesome work! I see that you haven't finished the 2nd part of the project. I'm really interested in the process of building the pond in details and how to seal it etc.. I was wondering if you could possibly make a video of the process, when you go back to finish the pond. if it is possible that would be wonderful. Thanks again for your videos and for sharing your knowledge with us
Hello Ivan. Thanks for your nice comment. Yes I plan to finish the video now that the rainy season is over...
Just a note however, the pond is a recharge pond - with a sandy bottom. It is not meant to hold water, but rather to recharge the farmer's well located next to the pond.
Oh I see. Thanks for replying : )
Great project! Curious about how this farm is performing now 7 years later.
Thanks! But honestly I don't know. You'd have to travel to Ettimidai, at Amrita University, and ask how the farmer Jagannath's farm is performing.
@@TheNaturalFarmer It would be great if you could go back and revisit the site for a new video. I'm sure it would be really popular, and much appreciated. :)
Thanks for sharing. Why don't you build the "berm" of the swale on the up-slope side of the ditch and provide an "armored" drop down into the ditch. Seems you would minimize erosion this way.
Sure. Good idea, especially in the middle of a tilled field.
I made it in the classic format here, but that's usually assuming there's at least a bit of ground cover to hold the soil.
You bring up a good point Barry. Thanks for sharing that.
Great piece of work.. !
Waiting for the update video :)
Really looking forward to seeing the results on this farmer's land.
Alex Stonewall Me too! I hope to get back up there after the second monsoon - end of November or so.
The oldest like your plan is in Iran ,very professional ...
Great learning, how pond holds water?
Just perfect video!
Thanks!
Wow! Great job you did here! Will you make a video for us to see how the pond and the well are filling?
Also - where is part two of this video? couldn't find it...
+Karen Orr Thanks Karen. Yes, I definitely plan on making a second part to this video. We have to time it with the end of the rains. I'm up north presently in Uttarakhand, but I hope to go back to Ettimadai late November, possibly December. I can tell you now that by the beginning of July the well had already risen 20 feet, but some of this simply due to the monsoon. Do gauge the full effect, we will need to measure it at the same time we measured last year....
+The Natural Farmer
do you live in india ? where ?
+ Rudra Patel It's near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Small village called Ettimadai. I should be uploading the part ii for this video in the next week or so...
amazing bro thanx for sharing awesom work
You're welcome. Thank you for your kind comment. Much appreciated!
Thanks very much for these videos. I like your hat. Do these methods increase insects in the region they are created with greater amount of running & still water? Biting flies & mosquitoes. Would having land without surface water lower amount of insects?
Thanks for your comment.
Mosquito eggs hatch within 24-48 hours.
So yes, there is a risk, depending upon the speed of your soil percolation.
Shallower, wider trenches have a greater surface area of absorption - and therefore percolate faster - than deeper/narrower trenches. Obviously sandy soils absorb faster than clay soils.
Dig a small hole, fill it with water, time the percolation, fill it a second time, time it, a third time, etc.
By doing this and comparing it to the type of rain you get, you can start to estimate how well the water goes in.
You can set it up so the trench backfills into the pond at a much lower level (trench water level).
By then putting fish in the pond, which eat the mosquito eggs, you help eliminate the problem.
With trenches and ponds there are a lot of little tweaks one can do to avoid the problem you described.
It just takes practice and experience, and of course observation.
Does that help answer your question?
hi
great inspirational article on permaculture in india.
i can't able to find the second video link.
will you share it ?
Thanks for your nice comment.
Here it is...
ua-cam.com/video/vte5kK2F-74/v-deo.html&spfreload=10
Hi John, I like your approach. I face similar challenges in my demonstration farm where locals are very suspicious of any perceived danger of encroachment. Well, I need your help to get started, but in East Africa. What's your take? do you invite participation in this region?
Good work Mr Jagannath.
+Parthiban Mahalingam Thank you. Good to hear from you again.
I know this is a long shot to get a response, but why must the CCT be on contour in this situation? Would it not matter more that the bottom of the trench is level as the overflow is going into a pond and not over the lip? And why not just make a ditch around the plot that goes straight into a pond or well?
Fantastic 👍
Do you still provide setting up the farm water body? I have a farm in kerala and i want guidance in managing our water lines and bodies.
Hi Madhu
Yes, that's my business. If you need help, please contact me at admin@johnkaisner.com
All the best,
John
Thanks for this video.
You're welcome
@@TheNaturalFarmer I live in the same district. If you're visiting again please let me know. Our farm (we've been growing naturally for 5 years now) with flat land, gradually slopes away from the well. Noticed a similar challenge in the Ettimadai farm as well.
Is your accent changing? That's so weird and cool
Yes it was. It's just something that happens. Plus it's easier for the locals to understand that way...
Do you have the address of this farm. I would like to pay a visit to understand the current situation. Our ancestral farm lands down South Tamil Nadu have become barren lands with sea water coming up in bore/ wells. It is far worse and what suggestion you have for us?
Great service
Very interesting.
Hello Jagannath, I will be visiting Chennai, tamil nadu in July '16. Will you be in kerala around that time, would love to share some time with you, if possible? Thanks
Sorry. I won't be in India again until this winter...
That's perfect too. If you could let me know tentative dates in winter, i can schedule a trip again around that time.
Do we have an update on this?
sir some people r throwing water directly in ground water using bore well. is it safe to put rain water directly in ground to increase ground water level?
and pls suggest me a best technique to increase ground water in my 15 acre field (city Hoshiarpur, state Punjab, India). our ground water was at 60’ when i was child now just in 20 years it is 190’. field is well leveled, no soil erosion, and good monsoon in summers. pls suggest best technique to increase ground water.
and is it possible that any how we can get same 40’ ground water level?
Jagarnath. Are younstill in India?
Jagannath, I really like your Videos, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us!
I am an absolut Beginner in permaculture but I find many things that I am already doing the permaculture way for a long time. I still hwve soje difficulties to understand swales, especially how they should work in the tropicwl wet/dry climate. A I am writing this the monsoon started today delayed due to El ninjo, I guess. So plenty of water will come for the next month but will my swales have any effect in the dry season?
I also have a problem digging swales since my garden is full of big trees. I can not just follow the conture that easy.
Harald Summer Hello Harald. Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, swales only have an effect once water has been present. If you catch rain during monsoon, then that rain can be "stretched" during the dry season. But swales need rain to function. That being said, there is a way to stack material or mulch in the swale trench to help harvest humidity from the air, but normally you will start to get benefit from the swales once the rain begins... I hope this helps.
Wouldn’t an a-frame be quicker than a waterlevel to determine the contour. I don’t have experience, that’s why I am asking.
Maybe. An a-frame can be operated with one person, and it's pretty easy. But it takes smaller measurements, which can mean more 'zig-zags' on the landscape - something I try and avoid. I use the water level when I have a partner who knows how to use one. Otherwise, if working for clients, I use a laser level. It's expensive, but it's my an essential investment for my business. But as far as low-tech and inexpensive solutions go, the water level is my first choice, and maybe a-frame my second choice.
The Natural Farmer thanks for your answer, John. We would like to teach people in SA how to determine contours, so we’ll probably give them the option of both methods.
First of all thanks for the video. I have one doubt on how to dig a trench. My farm is next to road. Through road water goes to lake which always gets dried. So I thought I will dig trench between road and my farm. While creating a trench should the side of trench facing road side should have high elevation or the side facing my farm should have high elevation. Please guide me. Thanks in Advance
I apologize for the delayed response....
"Open" side of the trench should be receiving water.
High side of swale (trench) should be downhill of water flow...
Hi. Like ur video. I have a small farm n want to do rainwater harvesting to recharge the borewell. Please let me know how I contact u
If you scroll to the bottom of this page
www.johnkaisner.com/
There's a contact sheet...
Why do people put garden beds on the contour swale? like Ive seen videos where they have hughokulture beds in the contour swales?
+Bryan Jagdeesh In the swale? To maximize production. It's not shown here, but on the Indian farm we planted rice in the swale. Makes sense, right? Rice likes water, water's in the swale. You can mulch the swale with wood chips as well. Hope that helps...
Great 👍 person
Thank you.
any updates? thank you
Do you have projects in Philippines?
Yes. Here's a link to some of the images...
www.johnkaisner.com/philippinesproject
what sort of spacing did you use between contour lines /swales
In this video we made one contour trench and a few "border" trenches - ie trenches that don't follow contour but attempt to prevent water and soil from leaving the land at the border.
It's hard to explain trench spacing without a diagram. Do you have a copy of the Permaculture Designer's Manual? It's explained there. Or I'm sure you could find some diagrams with an internet search.
Sorry I can't be of more help...
+The Natural Farmer i know of that book ... your a great help thank you brother J
Hi Jagannath
How many contour trenches do we need to dig per acre ?? Is it dug every few meters ?
+Hrishi Bandhu Depends on the slope of the land. Make one across the longest contour of the land first. With all of your questions, it might be a good idea for you to take a Permaculture Design Course (PDC).
Yes..may be i should ..Thanx ) The Natural Farmer
Thank you making such a educative video. I need to contact you Mr. Jagannath either on Mail/Wats app or any other mode as you prefer. This video is as similar to the issue I am facing in my land. But problem looks quite much massive in our need your suggestion here. I will share the photos and other details once you share me your details.
Thanks for your efforts to recharge groundwater. It is heartening to see that you make efforts on water conservation. I would like to repeat such things at my village, initially at our field. Do you assist on such initiatives?
We're pretty busy with our project here in Sicily, but I might be able to offer some input.
Write to me at jknaturalfarmer@gmail.com and we can discuss what you're doing.
I believe that groundwater recharge is one of the most effective things one can do for the planet.
What is the meaning of jagannath.
Jagan = world
nath = ruler/protector
It's the name of one of Krsna's incarnations
But I've left this name.
I've returned to my birth name, which is John
Its been a while (rock catchments).. I hope that the COVID-19 "lockdowns" have not affected you too much. We had to cancel classroom presentations until there is an effective vaccine. :-( ¡Saludos desde Mexico!
why doesnt the driver put the JCB over the marked aria and scoop as the lay of the marked aria ,ssems a much better ,& easyer way to me,rather than working fron the side.
is there allready a part 2?
jackp6 Not yet. Sorry. We ran into some complications. It may not be until next year...
The Natural Farmer
ok, thank you for your quick answer
i wish you success with handeling those complications
The Natural Farmer What kind of complications did you face?
MrsMika Well the first was the monsoon came quite early so we couldn't dig anymore. Which is actually a good thing. The other was the farmer didn't fully understand that we were creating a recharge pond - in order to recharge his well - rather than a catchment pond, which he could pump from. I hope to return and rework the design to give him a catchment pond, if that's what he prefers. This work will have to wait until early next year though..
MrsMika I sent you a reply, but it wasn't linked. Did you see it below?
Hi Jagannath, Well I'm late to this party by two years, but I've got an idea. When it comes to soil erosion into the river can anything be done about that? Can a dam or gabions be placed in the river to slow down the water movement and let the sediments fall out? Then when the river level is low the newly harvested sediments can be placed along the banks and sown with grass to prevent more erosion. Cheers, Bill
Sure. All of those things are possible. But they require a motivated client, money, effort...
Not everyone is able to understand the importance of this type of work.
But the solutions you mentioned will work well.
820 l/m2? Daammn, quite a lot
Umm. Water is relative. Where I lived in Kerala we got 3,000L/m2. Many places in the world get much less than 820l/m2. Different climates, different rainfall. That's just life.
@@TheNaturalFarmer 3000L/m2 is like double what some rainforests recive, a massive amount of water. But yeah, not very usefull if It rains all at once, I guess...
@@Hansulf Yes. You got it. A small amount of rain, distributed well over the warm months, is better than having an enormous amount of rain at one time. Masanobu Fukuoka's climate in Shikoku, Japan is nearly perfect for natural farming, for example.
@@TheNaturalFarmer Yep... For example where I live we have 450L/m2 and are practicly all during winter 😂. On top of that we have lime bedrock, so too much percolation and alkaline soil. Best place for farmin ever...
@@Hansulf Sure. I have a client in Sicli, Sicily with conditions identical to yours. But there is always a solution, if you know what you're doing ;)
82cm is lots of rain,lol,at least to me.
Over the years I've learned that there's always someone with more rain and always someone with less. This was shot some years ago in India. Now we live on Sicily. Where are you located?
Permaculture with your approach of 1:1 farming can be applied even to DryLand in India ? Any documentary or information available by you for practicing Permaculture on Dry Land.
Shiv M Hey Shiv. Thanks again for the comment. Yes, if we allow for the biomass to grow (weeds) on any piece of land, then we can conceivably practice 1:1 farming on that land. But as we all know, growing biomass requires at least some water. This is why I always teach my courses starting with water - if we catch water, then we will have more life in the system. If we don't, then we won't. The Permaculturist Geoff Lawton has done a lot of amazing work in drylands. So has Brad Lancaster, not to mention Anna Hazare at Raleghan Siddhi here in India. Check out those guys for more reference at present. This summer I hope to go to New Mexico in the U.S. and make a 1:1 video there, as it is a dryland condition, but that won't be for a month or so... I hope this helps.
The Natural Farmer Thanks Jagannath.. Will check as you suggested.. Amazing work by you.. Great help !
+The Natural Farmer Excellent video! If you are in contact with Brad Lancaster, you may want to ask him about Mr. Phiri Maseko's rainwater harvesting farm near Zvishavani, Zimbabwe. He puts open-work, stone-lined, pits in his contour trenches to improve infiltration into the subsurface. You can see them in a UA-cam video about a Mr. Phiri Maseko. The geology of his area reminded me of the granite hills (mountains) I saw in the background of your video. You may find some of Mr. Maseko's techniques useful because he takes advantage of the nearly impermeable nature of the old igneous intrusions as catchment areas (i.e. like British Gibralter) and as an impermeable layer under his soil downslope beyond the outcrops. (old geologist)
+Brooks Anderson Yes, yes, yes. This is a great piece of information to share. Thank you! You are correct. The area is similar. Brilliant. We work in an area up by Mumbai that is much more degraded than the area in this video. Mr. Phiri's stacking stones and material on the surface of the rock and then using a pipe to let gravity feed it to a pit below is brilliant. I have never thought of that. I will be able to put it to use very soon. Thank you!
In this video we used an earth moving machine for the first time in a project. I am not a big fan of this. I definitely prefer manual labor as it renders the farmers more independent, and there is less time pressure - you always have to make hasty decisions with heavy machinery as the clock is always ticking. I much prefer to do a little, observe, reflect, do a little more.
Very good stuff here. Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for taking time to reply. I "retired" as a geologist a couple of years ago down here in old Mexico, Here in the North of the country' climate change-induced drought is turning areas I knew 50 years ago as semiarid to desert and water tables are dropping to seriously deep, and increasingly saline, levels. I have written a short rainwater harvesting manual, in Spanish, containing rainfall data from some 20 towns spread across the state so that people can size their own storage tanks.
You are correct about machine use. D10 "Cats" were renting at U.S. $7,000/day on my last military base project.
I find your videos very helpful because they SHOW how to do things. I wish you well and am looking forward to more of your videos.
that was really good, can u just share ur email so that it would be more helpful to share info and doubts.
+naval kishore Sure. It's jknaturalfarmer@gmail.com
Hi sir
lol..u seemed to have coped up with South-Indian english very well.
Yeah, for better or worse. I'm pretty much an accent chameleon. They just seep in. That and the fact that when I used my normal accent, nobody could understand me. I had to bend it toward the existing conditions. Makes a big difference actually.
Good to hear from you.
The Natural Farmer haha man i feel what you say! I was in Kingston Upon Hull (northern england) for a few years. Haad Fooked meei aaccent oop, maaitte... Lol any ways, appreciate the stuff that you do, really think we need people like you! my dream for now is just to do what you do now...at-least when I retire. Cheers!
Hahaha! You captured the phonetics pretty well in that written phrase! Nice work!
Thank you my friend. I feel very lucky to be able to do this work. I don't take it for granted for a second.
Good to hear from you!
The Natural Farmer yo man! I moved back to southern India, my father and his friends had been planting trees since last year. last year they planted around 130,000 trees and this year around 200,000. with a success rate of 95%. if ur interested, you can come over, check out and give some ideas, suggestions, etc. weve been planting in and around our small polluted city. All industrialists together have spent a lot of time, effort and money. If you could suggest us some efficient measures to water them during dry seasons would be great! The city is Tirupur in the state of Tamil Nadu. its a semi arid zone. check out the link, cheers
facebook.com/VanathukulTirupur/.
Wow! Very impressive! Was A.P.J. Abdul Kalam involved in the project?
Water is the most important issue here, as you've understood.
It's very easy, and sometimes destructive, to just take and take water from a borewell - especially in India. Very serious groundwater issues are in store for India if something doesn't change.
The problem is not lack of water, but lack of value for water.
In principal, we should all be trying to catch, slow and sink every drop of water that enters our land - whether from the sky or a neighbor's overflow.
We do this by reshaping the land with contour trenches and plantings like vetiver and other deep rooted grasses, as well as shading trees over ditches.
If you put the effort and the money in at the beginning of the project, it will benefit your and your farm for a lifetime.
Stopping and slowing water a) prevents erosion and b) recharges precious water storage under the surface of the land.
Are you familiar with Ralegan Siddhi and the work of Anna Hazare?
Thank you for skipping the message, “man is bad, bad, bad, and we have ruined everything and we must change.” That message has changed to how we can improve what we have today. Thank you.
Haha. Thank you for that :)
If you drill a hole in the middle of a river you could fill up the aquafir in many parts of the country. Once you have the hole in the river drilled it will fill forever.
Aquafir, aquapine, aquacedar
The bucket teeth unbolt. Not hard.🤦🏻♂️
Too much talking. The audience is not captive
Definitely
Greg Judy
J