Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Health And Farming

Had been having a bad spell lately as most of us is having health issues. I am still recovering from my sprained back & legs. It is getting better and still need to be diagnose by a specialist. Supposed to go for a checked up with the Orthopedic at the Main Hospital here on the 24th April, but was unfortunately postponed to early May, due the the unavailability of the Orthopedic Specialist.

Before herbicide.
Our helpers as also down with fever, flu and cold. This may due due to the rain, coming on and off. We were drench at times. Two helpers are also on leave till further notice, resting on health issues. Productivity is very low. We are behind schedule on most of our plans. We are also having difficulty of sending our produce to the city on a twice weekly schedule. Had a meeting and has decided to cut back our schedule to once weekly. Hopefully this can provide us more time to work on our planting / maintenance.




After herbicide and planted with Yams.
We are taking our weed management program a step further. Had just purchase a a engine driven piston pressure pump that can be used as irrigation and pressure pumping. We are familiarizing ourselves with it. Foresee some initial problem in terms of set up and usage as we are new to this. Doing more reading and research on proper weed management. Once we get it right, this shall definitely improve our productivity.

We are also making plans to acquire a light truck for sending our produce to the city. Our current truck is very good for farm use (off road), but not suitable for sending produce to the city on the long run (tarmac). Making arrangement to acquire driving license and commercial license (GDL) for our helpers.

Not much produce from our little farm except for the 1st harvest of a new batch of long beans. Had identified the type of Japanese Sweet Potatoes that has vigor growth and fetches a higher price. Propagate more of these so that we can transfer this to our plantation. Hoping to plant these in between terrace. Started four beds of yams and 5 beds of Bentong gingers.
Looking forward to a better month in May.