The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

Straw Helps to Copewith Weeds and SparrowsIdeally, one quarter acre will provide about 900 pounds of barleystraw. If all of the straw is spread back over the field, the surface will becompletely covered. Even a troublesome weed such as crabgrass, themost difficult problem in the direct seeding non-cultivation method, canbe held under control.Sparrows have caused me a lot of headaches. Direct seeding cannotsucceed if there is no reliable way to cope with the birds, and there aremany places where direct seeding has been slow to spread for just thisreason. Many of you may have the same problem with sparrows, and youwill know what I mean.I can remember times when these birds followed right behind me anddevoured all the seeds I had sown even before I had a chance to finishplanting the other side of the field. I tried scarecrows and nets and stringsof rattling cans, but nothing seemed to work very well. Or if one of thesemethods happened to work, its effectiveness did not last more than a yearor two.My own experience has shown that by sowing the seed while thepreceding crop is still in the field so that they are hidden among grassesand clover, and by spreading a mulch of rice, rye, or barley straw as soonas the mature crop has been harvested, the problem of sparrows can bedealt with most effectively.I have made a lot of mistakes while experimenting over the years andhave experienced failures of all kinds. I probably know more about whatcan go wrong growing agricultural crops than anyone else in Japan.When I succeeded for the first time in growing rice and winter grain withthe non-cultivation method, I felt as joyful as Columbus must have feltwhen he discovered America.52