The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

should and that it has the ideal shape. He will know that the seeds weresprouted naturally and not transplanted, that the plant could not havebeen grown in a lot of water, and that chemical fertilizer was not applied.Any farmer can tell these things as a matter of course by looking at theoverall form of the plant, the shape of the roots, and the spacing of thejoints on the main stem. If you understand the ideal form, it is just amatter of how to grow a plant of that shape under the unique conditionsof your own field.I do not agree with Professor Matsushima's idea that it is best whenthe fourth leaf from the tip of the plant is the longest. Sometimes whenthe second or third leaf is the longest, you get the best results. If growthis held back while the plant is young, the top leaf or the second leaf oftenbecomes longest and a large harvest is still obtained.Professor Matsushima's theory is derived from experiments usingfragile rice plants grown with fertilizer in a nursery bed and latertransplanted. My rice, on the other hand, was grown in accordance withthe natural life cycle of the rice plant, just as though it were growingwild. I wait patiently for the plant to develop and mature at its own pace.In recent years I have been trying out an old variety of glutinous ricefrom the south. Each seed, sown in fall, produces an average of 12 stalkswith about 250 grains per head. With this variety I believe I will one daybe able to reap a harvest close to the greatest theoretically obtainablefrom the solar energy reaching the field. In some areas of my fieldsharvests of 27½ bushels (1,650 pounds/ per quarter acre have alreadybeen realized with this variety.Seen with the doubting bye of the technician, my method of growingrice could be said to be a short term or provisional result. "If theexperiment were continued longer, some sort of problem would certainly56