Delicious, nutritious and eco-friendly rice!

Fair-wage, cow-friendly, local, organic brown rice brought to residents of Mumbai fresh from the farm in Karjat.  Order the rice and read more about the price of rice in this letter from farmer Susheel Borker.

From: Susheel Borkar [spborkar AT gmail DOT com]
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 6:46 PM

Hi All,

Like every year, this email is reaching many : To some, who have bought rice and mangoes from us in the past, and to some others, who have enquired with us in the last one year, after last
year's BBR delivery, about new rice availability.  We thank all of you for your keen interest.

We are pleased to advise you that we are planning to arrange delivery of Borkars' Bhoirwaadi Rice ( BBR ) within the next four weeks. We give below the required main details, as also some additional
details to take care of FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions. ( Allow us to repeat some information, for the sake of completeness, from the last year's email ).

Main Details :

For rice, as in case of our mangoes, too, we consume ourselves what we can and we sell the surplus :-).

Rice Variety    Komal. Finer ( smaller ) than another widely used variety
Kolam. Komal is a delicate grain and not a coarse / thick variety. This is raw rice, not parboiled ( sella ).
Further, this is non - basmati and non - aromatic rice.
Certification   We have not gone for it, yet. May be later, only if it is a
must ? So far, does not look like it is necessary.
Packing In 25 kgs jute bags. That is also the minimum order quantity.
Price           Rs. 65.00 per kg all inclusive.
Payment Cash against delivery. No advance payment needed.
Door Delivery   Free all over in Thane / Navi Mumbai / Mumbai area.
               If you are placing an order on us for the first time, pls
advise us your detailed address with nearest landmark & contact nos.
Delivery Dates  For a). Navi Mumbai b). Mankhurd -- Dadar c). Dadar - Colaba
( both for Central & Western Rly ) : Sunday, 09 Jan 2011.
( Area wise )   For d). Thane e). Mulund -- Dadar ( Central Rly ) f).
Subject to confirmation : Dadar - Dahisar ( Western Rly ) : Sunday, 16 Jan
2011.
               [ Re. f). We are hoping to deliver this year, for the first
time, into western suburbs from Dadar to Dahisar ( Western Rly ).
               However, if this delivery does not work out, we will have to
request you to pick it up from Powai / elsewhere, like earlier years. ].
               Shall reconfirm time and date vide another email to those,
who place an order on us.
               We look forward to receive your confirmation of order by Wed
29 Dec 2010, the earlier the better.

Additional Details :

Our farm is located near Karjat, which is situated about 15 kms from Mumbai
- Pune old highway. The current rice harvest of other farmers
( in Oct 2010 ) in our area, as also in Konkan and the rest of Maharashtra,
has been a disaster. Last year it was due to the cyclone Fayan.
This year is has been due to unseasonal rains from more than one cyclone,
thus increasing the atmospheric humidity levels. That is why we
decided to wait till this day, to mill our paddy fresh as per our
specifications in the next two weeks.

Glossary        Paddy = Rice grain with the husk on or Rice in seed form.
               Rice = Rice grain without the husk or Rice that we cook &
eat. It can be of following two types.
               Brown Rice = Rice grain without the husk but with the bran.
Also called unpolished rice. ( This is what we produce ).
               White Rice = Rice grain without the husk and without the
bran.
Seeds           Our own, from our earlier organic crop. Not treated with any
poisonous / harmful chemicals.
Crop Year       May 2009. Pls note that this crop had been harvested 18 months ago. And it has been allowed to fully mature in paddy form for all these months. So, it is 'ready to cook' rice - no
need for any further holding period. Rice made from freshly harvested paddy has unstable / unsettled enzymes, and consuming it can cause stomach uneasiness. Hence, the traditional Indian                method of allowing rice to age for at least six months before consuming it.  But allowing it to mature in paddy form is a superior way than maturing it in rice form.
Grown           100% organically. Neither chemical fertilizers, nor any chemical insecticides have been used. We had taken special efforts,  and we continue to do so, to secure gobar manure / sheep
manure / vermi - compost.
               ( Uttaranchal hoardings : Gobar Mey Hai Gaurav ). Our cowshed, now more than two year old, has a total 12 desi cows / young ones.
               The cowshed is a 3,200 sq. ft. integrated complex, including pits for vermiculture and godowns for fodder ( rice - straw ) storage.
               And none of our cows are ever milked. We 'reserve' a cow's milk fully for her young one.
Basic Cycle     The basic paddy growing cycle that we follow is too simple :
               Previous year's paddy straw ( the stem left after removing  grains from the paddy plant ) if fed to the cows. The gobar so  generated is collected and turned into manure /
vermi-compost. These natural fertilizers are again supplied to the subsequent paddy crop ! Thus, there is no need for any chemical fertilizers !! Rather simplistic, is it not ?
Bio-resources   Azospirillium or Azo ( Nitrogen fixing bacteria ).
( bought out )     PSB ( Phosphorous solublising bacteria ).
               BGA -- Blue Green Algae -- spores, a natural Nitrogen fixing algae.
               Azo, PSB & BGA are commonly found in nature, in a variety of settings.
Methodology     A huge amount of weeds / grasses / undergrowth, that were readily available from the previous monsoon fields, had been ploughed back and recycled as green manure / mulching material. It is the organic carbon that is fixed / contained in such recycled biomass & manures that provides food to Azo, PSB & BGA to do their job.
               These three and paddy saplings form a self-sustaining /symbiotic eco-system.
Insect control  We rely on birds ( drongo, bee-eater, egret, heron etc. ) and predator insects ( dragon fly, wasp, preying mantis, large red ants etc.) to control infestation. During the latter part of the crop, you will be amazed to watch a no. of species / colours of dragon fly & wasp that are present. We still found that the crop faced a mild attack of stem-borer and lost about 5% of our crop.
A Bad Trend     Currently, we have noticed one very disturbing trend, being adopted by other ( chemical ) paddy farmers in our area.  It is the increasing use of toxic weedicides ( to kill seedlings other than that of rice ), at the stage of rice nursery itself.
               ( As per some reports, weedicides are enjoying the fastest growth in agro-chemical sales : Its use has grown five times in three years, in some other parts of Maharashtra. I can imagine that weedicide use in paddy crop would also have similarly  multiplied, if not more. ). We DO NOT use weedicides. On the
contrary, we undertake up to four rounds of manual  weed-removal, which is a highly laborious & back-breaking
job. With sky-rocketing labour costs, and added labour shortages, it is a tough job indeed for us, too, but we
stuck to it.
Paddy Storage   At our end, no chemical insecticides have been used.
Rice Milling    Only for husk removal, but not for removal of rice-bran.  Therefore, it is also called unpolished rice. Paddy grains are covered with husk, which is removed in a milling ( dehusking )
operation. We do not carry out the next operation of polishing the rice grains. So the complete bran ( a sort of natural coating ) is retained on the rice grain. This is what makes it look brown ( vs. a normal milky white grain ), but that is also what makes brown rice healthier and tastier. Bran contains
               proteins and more importantly, rice bran oil, rich in vitamin E and other minerals / enzymes. Whereas, white rice is without any bran, it is mostly carbohydrates.
Rice Storage    At your end, six months of shelf life is possible in these dry non-monsoon / winter months.
               Pls note that brown rice, due to its higher nutrient levels vs. white rice, may catch infestation quicker. We have been  trying many 'natural' methods ( castor oil, dry neem leaves, brief sun exposure etc. . . ) to store rice in Mumbai's humid climate, but none has been really successful. Finally, we have
adopted one method of gas fumigation, that has given us good results.  (To be honest, it is the least bad solution. ). We shall email its details to those who are interested in it.
Rice Cooking    Rinse gently with water, once or max twice. For one unit of rice, put in 3.0 -- 3.5 -- 4.0 units of water. After one / two whistles on a pressure cooker, allow simmer heat for 10 - 12 minutes.
Modify the above, to suit individual taste. Generally speaking, brown rice swells more than white rice, and BBR being older rice (18 month old ), swells even more !
Next Delivery   Likely to be around Nov / Dec 2011. We will go for another round of fresh paddy milling then.
Food Kms        Firstly, Karjat is as close one can get as possible to source rice for Mumbai residents. Secondly, on this delivery, we assure you that we will expend the least possible food kilometers. These rice grains are not being moved even an extra millimeter than required, which in itself is minimal ! And
there is no double handling at all. Track the BBR movement :
               Our Paddy Fields --> Our Storage Room at the Farm --> Rice
Mill ( 3 kms away ) --> The End Consumer ( You ).
Our Pricing     Due to paddy farmers' misfortune of unseasonal rains all over India, rice prices for the new crop in the market have gone up between Rs. 7 and Rs. 8 per kg, even for normal ( chemical ) types. On a base of Rs. 35 per kg, that is a 20% jump.
               We have increased our prices by Rs. 5 per kg, compared to the last year's price of Rs. 60 per kg, an increase of 8.3%.
Moreover        May 2009 was our sixth consecutive organic harvest and May 2010 was the seventh one.
               Our first two harvests ( in '04 & '05 ) were complete wash-outs, whereas, now, our yields are nearer 'chemical' farming methods. For us, the inspiration has come from Fukuoka's 'One Straw Revolution', as also from the book 'Indore Process'. While keeping the core priciples the same, we have been also trying to adopt these methods / improvise every year. We think that we need to carry out still more debuggings, for which, of course, your patronage / support continues to be impotant for us. Thank you.
Further info.  Please see article on our paddy farming in Paddy July 2010

If you have other friends who are also into ' Organic' movement, you are welcome to circulate these emails to them.

Warm regards,
Susheel Borkar.
. . .   . . .    . . .

Rice Fields     Borkar Farm, Bhoirwaadi, Karjat, Dist Raigad, Maharashtra,
India.
Residence       Dombivli - East. Dist Thane, Maharashtra, India.
Tel. ( home )   + 91 ( 0 ) 251 . 247 11 14 / 245 30 20.
Cell            + 91 ( 0 ) . 9820 5500 14.
Email           spborkar@gmail.com