Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Food Security in India - What can you do?

Food security, Population growth and future of food in India

Food security simply described is availability of food for every person in the country and further more available nutrition and necessary calories. Just before Global Financial Crisis (GFC) many nations including India were going through food crisis due to various factors including drought in food export oriented countries such as as Australia. Growing economies consuming more food per person was somehow identified as a cause for this. Some experts identified food logistics, involvement of multinational companies and distortion of subsidies and unfair trading systems over Africa as causes. Whatever the reasons are I am interested in Food security of India.

India is projected to have a population increase which is the highest in the world by 2050 only 40 years from now. This is projected to have not only a huge impact on its urbanization, carbon di oxide emissions and food security. This led me to ask what exactly is Indian food position today? Is the country producing enough food for its self sufficiency?. There are reports of up to 67% of the food produced in India going to waste and rotting. So the question is does the country have surplus food to waste and still manage like the US where there are reports of up to 50% of food being wasted, in the UK over 6.7 million tonnes of food is being wasted or is the food being wasted, despite having insufficient production.

I also collected the data on world population to demonstrate to people that both population growth or shrinkage and food production are serious issues and not some numbers made up by scientists and demographers. The table below shows the world current population data.



Data is collected from various web sites such as CIA world book, FAO and UN studies.

So what is the production and food availability currently in India? The following table shows this scenario. I just looked at 2007 food production data for a few commodities and looked at how much of food in gms per day is available for current Indian population and how many calories of food people are obtaining per day. I have not excluded children who do not consume solids and those who need less than the calories than required for adults. The figures are from FAOSTAT. A complete surprise is that only 1673 calories is available per person in India. Generally nutritionists will tell you that one needs any where from 2000 -2500 calories minimum for an adult. This figure is derived by adding common food items people consume during the course of a day. This clearly shows that even if 30% of the population (approximate middle class and above) is getting required necessary calories per day majority will not be unless food is imported. When food has to be imported, a higher price needs to be paid and therefore developing countries tend to import poorer quality food by volume rather than by quality. This will have a direct impact on brain development of children and countries productivity into future as children do not get sufficient energy through carbohydrates and sufficient proteins needed for development of vital organs.




Food security of a country depends on the agricultural production of the country per unit area in cultivable land. Developed countries generally increase production through better crop varieties and management practices. India made good inroads into better varieties in the 1960s through "green revolution". However even though growth of up to 10% is occurring in Information Technology, Manufacturing etc, agricultural growth is way behind being only 2%. In a country like India, as the population is increasing there is also increase in urbanization and more than 8 million Indian farmers have left farming as it is neither productive nor possible to continue farming.

What is projected to be population of India in 2050? In India the population is projected to be 1,748 million an increase in 562 million. India currently has approximately 54% of its population below the age of 30. The elderly support index for India is projected to be 5 by Population Reference Bureau which means there will be 5 young people to look after 1 elderly person over 65. If there are 562 million people added naturally that require more food production even if none of it is wasted. This can not happen if the growth continues to gobble up agricultural land. So how can population of India help itself when government neither has the capacity nor the will to make agriculture a priority or attract investment in logistics of food storage, supply and management.



What Can People do?

People of India whether they like it or not need to take food security matters into their own hand.

If people have agricultural land people will need to use Best Management Practices and best varieties to increase production under low input conditions. Farmers need to think not just about production and opportunistic rain but also on how to develop the soil structure and drip irrigation systems to capture and hold moisture. Indian farmer addicted to subsidies has never been trained to undertake this task through catchment management programs or land care programs. Farmers need to develop "green manure" systems and crop rotations and thereby increase organic carbon content of the soil which improves not just soil structure but also enable the soil to hold more available moisture and nitrogen. In addition, soil which has more organic matter will also increase the development of microorganisms which increase soil organic carbon due to their death but also increase soil health. Indian farmer needs to improve soil health to get better production and productivity in general.

At an individual and community level, people need to come together and lobby government to stop food wastage. They also need to start exploring possibilities of developing community vegetable gardens or home vegetable gardens which help to grow fresh vegetables for consumption. In the west an average person can save up to $1000 per year on vegetables even in a small vegetable garden (how to develop a vegetable garden is explained in this blog in other articles).

One of the key needs of India is is the requirement of water for irrigation. Food is "virtual water". Urban population need to invest in rain water harvest and stop wastage of water. I have noticed many homes in India not turning off running water, not turning off water when sumps are full and not using water to fill up aquifers (ground water table) through recharge wells rather than running off of water through storm water drains and leaking public taps and pipes. If you consider a home situation, for eg., a shower head releases 28 liters of water per 4 minutes, a 13 mm garden hose releases 100 liters of water every 5 minutes, A dripping tap can waste 1 liter of water per hour, and a garden sprinkler releases up to 1000 liters of water per hour.

The list below shows water required for these common products

the production of 1 kg wheat costs 1,300 L water
the production of 1 kg eggs costs 3,300 L water
the production of 1 kg broken rice costs 3,400 L water
the production of 1 kg beef costs 15,500 L water

Jeans (1000g) contain 10,850 liters of embedded virtual water
A cotton shirt (medium sized, 500 gram) contains 4,100 liters of water
A disposable diaper (75g) contains 810 liters of water
A bed sheet (900g) contains 9,750 liters of water

I hope this has opened people's eyes to the amount of water used for necessary items and amount of water wasted.

An individual can have shorter showers, use drought hardy plants such as daisies, gazanias and local natives in the garden to minimize water use, install rain water tanks and rain water re-charge wells when constructing homes. There are numerous water saving products in shops and on the websites.

Water wasted today is lack of food and high cost of food tomorrow. India is already being affected by drought and floods in many areas. This situation will continue. If the country has to spend majority of its income to import food, oil and petrol then however well intentioned a government is, it can afford to put money into education and proper welfare items like public hospitals and amenities. Lack of water has already led to power crisis in cities like Bangalore. This will continue to increase unless people act unitedly to manage land and catchments, manage urban water usage and waste, limit wastage and runoff and save water for agriculture and necessities.

Today 30% of the middle class is carrying to a large extent 70% of the poor population through subsidies, welfare and other policies such as employment guarantee schemes which offer no long term solutions but provide for survival. If agriculture is denied water and land due to urban expansion, farmers abandon agriculture for urban labour then India could face serious food crisis issue. It is already experiencing food inflation of over 10%. As the global warming is influencing the frequency of floods and droughts all over the world, it may not be possible import food from traditional food exporters such as the US, Canada, Russia, Australia and parts of South America. Food security of India needs attention not just by the governments but at the individual level.

Further Reading


http://faostat.fao.org/site/609/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=609#ancor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_death_rate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_water

Disclaimer: This is an awareness article only. It is not meant to be a population study and author is aware that there are many issues around food production, logistics and supply.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Education For Everyone

Education for everyone - What can you do?


Education is the key to removal of poverty. I truely believe in this. Indians have worshiped Godess Saraswathi since time itself. Vidya Daana is one of the Mahaa Daanas. One of the biggest problems in India and poorer nations or poorer pockets of richer nations is the lack of access to books. In India although government does the right thing and subscidizes books, the lack of infrastructure such as room to read, electricity or even fuel for light, health issues, family circumstances, kids having to learn money all have restricted the access to books and knowledge.

Education is not just about getting a university degree or a piece of paper. True education is about gaining knowledge and using it with facts and making decisions using facts and tempering with sympathy and empathy. Books open a door to a world where there issues which need analysis, whihc may take you to a world one can never visit or experience or tell a story which can take you to a world of fantacy.

How many of us as children did not read Chandamama and enjoy Vikrama and Bethala, how many of us as children go with alison in Wonderland and imagine we were all travelling on the yellow brick road? How many of us as teenagers did not enjoy Enid Blighton Adeventure of Five or Nancy Drew? These books made us forget the real world and took us into a world of imagination and a world of possibilities.

Indian street kids are estimated to be 18,000,000. There are about 11,000,000 (11 million) who do not get access to books at all. These kids have either never read a book and some havent even touched one. This is the reality in India. What can we all do?

Each One Read to One and Teach one to read. Print One Book on your printer and give it to a poor kid who can read. Print a book and give it to your maid and teach her to read atleast. Go to an orphanage and give a few books to kids to read.

How to access books?

In this blog I will provide you with links to free digital books. They are all legal books. There is no piracy or illegal ones here. I will provide all possible links so that everyone can use these books either by downloading and reading it on the computer or by printing it or reading it aloud for a child at home.

If you can print a small book and use it to read a book to a child from a slum, your house maids child or child in an orphanage you would have done your bit for education of poor.

Here are the links

Text Books

http://ncertbooks.prashanthellina.com/ NCERT text books upto year 12 for downloading. Faster than original NCERT site.

http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/ Textbooks by Tamilnadu government. Includes English titles. Good site.

http://mission.akshaya.net/dpi/ Text books from Kerala State. Includes Kannda, English, Hindi and Arabic. Downloadable and fast.

http://www.dictionary.tamilcube.com/kannada-dictionary.aspx English to Kannda Dictionary


General Books


http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm This site has links to several web sites with free books

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page This site is a important site as it has 1000s of books and many audio books to download and listen.

http://openlibrary.org/

http://www.globusz.com/

http://manybooks.net/

http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/11/28/universal-digital-library-offers-15-million-works-and-counting/


http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/ free software for reading in PDF format if you want

http://www.illuminated-books.com/

http://www.wdl.org/en/ World digital library launched by UNESCO

http://www.africaeducation.org/adl/ free access to those living in Africa

http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/ Digital libarary of India hosted by IISC. In kannada also. Bit slow site.

Children's Books

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ Many books in various languages for children

http://www.storyplace.org/ Read storeys for children in English and Spanish

http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/ Read many children's books

http://wiredforbooks.org/kids.htm Read many kids books including Beatrix Potter's books

http://www.lonvig.dk/lucca.htm Books for kids in amny languages. Click on the flag.

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/Childrensebooks.cfm Books for children. Many Links

http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbytitle.php Many children's books online

http://hindumommy.wordpress.com/2006/09/08/read-childrens-story-books-online/ links and some kids stuff.

Professional Books

http://www.bio-diglib.com/ Biomedical open access articles

http://www.medicalstudent.com/#MedicalTextbooks.  Medical books for free

http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/engineering.php Free engineering and other courses books.

http://www.techbooksforfree.com/science.shtml Free engineering and science books.

Languages

http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_1_index.html Sanskrit books and tools

http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/lessons.php Online Sanskrit self study course. Stepwise well organized.

http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/lessons.php Learn Kannada online.

http://www.englishclub.com/ Learn English online.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ Get english grammar tips

http://www.word2word.com/course.html Free online language learning courses.


There are many more links to many more sites. I have given the ones I know work reasonably well and one can use it. If I can request each one of you to print 1 book and give it to a slum kid or read 1 book to a child in an orphanage who has never had a parent to buy or read books, then my effort to collect these would be worthwhile. Please think about it.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Poverty eliminated - for one person at a time

Poverty eliminated one at a time meaningfully

I hear constantly people complain about how Indian system is corrupt, politicians are corrupt and nothing changes in India etc all the time. Over and over again I hear " This is India nothing will change" " this is India nothing can be or will be done" etc etc. I looked at what exactly Indian people were doing to help their poor fellows. There are many charities and organizations doing things to help much of it is charity. It does not seem to have improved much for the poor as food prices are increasing and country is creaking under the weight of its population and lack of infrastructure.

This got me thinking seriously about how people in the middle class can play a significant role in solving some of the issues that keep India and Indian poor down and in a helpless stage not just for the benefit of the poor, not just for the benefit of the country but for their own benefit and future survival.

A simple concept once mentioned by a relative of mine came to  my thoughts. Although the concept is simple, the idea is simple it is very powerful and so meaningful that I was compelled to use this concept to work out the maths of this concept. I am used to working out the cost benefit analysis of projects so I started out in my usual manner by putting together several ideas as below:

The concept and idea

If every Indian who is working donates Rs 1 per day what can be done.

Indian population is estimated to be 1,184,890,000 according to population clock in August 2009 and 1,139,964,932 according to world bank in 2008.

About 27% of this population is living below poverty with less than $US 1 per day. That is 319,920,000 people. They are living in approximately Rs 45 per day. Imagine if there is a family of 4 then if they buy 1/2 kg of rice at PDS price, kerosene at PDS price, sugar at PDS price 1/2 kg of vegetables  at 20 rupees then virtually this Rs 45 is finished. This leaves such a family to have no access to education, health issues, proper clothes etc. This will perpetuate poverty for these people through generations. However this poverty cycle can be broken if every one uses the concept I have explained below in a systematic manner and not using it for providing  food or charity in the streets.

How can middle class participate in removing poverty one at a time?

In India, about 300 million people i.e. 300,000,000 are considered as middle class population. Let us say only about 200 million are truly middle class as definitions of middle class vary and let us take a conservative estimate. Let us apply the above concept and see what happens.

If every one of these 200,000,000 middle class people  donates Rs 1 per day (you can't buy even a drink of water for this) .then it will be 200,000,000 rupees per day. Let us say a Micro credit Non Government Agency is asked to use this money for micro credit provision to the poor. Usually about 30% needs to be kept for wages and administration of the staff and this will amount to 60,000,000 per day. This will create approximately 500 people to be employed per year for a salary of Rs10,000 per month.

Rest of the money Rs. 140,000,000 will be used for micro credit per day at the rate of Rs 10,000 per deserving person with a plan to develop a micro business or improve a micro business. This means 14,000 people will get the credit. So with one day's Rs 1 will allow 14,000 people to become micro credit business owners. Success of micro credit around the world has been found to be 99% in repayments. Remember Micro credit is not a donation or charity.  It is given as a loan to start up either a business or improve and expand a business so that poor people without access to proper credit (not the money lenders) can be given a start and this will help the whole family.

Now if we create business of 14,000 per day then for 365 days it will be 5,110,000 poor people will be starting businesses or improving businesses per year. Let us they will pay back the credit in 5 years time at the rate of Rs. 2000 per year and Rs. 166 per month or Rs 5 per day. So your 1 years worth of Rs365 will start turning a credible profit in 5 years time which can be reinvested in either the same business or for other purposes.

Additionally 182,500 (14,000 x 365) jobs can be created per year in various aspects of the micro credit management.

How to reduce the concept scale to what is achievable?

Now let us say you are in a apartment block of 20 apartments (or a book club or a sports club or a work group). Let us apply the same concept that there are 2 people per apartment who are in the middle class bracket. Therefore 40 people. Now these people donating Rs 40 per day will lead to 14,600 rupees per building/year. If you sponsor 1 micro credit business per year (Rs 10,000) and 1 child's school fees, books and shoes per year (Rs 4,600), every apartment block can help 1 family and 1 child through education. Imagine how many of these apartment blocks, friends groups, classmates facebook groups etc are there)

Now isn't  this concept workable? Isn't it simple?

How can you make it happen in other ways?

1. You have money from selling your news paper and magazines monthly - collect it in your apartment block and sponsor a micro credit. There are many in India and on the web. Check out their credibility and ensure they are not a charity but a micro credit/micro finance organization where you will receive money back and can invest again and again over a number of years and adding your daily contribution each day to sponsor more deserving people. As an example look at sites such as Goonje, RangDe, Global giving, Kiva etc.( I am not recommending any one as that is not the reason for this blog)

2. Sponsor a child through WorldVision, Save the Children, CRY, OXFAM SOSChildrens villages etc. by collecting Rs 1 per day from your apartment building.

3. Collect Rs 1 per day from your family and extended family members and sponser the education of a child in a rural government school or sponsor computer education of 1 child per year. There are many charity organizations who are providing computer education to rural poor kids in India. They need more money.

4. Collect money and purchase a solar light for a family in slums. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmf_ZEQGKOU. Nest Ltd in Hyderabad sells them for approximately Rs 1300 per lantern which runs for 4 hours per charge. kerosene lamps cause fumes which cause health problems and safety problems as children get burnt. http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/nest.


5. Collect money and purchase a smokeless chula for a poor person from the slums to reduce respiratory diseases and blindness induced by smoke in unventilated area. It costs about Rs. 700. http://www.livemint.com/2007/07/03141551/Smokeless-biomass-stoves-launc.html


6. Collect money to buy some bamboo chapai and razai for a poor family. It will cost about Rs 2000.

7. Collect money to buy some chappals or sandals for children of the orphanages or slums. These kids are walking on spit etc on the roads carrying diseases such as tuberculosis, flu, HIV/AIDS etc. Providing them with protection will minimise the spread of these diseases. A Hawaii chappal costs about Rs 200 maximum or even cheaper when bought in bulk.

8. Collect money for a year or 2 and purchase a computer for a computer education charity or school.

9. Collect money from your group and donate it to Jaipur foot organization http://www.jaipurfoot.org/07_Donations.asp so that they can fit a person with an artificial limb which costs only U$ 40 per foot. this will help to increase the income of many families. In India rural poor now have to have amputations due to accidents in the field and diseases such as diabetes which bring out gangrene etc.

10. Donate money to an orphanage or poor school to allow them to provide milk to kids. Kids who do not get enough protein from the ages of 0-10 suffer from reduced mental development. Milk has 4% protein.

11. Donate money for a girl to go to school from rural areas. Indian family system generally educates boys but not girls. However it is demonstrated time and again that if a girl is educated entire family benefits not just the girl. In addition education of girls also improves the education level of her future family. This is the situation world over.

12. Donate money so that your buildings maids' kids can purchase books for school and get educated.

13. Collect money and provide insurance to a bus load of government school kids to go to the river bed on an environmental education to make them aware of how to look after the river systems.

14. Collect money and support a tribal group so that they can be productive in the mainstream environment.

15. Collect money so that a injured Jawans family can access rehabilitation and education.

16. Collect money in your building and build a playground with proper facilities in a slum for kids.

17. Collect money and develop a garden around the slums and teach people how to grow vegetables and flowers for themselves in community gardens.

18. Collect money and build toilet blocks around slums and train the children in value of hygiene. Make sure men and women's toilets are built with adequate safety and much apart from each other. Build separate childrens' toilets near womens' toilets. This will prevent criminal activities which affect children and young women.
19. Collect money and organize health awareness camps to urban slums. Help slum youth to develop educational programs to address the needs of the slums.

20. Collect money so that abused kids and street kids can be admitted to orphanages and schools. In India kids without an address can't be admitted to any schools. This leads to transient workers kids (like people who apply tar on roads who move with work, construction workers) not being able to access education as they do not have a permanent address. How Right to education act will change this is yet to be seen.

21. Collect money to purchase an old van to develop mobile libraries and educational materials for kids of transient workers.

22. Collect money to develop toy, book, music libraries to orphanages and disadvantaged government schools. Toys and plays develop mental skills, co-ordination, team playing and social behaviour in children.

23. Collect money to appoint a music teacher to develop music skills of kids in slums and orphanages. Give hope.

24. Provide money to educate your house maids child.

Concept of Time

Now you are not in the middle class and earning money but are literate with a minimum education of year 10 school and can read and write English and Kannada or Hindi well. How can you contribute? Time is money and poor children need your time, your attention, good influence and guidance.

So what can you do?

1. If you are a retired teacher or college lecturer or a college student join Teach India and sign up for it to teach in Indian schools. Times of India has organized this voluntary teaching group.

2. If you can not go out, invite a child from a poor government school and teach maths, biology, science, English, Kannada for 1 hour per day or week.

3. If you are computer savvy but due to circumstances can't do the above, develop a blog to teach poor kids computer literacy and basic life skills.

4. If you can visit a local government hospital and read a story book for a patient. Work with the hospital authorities so that human company can reduce depression and help in recovery of people.

5. If you can visit an old age home and provide 1 hour per week company to a person whose family may be elsewhere or who longs for company during the week.

6. If you can help an elderly person buy helping to do shopping of groceries and food. In western countries go an deliver meals on wheels to elderly people.

7. Visit a lonely older relative and give them company and take them out for a walk. Depression among the older generation in cities like Bangalore will increase as many older people who are not with their children find it difficult to go for a walk due to crime, frailty, fear etc. Staying at home without getting sunlight will also reduce Vitamin D levels in elderly which has not been linked to many health problems.

8. Visit a bed ridden elderly person and talk to them and be a good company for 1 hour per week.

9. Make sweets and take fruits on festival days to orphanages. For many children this is the only time they get any thing. Here is the list from Indian orphanages network http://www.indianorphanages.net/orphanage/orphanages.html

10. Ask your kids to make presents for children of orphanages and give it to them during festival times.

11. If you can knit or do crochet use your skill. Make some sweaters or shawls and donate it to orphanages children or old age homes. Many kids in India and rest of the world contract and suffer from diseases due to cold weather. Elderly are prone to cold weather as well.

12. Donate your children's old books to orphanages in India so that kids can read and write.

13. If you cant collect money collect old clothes ( if you haven't given it to your maid) from your building and donate it to Goonj (http://www.goonj.org/) to save women from infections and diseases.

14. Help organizations such as Banyan to address mental health issues which drain the family and economy of its productivity (http://www.thebanyan.org/)

15. If you are computer savvy teach rural farmers to use sites like echoupal or become a volunteers to help farmers. http://www.echoupal.com/.

16. Talk to your elderly relative on the phone every week. Do not under estimate the power of loneliness in families especially when people are working all sorts of shifts etc.

17. Look after your relatives child after school till parents come back. It takes a village to raise a child. don't assume every child will have a grandparent to look after it as many people migrate to other states and countries for job and personal circumstances.

18. If you are in a large business lobby your company to donate computers, money and volunteer time to slums through Red Cross etc or through your local charity.

19. Collect used novels and books from people through your workplace or home and organize to sell it through your local rotary club or lions club etc. This will allow schools and individuals to purchase books in lots for a cheap price and at the same time raise lots of money. Here in my small town volunteers of local rotary (mostly retired people and others) organize this each year. This year we raised $35,000 for charities.

20. If you own a company sponser a child's education. Create an employee of the month program and offer bonuses or cash prizes to encourage staff to stay and contribute.

21. If you are an engineer join a group of students and participate in an invention which will help the poor.

22. If you are a doctor participate in training rural doctors or participate in medical camps. Many ophthalmologists (eye doctors) from US and Australia raise money and go every year to train doctors and conduct operations in medical camps each year.

23. If you are an accountant then teach a poor person how to do banking and save money. Volunteer your time in a micro credit agency.

25. If you know how to play sports, crafts, music, drawing, painting,photography etc. volunteer to train some kids in a slum or a government school. http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/home/


It is time to think and time to act!

I have provided a list of ideas in this blog. Many families are sponsoring children from India including me. This is not great nor noble. I believe it is the duty of every Indian to give back to the society in a meaningful manner. If you can't do any of the ideas or more then you have lost every right to complain about poverty or what is the government is doing as you are not doing anything either.

There are 437 million poor people in India barely struggling to survive and live everyday. Even the best government in the world can not lift this kind of poverty without the help of everyone who can in the country.  India's population is expected to grow by another 300-400 million in the next 40 years even at the current fertility rate of approximately 2.3. India already has 54% of its current population below the age of 30. Only 11% of this group has any education even today. Growth of Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai etc will only increase by at least 2-4 million as there has been little infrastructure development in rural areas. Imagine Bangalore or Mumbai then! this is the current projected figure as world is expected to increase from its current population of 6.5 billion to 9.5 billion. India has admitted recently to have failed to reduce its fertility target to 2 which is just the replacement target.

Consequences of doing nothing today!

Look around you! if you see slums around the home, workplace you can do something about it. if you see a woman sitting with a crying child next to a chula (stove) trying to cook food in the cold nights air then you can do something about it.
If you see a poor woman with bent back walking to beg money in front of the temple where you have gone to pray for the good of your family then you can do something about it!
If you see a child walking carrying building scraps barefoot then you can do something about it!
If you see a rural child not getting proper education then you can do something about it!
If you see a child come next to your car when on the road to beg or sell a rose then you can do something about it!
if you see a child sitting near a hut with a runny nose and scabies on the legs, you can do something about it!

Don't pretend that your maid is rich as she and her family earn few thousand rupees per month. In many cities it mostly goes to rent and food. Education takes a back seat due to financial reasons and lack of interest shown by the illiterate parents. This leads of another generation of poor un or undereducated population. If rural poor are educated and trained in rural enterprises then they do not have to migrate to the cities and create slums such as Dharavi, Mumbai and infrastructure demands and crime and diseases.

Every time you drive past a poor child, poor woman you need to think about the future of your child and your grandchild. Every poor child today who does not get educated or trained in any manner will get married one day. He or she will give birth to 3 children who are alive at the current fertility rate (higher among rural uneducated) . This will lead to 3 more children out of which one may get educated and rest of the two un or undereducated (I do not mean only university degree as education). Today 35% of the middle class and upper class are carrying 65% of the population in some way. Every time this ratio changes by the addition of 2 more uneducated children in 10 years time (per today's 1 uneducated child) then the 30% or less will have to carry more people per person. This will affect the quality of life for your child and grand child as traffic becomes higher, crimes increase, food prices increase, rents increase and pollution and carbon footprint increase.

Think about it when your grandchild will not get a seat in the school even if you are prepared to shell out more money, think about it when your son or daughter has respiratory problems due to long hours in traffic, think about it when you can't walk on the street due to lack of maintenance or crime, think about it or face break ins and crimes increasing and living in fear, think about it when cost of mediciens you need go up.

Act Now! and see how you can help others and you!

Today Bangalore is crying for better infrastructure and disease control as uncontrolled population migration is taking place both from urban cities and rural towns and villages.  This need not happen if every one acts now to help.

If every village has people who are trained in various rural business related activities such as 1. How to maximise crop production 2. How to manage livestock to prevent foot and mouth disease and increase milk production, 3. how to test the soil properly to ensure better management of agriculture and climate change, 4. how to conduct pesticide/herbicide spraying safely and properly 5. how to test the water and manage irrigation through drip irrigation systems 6. how to use computers to understand the markets and prices 7. How to store grain in silos and chillers to prevent food grain waste and vegetable waste and mismanagement 8. how to transport grain and vegetables in a proper manner to get best prices, 9. how to develop horticultural enterprises which get export dollars and best urban prices etc 100s of businesses can be developed around each of these areas. Rural poor youth can be trained through rural scholarships and apprenticeships to not only get themselves trained but through micro credits become business owners and trainers themselves.

This will naturally reduce the rural - urban migration and don't leave the rural areas empty of its youth. One does not need big manufacturing or IT industry in rural areas to do this. There are  opportunities to develop businesses from agriculture, animal husbandry, logistics, transport, silo management, fertilizer spreading, spraying chemical contractors, grain carting contractors, commodity brokers, grain traders, small vegetable gardens and cottage industries, tissue culture, horticulture companies to clone and multiply horticultural plants for urban and export consumption, seed production contractors and sellers, animal feed companies to produce tailor made animal feed for maximizing production, value added products such as animal skins for leather manufacture, wool for yarn etc, mechanics, resellers so on. The rural youth can be trained and in some cases there may be case for urban youth to move to rural areas. Much of this training requires at best high school education not university degrees. One does not need a university degree to get training in driving a tractor to spread fertilizers accurately and develop a contracting business using this skill. One does not need university degree to set up drip irrigation systems and develop a business in mainataining it and managing it. a person does not need to be an engineer to set up silos and maintain them.

Increase in rural production can be more than 4% the government is aiming for. If you want food costs to go down and your city to stop bursting under infrastructure pressure then you can do something about it! Around the rural businesses other engineering and allied health opportunities, shops etc will develop and prevent rural youth and people from moving away and create urban stress. rural health will improve leading to population reduction as increase in wealth is directly linked to reduction in population.

Food security and water security is a high priority among countries now due to climate change. Countries are securing these vital assests (India can pretend as much as it wants to that climate change is not being contributed by it). Due to climate change, food export oriented countries such as Russia, Canada, Australia and US may not be able to export much grain to import dependent countries such as India and China. For example, drought in Australia led to a reduction in rice export from Australia to Asia leading to food roits prior to global financial crisis. Russia this year has banned wheat exports due to climate change drought and forest fires. Food inflation in India is 10-18%. You doing nothing will only help to increase this problem. In India 150,000 farmers have committed suicide, 8,000,000 (8 million) farmers have given up on farming and this number is rapidly growing not just in India but all over the world. In 20 more years India will have added as per current rate another 230,000,000 people. If you are 55 today and retired imagine if India needs to feed another 230 million people how much the food prices will go up due to sheer volume needed, doughts, floods and climate change. Your pension or retirement income will not increase much but food costs will. Food inflation could damage Indian economic growth according all expert projections.

Stop pretending and saying you can't do much or do anything. You can if You want to! everyone can! It is time you stopped turning your back and started facing facts and playing a part in your country's issues rather than being a spectator. If Indians don't help themselves now no one else will and no one else can!


"Ask not what your country can do but what you can do for your country" - John F Kennedy

"There is enough for every one's need but not every one's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal - Martin Luther King Jr.

Helping hands are better than talking lips - Someone who has courage to do and change something. A true patriot!
 
I hope this article got you thinking. Even in countries like the US, UK and Australia population and food and water security debates are hotting up enough to become serious election issues and discussions. Some countries who are busy not doing anything are already facing the consequences today of not investing in infrastructure and needs of the poor. Western aid and loans are drying up.

I am doing my bit but can you say you have? Think now! Act now!

Natural Pesticides/ Insecticide/Herbicide for your garden/glasshouse use

Pesticides and Insecticides

Many people in the world today are bombarded with information regarding harmful effects of Pesticides and Insecticides sold in supermarkets and garden stores. Much of the pesticides and insecticides when used properly need not be harmful. However good information is unfortunately available only in western countries who have strict laws which legislate against improper use of insecticides and pesticides and make it mandatory for users to undertake training in correct use of the pesticide or chemical herbicides, use of correct personal protection equipment (safety hoods, glasses, gloves, hats, fully covered clothes such as heavy cotton pants and shirts, fully covered shoes etc). In western countries all the chemicals come with label information, Material safety data sheet (MSDS) which gives how to use the chemicals safely without harming humans or the environment, minimum residual limits, maximum withholding periods etc.

I have looked at the labels for chemicals in India and I am yet to see any company give the level of detail either in the labels or in the so called safety information. I am yet to see legislations either by state governments or central government of India on chemical labels, MSDS, Maximum/minimum residual limits (MRL) and Minimum/maximum withholding limits. I have seen no sign of grouping of chemicals based on their active ingredients (AI) and using these grouping to develop Integrated Pest Management strategies (IPM). These exist in legislation in the western countries but Indian farmers do not seem to deserve the level of protection that the western farmers seem to deserve. India need not reinvent the wheel here but it needs to copy the legislations and systems implemented in countries like Australia and the US where these systems have now saved countless farmers lives. Please go to Internet links such as http://www.msds.com.au/ and look at the safety use of the chemical. The brand name may be different from country to country but look at the chemical active ingredient and understand the safe use of the chemicals.

Chemicals generally sold in garden stores in the west are allowed to be sold only on a diluted basis. However this is not the case in India. Please look at the banned chemicals in India and also registered chemicals in India in this blog. This is the reason I am showing how to make insecticides and pesticides for your garden using natural chemicals. I have used these in my own garden at home and in a large scale in glasshouses at work. These mixtures work very well to a large extent. Note that the idea is not to kill every bug every insect from your veggie patch or garden but to maintain at such a level that it does not lead to crop or garden loss and destruction. This is part of the integrated pest management strategy.

Herbicides are a bit harder but I will show the tricks in this blog.

Insecticides/Pesticides

1. Neem oil.

Neem oil can be bought from most Indian and Asian stores in small bottles. In India in Bangalore, if you live around Malleshwaram you can purchase it in small bottles in small kirani stores on 11th cross and also opposite a shop in Sajjan electrical store. In Sydney one can purchase it in Indian stores such as Spiceland in Home bush, Sydney. There may be other stores where there could be sold. In Coffs harbour BioNeem company sells it in larger volumes. Many Indians stores in US also will sell them.

Neem has an active ingredient called Azadiractin which is a registered ingredient in many countries.

To make a neem oil pesticide/insecticide use 5mls of neem oil and add to 1 liter of water and add a drop of liquid soap of any kind. Shake it well in a sprayer and use it immediately. Don't store this mixture as it tends to clog up. You do not need to use any gloves etc as it not harmful unless you are allergic to it.However if you have never used a chemical either synthetic or natural it is better to wear gloves, mask and covered shoes to prevent allergies or spillage.

Use neem oil to spray on insects like bugs/scales/aphids etc. spray on the whole of the plant especially underneath the leaves and in crevices. Neem also kills the juveniles but to be safe spray again in 9-10 days time as any newly hatched juveniles will be killed.

when spraying neem either spray at either dawn or dusk when there is still enough daylight but bees have left the plant. Do not kill lady bug beetles as they are the predators for aphids.

2. Pest Oil

Most garden stores in the west sell Pest Oils. Use it by adding the recommended amount on the label with water and a drop of liquid soap which acts as a surfactant or a spreader.

3. Chili and Garlic Pesticides/Insecticides

Take a handful of dry chillies which you can buy from any Indian of Asian store. Add these to 1 liter of water. Remove skin off 2-3 Garlic cloves and press it to release and break out some juice. Add this to the same liter of water which has the chillies. (wash your hand with soap and water or with yogurt to get rid of the heat from chillies). Leave this mixture to brew for a month or so. Once the brew is done, use it in the same way as neem oil. You can also use higher amount of 10mls to the liter.

4. Nicotine Insecticide/Pesticide

Purchase a packet of cheapest possible cigarettes or tobacco leaves from the shops. Ensure children do not get access to this. Next break the cigarettes into halves ands remove the filters at the end. Use several cigarettes and place it in a bottle in 1 liter of water. allow it to brew for a month. use it at 5-10 mls per liter similar to Neem oil.

Herbicides

Herbicides can be selective or non selective that is they can kill every plant (Roundup) or they can kill either grasses or broad leaf plants but not both. Some herbicides are compound chemicals and some are hormone based chemicals. If you are using these chemical make sure you follow the label instructions otherwise you might end up killing everything.

Natural ways of killing weeds in the garden

1. Pulling weeds out physically. Use heavy duty garden gloves to pull out weeds manually as you can be highly allergic to the weed or sap from the weed. Pull weeds pot when they are young and before flowering as many weeds spread seeds while they are being pulled.

2. Using saturated solution of table salt. Take a liter of water and keep adding salt and stirring it till no salt grain is seen. This is the saturated solution. Pour this on weeds at the center so that you kill the growth points and the plant.

3. Boiling hot water. Use boiling hot water to kill difficult to kill weeds such as onion grass weeds, wild radish, oxalis, parthenium, lantana etc. The hot water will not only kill the plant but also kill the growth points so that the weeds do not regrow. Ensure that children are not in the vicinity while carrying the hot water and use covered shoes.

To identify weeds in

Australia go to the web link http://www.weeds.org.au/weedident.htm


I haven't found a website for India as soon as I do I will make it available on this blog.

Few Common Weeds


Parthenium Weed
Note: Parthenium can have different color flowers and its flowers cause high levels of allergies and asthma in some cases.
Oxalis weed

Onion Grass weed
Thistle
Wild Radish
Dandelion

Pink Lantana weed


In your lawn do not fuss too much about clovers (white and red) and get rid of them. Clovers  are very useful in fixing biological nitrogen and providing nitrogen to your grasses. Just keep them mowed. Don't fuss about every weed just ensure that it does not become a problem. Most weeds have a useful function of holding the top soil together, putting carbon into the soil, providing organic matter into the soil which allows nitrogen and other useful carbon sources to be held in the soil.

Do not water lawns too frequently unless they are being established. Once the lawn is established watering it more than once a week in winter and twice a week in summer will only limit the root development and capture of ground water and thereby kill the grasses in the lawn. over watering makes the root week and kills the plant. Cracks in the soil are a clear indication of low moisture. I do not water my lawn in summer at all most lawn grasses need summer dormancy and they grow back during natural rain periods. Good healthy lawns do not breed many weeds.

Ensure fruit trees such as oranges, lemons are watered well but not overwaterd. They need adequate watering to ensure flower set and fruit set. They also need well draining soils.


Disclaimer: This blog is provided to raise the awareness and information only. Author does not take any responsibility for improper use or misuse of the information provided. Do not copy or publish the information without written permission of the author.

Images are collected from various sources.

Insecticides registerd for use in India

Insecticides Registered under/section 9 (3) of the Insecticide Act, 1968
As on 
13/11/2009



S.No.Name of the Pesticide
12,4-Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid
2Acephate
3Acetamiprid
4Alachlor
5Allethrin
6Alphacypermethrin
7Alphanaphthyl Acetic Acid
8Aluminium Phosphide
9Anilophos
10Atrazine
11Aureofungin
12Azadirachtin (Neem Products)
13Azoxystrobin
14Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.)
15Bacillus thuringiensis ( B.S.)
16Barium Carbonate
17Beauveria bassiana
18Bendiocarb
19Benfuracarb
20Benomyl
21Bensulfuron
22Beta Cyfluthrin
23Bifenazate
24Bifenthrin
25Bispyribac Sodium
26Bitertanol
27Bromadiolone
28Buprofezin
29Butachlor
30Captan
31Carbaryl
32Carbendazim
33Carbofuran
34Carbosulfan
35Carboxin
36Carfentazone Ethyl
37Carpropamid
38Cartap Hydrochloride
39Chlorantraniliprole
40Chlorofenvinphos
41Chlorfenapyr
42Chlorimuron ethyl
43Chlormequat Chloride (CCC)
44Chlorothalonil
45Chlorpyriphos
46Chlorpyriphos Methyl
47Cinmethylene
48Clodinafop-propargyl (Pyroxofop-propargyl)
49Clomazone
50Chlothianidin
51Copper Hydroxide
52Copper Oxychloride
53Copper Sulphate
54Coumachlor
55Coumatetralyl
56Cuprous Oxide
57Cyfluthrin
58Cyhalofop-butyl
59Cymoxanil
60Cypermethrin
61Cyphenothrin
62Dazomet
63Deltamethrin (Decamethrin)
64Diazinon
65Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT)
66Dichloropropene and Dichloropropane mixure (DD mixure)
67Diclorvos (DDVP)
68Diclofop-Methyl
69Dicofol
70Difenocenazole
71Difenthiuron
72Diflubenzuron
73Dimethoate
74Dimethomorph
75Dinocap
76Dithianon
77Diuron
78Dodine
79D-trans Allethrin
80Edifenphos
81Emamectin Benzoate
82Endosulfan
83Ethephon
84Ethion
85Ethofenprox (Etofenprox)
86Ethoxysulfuron
87Ethylene Dibromide and Carbon Tetrachloride mixture (EDCT Mixture 3:1)
90
Fenarimol
91Fenazaquin
92Fenitrothion
93Fenobucarb (BPMC)
94Fenoxaprop-p-Ethyl
95Fenpropathrin
96Fenpyroximate
97Fenthion
98Fenvalerate
99Fipronil
100Flubendiamide
101Fluchloralin
102Flufenacet
103Flufenoxuron
104Flufenzine
105Flusilazole
106Fluvalinate
107Forchlorfenuron
108Fosetyl-Al
109Gibberellic Acid
110Glufosinate Ammonium
111Glyphosate
112Hexaconazole
113Hexazinone
114Hexythiazox
115Hydrogen Cyanamid
116Imazethapyr
117Imidacloprid
118Imiprothrin
119Indoxacarb
120Iprobenfos (Kitazin)
121Iprodione
122Isoprothiolane
123Isoproturon
124Kasugamycin
125Kresoxim Methyl
126Lambdacyhalothrin
127Lime Sulphur
128Lindane
129Linuron
130Lufenuron
131Magnesium Phosphide Plates
132Malathion
133Mancozeb
134Mepiquate Chloride
135Mesosulfuron Methyl + Iodosulfuron Methyl Sodium
136Metaflumizone
137Metalaxyl
138Metalaxyl-M
139Metaldehyde
140Methabenzthiazuron
141Methomyl
142Methoxy Ethyl Mercury Chloride (MEMC)
143Methyl Bromide
144Methyl Chlorophenoxy Acetic Acid (MCPA)
145Methyl Parathion
146Metiram
147Metolachlor
148Metribuzin
149Metsulfuron Methyl
150Milbemectin
151Monocrotophos
152Myclobutanil
153Novaluron
154Nuclear polyhyderosis virus of Helicoverpa armigera
155Nuclear polyhyderosis virus of Spodoptera Litura
156Oxadiargyl
157Oxadiazon
158Oxycarboxin
159Oxydemeton-Methyl
160Oxyfluorfen
161Paclobutrazole
162Paraquat dichloride
163Penconazole
164Pencycuron
165Pendimethalin
166Permethrin
167Phenthoate
168Phorate
169Phosalone
170Phosphamidon
171Prallethrin
172Pretilachlor
173Primiphos-methyl
174Profenophos
175Propanil
176Propergite
177Propetamphos
178Propiconazole
179Propineb
180Propoxur
181Pyrachlostrobin
182Pyrethrins (pyrethrum )
183Pyridalyl
184Pyriproxyfen
185Pyrithiobac sodium
186Quinalphos
187Quizalofop ethyl
188Quizalofop-P-tefuryl
189S-bioallethrin
190Sirmate
191Sodium Cyanide
192Spinosad
193Spiromesifen
194Streptomycin + Tetracycline
195sulfosulfuron
196sulphur
197Tebuconazole
198Temephos
199Thiacloprid
200Thifluzamide
201Thiobencarb (Benthiocarb)
202Thiodicarb  
203Thiomethoxain
204Thiometon
205Thiophanate-Methyl
206Thiram
207Transfluthrin
208Triacontanol
209Triadimefon
210Triallate
211Triazophos
212Trichlorofon
213Trichoderma Viride
214Tricyclazole
215Tridemorph
216Trifluralin
217Validamycin
218Verticillium lecanii
219Zinc Phosphide
220Zineb
221Ziram