Orchid display- Brings joy to hundreds

Orchids belong to the family Orchidaceae with over 21,000 species and 10% of all seeded plants. This family includes Vanilla which adds flavour to ice creams and cakes. Singapore has the best of the collection at the airport nourishing the senses of the tired traveller with the beauty of the colors shapes and textures. Orchids are grown all over the world in hothouses and people tend to associate them with romance, beauty and finer things of life.

The following photos are those of the orchid display by Tamworth Orchid Society. The members of the society do a massive service by bringing such biodiversity to general public and ensure that people are in touch with the natural world through flowers of such beauty and grace. These orchids bring joy and pride to many people and show that in the world we need to preserve enjoy and appreciate what nature has to offer. Thanks to these members of the society that every child in Tamworth has an opportunity to look and appreciate these magnificent flowers of nature. Just enjoy!!

Orchids have held a special place among gardners and they are similar to roses in some way as people adorne their beauty grace and enchanting looks and a sense of romance and finess they bring to human lives. They belong to family Orchidacease with over 21,000 species with about 10% of all seed plants. Vnailla whihc provides flaour to icecreams and cakes is part of this family. World over people grow them in hot houses and tend to care for them to ensure they have the best looking ones in their gardens. Singapore airport has the best of them and nourish the senses with best presentation and eye soothing colors and beauty. The following photos are the ones which were displyed in the malls in Tamworth, NSW Australia. This collection is small however, the pride of the Tamworth Orchid Society members is no less than the best collectors in the world. These societies not only bring pride and joy to the orchid onwers but also show general population the joy of flowers thereby gardening and the joy of valuing the biological diverstiy and appreciating the nature around us though flowers in different colors and huges leaves of different shapes and textures. These socieites do in some way more than many scientists as they bring biodiversity to general public who at times are disconnected to the natural world. Thank god for these people who make effort to conduct these displays that the children and city dwellers get to expirence the value of these plants.

Rural Training, not handouts that will develop rural India

Rural Development needs local solutions

The story below in The Hindu is a clear example of how training rural folk who are under and un educated can help to develop a better rural economy. Governments in India and Africa constantly apply the formula for development which they use in urban areas of India and Africa and fail to deliver targeted growth in rural areas. Why? Simple lack of locally based tailored thinking. Just like one can't apply the methodology and tools that one uses in large scale agriculture used in the western countries such as the US and Australia where a farmer could easily own 3000 hectares of land as a minimum  holding to subsistence farming in India and Africa where a farmer could own 2-50 hectares of land, one can't apply the thinking for urban development to rural one. Training based on local situational analysis and solutions are the way to go as seen in the story below.

Educational target set by Indian government is noble however not achievable to a large extent. Rural youth need rural based training such as training in agriculture equipment usage, management and repairs, development of businesses for contract sowing and harvesting considering rural India is facing farm labour shortage due to urban migration, development of small scale tunnell houses for industrial farming of high value farm crops such as cherry tomatoes, blue berries and strawberries, development of small scale rural tooling and machining operations etc.

Use of rural training to develop small scale solar equipment will allow for employment opportunities not just for those who are employed directly but indirectly for those who want to use them to develop businesses and for those who want to get educated. Right To Education can only happen when there are associated services and tools for the rural folk to enable their children to be educated not just up to high school but at least obtain a trade or vocational qualification that apply to rural industries and agriculture.

Solar mates- The Hindu 15-04-2012

Bharat Dogra

Barefoot women solar engineers of Rajasthan train their African sisters on how to light up their villages with the renewable resource

It's an unexpected scene that you come across in the dusty plains of Kishangarh block in Rajasthan's Ajmer district -- women from several African countries being trained by their Indian sisters to become barefoot solar engineers.

Welcome to the world of solar energy in Tilonia village. Here the campus of Barefoot College has emerged as a leading international centre for training barefoot solar engineers. Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme of the External Affairs Ministry, women from many underdeveloped countries come here regularly in small batches for training.

Speaking to trainees from Chad, Sierre Leone, Zambia, Namibia, Kenya and Tanzania, you learn that most of them are grandmothers from African villages who hoped to light up their hamlets with solar energy after returning from Tilonia. The necessary equipment would be sent in huge parcels even before they themselves leave Tilonia.

Follow-up records maintained at the Barefoot College reveal several success stories. Fatuma Ababker Ibrahim from Beyahile village in Afar (Ethiopia) made very good progress and returned to her village to install 90 fixed solar units. She also helped to start a rural electronic workshop in her village.

Gul Zaman, a 26-year old from Afghanistan, came to Tilonia with her husband Mohammed Jan. They returned to their community to provide solar electricity to around 50 houses.

The Tilonia project serves as an amazing example of women-to-women communication skills that can overcome in innovative ways despite crucial language barriers.

Most barefoot solar engineers under the project are provided six month training on vital technical details such as fabrication of charge controllers and inverters, printed circuit boards, testing, wiring, installation of solar panels, repair and maintenance. Trainers Leela and Magan Kanwar, who are currently active at the college, underwent the same training a few years back. They also coped with many initial problems and found their own innovative ways of overcoming them. Having gone through the entire process themselves, they are better able to understand problems faced by their sisters of Africa.

The involvement becomes so close that many trainees are in tears at the time of leaving, reveals Leela.

At a time of increasing involvement with decentralised rural energy systems particularly solar energy, such a system of training barefoot solar engineers can prove very useful in increasing the self-reliance of rural communities in installing and maintaining solar energy systems.

While there is fierce debate about the transfer of renewal energy technology from rich to poor countries, Tilonia's training provides a great example of how much can be achieved by South-South technical cooperation.Tilonia also conducts regular courses for trainees from remote areas within the country, including villages of Ladakh and other Himalayan areas.

The training has paid off. Several women with experience of solar energy work have got together to set up the Women Barefoot Solar Cooker Engineers' Society -- a registered association of rural women involved in fabrication and production of parabolic solar cookers.

This cooker can do the most environmental-friendly, cost effective, day time cooking on sunny days. Its design too is unique. The in-built spring and clock system is accurately set to complete one rotation in fixed time, and this in turn rotates the cooker to track the sun automatically, making the sunlight fall on all the 300 (9cm x 12cm) reflectors throughout the day. So once the cooker has been adjusted in the morning, uninterrupted cooking can be carried out the rest of the day. At Tilonia workshops cookers are fabricated using precise measurements by bending, welding and cutting. Such 2.5 sq.m parabolic solar cookers have been installed in nine villages and some institutions.

It is indeed remarkable that rural women with little formal education have not only learnt to make the cookers, but also travelled to other places to install the system successfully.

Rural and home garden profitablity - use technology smartly

Rural and home garden can be a profitable business if technology is used.

The article below  (The Hindu) clearly illustrates how even smaller jobs in rural areas can be turned into profitable business using technology. Technology such as Internet and mobile phones can be used to obtain information on sowing times, harvest times, weather, market prices new agricultural technological products garden products. If one has smart phone such as iPhone or android phone one can easily down load apps and use them for free and get information.

Many home gardeners in the west grow small amounts of exotic and regular crops and sell them to their local produce shops to make money. If one has a bit of land such as the home back yard it is not hard to grow some cherry tomatoes, chokos (chokote or Seemebadane kayi) etc and sell it locally either online or to their produce shop people. It is a matter of bit of an effort pride in oneself and entrepreneurship.

The following links will provide these information to either a home gardener or rural agriculturist.

http://www.gardenate.com/ (planting information on many vegetables in Australia, NZ, South Africa and the US)

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/ (weather information in Australia very reliable in a user friendly manner)

http://in.weather.com/search?searchText=IN&searchSourceType=2&sourcePageId=1&localeCode=en_IN&searchType=3&locationId=ASIA ( weahter in various cities of India includes smaller cities)

http://www.weatherusa.net/  (weather in the US)

To download Android apps for free go to https://play.google.com/store?hl=en

Login to get this plucky coconut plucker

Press Trust of India The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram, April 4:

Shortage of trained nut pluckers is a grim farm sector problem in Kerala but for 37-year-old Selvin Chacko, coconut plucking is a hi-tech profession involving car, mobile phone and even a dedicated Web site.

While many youngsters look down upon coconut plucking as a non-glamorous vocation, Selvin from Changanassery opted for it with “pride and pleasure.” Keeping in tune with the changing times, he is using modern facilities such as mobile phone and Internet to get connected to customers.

Travelling in the car helps him save time as he can rush from one coconut garden to the next.

Selvin says he climbs 40 to 45 trees a day, earning not less than Rs 30,000 a month. His phone number and profile are available on a Web site launched in the name of 'Changathikoottam', a gathering of trained coconut pluckers.

A failed business man, Selvin said coconut plucking has helped him to rebuild his life.

“I have tried my luck in a number of enterprises but could not succeed. Finally, I started looking for a job which could give me a steady income. After some search, I found coconut plucking a gainful career as there is a huge demand for coconut harvesters in Kerala,” Selvin said.

After his schooling, Selvin became a bus conductor and even bought two buses eventually. But the bus business failed soon and he was pushed into a debt trap.

Father of three kids, he later joined a week long coconut climbing training programme conducted by the Krishi Vingnan Kendra in Kumarakom near Kottayam.

He gets an average of 100 calls a day from various parts of the district. Apart from wages, he also charges petrol price for the assignments outside the district.

“Though I mastered the nuances of tree climbing and nut plucking, I had to face stiff opposition from my family and traditional coconut pluckers in the initial days,” he said.

“My family and community members complained that I humiliated them by entering in the profession while conventional nut pluckers blamed me for charging lower wages.”

Of late, he has also turned a trainer, having helped a dozen youth learn the job.

Use of right crop and fertilizers can improve farm productivity in India

Indian farmers demonstrate their innovative capability.

The articles below from Deccan Herald and The Hindu clearly illustrate that Indian farmers can be innovative given the knowledge encouragement and assitance. These people are hard working and dont ask for much. High level cash crops need to be encouraged along with use of right amount and type of fertilizers. However since it is only one crop one needs to encourage the growing of other oil crops such as Thyme, ginger, rose, mint etc so that oil can be extracted. These oils are used heavily by cosmetic industries such as fragrance, aromatic oils, soaps etc and pure oils fetch as much as 8 dollars per 25ml of oil in the west. Encouraging farmers to grow these types of crops which allow them to get good profit. This inturn has a huge economic benefit as these farmers lives improve and they will send their kids for further education. Farmers are suffering due lack of agricultural centers in rural areas. In India agricultural officers have to be placed close to rural areas like in the west. One can't have agronomists located in cities. Schemes like "Bhoo Chethana" are heading in the right direction as they are encourging use of different fertilizers not just nitrogen based ones such as Urea and has demonstrated clearly to farmers that they can acheive good production out of crops including paddy. Indian agricultural growth can easily reach 10% if this kind of initiatives are used. India can become self sufficient and can even begin to export in a serious manner.

Aromatic crops provide good returns in hilly regions

M. J. Prabu
The Hindu March 8, 2012

The fragrance from these aromatic plants keeps wild animals at bay

Experiencing unexpected losses in agriculture due to adverse climate or pest attack is a common feature in the life of farmers. Even the best technologies fail when they have to gamble with adverse climate. The problem is all the more acute for those living in hilly regions bordering reserve forest areas.

Because apart from the vagaries of climate, farmers also have to keep track of movements of wild animals in their fields which cause sudden and disastrous loss both to the crops and sometimes to human lives.

Mrs. Puttiyamma, is a lady farmer of Bargur hills in Erode district of Tamil Nadu, successfully proved that all the above stated facts are not a deterrent when it comes to growing crops in the hills and successfully marketing them. Mrs. Puttiyamma owns about 4 acres of land and is presently growing Rosemary in about half an acre.

Rosemary group
“I was growing ragi and double beans and reaped only a minimum margin. With no alternative I sought other casual jobs to meet my family’s basic needs.
“I heard from sources in my village about MYRADA KVK (Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency — Krishi Vigyan Kendra) which is encouraging farmers in our area to grow Rosemary (an aromatic herb) and are also helping them to market the same produce by forming the rosemary group (Group of farmers with common interest being to market Rosemary),” she explained. She joined the group and started cultivating the crop. Rosemary thrives well both in irrigated and dry land conditions and is not disturbed and grazed by any wild animal because of its aroma.
As it is a perennial crop there is no need for investing money for seeds and land preparation every year and the crop provides a stable income.


Harvesting tonnage
Mrs. Puttiyamma harvested around 2 tonnes/year of fresh leaves and earned about Rs.20.00 per kg of fresh leaves in the past three years. “I have earned about Rs.40,000 per year from 1/2 an acre of land under rain fed condition whereas the returns from rest 3.5 acres of Ragi crop and beans have been only half of this income. My income kindled the interest of other farmers who also started growing the crop,” she said.
Oil extraction

As there has been an increase in the number of farmers who took to Rosemary cultivation the District Rural Development Agency, Erode funded the establishment of an oil extraction unit nearby.

The unit reduced the herbage loss during transport and has been able to increase the income to about Rs.3,600 per acre besides providing employment to the rural youth.

The tribals of this region grew crops such as ragi, double beans, tapioca, turmeric and some fruit varieties. But due to constant incursion by wild animals from the bordering reserve forests many of them could not succeed in their farming operations, explained Dr. P. Alagesan, Programme Co-ordinator, Myrada Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

“When some of the tribals approached us for guidance our team visited the area and after careful study realized that aromatic crops can be safely grown there as the climate is cool and favourable and also the fragrance emanating from these aromatic plants will keep the wild animals at bay,” he says.

Clear understanding

Myrada krishi vigyan Kendra encourages group approach to get fair price to the product. A clear understanding between marketing agencies and growers committee is ensured. The tribals are made to interact with officials Hope — an organization in Nilgiris — are pioneers in the cultivation and promotion of the crop.

In order to get additional revenue in the rosemary field/garden, other long term crops such as Tea, Eucalyptus citridora can be encouraged as a border crop, says Mr.Pachiappan, of the Kendra. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University conferred an award on the lady farmer.

To speak to the farmer readers can contact Dr. P. Alagesan, Programme Co-ordinator, Myrada Krishi Vigyan Kendra, No.272, Perumal Nagar, Puduvalliyampalayam Road, Kalingiyam – Post, Gobichettipalayam – 638453, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, e-mail : myradakvk@gmail.com, myradakvk@dataone.in, website : www.myradakvk.org, Phone : 04285 241626, 241627.

Mint leaves make farmer smile
Published in Deccan Herald , Kadur, Mar 10, 2012, DHNS:

Hardwork coupled with interest and knowledge on crops can help a farmer to survive even in drought affected Kadur taluk. This has been proved by Lokesh of Bantaganahalli in Kadur taluk. By growing pudina (mint leaves), he has become model for others and has been fetching income for his livelihood.

When the monsoon failed, he started growing mint leaves in his arecanut plantation with the help of borewell water and started earning good income.

Before planting the mint leaves, the land should be levelled and the soil should be mixed with the manure. The mint leaves can be grown between the arecanut trees. The mint leaves plants should be grown with a distance of 20 to 22 cm. One can plant during any season. The plant will start sprouting within 15 days. The plants should be watered at least four times in a week.

“By applying DAP 20:20, mint leaves grow faster. To check diseases affecting the mint leaves, one need to spray metacid. With less expenditure, pudina can be grown. The fully grown mint leaves can be harvested within two months,” he says. “One will have to spend a sum of Rs 9,000 for growing mint leaves in an acre land. However, after harvest, it will fetch Rs 75,000 per acre. There is great demand for mint leaves in Shimoga and Bhadravathi. One thousand bunches (each bunch will have 10 to 12 plants) is sold for Rs 600,” says Lokesh.

Mint leaves remind us of chutney. It is rich in protein, fiber, and iron.

Paddy production shoots up by 20 pc in Kodagu



Srikanth Kallammanavar, Madikeri, Mar 10,2012, DHNS:
Bhoo Chethana Scheme breathes new lease of life

With the implementation of the ambitious project of the state government ‘Bhoo Chethana,’ Kodagu district has seen 20 per cent increase in the production of paddy and 25 per cent increase in maize. The scheme has brought smile on the face of the farmers.

In 2011-12, as many as 58 villages in Kodagu district were included under the project. The government had implemented the project on a pilot basis two years ago. The scheme aimed at supplying nutrients and micro nutrients needed for the agriculture lands at subsidised rate through cooperative societies. About 17,000 hectare of land under paddy and 2,000 hectare of maize was included under the scheme.

The scheme covered 4,434 hectare paddy grown area in Madikeri taluk, 6,665 hectare in Virajpet and 6,000 hectare in Somwarpet.

Farmers were given 60 tonnes of dolomite, 16.5 tonnes of borox, 53 tonnes of zinc sulphate and 43 tonnes of organic manure through 47 cooperative societies. Owing to the scheme, the paddy production was 1,53,254 tonne while the maize was 20,844 tonne, said officials.

Villages

The scheme was implemented in the following villages. Madikeri—Maragodu, Hoskeri, Kantharu Moornadu, Makkandur, Napoklu, Ballamavati-Nelaji-Peroor, Kaggodlu, Makeri, Made, Katakeri, Bettageri, Heravanadu, Thavur.

Somwarpet—Ganaguru, Yalakanur, Masagodu, Adinadooru, Thakeri, Kiragandur, Yadavanadu, Yaduru, Kalkanduru, Soorlabi, Garvale, Chettalli, Nellihudikeri, Nanjarayapattana, Guddehosu, Koodige, Nidtha, Gopalapura, Shivaralli, Avaredalu, Huluse, Shanthalli, Thaltarashettalli, Kumaralli, Tholur Shettali and Doddatholuru.

Virajpet—Kannangala, Hosur, Kirugur, Hudoor, Thithimathi, Kanoor, Nittur, Devanoor, Ponnappasanthe, Kadangamaroor, Palangala, Betoli, Maithadi, Nemmale, K Badaga, Harihara, Porad, Hudikeri and Haisodlur.

Land selected

The success of Bhoo chethana has inspired the agriculture department to select 32,500 hectare land during 2012-13. This include 29,500 hectare for paddy and 3,000 hectare for maize.

Adding Soil Organic Matter- Increase farm and garden production.

Adding velvet bean or any other forage or legume such as peas, beans, alfalfa, clovers not only adds manure it adds to the soil organic matter (SOM) and adds further soil organic carbon (SOM). Even the non organic farmers should follow this practice and gardners should use the same technique. This will add nitrogen to the soil due to linkage of soil carbon and nitrogen cycle. This will help productivity due to these factors. Combining best managment practices such as these with limited use of fertilizers and pesticides will increase farm output with minimum farm inputs.

A novel source of organic manure

R Chowda Reddy, Srinivaspur, DHNS: 04-03-2012

Velvet beans

A progressive farmer and environmentalist of Rampur in the taluk cultivates velvet beans, the waste of which serves as organic manure.

Velvet beans is traditionally used as an important forage, fallow and green manure crop.

Velvet bean is an annual climbing vine that grows 3-18 m in height. It is indigenous to tropical regions, especially Africa, India, and the West Indies. Its flowers are white to dark purple and hang in long clusters. The plant also produces clusters of pods which contain seeds known as mucuna beans. The seed pods are covered with reddish-orange hairs that are readily dislodged and can cause intense irritation to the skin.

Velvet beans is a multi utility vine. It can control pests, cools the surroundings and retains moisture for a longer time. To a certain extent it also controls soil erorion during monsoon. Besides being a natural fence, it also provides fodder for cattle.

Ashok Kumar, the progressive farmer and environmentalist, who grows velvet beans in his farm says that it does not require much water for its growth. It sprouts with very little moisture. It can grow in barren lands and it clings to any tree or spreads on the ground if there are no trees around.

The beans can be grown between crops. As the vine attracts pests, it protects other main crops. It can be grown successfully in Malnad and Bayaluseeme region and is the ideal plant for Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts where soil fertility has declined due to cultivation of tomatoes and other vegetables.

It can be grown by the side of the fence in many taluks of the district and between mango trees in Srinivaspur taluk. By planting velvet beans along the fence and in between other trees, Ashok Kumar has obtained good results for his other crops

Farmers in India use raised beds to increase income!!!

The use of raised beds to for income rise!

The article below in Deccan Herald gives the benefits of using raised beds in agriculture. What do raised beds do? First of all they channel the irrigation water especially when drip irrigation is used properly and conserve water. Next they keep the ground moist while preventing water logging. Most crop species especially tubers roots and cereals such as barley wheat and pulses do not like waterlogging. Waterlogging leads to development of root diseases and ultimately leads to yield losses. The article below clearly shows when simple modification and best management practices are used how a farmer can get significant yield improvement but also prevent the spread of diseases such as verticillim etc and prevent such diseases from attacking his/her crops. This method can be used even in home gardens to grow potatoes carrots etc and use garden drip irrigation systems. One way to develop a drip irrigation system is to drill small holes in a garden hose and allow to water. This hose lasts longer than the standard soak-a-hose system.



Raised bedding machine




Raised Bed



Next if he needs to use the same field area he should not use any solanaceae members such as tomatoes and eggplants etc as potato is a member of solanaceae. Instead if he uses pulses etc to biologically fix nitrogen then his next crop will be even better.

In Australia, cereal growers who are using raised beds are getting yields of up to 7 tonnes to the hectare when the normal dryland (rainfed) yield is just 2-3 tonnes to the hectare.

I take my hat off to this farmer Mr. Gopalakrishna who is smart and has adopted best management practice to a large extent and made his farm highly productive. However I am disappointed that the agriculture scientists in Karnataka were not the ones who introduced this technology to him. Now the question is will they do so? It looks like farmers are making much strides without their help.

Innovative farming gives unexpected high yield



K Narasimhamurthy, Kolar, February 17 2012, DHNS:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/228044/innovative-farming-gives-unexpected-high.html

 Farmer from Arahalli grows 50 tons of potato in four acres

The raised bed system, an innovation in farming, has hiked the yield of potato in the field of a farmer from Arahalli in the taluk.
Gopalakrishna, who is also the chairman of Horticultural Produce Cooperative Marketing Society (Hopcoms), has surpassed all calculations by the Horticultural Department on potato yield per acre. Using the raised bed farming system, Gopalakrishna has produced 31.25 tons in one hectare land as against an average of 20 tons estimated by the Department.
In addition, there is an increase in the yield by 30 per cent, much to the astonishment and appreciation of the Department officers.
Gopalakrishna spoke to Deccan Herald on Friday, even as he was packing bags of the potato grown to be sent to Hopcoms.


He explained that he had sown the kisan jyoti variety of potato in his four-acre land towards the end of October 2011. He had used about 1,000 50 kg-bags of the tubers. While he went for drip irrigation, in addition, in order to preserve the moisture in the soil, Gopalakrishna used the raised bed farming system.
He first grew watermelon and papaya in the raised beds. The red soil in the land proved an advantage and the output increased considerably.
Potato is generally grown at ground-level in long rows. But during a trip to Jalandhar organised by Hopcoms, Gopalakrishna noticed that most farmers in the area used the raised bed system.
Inspired by the knowledge, he too decided to use the system in his field. He fit in the machine to set up the beds to his tractor and went ahead with the sowing work.
Gopalakrishna has also set up a manure pit with earthworms. He used the manure from the pit as well as from dung-hills. He also used about two bags of other kinds of fertilisers per acre. The land continued to be irrigated with the drip system.

The outcome stunned him. “I did not expect such high yield. I certainly thought the yield would be a little better,” he said and added, “Now, I am planning to use the raised bed system for all my crops.”

Gopalakrishna informed that Manoj Kumar Meena, the Deputy Commissioner, N Shantappa, former chief executive officer of the Zilla Panchayat, and officers of the Horticulture Department had visited his farm to study the raised bed system and had expressed appreciation of the innovation.

The specially connected machine, attached to the tractor, was used to pluck the crops. “The tubers come out of the earth as the tractor moves ahead. The good ones are then separated manually and piled,” he explained.

Manjunath, assistant director of the Horticulture Department, said, “It is truly amazing that a potato crop has give such high yield. The innovation in agriculture used by Gopalakrishna, through the raised bed system, is worth appreciation, considering the yield is far higher than what is estimated by the Department.”

He said other farmers too would be advised to use the system to improve their yield.



How to conduct sprays at home garden and in agricultural work

Use of spray chemicals properly

In countries like India where the farming sector employs over 52% or the population the focus is on production at any cost. This is because farmers have small land holding and want to maximize their production and government is focused on growing majority of the produce with in the country rather than spend foreign currency to import food. There is nothing wrong with these goals. However what is becoming more and more obvious through reports in new papers is that safety is being ignored. Ignoring safety is not just a individuals problem it is country's, society's and family's problem too.

For a country which ignores the safe use of chemicals it has to face problems like that caused by Endosulfan resulting in over 4000 victims of cancer just in the Kerala state alone. Let us just look at the cost of unsafe spraying practices. First of all let us assume about 1000 of these people were farmers and these people had land holding of 2 acres. Let us assume they produce rice of about 1tonne each in the 2 acres. That means 1000 tonnes of rice. Now let us assume the cost of this rice is about 25 rupees per kilo retail. Therefore cost of 1 tonne of rice is about rupees 25,000. Now the 1000 tonne of rice will be worth 25,000,000.

Next the country because of the damage caused to these individuals has paid compensation. Even if each of these people was paid only 100000 rupees or 1 lak, that would be 1000 laks. Added to these is the cost of treatment for each of these individuals in public hospitals.

Next let us look at the family. The kids may not get proper education or nutrition due to this lack of safety. The wife may have to work in the fields and may not able to look after the kids properly. This of course will impact on the immediate society.

Below is the image of brain cancer MRI taken from a agricultural worker in Kashmir where the researchers found over 30 different pesticides were used. Among them was endosulfan too.

For details of the study refer to http://www.ijoem.com/article.asp?issn=0019-5278;year=2010;volume=14;issue=3;spage=78; epage=86;aulast=Bhat

Brain cancer and pesticide relationship in orchard farmers of Kashmir. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Year : 2010, Volume : 14, Issue : 3, Page : 78-86.

How to spray safely (head covered, hair covered, body legs hands fully covered and gloves worn)



How not to spray ( body exposed, hair, head and eyes exposed to the spray)

Body hair is one of the best absorbers of chemicals. Many of the insecticides are neurotoxins especially those which are used for agricultural purposed. Some of these chemicals used at home although at a lower toxicity levels care should be taken to read the labels to ensure right Personal Protective Equipment is worn.

Can one avoid using pesticides especially at home?

Yes there are many ways to reduce the insect damage in veggie patches. Use plants like Basil and marigold interspersed among the vegetables to reduce insect damage. The compounds emitted by marigold is a natural preventative of insect invasion. Basil attracts bees which once again prevent other insects from attacking your veggie patch.



Basil flowers with bees

Marigold Plant

One can use netting to prevent insects from attacking your vegetable plants or fruit trees. 

In addition to these one can use sprays such as Neem oil at the rate of 5mls to a liter once in 10 days to reduce insect damage. Neem oil has been used in countries like India and is a known insecticide. It is not harmful as neem leaf can be eaten (although bitter) and the oil can be applied on the skin. Unlike other insecticides it is not harmful although use of gloves, sunglasses, hat and a dust mask may be prudent.  Neem also kills juveniles and prevents further hatching from attacking repeatedly.

One homemade spray recipe to use is very simple.

5 broken cigarettes

5 dry chillies

1 spoon of oil

1 liter of water

Mix all of the above and leave it for about 2 weeks.

Use the mixture at 10mls to a liter and spray on plants. Ensure you wear gloves and glasses to prevent chili from entering the eye.

Disclaimer

People should undertake training to conduct sprays properly. Read labels and Material Safety Data sheets prior to conducting sprays. Labels are stuck to the spray bottles. Material Safety Data Sheets should be provided by the reseller as a hard copy or will be on the Internet.

As a precaution use personal protective equipment when spraying.

These kinds of things are highly preventable. I have used some images downloaded from the internet to illustrate how to use sparys either at home or in fields.

Smartphones and Agriculture

If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG.

Citizen reporting in Kenya through SMS and the web.

Posted on 23/11/2011 by admin

It is amazing to see just how many mobile technology projects for development are happening in Kenya! But why has Kenya been such a fertile ground for these projects? In a paper titled “Mobile Telephony in Kenya… is it ‘Making the life better’?“, Luca Manica and Michele Vescovi examine the situation:

At the end of 2007, Kenyan mobile operators offer services to more than ten million people so that nowadays one in three adults carry a cell-phone in Kenya and about the 80% of Kenyans are covered by mobile network signals.

These are impressive numbers. However, Manica and Vescovi point out that it is difficult to establish the actual penetration of mobile phones in Kenya, because of the sharing of handsets and mobile payphones. Official numbers are around 30%, which is actually low in comparison to other African countries such as Nigeria or South Africa. This would mean that there are still about 25 million Kenyans to sell phones to. The great market potential, together with the fact that the mobile phone industry contributed to more than 5% of GDP in Kenya in 2006 brings Manica and Vescovi to raise the question: Is the mobile rush in Kenya just a matter of business, or is it really aimed to human and social development?

—Technology and Human Development. Source: Manica and Vescovi

I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.


I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in.


Bill Gates

The above quotes are from Bill Gates founder of Microsoft and a visionary when it comes to technoilogy and visionary when it comes to charity for good of mankind.

Todays smart phones have been evolving over a long time. However time has come to use these extensively for the good of public and for increasing productivity. One might ask what is the realtionship between smartphones and agriculture. Agriculture sector has always kept up with technology. Infact early calender systems were developed by our ancestors to predict as accurately as possible the weather systems to help farmers sow and harvest at the right times and understand the rain fall patterns. Indian calender system called as "Panchanga" or 5 elements always tried observed the elements and stars to collerate the visibility of stars with that of the rainfall pattern. Panchangam is now used to develop personal astrological predictions. However in rural areas panchangams are used by the local temple priests to predict rainfall etc for the knowledge of farmers.

Todays tools are computers and the capacity of computers to revolutionize mathematical calculations needed for accurate weather predictions. Smartphones are evolution of computers where information is there in the palm of the hand and todays smart phones have much more capacity and power compared to computers 5 years ago.

What can smart phones be used for?

By developing these apps smartphones can make themselves relevant

1. Local langauage converters for androids (iphone is another story but android development software is free)

2. weather apps to quickly and accurately show weather patterns to farmers (e.g., weatherzone weather underground etc)

3. Apps to show market prices around a location using google locations

4. Apps to show crops suitable for local areas, sowing times, harvest times etc.

5. Apps to show soil types based on locations

6. Apps to show local resellers silos/mandis/godowns in an area

7. Apps to show wind direction and speed for sparys to be used.

8. At a larger level a grain buyer may be able to use the database via a smartphone to know how much of any crop is being sown in any area and may be able to develop forward contracts to enable to get good prices depending on market demand.

9. Local agronomists can provide advice over sms in emergencies.

10. Local agronomists/organizations can send data/information/emergency informations over messages to ensure for eg., farmers secure their livestock during flood or heavy rainfall types.

11. Farmers can locate local agistment areas and during drought times may be able to book the site.

12. Farmers can use it for shopping ie fetilisers, seed, water etc at the best price from the best reseller. Infact farmers can form a collective to drive the prices down through volume purchase.

What about India?

India is an energy starved country with meager resources allocated to agriculture. A smartphone is something almost every farmer can afford to purchase. Infact govt can give a smartphone to every farmer with lower than 5 acres of land. This will help every farmer to get informaiton in a local language so that they are prepared, can make plans for agricultural use.

Indian government if it wants agricultural productivity to increase without increasing the land clearing and area of production should use smartphones to develop apps to help farmers in local languages in the above areas listed.

Read the story below as it is now ahppening in Kenya already.

 

Insecticides for Use - India

Insecticides for Use

The following Insecticides can be used in India. Some insecticides can be sold under a brand name therefore check their active ingredient using the list below (Name of the Pesticide).

Do not use the same insecticide again and again as it leads to resistance development among these insects making it difficult to kill later. Use different insecticides (with a different active ingredient) to prevent resistance development so that you can kill them with minimal use of insecticides.

Insecticides Registered as on 13/11/2009

S.No.	Name of the Pesticide
1	2,4-Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid
2	Acephate
3	Acetamiprid
4	Alachlor
5	Allethrin
6	Alphacypermethrin
7	Alphanaphthyl Acetic Acid
8	Aluminium Phosphide
9	Anilophos
10	Atrazine
11	Aureofungin
12	Azadirachtin (Neem Products)
13	Azoxystrobin
14	Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.)
15	Bacillus thuringiensis ( B.S.)
16	Barium Carbonate
17	Beauveria bassiana
18	Bendiocarb
19	Benfuracarb
20	Benomyl
21	Bensulfuron
22	Beta Cyfluthrin
23	Bifenazate
24	Bifenthrin
25	Bispyribac Sodium
26	Bitertanol
27	Bromadiolone
28	Buprofezin
29	Butachlor
30	Captan
31	Carbaryl
32	Carbendazim
33	Carbofuran
34	Carbosulfan
35	Carboxin
36	Carfentazone Ethyl
37	Carpropamid
38	Cartap Hydrochloride
39	Chlorantraniliprole
40	Chlorofenvinphos
41	Chlorfenapyr
42	Chlorimuron ethyl
43	Chlormequat Chloride (CCC)
44	Chlorothalonil
45	Chlorpyriphos
46	Chlorpyriphos Methyl
47	Cinmethylene
48	Clodinafop-propargyl (Pyroxofop-propargyl)
49	Clomazone
50	Chlothianidin
51	Copper Hydroxide
52	Copper Oxychloride
53	Copper Sulphate
54	Coumachlor
55	Coumatetralyl
56	Cuprous Oxide
57	Cyfluthrin
58	Cyhalofop-butyl
59	Cymoxanil
60	Cypermethrin
61	Cyphenothrin
62	Dazomet
63	Deltamethrin (Decamethrin)
64	Diazinon
65	Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT)
66	Dichloropropene and Dichloropropane mixure (DD mixure)
67	Diclorvos (DDVP)
68	Diclofop-Methyl
69	Dicofol
70	Difenocenazole
71	Difenthiuron
72	Diflubenzuron
73	Dimethoate
74	Dimethomorph
75	Dinocap
76	Dithianon
77	Diuron
78	Dodine
79	D-trans Allethrin
80	Edifenphos
81	Emamectin Benzoate
82	Endosulfan
83	Ethephon
84	Ethion
85	Ethofenprox (Etofenprox)
86	Ethoxysulfuron
87	Ethylene Dibromide and Carbon Tetrachloride mixture (EDCT Mixture 3:1)	89	Fenamidone
90	Fenarimol
91	Fenazaquin
92	Fenitrothion
93	Fenobucarb (BPMC)
94	Fenoxaprop-p-Ethyl
95	Fenpropathrin
96	Fenpyroximate
97	Fenthion
98	Fenvalerate
99	Fipronil
100	Flubendiamide
101	Fluchloralin
102	Flufenacet
103	Flufenoxuron
104	Flufenzine
105	Flusilazole
106	Fluvalinate
107	Forchlorfenuron
108	Fosetyl-Al
109	Gibberellic Acid
110	Glufosinate Ammonium
111	Glyphosate
112	Hexaconazole
113	Hexazinone
114	Hexythiazox
115	Hydrogen Cyanamid
116	Imazethapyr
117	Imidacloprid
118	Imiprothrin
119	Indoxacarb
120	Iprobenfos (Kitazin)
121	Iprodione
122	Isoprothiolane
123	Isoproturon
124	Kasugamycin
125	Kresoxim Methyl
126	Lambdacyhalothrin
127	Lime Sulphur
128	Lindane
129	Linuron
130	Lufenuron
131	Magnesium Phosphide Plates
132	Malathion
133	Mancozeb
134	Mepiquate Chloride
135	Mesosulfuron Methyl + Iodosulfuron Methyl Sodium
136	Metaflumizone
137	Metalaxyl
138	Metalaxyl-M
139	Metaldehyde
140	Methabenzthiazuron
141	Methomyl
142	Methoxy Ethyl Mercury Chloride (MEMC)
143	Methyl Bromide
144	Methyl Chlorophenoxy Acetic Acid (MCPA)
145	Methyl Parathion
146	Metiram
147	Metolachlor
148	Metribuzin
149	Metsulfuron Methyl
150	Milbemectin
151	Monocrotophos
152	Myclobutanil
153	Novaluron
154	Nuclear polyhyderosis virus of Helicoverpa armigera
155	Nuclear polyhyderosis virus of Spodoptera Litura
156	Oxadiargyl
157	Oxadiazon
158	Oxycarboxin
159	Oxydemeton-Methyl
160	Oxyfluorfen
161	Paclobutrazole
162	Paraquat dichloride
163	Penconazole
164	Pencycuron
165	Pendimethalin
166	Permethrin
167	Phenthoate
168	Phorate
169	Phosalone
170	Phosphamidon
171	Prallethrin
172	Pretilachlor
173	Primiphos-methyl
174	Profenophos
175	Propanil
176	Propergite
177	Propetamphos
178	Propiconazole
179	Propineb
180	Propoxur
181	Pyrachlostrobin
182	Pyrethrins (pyrethrum )
183	Pyridalyl
184	Pyriproxyfen
185	Pyrithiobac sodium
186	Quinalphos
187	Quizalofop ethyl
188	Quizalofop-P-tefuryl
189	S-bioallethrin
190	Sirmate
191	Sodium Cyanide
192	Spinosad
193	Spiromesifen
194	Streptomycin + Tetracycline
195	sulfosulfuron
196	sulphur
197	Tebuconazole
198	Temephos
199	Thiacloprid
200	Thifluzamide
201	Thiobencarb (Benthiocarb)
202	Thiodicarb
203	Thiomethoxain
204	Thiometon
205	Thiophanate-Methyl
206	Thiram
207	Transfluthrin
208	Triacontanol
209	Triadimefon
210	Triallate
211	Triazophos
212	Trichlorofon
213	Trichoderma Viride
214	Tricyclazole
215	Tridemorph
216	Trifluralin
217	Validamycin
218	Verticillium lecanii
219	Zinc Phosphide
220	Zineb
221	Ziram