Category Archives: Green Initiatives & Environment

Creating the Best Out of Waste

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

A man working at the paddyfield on the premises of the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant
A man working at the paddyfield on the premises of the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant

Brahmapuram  :

Several people, including  professionals, have recently turned farmers by starting their own gardens or by setting up organic farms at home.

Apart from the expenses incurred on setting up the vegetable garden, these farmers are spending large sums of money for buying the manure for the plants. The money they spend for purchasing manure ranges above Rs 30 per kg, and for the branded items, the price is over Rs 100 in the market. But a little-known fact is that the bio-manure generated from the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant is available at just Rs 6 per kilogram. The manure, named ‘City compost’, now a hit among the vegetable cultivators in the city, is also available at Rs 300 for a pack of 50 kg from Brahmapuram waste treatment plant.

“As it is generated from garbage waste, the manure has all the ingredients needed for the vegetables to grow. There is no need for adding  further ingredients as it has the contents of meat, blood, food waste and all types of other waste. The price, compared to the market rates, is also low. As we are not running it as a profit-generating enterprise, we haven’t opened any outlets in the city,” said A A Byju, who has been running the plant on contract basis for the last four years.

With organic farming become a trend in the state, the demand for the manure from the plant has skyrocketed. “Every day, on an average, around 40 tonnes of manure is made, of which 70-80 per cent is sold. Earlier, we could only sell around 10 tonnes per day and had to find space to keep it. But, from last year, there has been a huge demand from different places,” he added.

Interestingly, the demand for the manure is mainly from Tamil Nadu districts.

“Some are using the manure to prepare their product for the market. Most of them will mix the manure with their product as this is the cheapest and of the best quality. Several companies sellinng branded manure have also approached us for the item,” said Byju.

The contractor, along with his team, is also distributing the manure free of cost to some NGOs, schools, hospitals and government offices to support vegetable cultivation. The rest is also used in their farm set up at Brahmapuram plant.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Anil Kumar T / August 03rd, 2015

Endemic varieties showcased at Thekkady flower show

Agriculture, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

Views of the Thekkady Flower Show at Kallarackal grounds in Idukki on Sunday.— PHOTOS: GIJI K. RAMAN
Views of the Thekkady Flower Show at Kallarackal grounds in Idukki on Sunday.— PHOTOS: GIJI K. RAMAN

The ninth Thekkady Flower Show, which opened at the Kallarackal grounds here on Saturday, showcased endemic flowering plants like mirabilis and marigold that were once common to the house gardens of Kerala.

At least 200 varieties of flower plants, in addition to the vegetable and fruits plants, have been included in the show. The show has given maximum care to include endemic flower plants as they are best suited to the climatic and topographical conditions here, said T.T. Thomas, general convenor of the organising committee. He said the flower show has tried to renew interest in cultivation of vegetables and flowers on terraces.

The advantages of growing plants in grow bags are that they can be done even in small places.

Even a small family can maintain at least 10 vegetable bags that will ensure availability of pesticide-free vegetables, he said.

The flower show also has arts and cultural programmes in the evening with focus on folk, temple and tribal art forms. Seminars which highlight measures for waste control, energy saving, water protection and small entrepreneurial activities for housewives will be held. Mr Thomas said that on the inaugural day itself, over 3,000 people visited the show. An important feature is that a large number of tourists are visiting the venue, he said. The flower show is being organised by the Thekkady Agri Horticulture Society.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by A Correspondent / Kumili – April 06th, 2015

Vamanapuram to Harvest Rainwater

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature

Vamanapuram block panchayat president Baby Sulekha leading members of the Vamanapuram block in a procession kicking off ‘Mazhaneermahima’, a project which aims to carry out rainwater harvesting of pre-monsoon showers
Vamanapuram block panchayat president Baby Sulekha leading members of the Vamanapuram block in a procession kicking off ‘Mazhaneermahima’, a project which aims to carry out rainwater harvesting of pre-monsoon showers

Thiruvananthapuram :

Can rainwater harvesting of mango showers solve drinking water crisis this summer? The panchayats in Vamanapuram Block are attempting to do it, with ‘Mazhaneermahima’. The slogan of the rainwater harvesting project is ‘Let’s welcome the monsoon by harvesting rainwater.’

On Sunday, the project was kicked off with a ‘Mazhaneermahima Vilambara Yatra’, a procession from Vamanapuram block. ‘Mazhaneermahima’ is implemented as part of the Integrated Watershed Management Programme. The project lasts till May 21. In the first phase of the project, notices spreading awareness on water conservation and rainwater management were distributed in the houses in Nellanadu, Manikkal, Vamanapuram, Pullambara, Pangode and Kallara panchayats.

A group of people will visit 300-odd households in each panchayat to spread awareness.

Sunday’s event was inaugurated by Vamanapuram Block Panchayat president Baby Sulekha. Block secretary Sarina A Rahman, vice-president G Purushottaman Nair and various panchayat presidents in Vamanapuram block were present at ‘Mazhaneermahima Vilambara Yatra’.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / April 06th, 2015

Tribal rhythms on bamboo pieces

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

Thiruvananthapuram :

Any attempt to find a connection between Kerala’s popular percussion instrument chenda and pieces of bamboo may sound bizarre. But in the hands of a set of tribal artists from Kasaragod, bamboo pieces chatter in a voice similar to that of chenda.

Named as mulam chenda (bamboo drum), the instrument is made of one-meter long bamboo pieces, end of which are tied with long ropes. The instrument with long narrow slits on the middle part of the bamboo pieces has tonal resemblance with chenda when hit with specially designed sticks.

According to Ananthan M V and his troupe of nine other percussionists hailing from ‘Mavilar’ tribal community from Kasaragod, the instrument is a symbol of their indigenous culture and music, which is now a part of their livelihood. The group was in the city as part of the ‘Thala Maholsavam’ organized by Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhavan that began on Saturday.With the support of Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies (Kirtads) and other government-registered organizations the team has performed in more than 350 venues across the country.

The group often uses mulam chenda as an accompaniment to the tribal songs composed by them in Malayalam and Tulu. “As per the custom, the actual duration of the performance is one day with intervals, but when performing outside we have to do it in a stipulated time and we prepare the songs and rhythms accordingly,” Ananthan said.

Mulam chendas are classified into two, the ‘veek chenda’ or the bass drum and ‘mani chenda’ or the melody drum. The instrument was used for ritual customs to please the presiding deity of the tribe, marriage rituals and to scare off birds and animals from agricultural fields. To make mulam chendas one has to select the suitable pieces from the bamboo variety ‘aringadom mula’, which should be done on a new moon day that too according to the moopan’s (tribe leader) guidelines.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / March 16th, 2015

A role model for rural women

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Beena Sahadevan in her organic vegetable garden.
Beena Sahadevan in her organic vegetable garden.

Nirupama, the much acclaimed character portrayed by actor Manju Warrier in her comeback movieHow Old Are You , has been an inspiration for many women. Here is a real life heroine, who has proved that with hard work and willpower one can face any difficult challenge.

On International Women’s Day, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Thrissur (KVK), with the support of Mathilakom panchayat will honour Beena Sahadevan, who has become a role model for rural women.

Beena is being honoured for her efforts and determination with which she has beaten numerous odds in her life and reaped success in farming.

She took up farming five years ago after her husband, who was working in the Middle East, fell sick. The family had no source of income. She started growing organic vegetables in her 33-cent plot, in addition to homesteads of five neighbours. She has now three cows, about 50 goats, more than 150 poultry birds, including 50 ducks and fishes in three ponds of neighbours.

Now, she makes enough income to take care of her husband and for other expenses, including the education of her daughters. She also makes garments besides taking up occasional catering assignments.

Officials of the Agriculture Department and the Thrissur Krishi Vigyan Kendra have supported her efforts. She also got training in seedling production, quality seed production and other planting material production from Dr. Jalaja S. Menon of Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

The programme to be held at Mathilakam block panchayat auditorium will be inaugurated by V.S. Sunilkumar, MLA. More than 300 women, who are involved in farming in the nearby panchayats, will attend the function.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by Mini Muringatheri / Thrissur – March 08th, 2015

Creative Smart Waste Bin Fetches her Accolades

Education, Green Initiatives & Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kochi :

Rakshanya Sekar, a confident youngster,is on cloud nine. The student of KV Pattom is the only one from the state to receive the Bio Asia Young Minds award 2015.

The class XII student got the award for her science project, ‘Smart disposal bin’, which she presented at the Bio Asia 2015, a national convention held recently at Hyderabad. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a citation.

Rakshanya presented a basic working model of the bin at the Bio Asia conference.

RakshanyaKERALA07mar2015

With enthusiasm, the teen elaborates on the working of her ‘Smart Disposal’ apparatus. She says,“The bin is divided into two compartments- the plastic waste unit and the food disposal unit. The food waste unit consists of a food dehydrator, hot air blower and a wire mesh through which the waste reaches the bottom chamber of the food unit. The dehydrator and the hot air blower helps to take out the moisture content from the waste, which can then be used as manure or even animal fodder.”

The empty plastic bottles put in the other unit are crushed and shredded into small pellets by horizontal blades present in the compartment. “These horizontal concave blades work alternatively, and the plastic pellets are collected in the bottom chamber of the unit.”

The 16-year-old sees it as a solution for the waste disposal problem faced by the Railways. She said, “Managing waste, especially plastic, is a huge problem, with plastic bottles lying on the tracks.

The Smart Disposal Bin helps by reducing the volume of the bottle, making it easier to transport. One can utilise the plastic collected in this way, for using in innovative projects.”

The biotechnology student used zinc sheets to make the body of the model, which also has additional boxes to collect powdered waste. Rakshanya,who is passionate about science, says, “I like innovating and coming up with new ideas, and wish to contribute to society through science.” She will be representing KV from her region, along with a few other students in the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru National Science Exhibition.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Varsha Mohan / March 07th, 2015

Reigning Queen of Kerala Honeypots

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

Aleyamma Siby |Ratheesh Sundaram
Aleyamma Siby |Ratheesh Sundaram

It is 9 pm. Outside their house at Panathady in Kasaragod district in Kerala, Aleyamma and her husband Siby are hurriedly placing beehives inside a van. Later, they climb in and the van sets out towards the Coorg district in Karnataka, which is only 30 km away. Once there, they quickly place the hives in three-foot-high stands, below trees, at a distance of three metres. “We have to do this before the sun comes up,” says Aleyamma. “Because at sunbreak, the bees would want to come out in search of nectar and pollen. And if we keep the hives shut they will die of asphyxiation.”

Aleyamma is a breeder who practices migratory beekeeping. Once the honey is harvested at all the hives placed near her house from January to March, she sets off to Coorg and does bee farming there. “Somehow, the quality of the honey is far better there,” she says.

But there is a reason for that. In Kerala, the major source of nectar is from the leaves of the rubber tree. “This is called unifloral honey,” says Dr Stephen Devanesan, principal scientist, All India Coordinated Research Project on Honeybees and Pollinators, Kerala Agricultural University. “But in Coorg, the hives are placed in forests where there is diverse flora. So, the quality of this multi-floral honey is much better.”

However, the collection of honey is not an easy process. First the bees have to be warded off using smoke. Then the honeycombs are removed from the hive. With the help of a honey extractor, the honey is taken out of the cells and stored in containers. All this has to happen in less than an hour, before the bees start stinging the person.

“In the beginning, the stings used to hurt a lot and there would be swelling as well,” says Aleyamma. “But now, though there is pain, there is no swelling. This is my bread and butter, so I have learnt to tolerate the aches,” she adds.

The biggest problem with honey is that it crystallises and ferments. To avoid this, Aleyamma uses the double-boiling method. In this technique, she pours water into a large container. Then she places a smaller bowl, which contains honey, inside it, resting on three bricks. The bottom container is heated, so that the temperature inside the smaller bowl reaches 45 degrees centigrade. Then the honey is taken out, and put through a sieve, to get rid of wax particles, dust and pollen. Following this, it is reheated to 65 degrees centigrade for about 10 minutes. “After the honey cools, it is filtered,” says Aleyamma. “Once this is done, the honey will last for years, without going bad.”

Interestingly, Aleyamma is the only woman beekeeper in Kerala. Last year, she produced 40 tonne of honey, thanks to the 5,000 colonies of Indian and Italian bees that she has.

And thanks to this high productivity, Aleyamma was recently conferred the Stephen Memorial Award for the best beekeeper of 2014 by state Agriculture Minister KP Mohanan. This award has been instituted by the Federation of Indigenous Apiculturists.

To get a high productivity, Aleyamma depends a lot on the Tamil workers, who are experts at bee collection. “They are sincere, hard-working and not afraid of being stung,” she says.

Aleyamma also credits her success to a workshop which she attended. This was conducted by Devanesan, along with Dr K Prathapan, director of the State Horticulture Mission. Devanesan says: “I have imparted training to Aleyamma and other breeders on how to maintain the health of the bees, manage colonies, and do high-tech apiculture. Today, they are all doing well.”

Like most good things in life, Aleyamma came to bee breeding by accident. When she got married and went to stay at her in-laws’ home in Thodupuzha, she saw beehives for the first time in the backyard. In the mid-1990s, she and Siby decided to move to north Kerala to improve their economic prospects. They tried pepper farming and rubber cultivation.

“It did not do well,” she says. “That was when I thought about bee farming. And now, here I am, the only woman in Kerala doing this work.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com  / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Shevlin Sebastian / February 28th, 2015

Kerala Agricultural Varsity Develops Seedless Cucumber

Agriculture, Education, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

SeedlessCucumberKERALA28feb2015

Thrissur :

Paving the way for a fillip in ‘polyhouse’ cucumber cultivation, the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has developed a seedless hybrid cucumber variety, ideal for polyhouse cultivation.

This is the first such hybrid developed by a public sector research team in South India, according to reports on Friday.

At present, multinationals have monopolised in ‘parthenocarpic’ variety of cucumber hybrids used in poly house farming which have the ability of producing fruits without pollination.

Farmers have to depend now on corporate sector for such variety of hybrids, and they have to pay in the range of Rs 5 to 7 per seed. The development of parthenocarpic hybrid by KAU offers availability of indigenously developed hybrid seeds to Kerala farmers.

Field tests in university farms have proved that a 10-cent polyhouse can yield five tons of fruits in three months. Dark green fruits, weighing 220 gm with a length of 24 cm and 15 cm width, can be stored up to one week at room temperature without any loss in quality.

The Southern Zone Research Extension Advisory Council of KAU, held at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, recommended this hybrid for multi-locational testing across selected polyhouses in all districts, said Dr Pradeepkumar T, associate professor, Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, who led the research team.

The team, according to reports, developed the hybrid variety by inculcating parthenocarpic trait into plant types with only female flowers through complex breeding programme.

The team had also developed earlier seedless hybrids of watermelon successfully. It has now followed with the technique of F1 hybrid seed production in parthenocarpic cucumber.

The state government has accorded high priority to polyhouse cultivation in the state by providing subsidy for polyhouse construction in 1000-odd panchayats.

Polyhouse cultivation requires specific cultivars in each crop, and farmers now depend on the seed produced from Korea, Thailand, imported and marketed by multinational companies.

KAU vice-chancellor Dr P Rajendran said cucumber is an ideal vegetable variety for polyhouse cultivation as the fruit is harvested in immature stage. The vertical height of the polyhouse structure can also be exploited for producing more number of fruiting nodes.

F1 hybrids have a very important role in boosting vegetable production in the state. Development of parthenocarpic cucumber is a great beginning in this direction. Time bound action for making available this technology to farming community is the next step, he said.

Normal cucumber types produce both male and female flowers and require pollination for fruit development, said Dr T R Gopalkrishnan, KAU director of Research. Development of fruit without pollination is a tricky trait in cucumber and naturally seedless fruits in this hybrid make the commercial production of seeds a cumbersome task, he added.

Seeds of the new hybrid cucumber are expected to reach the farming community within a year.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 28th, 2015

Weathering water woes

Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

S. Vishwanath / The Hindu
S. Vishwanath / The Hindu

S. Vishwanath, who has been promoting water harvesting, stresses on the need to be water literate.

Water, the invariable backdrop of Kerala life. Be it the rains that lash out two seasons every year, the placid backwaters, or the many rivers that straddle through this narrow stretch of land, water is central to the defining image of Kerala.

It thus comes through as a strange contradiction that at 25 litres a day, Kerala scores low, lower than even Rajasthan, in the per-capita availability of water. The answer to this paradox lies squarely in not knowing how to manage this most precious of our natural resource, properly.

S. Vishwanath is someone who has been campaigning for long for a change in the way we think, or do not, about water. Based out of Bangalore, Vishwanath, a civil engineer and urban planner by training has been working, writing and communicating on issues related to water conservation and water sanitation in urban areas. “Access to good quality water is strongly tied-in with public health, economic activity, and the quality of life,” says Vishwanath.

As our cities grow bearing the brunt of overpopulation, access to clean water is emerging as a new concern. The only way to deal with it, according to Vishwanath, is to harness water through its manifold sources, rain water, ground water, and even waste-water recycled. “A city like Thiruvananthapuram with nearly consistent monsoons has a lot of potential for rain water harvesting,” says Vishwanath, who has been successful in promoting water harvesting designs in several household and commercial complexes in Bangalore. Adding to this, Vishwanath and his team at the Rainwater Club, have commissioned a working model, minimalist in design, that converts urban rooftops to agricultural spaces where food, including paddy, could be grown, fed fully on recycled waste water.

Kerala has the highest well density in India and is a treasure if maintained well. But keeping this ground water and other local water resources usable and free of contamination is an allied challenge. This is where the sanitation systems come in. Sanitation, according to Vishwanath, is as much an urban problem as it is in rural areas.

“Dumping of raw sewage and waste water without treatment into local streams and rivers, disposal of solid waste into drains and canals all contaminate our ground and surface water reservoirs,” cautions Vishwanath.

“A city like Thiruvananthapuram with nearly consistent monsoons has a lot of potential for rain water harvesting.”

The sad plight of the Karamana river is a classic case of our callous negligence. As a reverse example, Vishwanath talks about Mahaweli Ganga, the river that cuts through the town of Kandy in Sri Lanka. “It’s an urban river. But there the water is pristine and pure. Strict laws and their enforcement combined with clever water management practices have made the Mahaweli the lifeline of Kandy”. Vishwanath wonders why this cannot be the case with the Karamana river.

Outside of legal ways and government enforcements, Vishwanath feels, long term change for the good can come only through dissemination of information and spreading awareness on water. “When we are water literate we will take individual actions to conserve and protect water resources. We will create community action to ensure its cleanliness and not allow greed to overcome sustainable use. We will create institutions and arm them with finances and accountability so that they too help in ensuring that available water resources are taken care of,” he says.

Vishwanath is the director of Biome solutions, an architectural firm that designs and build homes and institutions using earth as the primary construction material, inspired by the principles of Laurie Baker. He also works as an advisor to Arghyam, a public charitable foundation that has funded over 120 projects on water and sanitation all over India.

For information on Rainwater Club: http://www.rainwaterclub.org/

Vishwanath delivers a lecture on ‘Towards a sustainable city: Water’ today at University Women’s Association Hall, Jawahar Nagar, at 5 p.m. today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Anand Narayanan / Thiruvananthapuram – January 21st, 2015

Asia-Pacific coconut community meet from Feb. 2

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Union Minister for Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh, will inaugurate the 51st Asia Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) session at Hotel Crowne Plaza here on February 2. The meeting will review the global coconut situation and hold deliberations on specific issues in the sector. It will evolve appropriate policy decisions with a view to making inroads into the development of trade in coconut and coconut products between the member countries, a press release issued by the Coconut Development Board said.

The APCC is an intergovernmental organisation under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). The organisation has 18 coconut-producing member countries.The APCC member countries account for 90 per cent of the world’s coconut production and export of coconut products, the release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – January 29th, 2015