cover - sristi1)hbjan-mar03.pdfbook review hunnar mahasagar ... (hindi) sristi, p o box no. 15050,...

A Dialogue on People's Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

Honey Bee Vol 14(1) January-March 2003Published by Riya Sinha on behalf of Sristi Innovations, B-4, Ravi Niketan, Nehru Park, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015.

Printed at M/s Colourman Printers, Ahmedabad (Phone: 09825156402).

Cover

EditorAnil K GuptaAssociate EditorsAgnes, NishantEditorial Advisory TeamVijaya Sherry Chand, Riya Sinha, Kirit K Patel,Arun Chandan, T N Prakash, P Vivekanandan, Dhaval Vyas,Sudhirendar Sharma, Ramesh Patel, A S Reddy, Shailesh ShuklaGraphics and Design TeamD T Padekar, Unnikrishnan, Manish Doshi, Satpal Chabra,Goraiya Shailendra, Mahendrabhai Dadhaniya, Kinjal PopatAdministrative TeamR P S Yadav, R Baskaran, Balganapathy Mudaliar,Sheetal Shah, Nisha Binoy, Bhoomi ShahEditorial AddressHoney Bee, c/o Prof. Anil K Gupta,Indian Institute of Management,Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380 015, India.Phone: 91-79-6324927; Fax: 91-79-6307341Email [email protected] Pages http://www.honeybee.org and http://www.sristi.org

Honey Bee Hums

Tamil ......................................................... 8Gujarati ..................................................... 9Malayalam .............................................. 10Oriya .........................................................11Kannada ................................................. 12

Dialogue ................................................. 20

Shodh YatraReport of the MaduraiShodh Yatra ................... 18

Book ReviewHunnar Mahasagar .......... 16

Subjecting Rulers to Subaltern WisdomContents

Shataayu SaarLife in the Time ofFamine ..............................2

NIF AwardsProfiles of the AwardWinners .............................3

Ini Karshakan Samsanikkatte(Malayalam)James T J,Peermade Development Society,Peermade, Iduki-685531, [email protected]

Loksarvani (Gujarati) andSujh-Bujh Aas Paas ki (Hindi)SRISTI, P O Box No. 15050,Ambawadi, [email protected]@sristi.org

Makhir (Pahari) (Suspended)Dr A Chandan, P O Box No. 6,Chamba - 176310, Himachal [email protected]

Num Vali Velanmai (Tamil)P Vivekanandan, 45, T P M Nagar,Virattipathu-625010, Tamil [email protected]

Honey Bee Regional CollaboratorsAbeja (Spanish) (Suspended)Mario Mejia Gutierrez,Carrera 43, No. 10-50 Apto. 502,Cali, Valle, Colombia.Phone: 336 8531. [email protected]

Ama Akha Pakha (Oriya)Dr Balaram Sahu, 3R BP 5/2,BP Colony, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar-751012,Orissa. [email protected]

Chayan (Bengali)Dr D K Bagchi,Indian Statistical Institute,203, Barrackpore Trunk Road,Calcutta-700035. [email protected]

Hittalagida (Kannada)Dr T N Prakash, Department of AgriculturalEconomics, University of Agricultural Science,GKVK, [email protected]

Magazine ReviewMalayalam Honey Bee ..... 17

T

Sustainable CultivationPotato Farming UnderShifting Regime ..............13

Culinary WisdomTraditional Recipes withLittle-Known Ingredients .. 15

he Mughal king Akbar (1542–1605) and his minister Birbal always likedplaying the game of one-upmanship with each other. The wholekingdom enjoyed their witty duels. The fascinating stories about Akbar

and Birbal have surpassed the limits of time to reach us.

Though Birbal was reputed to be thesharpest mind in Akbar’s kingdom,Akbar got even with him quite often.Once Akbar made a bombastic claimto intelligence. Birbal listened patientlyfor some time. Then Akbar went astep further; he announced that hissubjects were as intelligent as hewas. Birbal said that if that was so,then he challenged his people tosolve a simple riddle. He drew a lineon a sheet of paper and demandedthat somebody should shorten itwithout erasing it.

A few days passed by withoutanybody coming up with a solution. The news spread in the whole kingdomthat Birbal had cornered the king once more. The king was getting edgy too,because all the reputed brains of the kingdom had unsuccessfully tried theirhands at solving it. The intellectuals, the senior ministers, the artists and thescientists of his court had all given up.

Then, one fine day, a child came to the spot where the riddle was presentedand simply drew a longer line parallel to Birbal’s line.

One should underestimate the wisdom of ordinary people at one’sown peril. What got changed was the context. Likewise, the Honey BeeNetwork is also trying to change the context of people's knowledge, creativityand innovations.

Will you stand by the IPRs of peasants ?

Honey Bee Vol 14(1) January-March 2003

Women’s Knowledge Pays: From Credit andSavings to Creativity and Entrepreneurship Editorial

hy is it that when it comes to the developmentalissues concerning the poor rural women, thefarthest we can take our imagination is to form

small-savings and credit groups for them? I will not go intothe inadequacy of savings for overcoming poverty, orinappropriateness of high interest rates, when everybody elsein the economy with much better endowment is getting creditat far lower rates of interest. My focus is to explore a modelof development which builds upon a resource in which manyof rural women are quite rich. That is, their knowledge, valuesand understanding about local resources.

Why cannot at least a small portion of their savings bespent on innovative goods made by them. Are the poor onlyconsumers or ‘sink’ of cheap goods (‘one-rupee ice creams’),aid or credit, as some management gurus try to profess?Can the poor women not be the source of new productsbased on the pooling of their best practices and, sometimes,unique knowledge systems? This is what we discovered whiledealing with the issue of recognising and rewarding the uniqueknowledge, innovations and practices of women, an areain which our knowledge base has been rather weak so far.

This concern of learning from the local best practices is notnew or original. Gangaben Yagnik of north Gujarat wrote a bookin Gujarati called Hunnar Mahasagar way back in 1898 in whichshe compiled 2080 best practices for local self employment.SRISTI Innovations has reprinted the 1927 edition of this bookfor wider circulation and reflection. (Read its review on page16.) Most of these practices were aimed at acquainting ruralfolks, mainly women, to various avenues of self-employmentavailable at that time. She had concentrated on those tradeswhich could be started with little money and locally availablematerial. Is it still relevant to follow this line of thinking anddevelop new models of poverty alleviation based on local bestpractices? One must add a cautious note here: thoughGangaben’s book was extremely popular – it had seen eightreprints by 1929 – a lot of research is needed to know howmuch money was generated by the people who followed hertechniques of self-employment. (See Honey Bee, 6(2): 1-2,1995, for an article carrying more information on Gangaben.)

It is to continue this tradition of learning from local wisdomthat SRISTI started a study of 100-year-old women in differentparts of the country. This is a part of our exploration intowomen’s wisdom and well-being. We are trying to studytheir knowledge about uses of little-known plants, stressfood, fuel and fodder and worldview about the time that haspassed and the time that does not pass. The key lessonto be learnt from such studies is that a society which isunwilling to learn from such champions of the science ofsurvival in a world of economic disparity and male chauvinismwill inevitably pay a very heavy price.

How do we learn from the wisdom of women who shoulderso much social and economic responsibilities without

adequate access to resources, institutions and technologies?In a meeting of the leaders of women’s federations fromseven states in January, SRISTI, the National InnovationFoundation (NIF) and the Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad, tried to track their entrepreneurial readinessat the grass roots. We asked them whether each of theleaders could identify at least a few outstanding knowledgeholders, whether they were members of their federation ornot. It took them a while to appreciate the fact that theyhad actually never focused on this issue in their monthlymeetings. After some discussion, some of them identifiednot only the local best practices, but also thought aboutpooling them to develop new products after identifying therisk involved and the return possible from each proposedproduct. Once the identification part was over, the NationalInnovation Foundation (NIF) offered to provide risk capital/micro venture capital (not just credit), so that individualentrepreneurs or group-based enterprises could explore newbusiness opportunities. Innovation- or traditional knowledge-based micro or macro enterprises may fail in many cases,but a few of them will succeed and thus will emerge newenterprises.

Another lesson that became very apparent from thisworkshop was the need to think beyond just scoutinginnovations and traditional knowledge. It is true that the NIF,with the help of the Honey Bee Network, scouted more than13,500 examples of grassroots innovations and traditionalknowledge for its second annual competition as againstaround 1,600 such examples in the first year. But, then,the real difference in the lives of the knowledge rich, buteconomically poor, people will be made when many morejobs are generated through innovation- and traditionalknowledge-based commercial and non-commercialenterprises.

How will these enterprises become competitive when thescale of economy is so difficult to achieve, markets arelimited and grassroots innovators and traditional knowledgeholders’ access to modern science is restricted? One wayof making them competitive can be to build value chainsaround local knowledge and innovations. The first step towardsbuilding such a chain should be to seek the best localpractices. Let us assume that the local groups find thatthere are 30 different and outstanding ways of making hairoils for different kinds of hairs. After screening such practicesat the level of local group, the best practices will have tobe pooled across federations to enhance the locally addedvalue. Once new products, in this case new hair oils, havebeen developed, these, if possible (and needed), will beprofessionally tested. It is here that we will need volunteerswho can help women’s groups with product testing, markettesting and developing a strategy to launch products in themarket. Wherever needed, laboratory test will also have tobe done for safety and efficacy. It is quite possible thatno such test is needed in some cases, because their

W

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Shataayu Saar: Life in the Time of FamineWhen SRISTI started a study of old people, especially rural women,who had attained the age of 100, one of the most important factorsthat immediately got the attention of the researchers was the immenseknowledge of bio-diversity and traditional recipes they possessed.The depletion of bio-diversity is a cause of concern today, which reflectsitself in the eating habits of people. Mahesh Parmar and Hema Patelwrite about the food which the people of Gujarat took during famines50 to 60 years back.

ingredients have been used for similar purposefor ages.

The newness of such products will lie in theformulations of the known and, sometimes,lesser-known, or generally unknown, ingredients.Since most of such enterprises will draw uponthe local biodiversity, they will inevitably requirethe development of protocols for sustainableextraction of the resources. These groups willdecide about putting their formulations in thepublic domain; but it cannot be demanded fromthem. The intellectual property rights of thewomen groups will need to be protected then.The norms of benefit sharing among variouscontributors will have to be ensured. One willhave to evolve the combination of non-monetaryand monetary incentives for individual orcommunity contributions to value chain as wellas for those mentors from the formal sectorwhose help is vital to keep the value chaingoing.

The value chains of such enterprises will requireconsiderable support from voluntary mentorswho have expertise in various aspects of thevalue chain development. The young studentsof business schools around the country cantake up these products for market research andbusiness planning and also learn the art andscience of dealing with markets.

Similar value chain will have to be developedfor innovations by male innovators and knowledgeholders as well. But scarce resources oughtto be spent first on the women’s knowledge-based enterprises.

The poverty of women cannot be tackled by thepoverty of imagination, which is evident in uniformapproaches of forming only self-help groups. Weneed bold experiments with serious commitment.It is likely that several organisations which havevested interest in perpetuating wasteful schemesof the so-called rural development will tryto sabotage such experiments. But ultimately,the consumers’ vote for quality andethics will decide the fate of the approachdiscussed here.

I look forward to hearing from the readers onhow they can help in building such valuechains, which will take the rural women beyondsmall-saving and credit groups to innovation-and knowledge-based entrepreneurship.

Anil K Gupta

eople have given up traditionalfood in favour of junk food inthis age of urbanisation. But

traditional food carried in it more thanone benefit: not only it was rich innutrients, it was easily available too,which made it inexpensive. Moreover,it helped people cope with naturalcalamities like famines. This article,which is based on the experiences ofBadiben Taviyad, Arakhaben Parmar,Beniben Tarad, Maniben Parmar andDudhabhai Vankar of Sabarkanthadistrict of Gujarat, talks about thebenefits of such food.

Different Greens

Around half a century back, thepeople of Gujarat used to eat thosegreens during famines which are noteasily available now. The leaves ofwild plants, like randh, chibhada(Cucumis sativus), cheel or Mexicantea (Chenopodium album), tamarind(Tamarindus indica) and baheda ormyrobalan (Terminalia bellirica),flowers of gundi (Cordia dichotoma)and dishes made of kudi (Wrightiatinctoria) were cooked and takenwith buttermilk and corn daliya.

Millet Roti and Khichdi

Nowadays people eat rotis (baked orheated layers of dough) only of wheat,corn and millet. Some grains havegone out of use. Around half a centuryback people used to eat rotis of thegrains of kodra or kodo-millet(Paspalum scrobiculatum), banti orJapanese millet and kuri. Moraiya orproso millet (Panicum miliaceum)

was used for making khichdi, whichis eaten mainly during the religiousfasts nowadays. The grains ofanother wild plant like moraiya,named samo (Echinochloacolonum), were crushed and its flourwas used tomake rotis.Some womenrecollect the oldtales of faminetold to them bytheir elders: theysay that in thefamine of 1856people took thebark of mokha (Schreberaswietenioides), dried it, crushed it andthen ate its rotis. The dicotyledonousseeds of jalar or Indian bean(Dolichos lablab) were boiled inwater during famines. The water thatthus contained the nutrients of jalarwas consumed.

Mahua: Kalp Vriksha of the Poor

Mahua (Madhuca indica) was agreat favourite with the rural folks ofGujarat for its numerous benefits. Nowonder it was called kalp vriksha (thetree of many uses) in the villages. Thevillagers would eat it once its flowersbecame crisp. They used the oil ofmahua fruits as cooking oil. Choppedonions and spices were fried in thisoil and added to vegetable dishes tomake the dishes tastier. Mahua wasalso used in making dhokla andsweets. Its sweet juice was extractedfrom first boiling and then crushingit. The juice of mahua flowers was

(Continues on page 12)

Arkhaben Parmar

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seedlings of this new variety ofgumless jackfruit – now known asSompady jackfruit – to the farmersall over Karnataka and in theneighbouring states of Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. TheKarnataka HorticulturalDepartment has also obtainedsome seedlings from him. Thedirector of the Central PlantationCrops Research Institute,Kasaragod, Kerala, hasappreciated Shetty for popularisingSampady jackfruit in the southernstates of India. The Karnatakagovernment has alsoacknowledged his efforts by givinghim a certificate of appreciation.

The hard labour of Shetty showsitself in the fact that there is onlyone reference of this kind ofvariety – in Malaysia – in theliterature on the subject in thewhole world. Such effort needs tobe protected against misuse underthe new Plant Variety and FarmersRights Act, 2001, so that heretains the right to use anddisseminate his innovation.

The innovators usually run the riskof testing the patience of their nearand dear ones, especially of theirspouses, because all the time theytry to flow against the tide. Shettyis no exception to this rule. Hiswife was initially of the opinionthat his work was nothing but awaste of time and money, but shechanged her views after thesuccessful graft of trees.

Shetty was honoured with thethird prize in the second annualcompetition.(Scout: PRITVI, Karnataka)

Wind-Blowing Invention: N VSatyanarayana

The sciencegraduate N VSatyanarayana ofthe Visakha-pattnam district ofAndhra Pradesh isalways interested

in inventing simple, low-costappliances for the middle and thelower classes. Satyanarayana hasinnovated a micro-windmill-drivenbattery charger, for which he gotsecond national-level award. He isconvinced that generation of energy

using non-conventional, renewable

NIF AwardsAnd the Award Goes to ...

The following profiles, second in the series that we began in the last issue, present innovators from variedbackgrounds – some old, some young – but all full of passion and diligence for their innovations. These 10 innovatorswere given awards in different categories of the second annual competition of the National Innovation Foundationin December 2002 by the president of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.

sources holds the key to meetingits future demand.

This device harnesses wind energyto generate sufficient electricalpotential to recharge batteries ofcellular phones, Walkmans, palmtops,laptops, etc.

The windmill employs a blademeasuring 10 centimetres indiameter. The overall size of the unitis 3.5 centimetres x 3 centimetres.It produces direct current flow ofup to one ampere at a potentialdifference of 12 volts. The currentgenerated is sufficient to operatemost of the portable electronicdevices which are currently operatedwith the use of dry cell batteries.

Fruits of Hard Graft: Harishchandra Shetty

It all began in the innovator SHarishchandra Shetty’sgarden in the Sompady villageof the Puttur district ofKarnataka, in which he grewa large number of jackfruittrees. One tree amongst thesewas very weak, which yielded

fewer fruits that were rather tasteless. At aroundthe time he had observed this tree he read abouta variety of jackfruit that yielded no latex in thelocal magazine Adike Pathrike. Drawinginspiration from what he had read he also triedto develop an improved variety of jackfruitthrough grafting.

He grafted nearly 1,000 plants in the firstattempt, out of which only one survived. Hethen began to multiply the sole surviving plant.As soon as the multiplication process starteds h o w i n gsuccess, heshifted to them a s spropogation ofthe plant. Ittook himseveral years toarrive at a variety that showed satisfactoryimprovement. Shetty used an old jackfruittree as stock and a jackfruit tree of improvedtaste and negligible gum as scion for grafting.

He continued by trial and error method fora long time. Ultimately, he succeeded in the10th attempt in 1988. Though the first yieldcame after three years, the fruits droppedfrom the tree while they were still immature;in the following year the tree bore 10 fruits.A big surprise awaited Shetty when thesefruits ripened: the fruits were totally gumlessand possessed superior taste, colour, taste,texture and aroma.

He has already distributed more than 1,00,000

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He proposes to interconnect radarsput at the top of tall buildings withthe locking systems of rudders ofplanes, so that when a planeapproaches a tall building the radarwill lock the rudder and thus preventit from descending.

He has also worked out the details ofpreparing an electronic device toprevent head-on collisions of trains.His proposed device will emit signalsto both the trains when they comewithin a threatening distance to eachother, so that they can apply brakeson time.

Saini’s profile can be treated as aclassic case of a grassroots innovator:the innovator gets disenchanted withconventional schooling, drops out,concentrates on a particular area ofinterest, picks up the related booksand magazines, learns independently,experiments, succeeds, writes toIndian and foreign scholars about theexperiment, gets snubbed in India,receives encouraging letters fromabroad and finally the Honey BeeNetwork locates him/her.(Scout: SRISTI Gyan Kendra,Uttaranchal)

All Pumped-Up: K M Chellamuthu

The 36-year-old KM Chellamuthu isan agriculturallabourer from theKarukkampalayamvillage of the Erodedistrict of Tamil

The mass production of the micro-windmill andpromoting its use among the travelling public thatuses electronic gadgets will help to conserve energyresources. Satyanarayana has calculated that itsmass production will make it cost much less thannew dry cells.

In the initial stages of his life he had to struggle alot to obtain a decent education and make bothends meet. Now that he has found a private joband is economically better off than in the past, hisenthusiasm to invent new machines, especiallythose which are meant to generate and conserveenergy, has intensified.

Grassroots Electronics: Prem Singh Saini

Though Prem Singh Saini of theAmbala district of Haryana hasstudied only up to the eighthstandard, his understanding ofelectronics compares with thatof electronic engineers. Themulti-purpose robot that he has

designed, despite being in straitenedcircumstances, is the most conspicuous exampleof it. Conventional education never inspired himmuch; but a spirit of experimentation envelopedhim right from the childhood. So it was not exactlysurprising for the people who have known himfor long when the National Innovation Foundationgave him the second national-level award in itssecond annual competition.

Saini’s robot works on 40 ICs (integrated circuits),over 200 transistors and 900 resistors. The othercomponents include five motors, a six-volt battery,10 wheels and a few sensors.

Remaining true to the spirit of grassrootsinnovations, Saini used the most basic electronicdevices which he found around himself: he canmake his robot twist and turn, fire missiles, takephotographs in difficult terrain, transmit videosignals through wireless communication, sensefire, locate survivors in the debris of fallenbuildings or collapsed mines and check humiditylevels with just a modified television remote control.

Saini spent around one lakh rupees on hisinvention. He claims that he can design betterrobots if the money part is taken care of.

Saini has also developed an idea to prevent theaccidental ramming of aeroplanes in tall buildings.

Nadu, whose main job, till recently,was to spray chemical pesticides inthe fields of the villagers. This area issituated in the Bhavani riverbed, whichmakes it suitable for intensivefarming. The farmers here growcrops like turmeric, onion, sugarcane,coconut and jasmine. So there isalways good demand, especiallyduring the last three months of theyear, for spraying chemical pesticides.

For over a decade Chellamuthu wasrequired to spray only chemicalpesticides through a power spray,which he owns. Around two yearsback he experienced chronicheadache and nausea. He consultedDr Natarajan in the nearbyKodumudi town. After the treatmentthe physician advised him to shiftto spraying herbal pesticides. Thephysician had heard about herbalpesticides from the non-governmental organisation NatureTrust, which is based in Pudukottai.Nature Trust advises farmers toundertake organic practices in theirfarms, including the spraying ofherbal pesticides.

Chellamuthu liked the idea and startedworking on some herbal formulae.Some of these preparations got him aconsolation prize from the NIF in itssecond annual competition to honourgrassroots innovators and traditionalknowledge holders.

Chellamuthu’s effort conveys the ideaof an effective use of the most basicof herbs available in the area. One canfind its example in the pesticide hehas prepared to control nematodeinfestation in turmeric crop. He usesginger, chilli, nochi (Vitex negundo),garlic, leaves of sotrukatralai (Aloevera) and neem seeds in itspreparation.

The pesticide that Chellamuthuprepared to protect paddy againstdifferent kinds of pests brings thepeculiar condition of a landlessinnovator to light. He did not have any

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land to experiment on his own and convincingordinary people about a product not developed informal institutions can be an extremely difficulttask. So, Chellamuthu sprayed this pesticide onhis uncle’s field secretly. The pesticide showedvisible – needless to say, positive – effects in threedays. That is when Chellamuthu revealed the secretto his uncle.

From then on there was no looking back forChellamuthu. His uncle offered another piece ofland for experimentation. Other farmers in thevillage followed suit. Then it was the turn of thefarmers from the neighbouring villages to pursuehim. The demand grew so much that he had topurchase an electrical grinder to grind herbalingredients for his preparation.

His other formulation controls eriophyid mite incoconut. Mite infestation leads to shrinkage in nuts,which affect their market value. He uses custardapple (Annona squamosa), turmeric rhizome,Clerodendrum inerme and neem (Azadirachtaindica) kernels for the treatment.

A noticeable thing about Chellmuthu’s herbaltreatments is that even the poorest of farmers canafford them. He charges just Rs 10 per coconuttree for the mite treatment. A single spray in thepaddy field costs Rs 20.

Now, why do you need expensive pesticides whenChellamuthu is all pumped-up to chase pests awayfrom your fields?(Scout: SEVA, Tamil Nadu)

Catering Juices: Banidan Mavaljee Gadhvi

The 46-year-old farmer BanidanMavaljee Gadhvi tills his landwith the help of his nephew in asmall village called Muvada inthe Kheda district of Gujarat.The NIF has honouredGadhvi with a national-level prize

in its second annual competition for developing aherbal treatment to control hairy caterpillars incastor.

A few years back Gadhvi had faced the problemof caterpillar infestation in the castor crop in hisfields, which made him restless. He reasoned thatif human being could not tolerate the sour taste oftamarind and lemon, then even insects might findit difficult to bear it.

monetary factor, what worried hiswife the most was that nobodywould appreciate his work.

The NIF recognised Naidu’s arduousstruggle with life for developing somany idea and prototypes when itgave him the third national-levelaward in its second annualcompetition in December 2002. Someof the innovative ideas that weregiven special consideration by theNIF are for developing a machineto break coconuts and a smalldevice to locate the thin edge of aCellophane tape.

The present method of breakingcoconuts is painstaking. Naidu hasprepared a simple prototype of themachine. It consists of a woodenbox, which has an almost semi-spherical cavity in it for keeping thecoconut. A rectangular lid hinged atthe end of the cavity and a thickblade put inside this cavity are usedto break the shell of the coconutwith little force. Its anotheradvantage is that the coconut watercan be collected easily from thecavity by provided a small outletpipe to it.

Almost each one of us has spentfrustrating moments searching forthe end of a Cellophane tape. Andit is not a one-time problem; itrecurs frustrating regularity. Naiduhas come up with a solution for thislittle, but irritating, problem. A smallbead is provided on the roller of thetape with the help of a nylon thread.The device is extremely simple andhighly useful. The innovator arguesthat it will be much easier for theconsumer if the device is providedat the manufacturing stage itself.

There is another rabbit worthmentioning that comes out of Naidu’smagic box. The filed paper usuallycomes out of the file, because withtime and repeated use the punchedholes tend to loose shape; ultimatelytheir edges merge with the outer

It did not takehim long toarrive at thewinning herbalformula afterthat. Hist r e a t m e n tinvolves mixing500 millilitres oftamarind juiceand 500millilitres oflemon juice in 15

litres of water. This mixture is enoughto control hairy caterpillar in 0.25hectares of the infested land.

The success of his treatmentcontributed to its popularity amongother farmers of the village. Theyclaim that Gadhvi’s treatment has 100per cent success rate.(Scout: SRISTI, Gujarat)

Controlling Irritability: M S VNaidu

How often haveyou got annoyed attrying to break acoconut, locate theend of a Cellophanetape and save thepunched holes of

the filed papers from coming off?These are common problem whichgo beyond class differences to causemental itch. If at this moment somevague images of coconut, Cellophanetape and office files are floating inyour mind, then thank your stars,because the Honey Bee Network haslocated the retired head of theelectrical department of a paper millin Dandeli in Karnataka M S V Naidu.He has 32 innovative solutions to suchproblems to his credit in almost twicethe number of years ofhis life.

Naidu’s life-long journey of chasinginnovative ideas has been financiallyvery difficult. His difficult situationalways made the members of hisfamily concerned. Apart from the

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edges of the paper. Naidu suggests that we stickfive-millimetre thick Cellophane tape on the paper.The tape should have punched holes too. If sucha tape is stuck on the paper, it will never come outof a file on its own.

(Henceforth, professional innovators will not beconsidered for any awards by the NIF. Theirinnovations with application at the grass roots willstill be welcome – Ed.)

Easier, Faster and Economical Husking: K RChandran

The 46-year-old mechanic K RChandran owns a workshop inCherthala taluka of the Alapuzhadistrict of Kerala. Though he hasstudied only up to the fifthstandard, he became a highlyskilled workshop mechanicthrough experience and the dint

of hard work. He is particularly interested ininnovating agricultural machines. He was honouredwith the third national-level award by the NIF inits second annual competition for developing onesuch machine for coir husking.

Chandran was already famous in his area forinnovating useful machines when, during hertenure, the former industries minister of KeralaSusheela Gopalan requested him to develop thecoir-husking machine. He developed it after puttingin years of consistent effort and eight lakh rupees.The Coir Board of the state granted him a loan ofRs 1,50,000 for fabricating the machine, but withthe condition that he would repay the loan at 18per cent interest, even if he could not manage tomanufacture it.

This was the only option he had to fructify hisidea. ‘Taking loan from the loan sharks wouldhave meant paying exorbitant interest,’ Chandransays. ‘That would have broken the back of mybusiness. Today, I am paying only Rs 1,500per month towards interest,’ he says happily.The Coir Board has also agreed to help himin marketing the machine.

Chandran felt the need for a machine specificallyfor threshing coconut husk because theconventional method of beating the husk manuallyis cumbersome and gives a very low output.It also damages the fibre while separating thepith of the husk. This machine was devised withthe objective of removing the shortcomings of

coconut threshers already availablein the market. Chandran’s ideabehind the machine was to getbetter output and employ the leastpossible labour, while keeping thequality of fibre high and the costof the machine affordable.

This machine can husk about 3,200coconuts in a day. Only two peopleare required to operate this machine,compared to 17 people needed foroperating a conventional machine. Itworks with a 10-HP motor, ascompared to the 37 horsepowerneeded by the old equipment.

The machine is sold at a price ofRs 3,25,000, while the cost ofmanufacturing works out toapproximately Rs 2,25,000. Themodels already available in themarket range from eight to 25 lakh

rupees, with a maximum capacityof husking 8,000 coconuts a day.So, the comparative cost ofChandran’s machine is much less.

He had earlier developed a machinefor threshing paddy, putting in oneand a half years of experimentation,which has already become verypopular in the Alapuzha district.(Scout: PDS, Kerala)

Full of Power: G K Ratnakara

The 40-year-oldfarmer G KRatnakara lives in ahilly region in theChikmagalur districtof Karnataka, whichhas lots of natural

water resources. But this region

gets irregular supply of electricity.Any effort to supplement powergeneration either individually orcollectively attracts attention in thispower-starved state. In this regardthe successful experiment conductedby Ratnakara to generate hydelpower to meet his domesticrequirement has come to be regardedas a safe and dependable alternativeto the unsteady and fluctuatingsupply from Karnataka ElectricityBoard.

Ratnakara started the experimentson a trial and error basis byassembling the necessary turbine. Inthe beginning he tried powergeneration by supplying water froma stream to a moving turbo. Hestarted assembling his own turbineso that it could run under thepressure of water falling from aheight of 100 feet. The turbo consistsof an alternator and can produce 3.5units electricity per hour. It cangenerate 60 watts of power. Theapproximate weight of the machineis 300 kilogrammes.

Within a month he successfullygenerated 1.5 kilovolts of powerand connected it to all the domesticelectrical appliances in his home.

Ratnakara, who is educated only upto the 10th standard, has set up 21power generation units with ageneration capacity of one to twokilovolts in Dakshina Kannada,Kadagu, Hassan and Chikmagalurdistricts of the state. The powerplants which he plans to set up arehighly economical and requires only

6



small amount of money. He says that he canset up three such plants per month. The NIFhonoured Ratnakara with a state-level award inits second annual competition.(Scout: PRITVI, Karnataka)

Innovations in Plenty: Khimjibhai Kanadia

The 62-year-old retiredschoolteacher Khimjibhai Kanadiaof the Gadha village in theSabarkantha district of Gujarathas more than 50 innovations tohis credit, all of which reduce

the tedium of mechanical work and improvework efficiency. He has got solutions for manytechnical problem faced by the rural folk. Hewants to establish a trust for the grassrootsinnovators through which the innovators will getopportunity and financial help to transform theirideas into products.

One of Kanadia’s most famous innovations isKittanal. It is a hollow cylindrical piece of PVCpipe with an elliptical opening at one end.Though it looks a very ordinary device, it ishighly effective in filling plastic bags with soil,which are used for growing saplings. Kittanalhas won widespread accolades from differentquarters, like the forest department of Gujarat,the paper and pulp industry major BallarpurIndustries and the Ahmedabad-based non-governmental organisation Self-EmployedWomen’s Association.

Some of his other important innovations includea gum scrapper for collecting gum from trees;paniharino visamo, an apparatus to easeburden of rural women who carry pots ontheir head, and a sprayer to reduce pesticidewastage.

The NIF gave him a state-level award in itssecond annual competition in December 2002.(For more information on Khimjibhai Kanadia'sinnovations see Honey Bee, 9(1):7, 1998.)(Scout: SRISTI, Gujarat)

Treating Poultry Diseases: S P Balu

The 35-year-old poultry farmerS Balu of the Padhukottai districtof Tamil Nadu has a longexperience in maintainingpoultry farm. He has promoteda small animal owner’s

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association in his area to provideanimal health services and formarketing milk.

The NIF gave him the third national-level award in its annual competitionin December 2002 for developinginnovative techniques in livestockmanagement.

Balu has developed a herbal cure fortreating newcastle (ranikhet) diseasein poultry. This disease makes birdssuffer from diarrhoea, foul odour,cough, drooping of wings andparalysis. First, he separates theaffected chicken from the rest ofthe flock. Then he grinds the leavesof veliparuthi (Pergularia daemia)and kuppaimeni (Acalypha indica)and bark of neem (Azadirachtaindica) and velvelam (Acacialeucophloea). The powder is mixedwith ragi flour and given to birdsin the feeding.

He has successfully treated morethan 100 birds with this treatmentin the last two years.

Balu has also prepared nutritious feedfor turkey chickens, which helpsthem gain weight. It contains three-day-old seedlings of black gram(Vigna mungo), which is sown in anursery near the poultry farm. Thechickens are allowed in the field tofeed on the seedlings. In addition, hefeeds them a mixture of omelette theleaves of adathoda (Adathodazeylanica) and poduthalai (Lippianodiflora) for at least 15 days.

His other treatment takes care of theharmful effects of aflatoxin-infectedfeed in poultry. He grinds garlic, theroots of nannari (Hemidesmusindicus) and vannan avuri(Indigofera tinctoria),the leaves of veliparuthi (Pergulariadaemia) and the seeds ofmoringa (Moringa oleifera) andadministers it to the birds along withthe feed.(Scout: SEVA, Tamil Nadu)

7



Num Vali Velanmai(Tamil Version of Honey Bee)P Vivekanandan, Editor, SEVA, 45, T P M Nagar,Virattipathu, Madurai-625010, Tamil Nadu.E-mail: [email protected].

Honey Bee adds 10 eggs of country fowl and 100millimetres of sticker solution. Thissolution is sprayed on the 25th andthe 35th days after planting. The sprayincreases the number of flowers andthe size of the fruits.

He uses goat and farmyard manureas basal dose before planting the onion.On 45th day cow dung extract issprayed, which is prepared by soakingfive kilogrammes of cow dung in 200litres of water for two weeks and isused after filtering.

He has also shared his innovation withother farmers in the nearby villages.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,8(3): 12,1997 and 3(1):10, 1992.

14104 Exchange of Honey:Tomato Seeds as Growth Promotors

The 65-year-old farmer VellamayaThevar of the Kinnimangalam villageof the Madurai district of TamilNadu uses a technique to boost thegrowth of paddy seedlings whichhe has learnt from Mohanraj Yadavthrough the 10(4) issue of Num ValiVelanmai.

Thevar dries tomatoes in sunlightand then grinds their seeds. Fifty-five grams of the seed powder ismixed with sticker solution andsprayed over the paddy seedlings inthe eight-cent nursery area on 14thand 21st days after planting.

For spraying in one-acre main fieldof paddy 200 grams of tomatopowder is mixed with 100 millilitresof sticker (sandovit) solution andsprayed on the 14th and 28th daysafter transplantation.

This is a classic case of the spreadof the Honey Bee philosophy,which shows itself through thelateral learning among the people atthe grass roots.For similar practices see Honey Bee,11(4) and 12(1):28, 2000-2001;9(1):12, 1998; and 2(1):17, 1991.

matter of serious concern in his farmafter about three weeks of plantation.

Ganesan follows a practice to controlthis threat that was passed on to himby his father. He uses the excreta ofcats and kuppaimeni (Acalypaindica), ponnaritharam and omam(Trachyspermum ammi). Theingredients are ground and the powder

is placed near the rat burrows andborder areas of the field. He says thatwithin a day of spreading the powder12 to 15 rats die.

He suggests that the continuous useof this preparation for five days isenough to eradicate rats thoroughly.

(Some readers may prefer otherpractices which repel rats, instead ofkilling them - Ed.)

For similar practices see Honey Bee,11(2):10, 2000; 7 (1):12, 1996;5(1):19,1994; 4(2 and 3):10, 1993;2(1):7, 1991; and 2(1):16, 1991.

Farmer: Ganesan, Valaiyapatti village,Sevapur post, Karur district, TamilNadu-621 311. Scout: Karuppasamy,SEVA.

14103 Increasing Growth ofOnion

The innovative farmer VellamayaThevar the Kinnimangalam village ofthe Madurai district of Tamil Nadu hasbeen practicing different techniquesof organic farming for a long time.

To increase onion yield he takes onekilogramme of small onions, smashesthem, mixes the extract with water,

14101 Rejuvenating Paddy with Cow Dung

Paddy seedlings generally remain greenish forabout 12 days after sowing. But the next fourdays can be tough for the farmer, because inthis period the seedlings become pale, as theyare dependent on roots for food after exhaustingthe nutrients stored in their endosperm.

The 65-year-old farmer Shanmugam Pillai hasdeveloped a new practice to overcome thisproblem. He crushes three kilogrammes leaveseach of notchi (Vitex negundo), tulsi (Ocimumsanctum) and pungam (Pongamia pinnata)and collects the extract. He mixes fivekilogrammes of fresh cow dung with 15 litresof water in a separate container. This mixtureis kept for 12 days and then filtered. Thefiltered solution is mixed with the plant extracts,which is used for treating 25 kilogrammesof paddy seeds. The treated seeds areallowed to germinate: once the plumuleemerges the seed can be transferred to anursery bed.

This practice increases vigour of seedlings andalso gives immunity against pest and diseases.

Farmer: Shanmugam Pillai, West Putheri, NagarKovil post, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu(Phone: 04652-27433). Scout: P Vivekanandan,SEVA.

For similar practices see Honey Bee, 11(4) and12(1):28, 2000-2001; 10(1):7, 1999; 7(3):10,1996; and 6(4):9, 1995.

14102 Set Cat among Rats, Organically

The tenant farmer Ganesan cultivates paddy inone acre of land. The rat menace becomes a

8



Loksarvani(Gujarati version of Honey Bee)Ramesh Patel, Editor, c/o SRISTI, Post BoxNo. 15050, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 015.E-mail: [email protected].

14105 SRISTI Help Line Saves Suwa

Achalbhai, a farmer from the Samdara villageof the Kheda district in Gujarat, noticed thatafter the first irrigation in the crop of suwa(Anethum sowa) there are signs of bhukichhara (powdery mildew) during the cloudyclimate. He called up the SRISTI help lineat 91-79-7913293 for a solution. Hefound out that the farmers of northGujarat use the leaves of peeludi (Salvadorapersica) to control this disease in cumin andother spices.

He tested this method on his suwa crop. Headded about three kilogrammes of the leavesof peeludi in 20 litres of water and then boiledthe mixture till five litres of water remainedin the vessel. Finally, 300 millilitres of thisdecoction was added in 15 litres of waterin a sprayer and sprinkled over the plants.

Achalbhai found this treatment to be aseffective as the use of chemical pesticides.

For similar practices see Honey Bee, 12(3):14,2001; 11(4) and 12(1), 2000-2001; 11(3):2-3,2000; 6(2):14, 1995; and 2(1):16, 1991.

Farmer: Achalbhai, Samdara village, Khedadistrict, Gujarat.

14106 Fenugreek too Hot for Termites

Farmers try out several practices from theirexperience to control the soil-borne pests liketermite. The Loksarvani team came acrossone such interesting practice during the ninthshodh yatra in Rajasthan.

In the Gopal Pura village of Alwar districtin Rajasthan a farmer named ManguramMeena sows fenugreek along with gram tocontrol the attack of termite. He says thatthe sowing of one kilogramme of seeds of

fenugreek along with 10 kilogrammesof seeds of gram give encouragingresults in terms of controlling theattack of termite. The farmer feelsthat the attack was considerablyless in gram because of thebitterness of fenugreek.

He alsosays thatstoring thedry biomass

of fenugreek with the straws ofother crops prevents the attack oftermite in the straws.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,7(1):13, 1996; 6(3): 12, 1995; 5(2):8,1994; 3(1):15, 1992; and 2(1): 15,1991.

Farmer: Manguram Meena, GopalPura village, Alwar district, Rajasthan.Documented by Mahesh Parmar.

14107 Taming Cotton Pestswith Buttermilk

Ball worm and sucking pests arethe biggest problems in cotton.Farmers spray several expensivechemical pesticides to control thesepests, which often prove ineffective.Besides, the growth of the crop ishindered, its leaves and balls aredeformed and new growth isprevented.

Karsanbhai overcomes this problemby spraying a mixture of 20 litresof sour buttermilk and 100 litres ofwater in one vigha (0.15 hectare)of land.

The farmer has observed that thispractice increases the resistance of

the crop to these pests. Also, newsprouts are observed after thespray.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,10(4):7, 1999; 8(4):11, 1997;5(4):13-14, 1994; and 2(1):6-7, 1991.

Farmer: Karsanbhai, Dedkadi village,Sabarkundla taluka, Bhavnagardistrict, Gujarat. Scout: Dilip Karodia.

14108 Molasses to ControlHeliothis in Tindola

There are large number oftraditional practices available tocontrol heliothis in tindola (Cocciniaindica).

According to Ramjibhai Deshmukhthe attack of heliothis occurs atthe time of fruit emergence intindola. At this stage he putsmolasses all over the tindola vines.As a result of it black ants areattracted to the vines due to thesweetness of treacle and feed onthe larvae of heliothis in theprocess. Black ants usually eathalf of the larvae and then feedon the new ones, therebycontrolling the disease. Fiftykilogrammes of treacle is sufficientto control heliothis in one acre(0.25 hectare) of the crop.

Farmer: Ramjibhai LaxmanjiDeshmukh, Nandkhadi village, theDangs, Gujarat. Scout: PraveenVankar.

14109 Soothing Calves withBanana after Vasectomy

Livestock practitioners usually cutthe sperm duct of calves to helpthem develop into healthy bulls.This traditional practice can causepuss formation in the duct of theanimal. Shivrambhai JavarbhaiSahare of the Dangs in Gujaratmakes the cattle drink banana juiceto prevent any complication.

9



Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte(Malayalam version of Honey Bee)James T J, Editor, PeermadeDevelopment Society, Peermade,Iduki-685531, Kerala.E-mail: [email protected].

Besides, they also faced difficultiesdue to widespread crab infestationin the fields.

A local farmers’ group then cameup with an idea of developing apesticide by fermenting crabs,tobacco, soap and kerosene. Aftertrying out various pesticides, thegroup managed to develop one suchpesticide.

The local farmers claim that thispesticide is very effective againstthe bacterial attack in vegetablecrops. Moreover, its use helps inreducing the crab population inthe fields.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,13(3):11, 2002; 11(4) and 12(1):3,4and 10, 2000-2001; 9(4): 17, 1998;and 2(1):7, 1991.

14114 Sunlight and SpacingPrevent Quick Wilt

Quick wilt is one of the majordiseases in pepper. This disease iscaused by the fungus Phytophthoracapscici and transmits through soiland air. P A Pappachan hasdeveloped a technique to prevent it.

He found that keeping the collarregion of the plant exposed tosunlight and providing more spacingamong the plants can prevent thefungal attack. Besides, he noticedthat in this process the rootscoming from the nodes are muchstronger than roots induced byhormone.

He has been practicing thistechnique for the last eight yearsand has not observed a singleincidence of the disease. Thistechnique has now become famousas Pappachan Technique.

For other practices about wilt indifferent plants see Honey Bee, 11(4)and 12(1): 3,4 and 10; 2000-2001; 4(2and 3):20, 1993; 4(2 and 3):16, 1993;and 3(1):14 and 15, 1992.

14111 Quick Vermicomposting

The farmers of Amaravathy villageof Idukki district in Kerala havedeveloped an innovative techniquefor vermicomposting with their owninitiative. They have found that theaddition of cattle urine, diluted withan equal quantity of water, reducesthe duration of compost formationby 10 days. Moreover, a 20 per centincrease in the number of wormswas also observed in this period.They replaced sawdust with goatexcreta as the lower layer, becausethe worms showed less affinity togoat excreta. Consequently thecomposting took place above thebasal layer.

14112 Tribal Agro-Ecology

It has been observed that theMemmari tribals of the Iduki districtin Kerala spread paddy straws onthe same field from where they arecut. This helps to maintain thenutrient cycle of the field. Theyhave also developed a method toprevent pests from attacking paddy.They use dried koova (Marantaaurdinacea) leaves as pest repellent.

These practices have been reportedto the concerned institutions forscientific validation.

14113 Local Pesticide for Blight

The farmers of Pulinkatta used tosuffer heavy loss in their vegetablecultivation due to bacterial blightand the yellowing of the crop.

According to Sahare, feeding the animal with150 millilitres of banana juice for three daysafter cutting the duct prevents puss formationin the wound. There is no side effect of thispractice. A lot of people in his village havebeen practicing this traditional practice for long.

Farmer: Shivrambhai Sahare, Shyam Gahan post,Ahawa taluka, Dangs district, Gujarat.Scout: Praveen Rohit.

14110 Caring for Stomach with Banyan

Calves as well as old animals suffer from thepresence of karamiya (worms) in stomach.The presence of karamiya makes the infectedanimal effete. The worms lead to constipation,which in turn causes swelling around thestomach of the animal. The young infectedanimals may die if proper treatment is notgiven to them.

Devrambhai Maniabhai Thakre uses vadvaior adventitious roots of banyan (Ficusbenghalensis) to treat karamiya. According tohim 20 grams of vadvai is crushed and mixed

in 100 millilitres of water. The mixture is fedto the animal twice in a day. Thakre claimsthat the animal is completely relieved in twodays. This is a traditional practice and isknown to almost all the villagers.

For similar practices see Honey Bee, 12(3):17,2001; 11(4) and 12(1):24, 2000-2001; 11(1):17,2000; 10(3):14, 1999; 7(1):7, 1996; 4(2 and3):22, 1993; and 3(1):18, 1992.

Farmer: Devram Thakre; Jakahana post;Ahawa taluka; Dangs district. Scout: PraveenVankar.

10



Ama Akha Pakha(Oriya version of Honey Bee)Dr Balaram Sahu, Editor, 3 R BP 5/2,B P Colony, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar-751012, Orissa.E-mail: [email protected].

four centimetres in diameter. Thewater that goes waste after washinghands or face is used for irrigatingthis crop.

This method of cultivation can proveto be a boon for the landlessfarmers. The other benefits includea low requirement of water forirrigation purpose and full utilisationof fertilisers because of the absenceof weeds. The crop takes as muchtime in maturing in the hay sacksas it takes in farms. Each sack givesa yield of 10 to 15 kilogrammes.

Pradhan now proposes to keep thesesacks on the wheeled iron racks,one over the other, so that they canbe put in the sun easily.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,10(4):9, 1999; 10(3):9, 1999; 8(2): 7,1997; 3(2):8-10, 1992; 2(1):7-8,1991; and 1(1):3-9, 1990.

Farmer: Lingaraj Pradhan, Jakeikalavillage, Sundargarh district, Orissa.Scout: Dr Balaram Sahu.

14117 Purifying River Water inHerbal Way

P C Behera says that women of hisvillage use a novel way of purifyingmuddy water taken from the nearbyriver, which flows through the Hindolsubdivision of the district.

The river water in rainy seasons isvery muddy. Behera says that duringthis time the women of Jhadasandhause a wild fruit called katak(Strychnos nux-vomica) to purifythe muddy water. They rub katakon the interior surface of aluminiumor brass pots and keep the riverwater in them for 30 minutes to onehour. The mud settles downcompletely in this much time andthe water becomes visibly clean andfree of germs.

Villager: P C Behera, Jhadasandhavillage, Dhenkanal district, Orissa.Scout: Dr Balaram Sahu.

He prepares the solar-treated extractof neem, as described above, andmixes 500 millilitres of it in 200millilitres of fresh cow urine. Fifteenlitres of water is added to thismixture. He sprays this mixture onthe cabbage crop just before it isfully grown. This spray makes surethat the cabbage becomes hard inseven to 10 days. Without the spraythe hardening process usually takes20 days.

The crop is ready for market 10days in advance, which helps himin getting a better price.

(Neem extract and cow urine areused widely for pest control, but theiruse for the hardening of cabbageseems quite uncommon – Ed.)

Farmer: Indramani Sahu ,Jagannathpur Village, Raghunathpurpost, Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa.Scout: Dr Balaram Sahu.

For similar practices see Honey Bee,12(3):17, 2001; 10(1):13, 1999;9(4):11 & 17, 1998; and 4(1):9, 1993.

14116 Cultivation of Potato inHay Sacks

The retired schoolteacher LingarajPradhan has developed an innovativemethod of cultivating potato in sacksmade from the ropes of paddy hay.These sacks are generally preparedto preserve seeds in villages. Theyare called pura, puruga or olia.

Pradhan has changed the functionof these packetsby putting soiland cow dunginside them, sothat the potatobuds can beplaced in rowsat the peripheryof the packets.The rows areseparated bythe ropes madeof paddy hay, which are three to

14115 Solar-Treated Neem Extract forPointed Gourd and Cabbage

(a) Indramani Sahu has developed a preparationto improve the quality and production of pointedgourd or parwal (Trichosanthes dioica).

He boils five litres of water in a pot and adds500 grams of neem (Azadirachta indica) leavesto it. Then he covers the pot with a plate forabout half an hour. This mixture is poured ina glass jar, which is kept open in the sun foreight to 10 hours everyday for two days.

The decoction is then sprayed on the parwalplant by diluting 60 millilitres of it in 10 litresof water. Sahu suggests that the first sprayshould be given only when the plants startflowering; the second spray is given after a gapof 15 day.

The farmer claims that if the solution is usedwithin two to three months of its preparationone can see marked changes in the plants:flowers stop falling; there is no untimelyripening of fruits; the size of the fruit getsbigger; and the pest attack is reducedconsiderably.

Sahu has been using this decoction since 1990.Other farmers in his village have also benefitedfrom his innovative preparation.

(While neem extract is a popular pesticide,the use of solar-treated extract is ratheruncommon – Ed)

(b) In 1990 Sahu developed a similar herbaldecoction to increase the quality and marketvalue of cabbage, which, he claims, alsoreduces the pest attack on the crop.

11



Hittalagida(Kannada version of Honey Bee)T N Prakash, Editor, HittalagidaDeptartment of Agricultural. Economics,University of Agricultural Science, GKVK,Bangalore-560 065, Karnataka.E-mail: [email protected].

14118 Fuel-Saving Stove

Boiling water for bathing purpose consumes alot of fuel in winter. Jyothi Ravishankar hasdeveloped a stainless steel stove in Rs 1,000that combines the tasks of boiling bathing waterand rice to make both the processes fuel andtime efficient.

She keeps a pot full of rice on the stove. Thepot is connected to a water drum, which isfull of cold water and kept at higher surface,with two pipes. The lower pipe transfers waterfrom the drum to the pot, which gets heated,boils the rice in the pot and turns into steam.The steam then passes through the second pipe,which connects the brim of the pot with thetop of the drum, and heats the water in thedrum.

This process continues for an hour, in whichthe rice and around 300 litres of bathing waterboil.

Innovator: Jyothi Ravishankar, Amdalu post,Madanthyar-574444, South Canara district,Karnataka.

14119 Trapping Uzi Fly

The sericulture farmers are faced with thedifficult task of preventing the attack of uzi fly(Exorista sorbillans) in silkworms. Uzi flyinjects its eggs in silkworms, which attract theprotozoan named Nosema bomycis. Thisprotozoan causes a disease called pebrine insilkworms, which is characterised by a blackspotting of the integuement and often leads totheir death.

Mohammed Vakil Saheba has developed a newtechnique to prevent uji fly from entering intothe silkworm-rearing room. He closes thewindows of the room with nylon nets and

leaves one or two holes in each net.One bottle filled with a stickyliquid is hung from each such hole.When the fly tries to enter insidethe room, it goes inside the bottleand cannot come out due to thehigh viscosity of the liquid and diesinside it.

S a h e b aclaims thathis methodhas 100per cents u c c e s srate. Hehas beenpracticingt h i stechniquefor the last

three years. He has also passed onthe technique to about 200 farmersin and around his village.

Farmer: Mohammed Vakil Saheba,Hongamaaru post, Chennapattanataluka, Bangalore district,Karnataka.

14120 Buttermilk as Coagulantfor Rubber Latex

Rubber is usually sold in the formof sheets. Rubber latex is coagulatedinto thin slabs with the help ofacetic or formic acid before theyare converted to sheets.

Shankara Patali, a rubber planter,has discovered that sour buttermilkcan replace the acids in thecoagulation process. The qualityand colour of rubber sheets formedthus is much better. This treatmentalso reduces the fungal attack onthe sheets. Patali uses around 150millilitres of buttermilk to preparehalf a kilogramme of rubber sheet.The quantity of buttermilk dependson its sourness and the quality oflatex.

Innovator: Shankara Patali,Mabaladka Estate, Ishwaramangala,Puttur-574313, Karnataka.

used for making sweets like malpua,halwa and laddoo.

Mahua was also used for treatingillnesses and injuries. Its juice wasconsidered useful for internalinjuries. Very often in villages feetare pricked by thorns. The villagerswould apply a mixture of coalpowder and the juice of mahuaflowers to relieve pain.

Different Fruits and Gums

Half a century back it was commonsight to find people eating thefruits of wild plants like timru(Diospyros melanoxylon), karamda(Carissa congesta) and kanti(Acacia ferruginea). Duringfamines the villagers took to sellingthe gum oftrees liked h a v d i(Anogeissusl a t i f o l i a ) ,khair orc a t e c h u( A c a c i ac a t e c h u ) ,kaladi and baval or black babul(Acacia nilotica) to earn livelihood.Even today some villagers sell thegums of these trees.

Food for Animals

Soft leaves of the bamboo treewere fed to animals during famines.When even leaves would becomescarce, bark and pulp of bamboowere also fed to them. Animalswere also given sadad or blackmurdah (Terminalia tomentosa),timru and tamarind, its leaves andflowers. Their fodder was mixedwith mahua flowers. Boiled mahuaflowers were also fed to them.Mahua was also known for itsrejuvenating qualities for animals.Bulls were fed mahua flowers forgaining energy after they would beexhausted with a hard day’slabour.

Beniben Tarad

(Continues from page 2)

12



nternational development agencies haverecently taken to promoting sustainablefarming in a big way. Many local farmers

have been practising sustainable cultivation forgenerations and we have much to learn from them.In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, forexample, people have evolved a stationary systemof cultivation under a shifting regime. This appearsa contradiction in terms, but it is what happens.In some locales farmers are able to keep gardensunder sustainablecultivation fordecades, eveng e n e r a t i o n s ,although they maymove garden sitesand clear newlands when cropyields fall belowcertain acceptablelevels. Thecultivation ofsweet potato onmounds of soiland compost is ac h a r a c t e r i s t i cfeature of thefarming regime,and is central to the feasibility of near-continuousproduction. The ability to maintain some long-termcultivation within the broad context of a shiftingstrategy is interesting given our understanding oftraditional agricultural practices in the tropics.

Shifting System of Agriculture

People throughout the Central Highlands practicethis type of agriculture. They live along the valleysin the extensive cane grassland below heavilyforested watersheds, their tidy gardens dotting thelandscape. The people here depend heavily onhorticulture to meet their basic subsistence needs.Sweet potato is their staple diet. They cultivateplots for varying periods of time. On the one handthey clear some gardens for just one or, possibly,two plantings of mixed crops and then leave them

fallow under natural growth for manyyears. On the other hand, they keepplots under more or less permanentcultivation for decades, withoccasional brief periods of grassyfallow between cultivation.

When the farmers clear an area ofnatural vegetation and break theground for a new garden, theythemselves often cannot say for howlong it will remain under cultivation.They plant it and see how their cropsfare. They may continue to replantthe site so long as yield is acceptableand the location of the gardenconvenient. A noteworthy point is thatthey do not go for annual re-plantings:one cultivation season usually extendsover one to two years, depending onthe plants being intercropped.

A notable feature of this semi-permanent farming system is thatnothing is used on the cultivationsites from the outside during theirentire productive life cycle of cropsother than the planting material. Inthe initial clearance farmers burn allvegetation of suitable size, exceptthat which may be used for fencestakes or log barricades. This rapidlyreturns the nutrients locked up inthe vegetation to the soil in a readilyavailable form through ash. Whenfarmers cultivate a plot again theycompost weeds and crop residuesinto earth mounds, on which theygrow sweet potatoes. If they leavea site fallow for a longer period,they similarly uproot coarse grassesand herbs and use them on the siteeither as compost or ash.

According to the literature, such aregime should lead to a decline in

productivity due to nutrient losses,weed proliferation, disease build-upand soil depletion through erosion. Aninvestigation of the soil fertility undercultivation suggests that the chemicalproperties of the region’s soil that limitcrop nutrition and production are: (i)low levels of phosphorus and highrates of phosphate fixation; (ii) acidconditions, which interfere with thesupply of some nutrients and reducetotal base saturation; (iii) depressedcation exchange capacities; and (iv)

high organic matter content whichmost likely lowers nitrogen levels. Bycontrast, the physical properties of thesoil, like its high organic mattercontents, low bulk densities, fairtopsoil aeration and good drainage, aregenerally favourable to cropproduction.

Burning to Enrich Soil

Controlled burning of a site improvessome of these soil nutrient problems,giving a critical, though short-lived,boost to the availability of severalelements, notably increasing the pHlevel of soil and recycling the elementscontained in the cleared vegetation.This increase in availability isparticularly significant forphosphorus, but is also important forpotassium and nitrogen.

Stationary System of CultivStationary System of CultivStationary System of CultivStationary System of CultivStationary System of Cultivation under a Shifting Regimeation under a Shifting Regimeation under a Shifting Regimeation under a Shifting Regimeation under a Shifting RegimeIn the highlands of Papua New Guinea people have evolved a system of cultivation in which farmers are able tokeep gardens under sustainable cultivation for decades, even generations. Paul Sillitoe1 explains how.

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1. Paul Sillitoe is with the Anthropology Deptartment of the University of Durham, UK. He wrote this article with Wabis Ungutip,Jim Pelia, Kuli Hond and Ben Wabis (of the Halalinja village, Nipa sub-district, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea).

Mayka Saziy, a highlandfarmer, clearing a garden site

A farmer heaping up soil into a mound

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It is not that crops massively mine the nutrientsmade available and held in the virgin soil, foralthough these decline to new equilibrium pointsthey remain relatively constant, even after yearsunder cultivation. These practices infact encourageconditions that promote the availability of criticallylimiting nutrients. The availability of limitingnutrients is sufficient to permit a wide variety ofcrops to flourish in newly cleared gardens. This

crop diversity is short-lived, paralleling theephemeral nature of the improved availability ofnutrients following clearance. Sites cultivatedrepeatedly largely support only sweet potatoes.

Regarding crop production, the supply of all threemajor plant nutrients potentially limits yield. Afterone or two seasons of cultivation of a site, nitrogen,potassium and phosphate levels fall below thenutritional requirements for the healthy growth ofmany crops. The evidence suggests that phosphateavailability and potassium supply are probably whatis lacking in the majority of sites. Sweet potato isone of the few crops with the capacity to continueproducing tolerable yields under these nutritionallydepleted conditions, and its relatively lowphosphorus requirement particularly suits it to thiskind of soil. While it may yield adequately on soilsrelatively low in extractable phosphorous, minimallevels of these nutrients must none the less bemaintained for tolerable tuber production tocontinue.

Managing Soil with Mounds

The local method of soil management, that featuresthe building of soil mounds, enables nutrients storedin plant residues to be incorporated into the soilduring cultivation, where it soon rots down intosoft compost. Organic matter plays a central role

in maintaining soil fertility, and addingcrop residues or straw is successfulon a range of soils under shiftingcultivation, giving yield responses asgood as, or higher than, fertiliser ormanure applications. Compost isespecially effective as manure forsweet potato. The mechanism ofnutrient uptake that mounds afford isespecially effective at overcomingphosphate fixation and poor basesaturation. The boost in availablepotassium from grasses in thecompost is also central to the successof mounds in sustaining the semi-permanent sweet potato cultivation ofthe region.

Sweet potato occupies a central placein this farming system. It makes up,by far, the largest area under cropsand comprises something like 75 percent of all food consumed by weight.The agricultural regime of the region,notably the semi-permanent garden,depends on the ability of this crop tocontinue yielding adequately,regardless of the changes in the statusof soil fertility with time. Thesechanges do not necessarily reduce theyield of sweet potato; contrary toexpectations, the farmers maintainthat the soil on some sites improveswith use, becoming better with timefor sweet potato cultivation. Far fromexperiencing a decline in staple cropyields, as the literature on low-inputsubsistence agriculture predicts, somesites experience the reverse.

The plano-convex mounds, which areimportant for the near-continuoussweet potato production of theregion, vary in size between two andthree metres across. The plantresidues incorporated in the moundsvary from garden to garden. Ifwomen, the builders of mounds,rework gardens while they stillsupport some crops, the residues willinclude herbaceous and grassy weedstogether with uprooted crop remains,notably sweet potato vines. Ifgardens are left fallow for manymonths and they grass over, the

principal vegetation incorporated willbe coarse grasses.

The process of mound building beginswith the women pulling up thevegetation on a site, sometimes withmen’s assistance. They use smallone-metre-long digging sticks orsmall spades to loosen the soil andthen pull out the plants with rootsattached. Sometimes they clear heavygrowth using bush knives, choppingagainst log cutting blocks. Thevegetation is strewn across thesurface for several days to dry out,which incidentally protects theloosened topsoil from rainfallerosion.

Controlled burning improves soil quality, particularlyits pH level and the availablity of phosphorus in it

Prof. Kamal K Misra, ofAnthropology Department,University of Hyderabad,expresses his views on sustainablecultivation:

'Many tribal communities in thetropical regions of the worlduse the residue of rotten plantsto nourish soil. I havewitnessed identical processesof recharging soil by theresidue of rotten plant by manyIndian tribal communities intheir kitchen gardens forvegetable farming.

'What needs our closeattention is the claim of thePapua New Guinea farmersthat with recurring use of soilmounds in ‘some sites’, theyield of sweet potatoesincreases. But, my experienceis that the recurring usecauses lower yields with time.It would be imperative then toexamine why it does nothappen in "other sites"? Whatare the soil qualities of these"other sites"? And how toimprove soil fertility in all thesites to make them equallycapable of giving high yield?

'I think when land availabilityis gradually becoming scarce,this knowledge of New Guineahighlanders needsexamination and replication inother tropical regions for asustainable practice.'

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When they are ready to mound a garden, womenwork systematically, preparing small areas at atime and heaping up the crumbled soil. Theyprepare square depressions bounded by four-sidedsoil ridges into which they place weeds and cropresidues. Occasionally, dry material is burned. Tostart the mound they scoop soil from thesurrounding ridge over the compost and continuebuilding it up by digging up soil around its perimeter.Finally they plant sweet potatoes in the mound bypushing their slips into its surface.

Mounding ensures that the soil is friable, whilethe compost provides a soft centre into whichtubers can readily swell into long and straight roots.Mounding also increases the depth of the topsoil.The incorporation of plant material into the moundsprobably increases the total microbial populationand decomposition rates. And, burying the residueof the surface-germinating weed deep in the heartof mounds gives sweet potato a head start in thecompetition for light. Large amounts of organiccompost also improve the water-holding capacityof a mound, increase its internal temperature andencourage vigorous root growth. But care isrequired in the use of compost so as not to increasethe chances of disease. For example, if sweetpotato vines are used as composting material,caution is needed where severe weevil infestationexists. The local people say that mounding reducesdisease and rotting of tubers, like the black rotcaused by Ceratocystis fimbriata.

There is little chance, however, that local farmerscan significantly increase the rates of composting.The major factors restricting composting rates are(i) the limited availability of suitable grassy andherbaceous composting material and (ii) the timeand hard work required to collect it. People onlyincorporate vegetation uprooted from a site intothe mounds. If they collected more material fromelsewhere this would probability amount todepriving other fallowed sites of compost material,undermining the long-term maintenance of theirfertility. Even if the vegetation for composting isavailable from elsewhere, requiring women, soiltillers and mound builders to collect andincorporate it into mounds would place burden onthem.

Such composting and soil management regimesdeserve close attention since we have much tolearn from them regarding sustainable farming andunderstanding the variety and dynamics of tropicalagricultural systems.

Culinary Wisdomhe 11th shodh yatra is round the corner – it starts on 26 May. There isa very simple way of describing the motto of shodh yatra: it is a voyage

of discovery. This description has an unexploredimmensity to itself. Whenever the Honey BeeNetwork organises a yatra, it sends itsorganisers for some fieldwork before the yatrisset out on the journey. The fieldwork resultsin some fascinating pieces of information,some of which the network wants to sharethrough this new column about recipes.The recipes given below were collectedfrom Kantaben Govindbhai Patel of theJakhala village of the Anand districtin Gujarat during the eighth shodhyatra in June 2002.

Dish of the Leaves of Guar or Cluster Bean

Pluck soft leaves of guar or clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) thatare six to seven days old. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. Put cumin seedsin it and stir them till they become red. Add chopped garlic and stir it slowlytill it becomes red too. Put the guar leaves in the pan and fry them. Put salt,chilli powder, turmeric and coriander powder according to taste and fry itfor five minutes at low flame. This dish is eaten with roti and khichdi.

Advantages: As soon as it starts raining the vegetable supply is affected inthe countryside. Villagers use dishes made of such nutritional plants, whichare available in abundance near them. Guar is even drought resistant. It alsohas sugar balancing and fiber laxative qualities. So it can help in healthybowel activity and in controlling blood sugar level.

Curry of the Arni Flowers

Heat oil in a wok. Put chopped garlic and ginger, leaves of fenugreek andseeds of mustard and cumin in it. Stir them till they become a bit reddish.Put the flowers of arni (Clerodendrum phlomidis) in the mixture. Whenthe flowers turn red put two teaspoons of besan or gram flour and 500millilitres of buttermilk in it. Put salt and ch1illi powder in it according totaste. Keep the mixture on low flame for eight to 10 minutes, till it has cometo the brim of the wok. It is consumed with roti and khichdi and can also behad like soup.

Advantages: This curry has some medicinal values too. If it is taken oncein a day for four days it helps in reducing the pain in the knee joints. It is alsouseful for treating diarrhoea and obesity.

Dish of the leaves of Jivanti or Dodi

Put washed soft leaves of jivanti or dodi (Leptadenia reticulata) in oil in afrying pan. Put seeds of mustard and cumin in the heated oil. Then put theleaves of jivanti in it and stir the mixture till it becomes reddish. Now put saltand the powders of turmeric, chilli and coriander according to your taste.To get a good taste in this dish, do not add any garlic.

Advantages: Jivanti is considered to be an eye tonic. It is also known toshow generally nutritive values, particularly for human skin.

Scout: Ramesh Taviyad

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Hunnar MahasagarAuthor: GangabenPranshankar Yagnik

Publisher: SRISTI InnovationsPrice (Hard Bound): Rs 150 for

South Asia; $ 50 for the Restof the World

Pages: 370 + viiiLanguage: Gujarati

RISTI Innovation’s new publicationHunnar Mahasagar is a reprint of the1927 edition of an old and fascinating

book written and published around 100 yearsback by a woman of exceptional talent. GangabenPranshankar Yagnik of the Mansa village ofnorth Gujarat wrote a 300-page book called2080 Hunnar ('2080 Recipes for Self-Employment’) in Gujarati. The first edition ofthis book was published in 1898. The editorof Hunnar Mahasagar claims that this editionbecame so popular that its 1,000 copies weresold within three days of publishing. Moreover,it became as popular in cities as it was invillages, the editor says. Some people say thatthe huge demand for the book saw eight reprintsby 1929.

As the title of the 1898 edition suggests, thebook collects information about over 2,000trades, mostly concerning cottage industry. Thedetails are given about the setting up andfunctioning of these trades. Some examples ofthe trades are methods of preparing soap,pappad, herbal medicinal powders, perfumes,hair oils, herbal colour, artificial pearls, etc.

The personality of the writer corresponds wellwith the content of the book. Gangaben becamea widow at 13. She then took up teaching ina girls’ school. Her idea of a job was not justto support herself; education and empowermentof girls was very close to her heart. So whileturning the leaves of the book if you get theimpression that most of the trades described inthe book concern women, don’t be surprised.She was reputed to encourage the idea of self-reliance through self-employment in women.She would regularly meet the elders of thevillage to convince them of the need foreducating girls.

If the book under scrutiny is morethan 100 years old, one cannot helprelating it to the times it was publishedin. 1898: a time when the influenceof the Indian National Congress wason the rise, which would later be usedby Mahatma Gandhi; a time when thewhispers of swadeshi were beginningto find a mention in the mainstreamnationalist discourse; and a time whenthe world was waking up to the rightsof workers, farmers and women. Atthis time Gangaben unwittinglycontributed to the nationalist-feministdiscourse. And you can even find theseeds of her another book in 2080Hunnar, which took swadeshi as itstheme.

Today the term ‘swadeshi’ may bethe ball of the ideological ping-pong,but Gangaben’s ‘swadeshi’ appearsquite well-defined and very close tothat of Gandhi’s: it meant self-reliancethrough self-employment for her,especially in the context of women.Her stress in the book on the trades

concerning herbal products showsher concern for environment: anotherlove she shared with Gandhi. And, ifthis article makes you think that shewas very much inspired by Gandhi’sideals, then note that in 1907 she hadalready written a book on the need touse products made within India: thatis, well before Gandhi made‘swadeshi’ a part of the economiclexicon of the world. So, whenGandhi made her vow to use only

Book Review A Nationalist-Feminist User'A Nationalist-Feminist User'A Nationalist-Feminist User'A Nationalist-Feminist User'A Nationalist-Feminist User's Guide for s Guide for s Guide for s Guide for s Guide for SwSwSwSwSwadeshiadeshiadeshiadeshiadeshi

Indian products in 1919 near herschool in Vazipur, he was simplyrecognising the socio-historicalrelevance of Gangaben as a writer andan ideologue in the rural Indiancontext.

The available literature on Gangabenand her books suggest that she wasaware of the ills of industrialrevolution plaguing the colonialsociety, particularly the rural society.It was a common occurrence in thosedays to see villagers migrate to citiesto work in the industries marked bycolonial exploitation. Gangaben’sextensive research work in collatingmaterial from a variety of sources wasintended at keeping these villagers inthe villages. When I can give youemployment at your doorstep, whydo you want to suffer in cities? sheseemed to have asked them through2080 Hunnar.

The decision to publish HunnarMahasagar goes well with thephilosophy of SRISTI, which seeksto promote traditional knowledge,especially the knowledge preserved bywomen, and grassroots innovations.But the book is not without glitches.Gangaben had incorporated the viewsof those people in the subsequenteditions of the book who had tried touse the information given in it. But,somehow, the editor of the bookunder review could not lay hands atthose views. Moreover, HunnarMahasagar desiderates a detailedbiography of Gangaben. This bookcan have great potential in the marketof translated books, provided thebiography part is taken care of.

SRISTI welcomes offer fromindividuals and institutions totranslate Hunnar Mahasagar indifferent Indian and foreignlanguages – Ed.

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Review

he Honey Bee Network entrusted the jobof publishing the Malayalam Honey Beewith the Peermade Development Society

(PDS), which works for rural development in theIdukki district of Kerala. The PDS works in closeassociation with several governmental departmentsand non-governmental organisations. Its networkincludes farmers’, youth and women’s clubs;most of the programmes which are initiated bythe PDS are implemented through these clubs andguided by the village development councils.

Since Honey Bee and the magazines of the regionalcollaborators of the Honey Bee Network are thevoice of grassroots innovators and traditionalknowledge holders, it was but natural that thefirst issue of Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte wouldstart with explaining to readers the need for tappinguninstitutionalised creativity and traditionalknowledge and methods through which suchcreativity can be brought in the nationalmainstream.

The first issue generated a lot of curiosity amongthe target audience. The editor of the magazineJames T J says, 'We have already started receivingenquiries from innovators and traditionalknowledge holders about the network and itsactivities.' One of the reasons for a good responseto the first edition is James’ stress on targetingthe villagers through village libraries. Now Jameswants to make Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte themost trusted journal for farmers and innovatorsin Malayalam.

Healthy Pepper and New Variety of Nutmeg

The magazine profiled the progressive farmer PA Pappachan in the first issue. He has developeda new technique for preventing quick wilt inpepper. This technique has become so popular inthe area that it has come to be known as thePappachan Technique. He has been practicingthis technique for the last eight years.

The details of the technique are given in the‘Honey Bee Hums’ column on page 10.

It also features the NIF awardwinner Abraham Mathew, who hasdeveloped a high-yielding andsuperior variety of jaiphal or nutmeg(Myristica fragrans). The newvariety resulted from a carefulselection of the seedlings planted inKallanode in 1971. These seedlingswere developed from some seedsbrought from Sri Lanka in 1946.

For more information on Mathewsee Honey Bee, 13(4):5; 2002).

Land to Lab

The article ‘Land to Lab’ givesdetails of a programme by the samename which is being run by thescientists of the PDS. They haveenvisaged this programme forparticipatory technologicaldevelopment of local innovations.The idea behind the programme isthat the conventional agriculturalresearch and developmental methodshave not led to the creation ofdurable agricultural systems and

have not been ableto increasep r o d u c t i v i t ysubstantially; butthere definitely area l t e r n a t el a b o r a t o r i e savailable in villages which try totake these drawbacks of the formalsector into account.

Farmers have developed manytechnologies to maximise the localresources. The active role of suchfarmers in actually developingtechnologies has been largelyunderestimated and underutilised.The documentation of suchinnovations, intellectual propertyrights protection, technical supportto local innovations, value additionto them and their popularisation aresome of the highlights of thisprogramme. This programme hashelped the PDS in documentingnearly 500 innovations.

Unknown Scientists

Remaining true to the spirit of theHoney Bee Network 'UnknownScientist' focuses on the little-knowninnovators who, through theirinventions, have made a differenceto the lives of ordinary people intheir area. Two of the featured'scientists' are Sebastian Joseph andReji Joseph of the Idukki district ofKerala, who have brought revolutionin cardamom (Elettariacardamomum) cultivation bydeveloping a superior variety callednjallani. Eighty per cent of thecardamom cultivators of Idukki haveshifted to the njallani variety. Thisarticle features many more suchinnovators.

The Honey Bee family strengthened its base in the south further in January 2003 with the publication of the firstissue of the Malayalam Honey Bee, called Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte (‘Let the Farmer Speak’). The following reviewconcentrates on its main features.

A New Voice for Farmers and Innovators of Kerala

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Marching with the Torch of Traditional Knowledge

The 10th shodh yatra began on 22 December 2002 from Gandhiyothayam, near Thenur village, in the Maduraidistrict of Tamil Nadu. It passed through 38 villages, covering a distance of around 135 kilometres. With 12 bio-diversity contests and 15 recipe contests punctuating its route, it scouted almost 50 new innovators and traditionalknowledge holders. P Saravanan of SEVA provides details.

he 10th journey of exploration that isshodh yatra had all the ingredients thatmake a journey of this kind successful:

dissemination and documentation of traditionalknowledge and grassroots innovations,popularising the concept of organic farming,exploration into the lives and minds of innovators,meeting with interesting people, camaraderie,cultural exchange, some sad facts about extinctionof flora and fauna and a bit of historicity.

The yatra, which was jointly organised by theSustainable-agriculture and EnvironmentalVoluntary Action (SEVA) and the CovenantCentre for Development (CCD), passed through38 villages in three districts of Tamil Nadu tocover a distance of 135 kilometres. The beginningof the yatra ushered in the historical element.It started from a place in the Thenur villageof Madurai district where Mahatma Gandhi,having seen some farm workers shivering on22 September 1921, had taken the pledge toadopt a simple cotton dhoti as his dress.

One can recall the Gandhian influence on theIndian freedom movement in this setting: asecular network (the Honey Bee Network),support base at the grass roots, participantsrepresenting cultural diversity of India (around50 yatris were farmers from Gujarat, whichincluded women too), a few participants fromoutside India (Mark Davies from the UK chapterof the Honey Bee Network stayed with the yatrathroughout), a bit of religion (the yatra startedwith a small prayer in Thenur) and lots oftravelling on foot. No wonder the veteranfreedom fighters of Thenur came forward tobless the yatra and wished that India becomeinnovative, prosperous and free of violence.

Gandhi may not be a very popular figure withthe urban masses anymore, but scholarsunderstand the importance of his stress on thegrass roots. In this context, Kandasamy, theprincipal of the College of Gandhian Thoughts,Madurai University, said that the Indians shouldmake innovative spirit one of the principles of

life. He further added that theuneducated innovators who solvecommon problems of rural andurban living should be encouraged,both at the unofficial as well as theofficial level.

One of the strengths of the HoneyBee Network is that it is completelya people-driven web, where somepeople participate in an event likeshodh yatra as guests and for thenext event they play host. All theactivities related with the yatra,especially documentation ofinnovations and traditional practices,are conducted by the yatristhemselves. The director of a localnon-governmental organisation CESIRajagopal appreciated the aim ofshodh yatra during the inaugurationceremony and said that the good

thing about it was that the idea ofthe yatra had been developed andexecuted without any governmentassistance by using the strength ofthe Honey Bee Network. He alsosaid that the purpose of thearivaithedum nadaipayanam(another term for shodh yatra) wasto create awareness among peopleand governments about theimportance of documentation and

dissemination of grassrootsinnovations and traditionalknowledge. He felt that thegovernments could be pushed to actin favour of grassroots innovatorsthus.

Another important aspect of thispeople-driven activity is that peopleof all age groups and both the sexesare involved. So when five herbalinnovators – Ilankovan, Muthumari,Rajendran, Angammal and

The 95-year-old Rupabhai Hatheelabeing welcome by villagers during theshodh yatra

Shodh Yatra

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Some Touching Incidents

During the 10th shodh yatrathe travellers witnessed someinteresting and touchingincidents, some of which aredescribed below:

Bhimabhai Patel of theDhabudi village of the Dahuddistrict of Gujarat waspersuaded to take a vowby fellow travellers to giveup drinking: a vow he haskept since then.At one place all thetravellers were required totake their footwears off andsit on a raised platform.They had thought that sincenobody was guarding thefootwears some of themmay go missing. But, toeverbody's surprise, not onepair was out of place at theend of the day.On the last day of the yatrathe farmers from Gujaratwere asked to name themost important aspect ofthe yatra. One of them saidthat he could not helpmarvelling at the fact thathe did not see wrinkles onthe forehead of any womanwho had welcomed them indifferent villages.

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Rakkammal – were honoured during theinauguration ceremony it was ensured that the eightstudents of Thenur Middle School who had helpedin scouting and documentation of the practices ofthese innovators were also given certificates. Acomplete contrast to these children was 95-year-old Rupabhai Hirabhai Hatheela from the Sarjumivillage of the Dahud district of Gujarat, who camefor the yatra despite the fact that his wife hadexpired just eight days before the start of the yatra.He walked for the full distance and to whichevervillage he went to people honoured him withgarlands for showing such zeal at a ripe age.

The yatris met an interesting traditional knowledgeholder Karunanithi, an employee of the statetransport corporation in Villupuram, who hasplanted more than one lakh saplings in differentparts of Tamil Nadu in the last 10 years. The fondmemories of his childhood in Thiruvannamalaimotivated him to embark on this mission. Heremembers the festival of Lord Shiva in those days,

where the festivities centred around thickvegetation. He also remembers weekly marketsunder these trees. He plants the saplings whichare useful not just for human beings but also forbirds and animals. Now he has set himself a ratherambitious task of planting one sapling for everyliving Indian!

When the yatris reached Katchakatti village theywere shocked to know that the number of blacksheep in the village had come down from 25,000to 500 in the last 25 years due to their pronenessto bluetongue disease 1. Another problem the

Karunanithi gifting saplings to the shodh yatris

villagers faced was about the denialof grazing facility to their sheep in theforests due to a forest managementprogramme launched by the stategovernment to protect the forests.How important these sheep are in thelives of the Katchakatti villagers canbe understood from the fact the malesheep are used as gifts duringmarriage ceremony. Each adult malesheep costs around Rs 9,000 andweighs between 20 to 25kilogrammes.

Male sheep also take part in duelsduring the local festival. DuringPongal (a traditional festivalcelebrated by farmers on 14thJanuary) sheep duels are arranged.The defeated sheep is handed overto the owner of the winning sheepalong with Rs 10,000 as the prizemoney. The villagers also place betson the participating sheep.

Nandakumar, an organic farmer fromPollachi, was honoured for hisinnovative water harvesting practicesand soil erosion control measures,which he managed to achieve bycultivating vettiver (Vetiveriazizanoides). The farmers of Tamil

1. Bluetongue is an athropod-borne viral disease for both domestic and wild ruminants. Cattle and wild ruminants serve as reservoirs for the virus. Differential diagnoses ofbluetongue in sheep include Orf (contagious ecthyma), foot and mouth disease, anyvesicular disease and sheep pox. The affected sheep show signs of transient fever (upto 106 F), edema of the face, lips, muzzle and ears, excessive salivation and hyperemic oralmucosa. (Source: http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2002/spring/bluetongue.htm.)

Nadu are slowly waking up toadvantages of organic farming. Themain reason for this shift is the risingcost of farming due to findingalternatives to the scarcity of waterand electricity in the state. The organicfarmers from Gujarat exchangedsome organic practices with theirTamil counterparts. In Manckampattivillage the Gujarat farmers visited adying guava garden; they immediatelyoffered some organic solutions.

Tamil Nadu has a rich tradition ofherbal healing. The shodh yatrisexperienced the fact first hand whenthey visited a herbal healers’ camp inThethoor Metupatty. The SEVAvolunteers used this opportunity todocument the knowledge of herbalhealers. Another important aspect ofthe rural life of Tamil Nadu is thepresence of numerous self-helpgroups. Herbal healers and self-helpgroups have a mutually beneficialprofessional relationship. A herbalhealer from Puthur village told theyatris that the healers sought helpfrom these groups to protected theplants which are used in thepreparation of herbal medicinesand it promoted the growth ofthe groups.

Correction

We are ex-tremely sorryfor carrying theincorrect pho-tograph ofMeena ofSengulam vil-lage of TamilNadu, who had

lost her father on the day onwhich the 10th shodh yatrapassed through her village, onpage no. 17 of the last issueof Honey Bee. Above is givenher correct picture.

Meena

SRISTI Publication

Please place your order for the book withSristi Innovations, c/o Prof. Anil K Gupta,Indian Institute of Management, Vastrapur,Ahmedabad-380015, India. Phone: 91-79-6324927. Email: [email protected].

Spirit of Sustainability

Price: Rs 50 (South Asia) $ 7 (Rest of the World)Pages: 42+viiiLanguage: English

This book is an anthology of Honey Beeinner cover stories, some of whichcelebrate the common sense found inpeople while the others explore therelationship between human beings andnature. In its pages you will meet theman who saved starfish, the womanwho shared her grain with a parrot, thewise crow who saved his master'scrops and many other creatures in anintricate web of relationshiops.

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Dialogue

'For-Profit' Ethical Investment

Tim CritchleyLondon, United Kingdom.

I am a researcher working in London for aprivate investment company. We are currentlyconsidering various business models that mightsupport direct ethical investment in developingcountries. Your work with SRISTI and theHoney Bee Network looks extremely interestingas a model for sustainable development.

I would be extremely interested to knowwhether or not you think that private, ‘for-profit’ companies might be able to enhance thework of your organisations.

Do you see a role for ‘active, ethical investment’from the developed nations and, if so, howmight it best be used to bring sustainablebenefits to the local people?

(We welcome any partnership which is based onmutual respect and in which highest ethicalstandards are followed. SRISTI has tried to createnew benchmarks in ethical accountability towardsknowledge rich, but economically poor, people bysharing its accounts with anybody and everybody.

‘For-profit’ companies can invest in (a) incubationand micro-venture capital fund, (b) help inbuilding a corpus contribution, so that each nodeof the Honey Bee Network as well each GrassrootsInnovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) canbecome self-reliant, (c) financially strengthen thelaboratory established by SRISTI, so that it canadd value to traditional knowledge and greengrassroots innovations and (d) help in establishingmultimedia multi-lingual exhibitions on greengrassroots innovations – Ed.)

Labouring for Indonesian Bee

Suzanna [email protected]

I live in Indonesia and have become a newmother, which makes me learn new thingeveryday. I wish I could give something to mychild, especially something related with traditionalwisdom. But I, like other friend who grew upin the city, hardly ever get in touch with ourheritage. We only know what is written in books

and taught in schools, but we knownothing about our traditionalknowledge. It really disturbs me.

I am very interested in yourmagazine. I will feel very honouredif I could adapt Honey Bee inbahasa Indonesia. Since I am newto this field, can you please give medetailed information about the HoneyBee philosophy and what I need todo to make Indonesian Honey Beea reality?

(It is very heartening to hear aboutyour interest in spreading traditionalknowledge and publishing IndonesianHoney Bee. In the last 13 year HoneyBee Network has grown manifoldsand reached different parts of Indiaand the world. Apart from eight Indianlanguages Honey Bee is alsopublished in Spanish. We willwholeheartedly assist you in makingyour dream of publishing theIndonesian Honey Bee come true andthereby adding another member toour network – Ed.)

Shodh Panchayat

Om Prakash SharmaC/o Mahadev Prasad, Bhuravatvillage, Bomanvas post, Thanaganjitehsil, Alwar district, Rajasthan.

You had brought the idea oftraditional knowledge andinexpensive innovations to the Alwardistrict of Rajasthan during theeighth shodh yatra in December

2001. You must also have learntabout some new practices andinnovations here.

We had discussed the idea ofestablishing a shodh panchayat inevery village. I have a suggestionin this regard: if it is difficult toestablish shodh panchayat, thenabout three people can be given theresponsibility to maintain record ofinnovative activities in the village fora few months or a year.

(We should work hard to put the ideaof shodh panchayat in practice. If wecan have one such non-governmental,people-driven institution in place inevery village, then it means thatgrassroots innovators and traditionalknowledge holders take decisionsabout their products and knowledgein a democratic fashion. We will doeverything in our capacity to supportyou if you take such an initiative inyour village – Ed.)

Learning from China

Syed Anwar Owais11, Kral Sangir, Srinagar-191121,Jammu and Kashmir.

I write a suggestion – hopefullyinnovative – about fostering thecreative and innovative spiritamong the poor students in thevillages.

Here is the idea: the Chinese gameTangram can beintroduced ingovernmentalschools all overthe country.One bookletabout Tangaramshapes can bemade availableper class. Thechildren willsurely take totrying their handat it. This willfoster the spiritof creativity in

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them, a wonderful achievement in itself, andmay lead to practical innovations too.

(The Tangram idea appears interesting, but it isnot clear from your description of the game howit works and promotes the spirit of innovativenessamong children. Please help us locate creativeand innovative people in your area whom we canprofile in Honey Bee – Ed.)

Farmers' Power

R G Ashoka KumarManaging Editor, Karshaka Shakthi,Farmers Market Building, Thempamuttam,Balaramapuram P O, Thiruvananthapuram-695501, Kerala.

We are very proud to inform you that we aregoing to start a magazine on agriculture inMalayalam named Karshaka Shakthi shortly. Itcovers all aspects of agriculture, including theprotection of the farmers’ rights.

I request your permission for publishing someof the articles from the earlier issues of HoneyBee in our new magazine.

(We wish you all the best for your new endeavour.As for your request for publishing material fromHoney Bee, we have no objection to it providedyou acknowledge the source. Back issues of HoneyBee for the last 13 years are available in hardcopies as well as CDs. Also visit www.sristi.org forfurther information on our work and other relevantmaterial – Ed.)

Gypsies in Rajasthan

Mohan Singh TanwarCoordinator, Mukti Dhara, Muktiashram,Viratnagar-303102, Rajasthan.

For the last 10-15 years we are striving toprotect the constitutional and human rights ofthe gypsies living in the Aravali ranges ofRajasthan. We try to solve the problems of thesetribes with the help of NGOs and governmentalagencies. We have achieved notable success insome areas.

We are very impressed with the magazinespublished by your organisation. We expect thatyou send us some material published by you.Please include us in your mailing list so thatwe can know about your ideas and activitiesand use them to bring the backward communitiesto the mainstream.

(We are very happy to know that youare working to improve the ecomiccondition of the gypsies of Rajasthan.We have already sent you literatureabout the activities of SRISTI andthe Honey Bee Network. Since manyindividuals and tribal communitiesin your area are very rich intraditional knowledge, we suggestthat you write to us about them andtheir knowledge. Also let us know ifyou come across any grassrootsinnovations in your area. Wewill try to publish them in ourmagazines – Ed.)

Friendly Termites for Hens

Almitra H PatelMember, Supreme Court Committeefor Solid Waste Management, 50,Kothnur, Bagalur Road, Bangalore-560077, Phone: 080-8465365.

I saw something new some time backthat is worth sharing. Suresh of theByrathi Bande area, near Bangalore,in Karnataka keeps 11 red hens.

He makes a row of shallowdepressions in a barren fallow field,about 20 feet wide, places a lump ofcow dung in it and collects it 12 to 24hours later when it is full of termites.

He collects these lacy cowpats in aplastic bag and takes it home for hischickens. If they are fed thesetermites, he says that ‘they never fallill and (therefore) need no medicine.’Let me know if you have heard ofsuch a practice anywhere else.

(This is an excellent practice of whichsome variations are already in publicdomain. The Tasa system in Africainvolves digging pits, filling them withbiomass and then inviting termites toreclaim poor dry-land soil and make itfertile. Mujibhai Hariya of the Kucthhregion in Gujarat uses fresh cow dungin the pits around fruit trees. Termitesconvert it into manure very fast withoutdamaging the trees. The use ofharvesting termites for hens is new. Wewill like to publish it in Honey Bee andtake it as an entry for the annualcompetition of the National Innovation

Foundation. We need the followingadditional information: (a)photographs of pits and termites beingcollected, hens feeding etc., (b) thenumber of pits needed for a fixednumber of hens and the dimensions ofthe pits, (c) the time it takes for enoughtermites to come and be ready forharvesting and (d) the number of timesa pit can be used. Keep us informed ofsuch interesting practicesand let us have the address ofSuresh – Ed.)

Recording Innovations

Mathew PaulChalakuzhy, Water House Road,Tiruvalla P O-689101, Kerala.

Please let me know the price and titleof the book released by you about thewinners of prizes of the secondnational competition of innovators andabout their entries.

Please let me know in detail about theentries of the book Profile ofInnovators.

(The book about the award winners ofthe second annual competitionorganised by the National InnovationFoundation in December 2002, titledIndia Innovates: Second NationalGrassroots Technological Innovationsand Traditional Knowledge Award-2002, is not meant for sale. But itsphotocopy can be sent to you onrequest. We are serialising the entriesmade in this book in Honey Bee, someof which have already been publishedin the September-December 2002 issueof the magazine. This issue have somemore profiles.

The Profiles of Innovators is, as the titlesuggests, a collection of the profiles ofinnovators from all over India. Thebook gives detailed account of theinnovations, with pictures andgraphics. The price of the book isRs 175, with postage extra – Ed.)

We regret the delay in publishingthis issue of Honey Bee. Thenext issue will reach the readeron time – Ed.

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