If anyone wants to be a successful farmer, he/she has to run a farm that would yield a daily, weekly, monthly, half-yearly and yearly profit. So, instead of growing crops based on what is fetching good revenue in the market at a particular time, a farmer should learn to plan for a sustained harvest”, says P Saravanan, 43, a progressive farmer from Paluvanchi village in Marungapuri taluk in Trichy district.
Until a few years ago, he had been cultivating paddy and sugarcane alone, which are common in the region. However, there was nothing that made him excited neither in terms of yield nor in terms of revenue. This had made him switch over to vegetables, that too not the hybrid but the native crops, he says.”I switched to crops like brinjal, ladies finger, chillies, which have started to provide a good yield. Despite poor monsoon, I could get very good yield from vegetable cultivation when compared to paddy and sugarcane. Paddy and sugarcane require more quantum of water to cultivate. However, it is not the case of vegetables”, he opined.Though Saravanan is always eying on making a profit, he never compromised cultivating native vegetables. While other farmers are going for hybrid varieties aiming for good yield, he has been cultivating only country seeds.
“I have been cultivating brinjal, ladies finger, chillies and groundnut crops using country seeds, not a hybrid. Though I am only getting half of the yield when compared to a hybrid, I am able to earn revenue equal to what usually a hybrid variety would yield”, Saravanan stated.
If a farmer cultivates hybrid brinjal, say for an example, he could get a yield of 100 kg from an acre. While a country seed can able to get only 50 percent of the yield. However, Saravanan said that he could sell his produce for Rs 20 per kg when a hybrid produce could only fetch Rs 10 per kg, he added.
“Moreover, the cost of fertilizer, pesticides, maintenance cost will eventually come down to country seeds. However, it is not the case for a hybrid. It requires more fertilizer, pesticide and maintenance cost”, says Saravanan.
Saravanan is using cow dung, green manure and goat manure along with micronutrients like Azospirillum, Pseudomonas, and Phosphobacteria instead of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. So, his large number of the customer base is purely because of the quality and taste of the produce, he said.
“I use the required scientific technologies such as seed nutrient management and water conservation methods in my field. I have established sprinklers to save water. Due to some practical problems, I am not using drip irrigation”, he added.
He said that whether it was a cash crop or food crop, a farmer’s ultimatum was profit. Apart from the yield, a farmer should be able to successfully market his produce.
He should not rely on wholesalers or agents. Only then can he/she could get a better price for his produce. So, the government should create more avenues to facilitate each and every farmer to sell their produce on their own, he further said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Trichy News / by D. Vincent Arockiaraj / TNN / May 03rd, 2018
In bliss: Cattle heads enjoy a shower bath under a hot sun at the integrated farm in Pudu Tamaraipatti in Madurai. | Photo Credit: R_ASHOK
‘Unscientific’ innovations at a farm in Pudu Tamaraipatti have impressed veterinarians
The clock shows 5 a.m. Scores of cows come out of their sheds and line up in front of a gate. It is breakfast time. They slowly troop into the fodder area, eat like disciplined children and return. They do not jostle, jump the queue or rough up. And they do not have nose ropes. This is the result of a desi Pavlov-Skinner experiment on animals at a farm in Pudu Tamaraipatti on the Tiruvadavur Road. Earlier, a bell used to ring at 5 a.m. to announce that food is ready.
For What They Say: C. Deivendran of Madurai, who has come up with innovative solutions for common problems of farmers, in his integrated farm at Pudu Tamaraipatti. | Photo Credit: R. Ashok
“We used to ring the bell twice a day to indicate that food is ready. Now the cows come on their own,” says K. Deivendran, who has developed this integrated farm.
The 50-acre farm, which came into existence in 2009, is a story of Deivendran’s experiments with farming. Son of a farmer from Vellayathevanpatti in Theni district, Mr. Deivendran learnt all about agriculture from his parents, brother, friends and those who came to sell their produce at his vegetable commission mandi in Andipatti. “I do not have any scientific knowledge of agriculture. I have developed this farm purely on trial-and-error, applying native wisdom,” says Mr. Deivendran. His “unscientific’ innovations have impressed veterinarians so much that they have come to recommend them for others.
He has saved time and money by dispensing with the nose rope. “Cattle breeding becomes costly if the animals are handled by humans. Here, they enjoy an unfettered life. The nose rope is used only for bulls that are difficult to handle. Our workers touch the cows only for milking,” he says. The cattle enjoy a luxurious bath twice a day, by standing in a row. Even pregnant cows are let out for bathing, which ensures hassle-free delivery. The animals swim through a 15-foot-deep canal and stop for a while to enjoy the shower at one end. The shower removes dirt from the face and head of the animal. Native practice of milking is adopted not to leave any residue that would cause discomfort and disease for the cow in the udder. Even the fodder is not wasted. Green fodder is shredded and placed in special containers that prevent spilling and wastage. Fresh coconut pulp is added to dry fodder, which gives the animals a sheen.
The scene is not different in the poultry and sheep farms. As a value added food, sheep eat popcorn made by roasting maize in hot sand. Chicks drink milk from plates. The birds are not cooped and they rest in the trees at night. “When cattle and birds have a free life, maintenance cost is low,” he says.
Mr. Deivendran has effectively addressed the water issue, which plagues farming. Out of the 10,000 saplings he planted in 2009, 8,000 trees now stand tall. The farm has adopted high density farming. This has brought down evaporation level.
He uses drip system for irrigation by drawing water from nine rainwater harvesting ponds. “Not a drop of water is wasted here. Even waste water is filtered and recycled,” says Mr. Deivendran.
The farm provides free drinking water all round the year through a tap installed outside to residents of Pudu Tamaraipatti, says P. Manikandan, president, MaduraiDistrict (Wet and Dry) Farmers’ Association.
For What They Say: P. Manikandan, president, Madurai District Dry and Wet Land Farmers’ Association. | Photo Credit: R. Ashok
Entry of chemicals is forbidden in this farm, where 25 species of trees are grown, and technology is passe. Only used materials such as casuarina poles, tin sheets and waste plastic are used all over. Free food is offered to all workers three times a day.
According to Mr. Deivendran, farmers should scrupulously maintain profit-and-loss account, as a first step, to make farming a profitable venture.
Pamayan, an organic farmer, during an interview for The Hindu Metroplus, in Madurai. | Photo Credit: R. Ashok
Pamayan, an expert in organic farming, is hopeful that this model can be adopted by any ordinary farmer or as a cooperative venture.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by S. Annamalai / Madurai – April 30th, 2018
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami having a look at a silk sari at an exhibition in Salem on Saturday.
The State Government would set up ‘Seri Tourism’ centre on the hill station of Yercaud for providing all information about sericulture activities in the State, said Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Chief Minister. The project is coming up at an outlay of ₹ 2.50 crore.
Mr. Palaniswami was speaking at a conference of sericulture farmers and entrepreneurs organised by the Sericulture Department here on Saturday.
He said that Tamil Nadu was one of the front running States in sericulture activities in the country. The State Government has earmarked ₹ 148 crore for the same in the last seven years.
The area under mulberry cultivation stood at 46,570 acres beneffitting 24,427 farmers.
The Chief Minister said that the demand for rawsilk in the State stood at 3,000 tonnes, whereas the production was only 1,900 tonnes.
In order to increase the production of raw silk, many schemes were being implemented, he said and asked seri culture farmers to join the initiatives of the government.
The Chief Minister released traffic rules awareness guide brought out by the Transport Department.
He asked people to strictly abide by road rules to bring down fatal accidents in the State. He said that the green corridor planned by the Centre between Salem and Chennai will reduce the travel time between the two cities to three hours.
P. Benjamin, Rural Industries Minister, who presided over the programme, said that a sericulture farmer can earn about ₹ 1.50 lakh per annum from an acre of mulberry crop.
He said that Tamil Nadu was a leader in cocoon productivity, chawkie worms distribution to farmers, and bivoltine silk production.
K. Phanindra Reddy, Principal Secretary, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi, said that to encourage farmers, a plantation incentive of Rs. 10,500 per acre and maximum upto five acres is being given to farmers planting high yielding mulberry crops.
In addition, a subsidy of ₹ 30,000 an acre to a maximum of five acres was given to install drip irrigation facility for mulberry. A subsidy of ₹ 87,500 was given for the construction of silkworm rearing house, and farm equipments worth ₹ 52,500 too was provided.
Rohini R. Bhajibhakare, District Collector, said that Salem district has 1,733 sericulture farmers using about 2,740 acres.
S. Semmalai, a former Minister; P.R. Sundaram, MP; P. Sri Venkata Priya, Driector of Sericulture; too spoke.
The Chief Minister opened an exhibition, released a booklet explaining the achievements of the Sericulture Department, and distributed best sericulture farmer awards.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / Salem – April 28th, 2018
Fishes exhibited at the guppy competition at Pollachi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT_E_MAIL
Nearly 40 varieties of guppy fishes (Poecilia reticulata) from breeders across the country were exhibited at the national-level competition held in various categories at Pollachi on Saturday. Organisers said that it was the first national-level competition for guppy held in the country.
More than 70 breeders from various parts of the country, including Kolkata and New Delhi, took part. The venue was Nikanth Aquaculture at Pollachi.
Breeder A. Prabhu from Chennai was adjudged as grand champion of the competition.
Dinesh P. from Coimbatore, Dinesh Kumar V.L. from Coimbatore, Abjit M. from Kozhikode, and Vimal Kumar V. from Alapuzha won prizes in the best breeder category. Nikanth M.D., and Sagarika M.A. from Pollachi and Riyaz Ahamed from Coimbatore were selected as breeders in the junior category.
Organisers said that Siju Cherian from Cherai in Ernakulam, first person from India to judge international level competitions from June, selected the winners.
Marks were given to the fishes of different varieties based on their body, shapes of dorsal fin, caudal fin, colour and symmetry of patterns on body. Known for feeding mosquito larvae, some varieties of guppy are released in fresh water for controlling mosquito breeding. “The competition was held to boost the local breeders of the fish. As an ornamental fish, guppies have good market value and breeders in States like Kerala are even exporting them. The competition also helped introduce new varieties to breeders here,” said Dinesh Kumar V.L., one of the organisers.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – April 16th, 2018
Under the theme ‘Bugs Are Kings’, the museum displays insects as preserved specimens and models on their behaviour, habits and habitat.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami opened an insect museum in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Monday. First of its kind established at the Department of Agricultural Entomology of TNAU, the museum houses 20,000 insects from 50 species.
Inaugurating the museum, Mr. Palaniswami said that the research and expertise which helped to realise the facility will be beneficial to farmers, researchers, students and the public.
“Haling from agricultural background, I have seen farmers worrying over insects affecting various crops. The museum will help farmers to gain more knowledge about insects, those helpful and harmful to farming,” said Mr. Palaniswami.
Speaking at the event, Minister for Agriculture R. Doraikkannu pointed that insects were causing about 20 % crop loss in the State and the museum will be beneficial for farmers.
Established at a cost of ₹ 5 crore, the museum displays insects as preserved specimens, live specimens depicting their life cycle, images, videos and models on their behaviour, habits and habitat under the theme ‘Bugs Are Kings’.
Right wall of the exhibit area of 6,691 sqft covers insects under five sections namely insect diversity, insect biology, beneficial insects, insect and plants, and cultural entomology. The left wall of the museum displays curated specimens of 27 insect orders along with their charts. Videos related to insects are played through television on the walls. Three touch screen gadgets with information on insect trivia, insect records and insects around you are also kept at the museum.
Physically challenged persons can access the museum through a ramp. Financed by the Government of Tamil Nadu, the museum has electronic ticketing facility for visitors.
Minister for Forest Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, Minister of Municipal Administration and Rural Development S. P. Velumani, Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman, Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government Gagandeep Singh Bedi, District Collector T.N. Hariharan, and TNAU Vice-chancellor K. Ramasamy were present at the inaugration.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – March 26th, 2018
Open source record of plants with “druggable” chemicals will help validate traditional systems
The use of Indian medicinal plants for drug discovery and therapeutics just received a boost. A database of such plants has been built by a Chennai-based team led by Areejit Samal of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
By documenting 1,742 Indian medicinal plants and 9,596 chemicals that plants use to thrive and ward off threats (phytochemicals), this database has the distinction of being the largest so far. This is a first step towards validating and developing traditional systems of medicine that use plant extracts.
For the repository, the scientists sourced information from several texts including those that documented tribal medicine. With supporting studies in the form of well-planned lab tests, this work has the potential to improve health care and enhance drug discovery.
Plants secrete various special chemicals to ward off predators, fight pathogens and survive in difficult situations. Some of these so-called phytochemicals have been used to prepare traditional medicines and also poisons. While there are extensive databases of phytochemicals of Chinese herbs, there has no similar work in India.
The new database, named IMPPAT (Indian Medicinal Plants, Phytochemistry And Therapeutics) brings together not just the Indian medicinal plants and their associated phytochemicals, but also the latter’s 2D and 3D chemical structures, the therapeutic use of the plants and the medicinal formulations.
Among the many challenges in building IMPPAT was in removing redundancy and standardising names and spellings that varied across the several books and documents they have referred to.
From previous work we know that natural products are made of highly complex molecules, which therefore are more likely to bind to very specific proteins unlike commercial (or synthesised) drug molecules.
“We show that phytochemicals in IMPPAT also have high stereochemical and shape complexity similar to natural product library of Clemons et al, and thus, IMPPAT phytochemicals are also expected to be specific protein binders,” says Areejit Samal. Drug molecules which are specific protein binders are likely to have fewer side-effects as they will bind specifically to their target protein.
Quest for druggability
The team analysed the features of the phytochemical structures using established “druggability” criteria.
This identified 960 potentially druggable phytochemicals of which only a small percentage showed similarities to existing FDA-approved drugs. “This offers immense potential for drug discovery,” says Dr Samal. Of the 960 phytochemicals, 14 have the highest druggability score, and one of these is Skullcapflavone I – This is produced by two plants, one of which is Andrographis paniculata, commonly known as Nilavembu or Siriyanangai. Another interesting topper is Kumatakenin, which is made by three plants including Artemisia capillaris. This plant is a close relative of Artemisia annuafrom which Nobel laureate Youyou Tu extracted the drug artemisinin which has saved the lives of many malaria patients.
“We hope to expand the links between phytochemicals of Indian medicinal plants and their target proteins, enabling application of systems biology… Our resource will help future efforts render Indian medicine evidence-based rather than experience-based,” says Dr Samal.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Environment / by Shubashree Desikan / Chennai – March 17th, 2018
Contrary to popular opinion, brown eggs aren’t more nutritious either. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
Mullipatti-based Happy Hens sells the country’s first brand of free range eggs that ensure the birds are treated more humanely and minus the antibiotics
Earlier this year, a report in the The Hindu highlighted how the wrongful use of antibiotics in the poultry industry was spawning global superbugs and skewing up the food chain. But this is just one of many problems plaguing the conventional poultry industry.
The battery cage system of rearing egg-laying hens is notorious for its disregard of hygiene and the natural behaviour of the birds. “In the conventional poultry farm, seven to eight hens are squeezed into a cage that is only about as big as an A4-size sheet of paper. Birds have no space to flap their wings or even stand comfortably. Commercial farms may be labour-effective, but they are bad for the animals,” says Ashok Kannan, co-founder of Happy Hens, the company that produces and sells one of India’s first brand of free range eggs.
Their brown to off -white colour is an indicator of the eggs being free range | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
As the label implies, free range farming is based on a more humane treatment of animals, with extra attention paid to the feed.
In the case of Happy Hens, which has its main farm in the village of Mullipatti, (around 60 kilometres from Tiruchirappalli), this means that the birds get lots of space to express their natural traits such as scratching the ground for food, walking around, laying eggs in nesting areas (fitted with earthen pots) and eating feed that is based on a unique blend of grains, cereals and herbal infusions.
“The basic components of our feed are maize, soya, rice bran and groundnut cakes, combined with a 100% herbal formulation that works on building up the immunity of the chicken rather than merely treating the disease. When the bird’s immunity increases, the risk of disease reduces,” says Kannan.
And he adds just a moment later, “It’s our 36th feed formula since we opened for business in 2012.”
Cracking the solution
Ashok Kannan, co-Founder of Happy Hens | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
Kannan, a person with disability caused due to polio, has shifted with his wife and two children from his hometown of Madurai, to oversee the operations at the Mullipatti farm. The leased 43-acre property houses a coconut plantation and native cattle, besides the poultry project. Kannan gets around the farm on an adapted cycle-rickshaw, and receives visitors in the same vehicle. “It’s my office and home,” he jokes.
“As I have been unable to move independently since early childhood, I thought that poultry farming would be an ideal agri-business for me,” he says.
“The egg is the most wholesome food in our diet, if it is produced in the right manner. I wanted to create something that my children would enjoy. We have a greater variety of food now, but it is much lower in nutritive value than that of our forefathers.”
The very first year, Kannan lost 800 of the 1,000 chickens that he started out with. He realised that he had got their diet wrong. A chance meeting with Bengaluru-based Manjunath Marappan helped them both reset their model, and enter into collaboration.
Manjunath Marappan | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
“The first two years were just about identifying the right breed and standard of production, because there was no precedent for free range eggs at that time,” says Marappan.
“Ashok was very strong on the feed aspect, while my experience was more to do with marketing the eggs. In end-2012, we started working together, making the best of our strengths in the field.”
Marappan wound up his own Bengaluru farm and slowly shifted operations to Mullipatti in 2013. At present, he says, Happy Hens produces 4,000-5,000 eggs per day, and has 20 franchisee farmers in Ariyalur, Perambalur and Tiruchirappalli. Marappan is now building a second Happy Hens farm in Hiriyur, around 160 kilometres from Bengaluru.
Manjunath Marappan | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Egg facts
Happy Hens produces eggs that are brown to off-white in colour. This is a key indicator of the egg being free range, says Ashok. Anything that is conventionally produced will be evenly white, and weigh more or less 50 grams to a piece.
And, contrary to popular opinion, brown eggs aren’t more nutritious either. “The colour of the egg shell is actually determined by the chicken’s diet. And since our birds eat anything from our special feed to worms or termites, their eggs have different colours,” clarifies Kannan.
The eggs that don’t pass the 50 gram weight test are donated to local animal shelters and orphanages by Happy Hens. Currently, the farm’s stock of birds comes from the improved native breeds Khadaknath, Gramapriya, Cauvery, and Asil Cross.
A niche product is accompanied quite naturally by a higher price tag. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
The birds are sourced from Government agencies as day-old chicks, and then reared for five months before they are ready to lay eggs. At any given period, Happy Hens has 3,000 chickens at the growing stage, along with its normal layer birds.
“The hen can actually live up to 15 years in its natural state,” says Kannan. “But in our poultry farming model, the fertile period of the bird gets over in 20 months.” Some 200 mature layer hens are culled per week, their meat marketed in Bengaluru.
A niche product is accompanied quite naturally by a higher price tag. Will consumers be persuaded to pay ₹25 per piece when conventional eggs are easily available for as less as ₹4 to ₹6? “Why not give the free range egg its due credit?” says Marappan.
“The low cost of the conventional egg obviously comes by cutting corners. If we want to keep the chain of people involved in our industry — the farmers, retailers and consumers — happy, we must ensure these high prices. That’s how you can survive in this competitive world,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Nahla Nainar / March 15th, 2018
Dyed yarn is hung for drying. | Photo Credit: G. KARTHIKEYAN
It is now up to the next generation to take this exquisite tradition to the runway
It’s that time of the year when a heavy mist rolls down Sirumalai, and the surrounding hills look forbidding. On the highway leading to Dindigul, streaks of yellow light stain the pre-dawn sky. And some shafts of sunlight stream in through the chipped tiled roof of V. Jeevanandam and J. Bhoomadevi’s home.
Bhoomadevi is already huddled around a bubbling cauldron, making the starch that her husband will use to stiffen yarn.
The previous evening, she bagged the best artisan award from Gandhigram Khadi Trust in Dindigul, a district in south-west Tamil Nadu. She is chuffed by the recognition, but it is time to get to work.
In her home in the Weaver’s Colony, Bhoomadevi opens a suitcase to show me her most prized possessions: Muslin saris that she and her husband have woven. There aren’t too many in the suitcase: because although the couple makes them, they can barely afford them at ₹4,000 to ₹5,000. Sometimes she indulges herself, like last night, when she wore one of these heirlooms to the award function.
The concoction in the cauldron has reached the right consistency and Jeevandam picks up the vessel and in the faint light of street lamps makes his way to the open space outside where a series of wooden structures have been arranged. He and his friends stretch the yarn tautly between pegs and brush the starch on to it. The sun has risen now and the yarn can be dried.
Native over BT
Near the foothills, about 20 km away, at A. Vellode village, G.F. Viswasam, a marginal organic farmer, works the black loamy soil where a tall cotton crop is already bearing plump little buds. This is karungani, a native variety of cotton, which Viswasam adopted despite his community’s scepticism.
Colourful thread ready for weaving. | Photo Credit: G. KARTHIKEYAN
He knew the challenges that awaited him: that traders, who preferred BT cotton — considered better suited for powerloom production — won’t be knocking on his door.
But Viswasam was afraid to grow BT cotton. If the rains failed in this dry region, not only would the crop fail, the land would be contaminated with chemical fertilizer rendering it unfit for cultivation.
Karungani on the other hand had deep roots that reached almost two metres deep to tap water, and didn’t need constant irrigation. All it needed was goat dung to thrive.
The only catch was that the native cotton fibre was 24 mm in length on average, compared to BT cotton fibre, which was 34 mm long. But karungani is well suited for handwoven muslin. And thanks to Gandhigram Khadi Trust secretary K. Shivakumar’s love of muslin, Viswasam, Jeevanandam and Bhoomadevi now have assured sources of income.
Gandhigram is now trying to revive interest in this delicate fabric that Europe once imported in copious quantities from India. “It is a niche product and we are striving to keep the tradition alive,” says Shivakumar.
The trust has been conducting workshops for farmers hoping to encourage them to cultivate native cotton because it is better suited for the local climate.
“The muslin saris that we make have a thread count of 100,” he says proudly. Cotton bales are spun into yarn at the Gandhigram mill where machines from the 1950s still run smoothly.
The only thing Gandhigram lacks is a ginning unit to separate the seeds from the fibre and also help create a seed bank of native seeds. A. Prasath, who left his cushy job at Reid and Taylor to be a part of this movement, and C. Saravanan, the master dyer, are tapping into the organic dye industry.
A worker spins cotton yarn at Gandhigram. | Photo Credit: G. KARTHIKEYAN
At the dyeing unit at Gandhigram are T-shirts, shawls and stoles, each bearing a tag that says they are organically dyed, ready to be shipped to Europe.
Wanted: designer
Outside the dyeing shed are nuts, tree barks and roots, procured from tribal communities in far away Chhattisgarh, drying in the sun. They will be pounded, ground and boiled to release hidden colours.
P. Palaniammal, a worker at Gandhigram dips yarn into a pot of indigo dye. The yarn turns light green after the first dip, emerald after the second, dark sapphire and then finally a brilliant indigo.
Lalitha Regi, a doctor, is helping the team market this product. What can be better than organic cotton, hand-spun, hand-woven and hand-dyed in organic colours, she asks. But this fabric is in need of a designer who can popularise it. Lalitha has been attending exhibitions to display these unique weaves.
Slowly but surely muslin seems to be coming into vogue. S. Meena, 24, who now works in one of the dyeing units at the Trust, tells me that she spent her first Diwali bonus on a ₹2,600 muslin sari. “Not even a silk sari would have given me so much happiness,” she says. “It is the texture, the satiny feel against the skin and the lightness of the cloth, and the fact that it breathes, that makes this fabric so alive.”
It is six in the evening and Gandhigram is shutting down. But the day has not ended at the Weavers Colony. As the shadows lengthen over the loom, Jeevandam is tying up the warp and weft for tomorrow’s weaving.
I hear the clickety-clack of a lone shuttle somewhere as a radio hums in the distance. It is now for the next generation to carry forward this exquisite tradition, popularise it, and one day maybe even take it to the runway.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Field Notes> Fashion / by Beulah Rose beulah.r@thehindu.co.in / February 03rd, 2018
Amidst a verdant grove of teak trees in Tamil Nadu’s Anamalai Tiger Reserve lies an ageing tombstone with a Latin inscription that says “Si Monumentum Requires Circumspice (If you seek his monument, look around)”.
The grave of a little-known Scotsman named Hugo Francis Andrew Wood, this serene spot remains a must-see for local forest guards and nature enthusiasts more than 70 years after the man himself died. For he is the reason why these ancient hills are still lush with trees.
Here is the untold story of how Hugo Wood came to the rescue of Anamalai forests at a time when they stared at a bleak future.
In 1820, a team of British surveyors ventured into the still unexplored Anamalai range (that spanned several peaks in the Madras Presidency) and were pleasantly surprised to find it heavily forested with towering trees of teak and rosewood.
At that time, timber formed the backbone of many industries and Britain’s oak forests had vanished due to the irresponsible felling of trees. Furthermore, to retain its naval supremacy among the colonial powers, Britain desperately needed wood to make new ships.
Apart from shipbuilding and construction, logs were also needed to build train tracks for Britain’s rapidly expanding rail network — for each mile of train track, around 2,000 wooden planks were required — and provide fuel for steam locomotives.
As such, the surveyors were quick to realise the value of what they had “discovered”. Soon after, the mountains began being gradually robbed of their abundant tree cover, with the teak being shipped of to Tiruchirappalli (to build train tracks) or Bombay (to build Royal Navy ships in the Bombay shipyard).
Too large to be conventionally transported, the giant teak trees were cut down into logs, carried by elephants till a point and then floated down the river to the plains below — the reason why, in time, the spot came to be named Topslip.
In fact, according to Forestination in Madras Presidency by Dietrich Brandis (1883), roughly about 40,000 trees were felled each year in government forests in Madras Presidency for the railways alone!
Thanks to this over-exploitation, the once-green hills of Anamalai had lost much of their tree cover by 1885. For the next three decades, several British foresters tried to regenerate the region but failed. And then came Hugo Wood.
Appointed the District Forest Officer of Coimbatore South Division in September 1915 (a post he would hold till 1926), Hugo decided to put a stop to the unchecked destruction of Anamalai’s forests and drew up a working plan for the same.
First, the 45-year-old Scotsman talked the local colonial authorities and convinced them to stop hunting wildlife and the irresponsible chopping of trees. He also befriended the tribals who lived near the forests, restored their traditional rights and brought back many who had been displaced (due to the British bringing the Anamalai forests under the reserved category).
Next, Hugo scathingly admonished the British government for uprooting trees and introduced the forest management technique of coppicing — a method that takes advantage of the fact that many trees rapidly regrow during spring if they are cut down up to the stump during the winter.
Finally, he marked out areas where no logging or coppicing would be allowed for a period of 25 years. In fact, such was his dedication towards his work that he refused to provide timber to the British during the World War I (1914-1918).
In 1916, Hugo set up a bamboo hut in Mount Stuart (near Topslip) and began working in earnest to regenerate the forest of the mountain range. He started small, targeting an area of 25 acres. By the time of his death, it had spread to an area of 650 sq km.
He lived alone, cooked his own food and never missed out on a daily ritual. During his daily walks in the deforested land, he would fish out fistfuls of teak seeds from his pockets, use his silver-tipped walking stick to poke a hole in the ground, and plant seeds there.
He would repeat the process till his pockets were empty. Then he would go back for more seeds and start again from where he left off. He also made efforts to rid the hills of Lantana camara, an invasive species of flowering shrub that hampered the growth of teak.
Hugo’s hard work paid off, breathing new life into the hills of Anamalai.
In 1925, Hugo retired after a severe bout of tuberculosis and settled in Coonoor, according to a Tamil Nadu forest department booklet. Having remained a bachelor (choosing instead to devote his life to conservation), he died on December 12, 1933, at the age of 63.
However, a few months earlier, a seriously ill Hugo had written a will asking to be buried amidst the trees he had planted. He has also sent the money for the same to the chief conservator of Madras Presidency.
On his death, this request was conceded and Hugo Wood was laid to rest among his lasting legacy — the teak trees he raised in the hills of Anamalai.
On windy days, leaves gently float down from the trees on to the tombstone as if to pay homage to the man who so completely loved the Anaimalais and who did so much to save it.
Today, this place has become an oft-visited spot for tourists while his immense contribution has become a part of the local folklore. Forest department vehicles ferry people from Kozhikamuthi elephant camp to Hugo’s grave amidst Topslip’s flourishing teak forest. The forest department is now planning to set up a memorial dedicated to the legend at the spot.
Close by is the Mount Stuart Rest House (built in 1886) that is still let out to guests. Though the building stands in all its historic glory, it does have limited damage caused by curious bears and wild elephants who seem to have taken a permanent fancy to the house! However, do note that only wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers are allowed accommodation.
Photographs : Pic (01) www.commonos.wikimedia.org / P. Jeganathan / (02 and 03) www.ddraftaniwalpower.org (04 and 05) www.keralarchaeology.blogspot.in
source: http://www.thebetterindia.com / The Better India / Home> Conservation> Environment> Lede> Nature / by Sanchari Pal / December 28th, 2017
Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan, who is National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year 2017, talks about his award-winning shot and love for wildlife photography
He was a point-and-shoot photographer for 10 years. Four years ago, his wife got him a DSLR and today Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan is the National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year 2017 for his photograph of an orangutan crossing a river in the wilds of Borneo.
Excitement ripples through his voice as he talks about his award-winning shot. “In August, I was in Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo and heard about this orangutan that crossed the river. I found this amazing because orangutans normally avoid water. They’re arboreal creatures. And, there were crocodiles in the river.”
So he made for the area but didn’t see anything for a couple of days. But he decided to wait. “I had a hunch this would be special.” On the third day, he heard that the animal had been spotted on the other side of the river and rushed to the spot. “When the orangutan appeared, I climbed into the water.” Didn’t he remember the crocs? “Yes but I had to do it if I wanted that truly unique shot.” His appearance made the orangutan nervous and it retreated behind a tree. They played peekaboo till the animal decided that it could ignore him. “I got around 25 shots of it peeping out from behind the tree and retreating,” laughs Bojan. “Then he came out and began to cross the river and I got this shot.”
Bojan, who is from the Nilgiris, says his interest in wildlife came naturally. His grandparents lived in a village just a few kilometres from Dodabetta. “I was surrounded by birds and lot of wildlife.” He also lived in Bengaluru so he got in a lot of “backyard birding” and travelled to all the National Parks in India (one of his favourites is Nagarhole). But he started taking wildlife photography seriously when his wife was transferred to Singapore two years ago and he quit his job to move there. A visit to the Singapore Zoo triggered his interest in primates. “It was the first time I had seen them and I wanted to see them in the wild.” He began to research and reach out to people across Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia has approximately 25% of the most highly endangered species of primates. You don’t have the usual photo-safari destinations here and it was hard to find people who knew where to spot them. Slowly my connections grew and I’ve been able to photograph around eight or nine species.”
Bojan’s photos were earlier picked as the Editor’s favourites in the National Geographic Nature Photography Awards but he’s glad it’s the orangutan that won. “More people will see this and there will be more visibility and may be more people will be willing to help. The orangutans need more help than they’re getting.”
His favourite subjects apart from primates, and organutans in particular, are the tiger and otters. “My first tiger shot was in Bandipur,” he reminisces. “It was a female called Gauri and she had two cubs.” On the subject of otters, he has a lot more to say. While he has photographed otters in the wild in Kabini and Corbett National Park, it is a family of wild otters near his house in Singapore that currently has him captured. “They’ve figured out a way to live in an urban place like Singapore. There’s a community called Otter Watch that tracks the otters across Singapore. They post updates on social media and recently celebrated the birth of new pups. The otters roll on the sand or the grass to clean their fur as the humans watch and even take food from them.” One of Bojan’s photos of a couple of elderly men reaching out to the otters won an award from the Indian website Nature in Focus.
Going forward, Bojan hopes to do a photo-story book on primates. “Some of these species number just 50-100 in the wild.” He’s also looking forward to a trip in Japan in February to shoot the snow monkey, the red fox and migrating raptors. He hopes to get some sightings of the elusive snow leopard from a trip to the Spiti Valley later in 2018. Towards the end of the year, if his permissions come through, he’ll be tracking a rare monkey on the Vietnam-China border. “I have lots of photographs to come; many more stories to tell,” he says.
A tough battle
Halfway through the story of his award-winning shot, Bojan gets side-tracked into the story of a ranger-turned-conservationist who is trying to buy land around the periphery of the national parks to ensure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of palm oil companies. “He’s educating the local people about habitats and the animals there and training them to be guides. The profits from guided tours are being invested into ensuring that land around the forest stays wild.”
While Bojan admits it’s a tough call to choose between preserving habitats and finding employment, he hopes they can sustain this initiative. “Obviously they cannot pay as much as the bigger companies. I am donating a part of the award money towards this cause. They’ve managed to buy around 12 acres in the last year, which is a great feat.” Around 30% of Indonesia’s income comes from palm oil, so it’s a “tricky affair for all concerned: the government and the people on the ground.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by R. Krithika / December 25th, 2017
