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
Fit for a feast: A consignment for Dubai gets ready in Chinnamanur on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Traders will export one tonne of the eco-friendly leaves every day for Vishu and the Tamil New Year
Nothing spells tradition more than the gastronomic spread for Vishu and the Tamil New Year, served on a fresh banana leaf.
This year, nostalgic Malayalis and Tamils in Dubaiand other West Asian countries can look forward to doing it just like home, as a huge consignment of banana leaves will arrive straight from the verdant Cumbum valley.
With the demand for banana leaves soaring in Dubai during April for the festival season, exporters from Kerala thronged the valley to buy them in bulk.
“We collect only fully matured, country banana leaves,” said V. Sudhakaran, a leaf exporter at Sukkangalpatti village.
“The leaf should not have any black dots or yellow spots. It should be dark green. Workers grade the leaves, process and pack them in cartons at the farms and transport them to Cochin airport for export. The leaves will hit the Dubai market within 24 hours.”
Bananas from the farms in Chinnamanur and nearby villages are already a huge hit among south Indians in West Asia. Now, the plantain leaves from the Cumbum valley have also become much sought-after, particularly in Dubai.
For Christmas too
“The domestic market will not be affected much by the exports as we send matured leaves,” Mr Sudhakaran said. “Local people prefer tender light green leaf of any variety of banana. But we prefer fully matured leaves as they have longer shelf life. We will send one tonne of leaves to Dubai every day, till the weekend.”
Though it is peak season in April, expats prefer to buy banana leaves in large numbers during Christmas too. “We sent a small quantity last December. But we have a bulk order for this year’s Vishu. We procure the leaves from Kullapuram in Periyakulam block to Goodalur near Lower camp, at ₹2 per leaf,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.
To maintain quality, farmers were advised to grow the plantains densely near farm borders to protect those in the farm from strong winds.
The plants are also given support using casuarina poles to prevent damage. Such measures prevent leaf damage, says S. Karuppan, a farmer of Kullapuram.
Flowers are also exported to countries in West Asia as they form part of the ‘kani’ display of auspicious articles for Vishu, while hotels in the region deliver the ‘sadhya’ feast to a large number of families at home.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by K. Raju / Cumbum – April 08th, 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
The first Indian woman botanist, E K Janaki Ammal, ought to be more widely known for her huge contributions to science. But she remains unknown within the country and outside academic circles and even our textbooks have failed to teach our children about her glorious scientific history
: Just a fortnight before the International Women’s Day, the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, UK, announced a new scholarship for post-graduate students from developing countries in honour of an Indian woman botanist. Under the scheme, 88 applicants who wish to study plant and microbial sciences can apply in commemoration of the distinguished work and contributions of Dr.E.K.Janaki Ammal who was an international alumni of the leading research and training centre between 1940 and 1945.
A heart warming gesture from an institution abroad, but may be India should have done something similar for the country’s first home grown woman scientist, who went overseas and returned accomplished breaking every caste and gender barrier through her work.
Just take a moment to think where we would be without the inventions of this brilliant mind.
Janaki Ammal in younger days | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After laborious crossbreedings in the laboratory of Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore in the 1930s, she created the indigenous variety of sweetened sugarcane that we consume today. Till then India was producing sugarcane in abundance and yet importing as they were not as sweet as the ones grown in the Far East.
During the World War II bombings in the 1940s, she continued her phenomenal research into chromosomes of thousands of species of flowering plants at the John Innes Horticultural Institute, Norfolk, where she worked with some of the best names in cytology, genetics and botany . While working on the gorgeous Magnolia, she co-authored The Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants with renowned biologist CD Darlington.
The magnolia saplings she planted on the Battleston Hill in Wisley continue to bloom every Spring and one of the pure white blooms is named after her, the Magnolia kobus Janaki Ammal and apparently only few nurseries in Europe have the variety today.
At a time when most Indian women did not even attend school, she received scholarship and obtained her MS from University of Michigan in 1925 and later returned as the first Indian Oriental Barbour Fellow. She remains one of the few Asian women to be conferred honorary doctorate (DSc. honoris causa) by her alma mater in 1931. There she discovered a new variety of brinjal that exhibited triploidy instead of the normal diploid, where there are two sets of chromosomes in the cells.
The flower Magnolia Kobus Janaki Ammal | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
At the insistence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, she returned to India in the 1950s and restructured the Botanical Society of India travelling to several remote areas of the country in search of the plant lore of the indigenous people and scouting for medicinal plants in her home State, Kerala.
A fascinating figure of the early 20th Century she was. E.K.Janaki Ammal lived a life which perhaps very few women of her time could dream of. The distinguished geneticist, cytologist, global plant geographer studied about ecology and biodiversity too and did not fear to take on the Government as an ardent environmental activist. She played an important role in the protests against the building of a hydro-power dam in Kerala’s Silent Valley in the 1970s. She made a mark with her paper on “Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth” at an international symposium in Princeton in 1955 and two decades later, she was awarded the Padmashri in 1977.
With a profile like hers, Janaki Ammal never got into spotlight. If anything she fought her status as a single woman from a caste considered backward and problems with male mentorship in her field. But she proved through her work that Science knows no caste, gender or social boundaries.
Yet for her extraordinary journey from small town Thalassery to the finest institutions across the world, there is no archive related to her in India. Her papers are available only in hard copy at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, according to Vinita Damodaran, who teaches South Asian History at University of Sussex and has also published a well researched paper on “Gender, race and science in twentieth century India: E.K.Janaki Ammal and the history of science.”
Luckily, the Nikari series of talks held under the banner of ‘Manarkeni’, a Tamil research journal, brings to light the works of lesser known women in different fields. In the previous years, the focus was on women in literature and history. This year it chose science and brought the story of Janaki Ammal to the fore.
The talk delivered by S Krishnaswamy, former professor at the School of Biotechnology, MaduraiKamaraj University, highlighted various stages of Janaki’s career both in India and overseas. “Her career shows that scientists must speak their mind with social consciousness even if it means going against the policies of the government. In today’s context, it becomes necessary to bring achievers like her to the forefront,” he asserts.
Janaki Ammal must have conquered her fears and broke the glass ceiling for a rewarding career in science. “She wanted to be known only through her work. Let her work be known to all successive generations, who have much better opportunities” says Krishnaswamy.
An inspiring role model, Janaki Ammal passed away in 1984 at the age of 87 at Maduravoyal near Chennai, while working in the field laboratory of the Centre for Advanced Study in Botany, Univerity of Madras. She perhaps did not receive the acclaim she deserved but devoted herself to research, opening up a universe of possibilities. Let our children not be bereft of that knowledge. It is worth knowing and remembering leaders in science like Janaki Ammal.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Soma Basu / Madurai – March 09th, 2018
At Kuttapalayam, located about 100 km from Coimbatore, is a research foundation that focuses on in situ conservation and breeding of native breed of cattle (Kangayam cattle).
At an event held here on Sunday at K’ sirs, the Seenapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation (SKCRF), which is involved in the work at Tirupur district for several decades now, launched an updated website of its activities (kangayambull.com), released brochures, and sought more support from the public to improve infrastructure and awareness on the Kangayam cattle. The website was hosted in 2009.
A release said that the school organises Pongal festival annually and this year was a platform to create better awareness on Kangayam cattle.
The foundation also has a resource and research centre for conservation of Kangayam cattle and Korangadu, a Silvi pasture grazing system in the western districts of the State.
“An awareness for the protection of indigenous breeds of cattle has been created because of the jallikattu protest last year by the people and students of Tamil Nadu. I would like to thank them all on behalf of the cattle grazers,” says Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, managing trustee of the foundation.
Protection of indigenous varieties of cattle is now becoming prevalent in India because of last year’s protest. The public have understood the need to conserve the native cattle breeds, said R. Radhakrishan, MP.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / b A. Kishore / Coimbatore – January 08th, 2018
