july-september 1998

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2 A Dialogue on People's Creativity & Experimentation

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Turning away or getting closer?

A man went walking out in the country. He kept walkinguntil suddenly he came across a big bear.

Frightened, he thought, “Oh, what am I going to do now!I better prepare for the worst!” He had heard many stories about howbears killed people. He was probably going to die!

The bear was practically upon him. It stood up. There he was! The mantried to calm himself. “What shall I do?” He braced himself to accept hisfate. Then – he knew what to do!

He walked forward. The bear was standing upright now. The man wentforward and hugged the bear; then he tickled him. The bear lay down rightaway and went to sleep.

The man thought, “Goodness, I had better run now while the bear is asleep!”He ran quite a distance and then turned around to check on the bear.

There was the bear beckoning him to return!

Source: “Haboo, Native American Stories from Puget Sound” translated andedited by Vi Hilbert, quoted in "The Ticklish bear" by Peter Westman in‘Traditional knowledge and biodiversity, working with the substance of form’,Forests, Trees and People, No. 35 March, 1998.

A co-evolutionary perspective:

Has the story ended? Haven't many bears and others of their kin been callingus for so long? The dilemma of domestication of animals and co-evolutionof human and other species comes out graphically in this story. Recentlyduring the Shodh Yatra (see editorial), cattle rearers (Maldharis) living inthe Gir sanctuary asked us very poignantly to carry out a simple test ifwe thought their cattle posed a threat to the lions. We should make a mapof the regions in the forest where no Maldharis lived or cattle grazed. Ifwe found most lions in those regions, we were justified in making the cattlerearers the culprits. But if we found lions primarily in the areas wherethe Maldharis lived or cattle grazed, then we should realize that if theMaldharis were to be pushed out, the lions would also come out of thesanctuary!

Should we redefine the boundaries of our concern? How wild is really wild?Can a completely hands-off approach really lead to better conservation?

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Honey Bee stands forPeople to people networking inlocal language(s), andassurance to providers ofknowledge that they would notbe impoverished by sharing theknowledge:when bees cross-pollinate,flowers do not complain thatpollen is taken away.

Printed, Published and Owned by Kirit K Patel on behalf of Sristi Innovations, B/2, Srikrishna Apartments, Near Lad Society,Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380 015. Printed at M/s Colourman Offset, Ahmedabad. Editor: Anil K Gupta

Profile:Crusader for Conservation ......... 3

Dragonflies in Rice Fields:Innovation in Indonesia ............... 4

Breeding Brinjals &Cleaning Cotton ....................... 10

Horticulture Therapy:The Healing Powers of Plants ........................ 21

And other regular features

Honey Bee HumsFertilizing with Hairs, Repelling Pestsby Cycas ..................................................... 7Bell the Rat: Do Away with the Cat! ....... 8Consumer Cares if Hari Ram Dares! ............. 9

Survey of Innovations .................................. 14News & Views ................................................ 22Book Worm .................................................... 23Dialogue ......................................................... 24

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Ecopreneur: Patent WithoutProsper-ity...................................12

Traditional Veterinary Wisdom:Practices from RuralMedak, A.P. ............................... 17

Institution:Triumph of Cooperation ............... 11

Will you stand by the IPRs of peasants ? 3

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Editor

Anil K Gupta

Associate Editors

Srinivas ChokkakulaRiya Sinha

Rati Mehrotra

Editorial Team

Vijaya Sherry ChandBrij Kothari

Kirit K PatelShailesh ShuklaS Muralikrishna

AdvisorsSumati K Sampemane

Jayvir AnjariaJyoti Capoor

Graphics & Design

D T PadekarPalash Graphics

UnnikrishnanScan PointShaileshSatpal

Other Sources of IllustrationsCultures & Development

YesPesticides and You

Administrative AssistanceR P S YadavR Baskaran

Balaganapathy MudaliarJivabhai Kotiya

Kinnari ShahVaibhavi Savai

Editorial Address

Honey BeeC/o Prof Anil K Gupta

Indian Institute of ManagementVastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015

India

Tel : 91-79-407241 Fax : 91-79-6427896

Telex : 121-6351 IIMA INGram : INDINMAN

[email protected]

[email protected]@ad1.vsnl.net.in

Home Pagehttp://csf.colorado.edu/sristi

Popular science movements in India and elsewhere in the world have often tried to takescience to the people . It has been assumed that science is something outside our dayto day life experience and its presence needs to be demonstrated through externallydesigned strategies, models and experiments. Creation of scientific temper, so defined,thus became a major goal of modernising societies.

The Honey Bee network disagrees with this perspective. We do recognise a need forincreasing general awareness about the science underlying day to day life experiences.But we do not believe that this has to be seen as an injection of any fundamentally newvalue. For instance, cultivation of land, rearing of animals and management of othernatural resources have always been based on scientific principles. Farmers did not justsow any crop at any time. It is possible that they did not know the scientific theoriesunderlying many of the farming operations. But they knew the relationship betweentemperature, humidity, moisture and seed germination. At the same time, because ofthe excessive influence of the so called extension system built around modern chemicalintensive agriculture, farmers’ ability to experiment, innovate and generate creativesolutions to local problems did get impaired over the years. Some farmers, however,did not give up their exploratory spirit and creative urge to develop local solutionsunaided by markets, NGOs, or state.

It is to seek such farmer men and women, honour local experts and innovators, generateconsciousness about sustainable agriculture and conservation of biodiversity and sharethe experience of other innovative farmers that we embarked upon a Shodh Yatra (ajourney of exploration). This journey of about 250 km was undertaken by foot on 15th

May 1998 till 23rd May 1998 in Saurashtra, a dry region of western Gujarat, during thehottest part of the summer and was indeed very strenuous. There were days when wewalked about 40 km, stopping in different villages, organising meetings, sharinginnovations, showing computerised multimedia and other electronic databases in Gujaration innovations. The rewards of this exercise were many.

The fact that we chose the most difficult time to walk when even drinking water wasnot available at times for 10 km at a stretch, served one clear purpose. That was thedevelopment of an instant rapport with the people whom we met. It also helped usexperience a little bit of the suffering that people experience every day. We started thewalk from Ramlechi village near Gir forest in a group of fifteen people. The size of thegroup varied during the journey. Some innovators joined us for a few days whileothers were with us throughout the journey. They brought with them their innovativeimplements like a tilting cart, modified water pulley and 10 HP tractor. We carried withus posters on various aspects of innovations besides models of implements and audiovisual support for reinforcing the spirit oflocal experimentation. The idea was toconvey that there are people who thinkdifferently and generate solutions butsomehow have not become points ofreference in our day to day life. Our concernwas how to overcome the inertia and apathytowards the ethic of experimentation andgenerate respect for local knowledge thatis in tune with nature. We honoured themost knowledgeable man or woman inevery village and presented them with

Shodh Yatra:A journey for exploring local creativity


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men above 100 years of age for a learningworkshop about their perceptions andprescriptions for restoring the health ofthe ecosystems.

We walked through about 50 villages inthree districts, Junagadh, Amreli andBhavnagar. The indigenous as well asexternally induced soil and waterconservation efforts were mostpronounced in Amreli district where waterscarcity was also most evident. Herefarmers had tried to use different waysof recharging wells.

Some other insights and lessons from thejourney:

* In almost every village we stayed, therewere one or more farmers who hadalready made a transition to chemicalfree agriculture. Policy planners maynot see what is happening in the fields,but creative farmers see the signalsclearly.

* Many villages have innovators whohave never received any recognitioneven within their own village, so muchso that they were reluctant to evenacknowledge that they had done something new. This indicates the depthof prejudice against innovations in oursociety.

* The professionals walking with us werethe first to feel tired while some of thefield workers, students and farmerswere full of energy!

* There was tremendous interest amongfarmers in the computerised Multi-media as well as the textual data basein Gujarati. It showed how muchpotential exists for using InformationTechnology to augment the curiosityof farmers about innovations.

* The gesture of honouring the mostknowledgeable people in their ownvillages moved many people. The ideathat creative and innovative peopleshould become points of referenceseems potentially very viable.

The Shodh Yatra was a new experimentfor us. We had embarked upon twojourneys actually, one outside and visibleand the other one within us to discovernew meanings of participatory learning.Who amongst us reached where in theinner journey remains to be seen.

Anil K Gupta

literature produced by SRISTI in Gujaration innovations.

There were many moments of fun, fearand discovery all through the walk.During the first night halt in Hirenwelvillage on the outskirts of Gir LionSanctuary, we discovered three innovativefarmers after a lot of persistence. One ofthem had developed a simple lock deviceto take out a damaged submersible motorfrom the bore. Another had developedherbal pesticides and the third came torescue of a contractor building a structurein the forest. The technical supervisorwas not able to align the structureproperly. An illiterate labourer cameforward to help, and solved the problem.Imagine calling such people ‘unskilled’labourers!

Late in the night we went to look for lionsin the forest and succeeded in observingone in the wild. That night, those whowere resting in the village heard the roarsof the lions with great trepidation! Whilewalking to the Sasan Gir forest, westopped by to talk to Ismailbhai, arenowned pastoralist and conservator inthe area. We asked him when the lionscame to that area. He replied, “Lionsdon’t come and go. They stay here. It isyou people who come and go”. Werealised immediately the stupidity of ourquestion.

We spent one night in the sanctuary area

in Aala vani nes, a village of Maldharis orcattle rearers. Discussions with Vala Bhaiabout alleged conflicts between livestockand lions generated some interesting posersby him. He said, "we have lived withthem, and should be allowed to live withthem.” Obviously, many wild life expertsmay question the ecological and socialcomplimentarity between livestock rearingand lion conservation. But the argumentdeserves attention.

In one of the villages, we organised a smallcompetition and requested elderly womento identify the women who could cookmost creatively using uncultivated foods/vegetables and were the best in embroidery.Biodiversity competitions were organisedamong children. Prizes and certificates ofrecognition and honour were given to theoutstanding women and children. Ingeneral, the participation rate of womenwas poor and when women did come, theydid not sit in the front except in a coupleof villages. In Prempura village, we met a104-year old farmer, Jivraj Bapa, who wasstill working 14-16 hours every day. Heneeded neither support for walking norspectacles for reading. He sharednumerous insights with us aboutsustainable agriculture. He wasoverwhelmed when we honoured himbecause none had ever cared to eitherlisten to him or recognise him. Wewondered whether it would not be a goodidea to invite all such farmer women and


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In this insensitive world, there are somethat care about the environment andbelieve in the essential harmony betweenpeople, animals and birds. Satya PriyaGautam is just such a person. Just inhis teens, he has on many occasionsrisked his own life to save the lives ofanimals. He runs a Nature Club called‘Bambi’ in Kashipur.

The inspiration for the club came froma fawn. About two years ago, in 1995,Gautam and two of his friends sawthree persons about to kill a spotted deerfawn for venison. They rescued thefawn and Gautam decided to rear it.Soon the fawn, called Bambi, becamea part of the family and would even playwith their pet dog!

Dr R L Singh, the then Director of theCTR (Corbett Tiger Reserve) suggestedto Gautam that he seek the permissionof the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW)to rear the fawn. It was a cheetal, listedas endangered species under ScheduleIll of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).Dr Singh assured him that the permissionwould be granted. But the Directorchanged and his replacement toldGautam that if the fawn died in hiscustody, he might face legal hassles.Gautam tried to obtain permission tokeep the fawn, but he did not receivea reply to his letter sent through the

Director to the CWLW. Afraid he mightbe doing something illegal he handedover the three-month-old fawn to theDirector. Unfortunately, Bambi diedsoon after in the custody of the CTR.This sad incident made Gautam and hisfriends realise the need to generatesupport for wildlife protection. It alsobrought him in contact with the CTRauthorities. With their advice andguidance, he and his friends started theCorbett Nature Club on 15th July 1995.The club was established in Gautam’sroom. It started a collection of books,magazines and video films for spreadingconservation awareness. Threeaquariums were set up. Injured animals,birds and rescued turtles were kept outin the porch. Gautam’s mother cookedfood for the injured or diseased animalsrescued by him and his father suppliedhim cages for rearing the birds.Whenever he went out of town, hisparents took care of the animals beingreared in the house.

Bambi to the rescue

Gautam and his friends have savednumerous turtles, pythons, cobras, paddyherons and egrets, to name a few, overthe last two years.

Turtles are brought to the Kashipurmarket on order and a certain communityeats them. Catching turtles isn’t easyand not every fisherman can do it.Gautam and his friends befriended alocal fisherman and bribed him to getinformation. He helped them identifythe fishermen who were capable ofcatching turtles. They kept a watch onthese fishermen to catch them redhanded whenever they tried to bringturtles for sale into the market. Wheneverthey saw a fisherman do this, they

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Rajiv Bhartari

Rajiv Bhartari is the Deputy Director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve. This article is the result of an interview hetook of Satya Priya Gautam, a unique young individual who has proved that each one of us can make a differenceif he/she wants to.

informed the local CO (Police) whowould thrash the fisherman and handover the turtles to the Club members.

One day they caught a person sellingthe oil of the spiny tailed lizard, believedto be an aphrodisiac and cure forseveral ailments. Gautam fought withthe man to rescue these lizards butmanaged to save only a few of them.He informed the CTR authorities whogot in touch with the local DFO. Thelizards were promptly rescued. Thelizards’ backs had been broken so thatthey would not be able to run away andthey were incapable of surviving ontheir own.

Concern for animals

Gautam believes that if one feels genuinelove and concern for an animal, it willpermit one to approach it closely. Hetried this with a crane (Saaras) and itallowed him to come till a distance ofthree meters. Both he and the cranestayed like that for fifteen minutes. Hethinks that an envelope of positiveenergy can be created all about oneselfto win the confidence of the animal.

He feels that there is a lack ofcompassion among the forest workers.In his opinion, the diseased andabandoned animals need care and lovethat the staff does not provide. Hesuggests that lost and injuredanimals should be handed over to Bambito be looked after. The reserveforest authorities need to explore waysto encourage other interested persons tocontribute in their own wayfor the protection of the forest andits denizens. Only then willconservation truly become a publicconcern.

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Pak Oyo, a farmer in Buah Dua, WestJava, has developed an innovative wayto improve his rice farming. He usesbamboo markers in his rice fields toattract dragonflies for protecting hiscrop from insects.

Pak Oyo attended a Farmer Field School(FFS) two years ago. At the FFS helearnt about natural enemies that keptrice herbivores in check. Pak Oyo wasso inspired by what he learnt that hedecided to contribute his time to help hisfellow farmers and the local school. Heenrolled as a farmer trainer (Petandu)and during his brief training, wasencouraged to be innovative and creative.This further inspired Pak Oyo to lookseriously at rice ecology.

In March 1996, while caring for a ricenursery, he noticed a large number ofdragonflies hovering over the riceseedlings. Pak Oyo remembered fromhis participation at the FFS and followup training that dragonflies are predators.He decided to confirm this information.Indeed, he observed some dragonfliescapturing plant hoppers as they flewfrom the nursery. He was excited bywhat he saw. Looking around, he noticedsome dragonflies resting on bamboomarkers next to the nursery.

Pak Oyo thought hard and long aboutwhat he had seen in the nursery. Itdawned upon him that if dragonfliescould be encouraged to stay in the ricefield, they would protect his crop frominsects flying into the field. He was veryconcerned with the common practice ofspraying insecticides to prevent brownplant hopper (BPH) outbreaks. Pak Oyo

was convinced that spraying insecticideshad led to several outbreaks of this insectin the village. Encouraging dragonflies inthe field could possibly reduce the numberof BPH coming into and flying out of thefield. He planned a small experiment tosee if dragonflies would be encouragedto stay in a field planted with markers.Initially he used only six bamboo markers

(ajir) placed around the field for twoweeks. Regular observations showed thatdragonflies frequently rested on themarkers and this encouraged Pak Oyo toextend his study. He placed bamboomarkers all around the field. Throughoutthe season there was no build up of BPHin his crop. Neighbouring fields subjectedto insecticide sprays had large populationsof brown planthopper. He talked to hisfriends in the village about the results ofhis experiment and his friends wereencouraged to try it themselves. Theydecided to join him in the experiment andthe topic was included in a FFS organisedby Pak Oyo. In the next two seasonsfarmers who placed bamboo markers intheir fields did not have any problem withBPH. They decided to plant 40 ha of ricefields with bamboo markers in the nextseason (1997/98), confident that there

would be no need to apply insecticides.

The farmers displayed a surprising degreeof knowledge about the biology ofdragonflies. Part of this came from theirgreater interest in the insect during theFFS. However, most of the informationcame from their gastronomic experiences.Apparently, the larvae of dragonflies (kini-kini) are eaten as food, particularly bywomen. Women collect the larvae whileweeding the rice fields. Kini-kini areconsidered delicacies by the women folk.They are eaten either fried or mixed withherbs and steamed wrapped in bananaleaves (pepes).

A conflict arose between the women andmen in the village. The men found thatdragonflies were good natural enemies,but the women were habituated toremoving them in the larval stage. PakOyo decided to organise a field schoolespecially for women in the villages toeducate them about naturalenemies, including dragonflies, in thenext season.

Pak Oyo and his friends observed thatsome conditions affected the well beingof dragonflies in the rice field. The useof insecticides such as Carbofuran killedthe kini-kini, reducing the number ofdragonflies. In addition, they found thatwhen rice fields were drained, to managerats for example, the populationof kini-kini declined too. Bothnuggets of information have proven

�� !�� "��#�$%�� %�&� '��Peter Ooi1

In the aftermath of suicides by hundreds of farmers, one would have expected a national level top priority programmeto search non-chemical pest control measures. Such a thing has not happened so far, notwithstanding the primeminister’s regret about excessive use of pesticides in India, considered partly responsible for the suicides. It is inthis context that hundreds of pest management innovations by farmers regularly collected and documented by HoneyBee acquire importance. Continuing our contributions in this issue, here is an article by Peter Ooi from Indonesia.

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1The FAO Programme for Community IPM inAsia, J1, Jati Padang Raya No. 38 B, PasarMinggu, Jakarta Selatan 12540, Indonesia

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Yes! I would like to order my copy of the collected cover stories of Honey Bee today! I am enclosing a Draft/Cheque/Money Order of Rs.50 ($7 for overseas buyers)* in favour of Sristi Innovations. Please send "Spirit of Sustainability" to

Name:_____________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________

The inside of the cover page ofeach issue of Honey Bee carries astory that reflects one or the otherdimension of what we believe in,

i.e. concern for nature, therelationship with non human beings,

grassroots wisdom and plaincommon sense! Spirit of

Sustainability is an anthology of25 of our best loved stories - atreat for both children and adults!

*Inclusive of postage

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We can send copies of Spirit of Sustainability with beautiful cards bearing your name as gifts on your behalf.You can also sponsor the distribution of this story book to schools, libraries and for circulation among children.

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For over nine years HoneyBee has discovered and

documented many inspiringinstances of grassroots

innovators. These are peoplewho have employed their

creativity to rise above theircircumstances. Coming soon

from Sristi Innovations isGroundswell of ingenuity, acollection of the profiles of 30

such innovators.A self-made electrical engineer who de-signed a labour saving cotton strippingmachine.

Successfully experimented with crop protec-tion and grain storage methods

Treats villagers with herbal medicines. Heset up a “Gyan Van” and grows and con-serves hundreds of species of medicinalplants.

An expert livestock healer. He does notcharge money for curing the animals.

Developed a small 10 HP three wheeledtractor, that is both energy saving and hasgreater manoeuverability.

He has developed many innovative farmtools including a multi-purpose tool bar, tilt-ing bullock cart and groundnut digger.

Karimbhai, grassroots conservator andhealer

Amrutbhai Agrawat, from farm labourer toinnovative artisan

Bhanjibhai Nanjibhai Mathukia, farmercum engineer

Rehmatkhan Peerkhan Solanki, indigenousanimal healer and dispenser

Mansukhbhai B Patel, self-taught engineercum inventor

Yes! I would like to order my copy of the Profiles of Innovators today! I am enclosing a Draft/Cheque/Money Order ofRs.160 (US$ 20 for overseas buyers)* in favour of Sristi Innovations. Please send "Groundswell of Ingenuity" to

Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________*Inclusive of postage

He developed a new variety of groundnutwhich matures early, needs less water, hasgood yield and has higher oil content.

Spent Rs 3.5 million of his own income inbroadcasting 45 billion seeds of differenttree species all over uncutivated lands,roads and railway sidings.

Thakershibhai Bhadabhai Savalia,farmer breeder of groundnut variety

Puriben Devsibhai Suva, innovations athome

Premjibhai, world record in planting trees

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We can send copies of Groundswell of Ingenuity with beautiful cards bearing your name as gifts on your behalf.You can also sponsor the distribution of this book to schools and libraries.

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(NAPDB refers to NAPRALERT Database onNatural Products, UIC, Chicago)

9201 Neem powder

Neem fruits are collected and dried inthe sun and ground using a grinder.This neem powder is applied to the soil@ 100 g/plant at 10 cm depth. Itcontrols aphids, jassids and white flies.To control nematodes of citrus thepowder is applied @ 500 g per tree.Application of this powder @ 200 kg/acre during the last plough will controlleaf feeders, stembark and fungal diseaseof sugarcane. Before the onset ofmonsoon, application of the neempowder (1/2 kg/plant) at the trunk ofthe tree will enhance the yield of coffeeand its quality.

P Muthusamy, Dindigul district, TamilNadu. Comm: M Sarvanakumar

9202 Botanical insecticide fortomatoes

A decoction of ‘sothukathali’ (Aloevera), ‘neem’, ‘tulsi’ (Ocimumtenuiflorum), ‘nayuruvi’ (Achyranthesaspera) and Aristolochia bracteataleaves is made in boiled water. Thedecoction is mixed with water (100 mldecoction per litre of water) and sprayedon the tomato and citrus crop. Thisprevents pest and disease attack in boththe crops. It reduces flower sheddingand increases the yield in citrus.

Arunagirisarry, Sankarankoi, Tamil Nadu.Comm: Kaliyaperumal

(NAPDB: Aloe vera has antibacterial andantifungal properties. It is reported toinhibit the growth of Cuscuta reflexa.(Ref: Chauhan JS et al (1989) Indian J.Exp. Bid. 27 10:877-884.) Aristolochiabracteata is reported to have anthelminticinsecticidal activities. (Ref: Rao VS (1980)in : Abstr. 4th Asian symposium Med Plantsspices Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19, 1980, pp 145))

9203 Flower power

During panicle formation stage in paddy,flowering occurs in Cycas circinalis, awild plant in the western ghats. Thecycas flower looks like a pineapple andis yellowish in color. The flowers areto be placed in paddy fields @ four/acre by tying them on sticks. The heightof the flower should equal the heightof paddy. The unpleasant odor emittedfrom the flower repels insect pests,especially earheady bug.

K Palnichamy, Sankarankoil, Tamil Nadu.Comm: K Maragatha Valli.

9204 Human hair as a fertilizer

Waste hairs can be collected and appliedto vegetable, fruit and ornamental cropsto increase the yield. A round pit isdug around the plant or tree and the

hairs are dumped in. For ornamentalplants, 1/2 kg of hairs are to be usedand for fruit trees, one kg. In the caseof fruit trees, application is to be doneone month after planting and also 45days before fruiting. The hairs aredispersed during the last plough forvegetables like tomato and brinjal.

P Subbiah, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu.Comm: M Sathavu

9205 Protecting grapes

To control stem girdler damage ingrapes, fresh cowdung can be appliedover infested parts. This prevents furtherdamage.

K C Selvamani, Oddan Chatnam Taluk,Tamil Nadu. Comm: C Chelladmai.

9206 Crops and constellations

Jason Jerome works in Kurinji organicfarm, Batlagundu, Tamil Nadu.

Last year (1997) he sowed paddy forraising seed. He sowed paddy when themoon was waning, coinciding with theLeo constellation. According to him,the Leo constellation is known forenhancing seed and fruit development.He was able to get good paddy seeds.The paddy crop was free from pestsand diseases.

He has sown chilli (Capsicum annuum)seeds when the moon was oppositeSaturn. After 28 days, when the moonwas again opposite Saturn, hetransplanted the chilli seedlings. Whenpests affected the chilli crop ofneighboring farmers, his crop was freefrom them. He advised a farmer tofollow the same practice with tomatoseeds. The crop was excellent and freefrom pests and diseases.

Nam Vazhi Velanmai(Tamil Version of Honey Bee)Mr. P. Vivekanandan, EditorSEVA, 43, TPM Nagar, VirattipathuMadurai 625010, Tamil Nadu

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9207 Rat riddance

Basavaraju, a farmer of Karnataka, hascome up with an innovative method toprotect stored grain from rats. He

catches a live rat and with the help ofa wire, ties a bell to the foreleg of therat before releasing it again. The soundfrightens away the other rats when ittries to follow them.

B. Basavaraju, Hassan district, Karnataka.

9208 Protecting paddy

According to farmer B S Dinesh, theleaf extract of 'mukudda' (Lasiosiphoneriocephalus) is very effective incontrolling the brown plant hoppermenace in paddy. One kg of the leavesis boiled in ten litres of water. It isfiltered and diluted to a ratio of 1:10.This is then sprayed on the crop, onceduring the nursery stage and again aftertransplantation.

Hittalagida(Kannada version of Honey Bee)Dr T N Prakash, EditorDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsUAS, Hebbal, Bangalore 560 024

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According to Jason Jerome, themoon-opposite-Saturn gives balancednourishment of calcium and silicathat are responsible for form, shapeand strength of plants. This phaseoccurs every 28 days.

(NAPDB: Lasiosiphon eriocephalus isactive against Culex fatigans larvae (Ref:Chavans R (1982) Bulletin HaffkineInstitute 10.2.42-44). The root ofL.kraussianus is very active againstRhipicephalus appendiculatus. (Ref: VanPL et al (1985) J Ethnopharmacol 132:209-215))

B.S. Dinesh, Shimoga district, Karnataka

9209 Light lures insects

Another method of protecting paddyfrom the brown plant hopper has beendeveloped by a progressive organicfarmer. At night time, two torchlightsare beamed in a 'v' shape in the centreof the paddy field. The person holdingthe torches walks from the centre tothe edge of the field. The insects areattracted to the light and attempt tofollow it. Thus they leave the paddyfield. This process is repeated for twoto three days in succession.

B. Basavaraju, Hassan district, Karnataka.

9210 Protecting gladioli

Narayana Reddy protects his gladioliflowers from being eaten by insectsusing the leaves of ‘vishamadhari’(Clerodendron inermis). Three kg leavesare ground and soaked overnight in 10litres of cow urine. The next morningit is filtered and diluted to 200 litres.This is enough for one acre. It issprayed on the flowers during theevening.

Narayana Reddy, Bangalore district,Karnataka.

(NAPDB: Clerodendron infortunatum isactive against Sitotroga cerealella (Ref:Karan K and Gopalakrishnan R (1972),Agricultural Research Journal Kerala10.59))

Veterinary practices

Shankaranarayana of Shimoga districtuses the following traditional methodsto treat his cattle:

9211 Wounds

Fresh dung is immediately administeredto the wound. Alternatively, dried dungis burnt and the ash is mixed withkerosene to form a paste. This pasteis applied on the wound.

9212 Dysentery

A handful of common salt is given tothe cattle along with the normal food.It can also be dissolved in four litresof water and fed to the ailing animal.

9213 Controlling worms

A pinch of common salt is added totwenty crushed garlic bulbs. When thisis fed to the sick animal, it expelsintestinal worms.

Shankaranarayanana Ithal, Shimogadistrict, Karnataka.

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Sujhbujh(Hindi version of Honey Bee)Mrs Shalini Sharma, EditorEEG, H-12, ODS FlatsLajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024

When Hari Ram Yadav constructed amobile flourmill to grind grain for hisbuffaloes, he little knew the extent ofpopularity his invention would gain.

In 1977, Hari Ram Yadav left his villageOoncha Jamalpur in Rewari district withhis wife and two children to seek a betterliving in Delhi. He took with him a herd ofbuffaloes to earn a livelihood for hisfamily. They settled in South Delhi. Withtime his herd increased to fifteen headsof cattle. But Hari Ram Yadav faced onemajor problem. The area in which he livedexperienced many cuts in electricity

supply. Grinding grain for the buffaloesin time became more amd more difficult.Sometimes it took a week to complete thistask that should have taken just an hour.At last, tired of this situation, Hari RamYadav took matters in his own hands. Hefetched his tractor from his village anddevoted himself to the task of making aflourmill. He could run the belt of theflourmill by using the engine of the tractor.With this, his work became much easier.He no longer had to worry about theelectricity supply. He could grind grain forhis buffaloes whenever he wanted.

Though he had succeeded in solving hisproblem, he realized that his flourmillremained idle for most of the time. It wasthen that he hit upon the idea of using it togrind wheat. He installed two sieves forcleaning and sifting the wheat and areceptacle for holding upto six quintals ofwheat.

In December 1997, he went to the PushpaVihar colony with his mobile flourmill. Alarge crowd of curious people gatheredaround him and he had no trouble sellinghis services. In a very short while, hisinvention became well known in the entirearea. He charged only 80 paise per kg ofwheat to be ground.

Recipe for Sanai Chutney

Sanai (Crotolaria juncea) is a popularfibre crop. People in the Garhwa andPalamu districts of South Bihar use theflowers of sanai as a vegetable. Sanaichutney is a popular preparation

Ingredients: Freshly cut sanai flowers,tomatoes, garlic, mustard oil, greenchillies and salt.

Preparation: Boil the sanai flowersand dry them in the shade. This iscalled ‘sanai sukti’and can be stored formany months. Frythe tomatoes andmash them. Soak thesanai sukti with themashed tomatoes forten minutes. Mix garlic, musturd oil,green chillies and salt with the sanaisukti and grind all the ingredientstogether. The sanai Chutney is ready!

Ashrita Tirkey, Vikas Sahyog Kendra(DSG), Navatoli, Near Shilpisthan, KoelKinare, Daltonganj, Palamu 822101.Translation : A.Ravindra

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Now he parks his mobile flourmill at afixed place in Pushpa Vihar two days aweek. For two days a week each he offershis services in Daxinpuri and Madangir.Working from 10 am to 6 pm, he is ableto earn Rs 300-400 every day aftermeeting all his expenses.

The wheat ground in his flourmill is tastyand nourishing. He says the flour obtainedfrom his mill is not even hot and this, heclaims, helps in retaining all the healthyelements in wheat. Whatever be theaccuracy of this claim, one really cannotdeny the popularity that his invention hasachieved!


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correct in studies conducted in Boyolaliand Indramayu.

There have been suggestions thatdragonflies may not be very importantin controlling BPH. This is probably trueas BPH concentrates near the base ofrice plants. However, dragonfliesprobably remove the arriving anddeparting macropterous adults. A betterway of looking at this issue is to considerthat encouraging dragonflies is toencourage a whole community ofpredators. When farmers put outmarkers for dragonflies instead ofspraying insecticides, this means thatimportant predators of BPH, such asLycosa spiders, are conserved. Hence,better understanding of biodiversity andpromoting conservation encouragemore innovative ways of appreciatingbiological control. Now a study with PakOyo is being planned to help him collectdata to compare the population ofcommon pests and natural enemies infields with markers and those without.

An important lesson here is that giventhe opportunity to be innovative, farmershave shown their creativity in solvingpest problems. They have used theirinherent observation skills and scientificknowledge to emerge with a fresh wayof appreciating natural enemies. This isscience in its purest form, the ability toask “WHY” and to seek to find theanswers themselves in consultation withfriends and resource persons.

9214 A new variety of brinjal

Kalimuddin Mondal, a farmer of WestBengal, has developed a new variety ofbrinjal that he claims is less susceptible topest attack and has a higher yield. He usedto grow brinjal of two varieties, varietyesculentum (or Desi, as he calls it) andvariety serpentinium (or Polyester). Boththe varieties were susceptible to attack byEuzophera Perticella and Schizoncha sp.This meant incurring a loss of 30 percent.Three years ago he planted the Desi andPolyester varieties in alternate rows. Twomonths later, the Polyester variety startedproducing normal cream colouredcylindrical fruits with thornless stalks.Fifteen days later when Desi variety startedflowering, he noticed some Polyesterplants producing fruits with thorny stalks.He harvested these separately and aftersun drying the seeds, kept them in anairtight bottle. Next year he planted theseeds of the unusual Polyester plantsseparately. The fruits were long andslightly rounded. The plants were relatively

free from pest attack and therefore had ahigher yield. The taste was the same ascompared to the other two varieties.

Source: Kalimuddin Mondal, Nadia, WestBengal

9215 Mango leaves as fuel

The Malda district of West Bengal isknown to be a mango belt. But other treesthat are conventional sources of fuel woodare limited in number. People in remote

areas of Malda district find it difficult tocollect fuel wood. Their solution is topreserve mango leaves to be used as fuelat times when other conventional sourcesare exhausted.

They collect mango leaves and spreadthem in open courtyards for sun dryingfor two or three days. The dried leavesare heaped in an elevated area of the

courtyard and bamboo sticks are stackedaround the heap to protect it from windand rain. Five or six layers of wheat straware kept on the top of the heap to avoidrainwater getting into it. This processkeeps the moisture content static for upto three months and takes care of fuelrequirement during the monsoon.

Source: Practiced by the villagers of Pirgunj,Malda, West Bengal.

9216 Twin uses of Ban-Tulshi

‘Ban tulshi’ (Croton bonplandianum),grown abundantly in the rural areas ofMalda, West Bengal, is used as both a fueland a detergent. First the stems andbranches of ‘ban tulshi’ are used as fuel.Then the ash is collected and kept in abottle for five or six days. The ash is putin warm water and used as a detergentfor cleaning cotton garments.

Source: Rumila Bibi, Malda, West Bengal.

9217 Salt preserves paddy straw

Farmers preserve paddy straw for fodderusing common salt (NaCl). Straw isheaped in layers and salt is put betweenthem. For one cartload of straw, four tofive kg salt is required. It keeps rodents

��#�� ,�� #� �� Bagbul Islam Mondal & Amit Roy1

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away from the straw completely.Moreover, the straw is much morepalatable to cattle compared to normalstraw.

Source: Akber Ali, Nadia, West Bengal.

1Calcutta Society for Professional Actionin Development (SPADE), 21 JogendraGardens, Haltu, Calcutta 700 078.


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The villagers of Gullel, Koraput district,Orissa, have evolved a unique institutionalstructure to protect and manage theirforests with the active help of theneighbouring Pitiguda villagers. In 1994,they formed a five-member forestcommittee, the “Jungle Surakhya Sangh”,with one individual from each of the fiveethnic groups in the village. The job ofthis committee is to oversee and aid in theactivities of the forest protection workerand take responsibility for forest relatedmatters.

Deforestation and dependence

Prior to 1960, there was dense forestcover and every villager had free accessto forest resources. Deforestation beganwith the opening of major industrialprojects in nearby areas. Many brick kilnswere set up. There was a sudden increasein the demand for timber, fuelwood andcharcoal. To earn some quick money, thevillagers started selling their trees andmaking charcoal. Several contractorscame and started felling trees, claiming tohave permission to collect timber from thegovernment. By the late seventies, thiscommercial exploitation coupled with thepractice of shifting cultivation had lead tocomplete deforestation. In 1978 the mostfertile land got submerged by the UpperKolab reservoir. Many villagers becamelandless and encroached on forest land.When forest resources were exhausted,villagers resorted to felling the bamboo intheir village. Ultimately, the only treesremaining were those in the sacred groveof Gangamaa, a small grove of 100 m2.The villagers started going to the forestsof Kulap Gongar, a nearby village. In timethese forests also got degraded and thepeople of Kulap Gongar tried to restrictentry by outsiders into their village. Thislead to quarrels between the two villages.

In the face of constant humiliation by othervillagers and the hardship of walking overfive km a day with headloads, the peopleof Gullel decided to start protecting theirown forest. Since the forests of Gullel and

Pitiguda are contiguous, they felt thatforest protection would be impossiblewithout the help of the Pitiguda villagers.In 1982, the communities of both villagesmet and agreed to protect their forests.Gullel would look after the Western sideand Pitiguda the Eastern side. No onewould be allowed to cut live trees forfuelwood or remove regenerating saplings.Villagers were to stick to their side of theforest. Cutting of fruit bearing trees andother important trees (like ‘sal’), bambooand ‘siari’ (a creeper) was forbidden.Nothing could be collected from the forestfor commercial purposes. There was tobe no cultivation within the protected area.Two forest protection workers, one fromeach village, were selected to look afterthe forest. They were to patrol the forestfrom morning to evening and wereauthorised to confiscate the wood andweapons of violators. Violators were fineddepending on the quantity of woodgathered and attitude of the individual.

Conflicts

As there was no clear cut boundarybetween the forests of the two villages,confusion and conflicting claims ofownership of trees and even wild animalstook place. The main factor restrainingvillagers from cutting trees from the forestof the neighbouring village was the fear ofretaliation. Since all villagers knew everyinch of the forest, any fresh cutting couldbe easily identified and lead to reprisals.Five years ago, a dispute arose when someGullel villagers felled trees that the Pitigudavillagers thought belonged to them. Inretaliation, they stole a goat from the Gullelvillage the same night. By the time the theftwas discovered, the goat was eaten. Thematter could not be resolved at the villagelevel and the Gullel villagers filed a casewith the police. Finally both sides endedup paying some money to the police! Inanother incident, at the time of communalhunting, the Gullel villagers caught apeacock that they chased all the way fromthe forest to another village. The Pitiguda

villagers followed and asked them to returnthe peacock that they believed was theirs.

A new approach

The vigil of the forest protection workersnotwithstanding, illicit felling continuedand the forest deteriorated. Finally, the“Jungle Surakhya Sangh” was formed.Now two members of this committee keepan eye on the forest protection worker toascertain whether he is indulging in illegalselling of trees or allowing people to cuttrees in exchange for money or liquor.Recently, the Forest Department wantedto take over the forest by compensatingthe villagers. It offered both the villagesRs 70,000 and a mike set each as a rewardfor protecting the forest. The villagersreadily declined the offer, feeling that oncethe Forest Department came in, theywould lose control over the forestresources.

Thus the institutional structure ofcommunity forest protection has graduallyevolved in the face of hardship, decliningforest resources and conflicts,representing an excellent example ofadaptive management strategies for naturalresources.

(This case study was developed for anFTPP sponsored project at IIM,Ahmedabad. :Ed)

-��.�(� �� K C Malhotra1, N H Shyam & Shashi Stanley,

1Biological Science Division, IndianStatistical Institute, 203 BarrackporeTrunk Road, Calcutta 700 035


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“When a plane crashes, everyone on boarddies. That is because there is nothing tosave them if all the engines of the planefail. Instead, planes should fly together ina train, a horizontal formation in which itis possible to transfer people from oneplane to another if something happens.”Everybody laughed when MarutraoSarode said this. But when Anil Avchat,the Marathi writer interviewing him,mentioned this to Kulkarni, an engineer inPune, he was told that it was a brilliant,futuristic idea!

On another occasion, discussing irrigationin dry areas, Marurao talked aboutharvesting water from dew and humidity!

Everyone has always laughed at MarutraoSarode’s “crazy ideas” and called himeccentric. Only after he obtained his firstpatent for a groundnut pod separator didthe people of his village feel a glimmer ofpride for him.

Marutrao Sarode is over 80 years of age,but walks with the swift, erect gait of a25-year old. He has studied only up to thefirst standard, yet he has a patent to hisname. Agricultural universities get so manyresearch grants, yet most can't evenmanage one or two patents in a decade!Which just goes to show what oneperson’s genius and determination canaccomplish against all odds.

Marutrao Yashwant Sarode was born in1917 in Sade, a village in Rahuri taluka,Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra. Thedistrict is highly drought prone; land haslittle value and hardship is an everydayaffair. Despite possessing 20 acres of land,the Sarode family was poor. In the bestof circumstances, the Sarodes could reapabout 100 kg of bajra per acre. Marutrao,however, was rich in ideas and acompulsive innovator. This trait wasevident right from the beginning when hewas ten and designed a loom to reducestrain on weavers’ muscles.

Sometime later, Marutrao went to Indoreto stay with his uncle and got a job in acloth mill. This proved to be an extendedlearning experience: for the three years thathe was there, Marutrao scrutinized theworking of the textile machinery. At nighthe would lie awake beneath the millingmachine, thinking to himself that he coulddesign one like it and become the ownerof a mill. When he voiced his thoughts tohis fellow workers, they laughed at him,reminding him he was just a labourer.Finally, he resigned from his job, wentback to his village and sold the family’ssheep. He fabricated a ‘charkha’ and aloom. His younger brother and he beganmaking high quality carpets from woolobtained in the village. To prevent tanglingof the yarn while weaving, he developeda starch from tamarind seed.

Wool ginning machine

Meanwhile, Marutrao’s family fortuneswere on the decline. There wasa shortage of water. They hadtaken a gamble in digging a welland failed. He founded acooperative lift irrigation schemefor farmers after obtaining a loan.

But the scheme fizzled out and the bigfarmers started using this system withtheir own motors. Not a drop, of course,came his way. It was then that he beganto design a wool ginning machine basedon the cotton gin he had seen in Indore.He finalized the design in 1942 and overthe next six years, set about getting thecomponents for it from the districtheadquarters and from Mumbai’sLokhand bazaar. He acquired pedestalbush bearings and shafting. He fixed 1200nails on a wooden strip to form a comband mounted it on the outer flat surfaceof a belt pulley. A stationary comb of nailswas fixed in a curved housing below thepulley in such a way that nails on the pulleypassed between the teeth of the comb.The pulley had a sprocket attached, and achain and crank handle could be manuallyturned to achieve speeds between 60 and100 rpm. One person fed in the raw woolwhile another turned the handle. The ginworked continuously and efficiently for12 years; it still sits in the village.

The betrayal

In 1950, Marutrao turned his attentiontowards agriculture. Financially hurt byan experiment to grow Spanish peanutinstead of bajra on his land, he began towork out a way to deliver a leaner doseof granulated artificial fertilizer to the crop.He figured out a way to deliver the fertilizerwith the seed and redesigned a four-coultered seed drill to carry eight coulters:

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Marutrao Sarode1 is an 80-year-old farmer whose creativity has lead people to call him the Edison of their village.However, his many inventions have not brought him the reward and recognition he deserves. He obtained his firstpatent in 1990 with the help of Prof B K Dhonde. In May 1998 he was honoured by the Baliraja magazine. Thisarticle is the result of an entry by Prof B K Dhonde in a contest organised by Baliraja magazine and SRISTI tosearch innovative farmers. Inputs have also been taken from an article by Anil Avchat in the Diwali issue of Loksattain 1996.

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four for the seed and four for the fertilizer.The draft power for the seed drill wasstill the traditional two bullocks. Only now,two persons walked side by side to sowthe seed and simultaneously enrich the soil.

He used to travel from village to village ina bus with his invention on the roof, givingdemonstrations. Many people copied hisdesign but nobody bought it.

His design was a breakthrough in 1967-68. The Agricultural University and theAgriculture Department obtained 8000acres of land near his village. The scientistscopied his design and claimed it was theirown. They stole his ideas while promisinghim suitable rewards for his work. Manycarpenters and blacksmiths began mass-producing his seed drill and it was soldwidely by the Maharashtra Agro-Industries through Zila Parishads.However, no remuneration cameMarutrao’s way and he remained poor,realizing he had been cheated. After this,he began to work late at night, afraid thathis other ideas would be copied as well.Some well-wishers told him to patent hisdesign, but the layman scientist knewnothing about seeking a patent.

A patent at last

Groundnut is harvested by uprooting thewhole plant by grasping its foliage. Thepods are then separated by picking themindividually by hand, or in bulk by twistingthe roots with one hand while holding theplant firmly in the other, or by threshing:striking the roots on a horizontal stick orsteel blade. All these methods are tedious.Marutrao Yashwant Sarode designed and

fabricated a unique pod separator that usedrotating blades to snip off the pods. Heused a bullock-drawn blade harrow toloosen the plants first so that they werethen easy to uproot.

He had two friends, Marutrao Kadam, acobbler, and Gangaram Sakve, a carpenter.They used to help him after finishing theirown work, as they did not have any familyobligations. They would all havediscussions till late in the night.

Marutrao got his first patent for agroundnut pod separator sealed inDecember 1990 (patent no 175864), wellafter he had crossed the age of seventyand sixty years after his first invention.He still does not have access to the canalwater the village has been getting since1972. He is a poor man now, in debt andstruggling to make a living in Sade withhis partially disabled son. People don’tunderstand him. The village is full of newlyrich farmers of the younger generationwho think he is a madman. However, hisdreams are alive and he is brimming withnew ideas. He wants to work on aperpetual motion machine and says he willgo straight to the president of India whenhe succeeds. His ambition is to own afactory and make machines which wouldbe affordable by the poor. When askedwhat motivates him to continue beinginventive in the face of hardship andbetrayal, he said he was a follower ofSaraswati, the goddess of knowledge. Noteverybody was blessed with brains! Hewas, and he wants to use them.

This, then, is Marutrao Sarode. A manundeterred by misfortune, devoid ofbitterness in the face of betrayal, positivein his outlook and unafraid to aim high.What if he doesn’t succeed? That,according to him, is destiny. All that is inhis hands is to use his ability to the bestof his knowledge.

Prof Dhonde (1195/4B, Shivajinagar,Tulepule Building, FC Road, Pune - 5,Maharashtra), like Marutrao Sarode,belongs to Sade. However, his family wasless poor than the others and he was ableto get higher education. He has worked as

Chillachetu: A Natural Waterpurifier

A tree called ‘chillachettu’ (Strychnospotatoram) is found in the SrisailamTiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh andelsewhere in the deciduous forests ofthe state. It has been used for manyyears by the local people for thepurification of drinking water. They

grind theseeds of‘chilla-chettu’and add it tothe water thatsoon clears.Alternatively, afew seeds areadded alongwith a pinchof commonsalt to thewater. It is

mixed well and left standing for 15minutes. All suspended particles settledown at the base of the container.Now scientists have discovered that acompound isolated from the seeds iseffective in removing industrial pollutionfrom water. It can bind to toxic heavymetals like cadmium and mercury andeven uranium, thorium and otherradioactive isotopes within nuclearwaste.

Source : Hornbill, Volume 1994, No 1,page 13 & Eere Kumari, Munjavaram,East Godavari District, A.P. Collected byM.L. Sanyasi Rao, Secunderabad.

1PO Sade, Taluka Rahuri, DistrictAhmednagar, Maharashtra

a farm manager in Nigeria for six years. Hestarted a small-scale industry in 1967 inPune. He is a scientist and agriculturalengineer who has worked in theAgricultural College, Pune. He hasobtained three patents himself. Now at theage of 61 he devotes his time to writing andsocial work. His interests include soil andwater conservation, natural farming andenergy conservation. He spent his ownmoney to help Marutrao obtain a patent.


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9218 Oil engine runs a tractor

Mulubhai Senjaliya has made a smallfour-wheeled tractor using an oil engine.Though not very well educated, he isquite inventive. He owns 40 bighas

(about 13.35 acres) of land and runsa small shop for repairing implements.Seeing an oil engine of 4.5 HP one dayin 1996, he hit upon the idea of makinga tractor by connecting the pulley witha belt. He made a wooden stand, fixedthe oil-engine on it and then attachedfour tyres. Next, he fit the pulley, thebelt, a steering wheel, brakes, a handleto start the tractor and other necessaryparts required for running it. The tractor,costing Rs 45000, is used for ploughingand carrying loads.

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Team

Kirit K PatelDilip Koradia

Pravin H RohitChiman H Parmar

C SrinivasS Muralikrishna

Hema PatelRiya Sinha

Anil K GuptaParesh Shah

Collaborating Institutions

Mahila Gram Vidyapith, Nardipur

Gram Bharati, Amrapur

Sabar Gram Vidyapith, Sonasan

Lok Niketan Vidyapith, Ratanpur

Lok Bharati, Sanosara

Nootan Bharti Vidyapith, Madanagadh

J C Kumarappa Gram Vidyapith, Gadhada

B M Shah Gram Vidyapith, Zilia

Nootan Gram Vidyapith, Thava

Banas Gram Vidyapith, Amirgadh

B R S College, Dumiyani

Gandhi Gram Vidyapith, Vedachhi

B R S College, Shardagram

Shree Saraswati Gram Vidyapith, Samoda

Gujarat Agricultural University

Dept of Rural Development, Govt of Gujarat

Dept of Education, Govt of Gujarat

Dept of Forest and Environment, Govt of Gujarat

Jai Research Foundation, Vapi

L M Pharmacy College, Ahmedabad

Bharatiya Agro-Industries Foundation

Department of Microbiology, Gujarat University

M S University of Baroda

National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

Even Sweet : Odd BitterNurturing grassroots ingenuity

Farmers develop unique ways of solving complex problems. Many times whenwe go to buy ridge gourd, we have to taste them to separate the sweet onesfrom the bitter. Vallabhbhai has come up with a unique way to separate the sweetand bitter ridge gourd. Readers may recall Bhanjibhai (HB 7(3), p. 7) who haddeveloped a 10 HP tractor and was penalised by the RTO for daring to bringit on the road. Now Malubhai has gone a step further. He has developed a 4.5HP tractor. Apparently, the whole transport department will line up to arrest andharass this farmer! Hasn’t he committed a serious offence by developing a lowcost and low energy machine when so many costly and energy inefficientalternatives are available? We hope readers will write to their MPs asking themwhether they have read our open letter and also whether they have done anythingso far to make the lives of innovators easier. Otherwise, the slogan of Jai Vigyanwill remain an empty exhortation.

(NAPDB: NAPRALERT Database on Natural Products, UIC, Chicago)

The tractor has five gears: four highgears and one reverse gear. A hydraulictrolley forged by Mulubhai can beconnected to the tractor. All types ofagricultural implements can be connectedto it. It can draw about 80 poundsof load.

The tractor has certain limitations, forinstance, to start the engine one has touse a handle.

Mulubhai Shambhubhai Senjaliya, districtJunagadh. Comm: Jagdish L. Vaghela

9219 Gourd: odd or even?

Vallabhai Premjibhai Bhadabhi, a farmerin Amreli, can say without tasting whether


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ridge gourd is sweet or bitter. Accordingto him, if there are an even number ofraised ridges on the skin of the ridge gourd,it is likely to be sweet and if there are anodd number of raised ridges, the ridgegourd is likely to be bitter. He has beenusing this method for ascertaining the tasteof gourd for the last 50 years. His fatherpassed on this knowledge to him.

Vallabhbhai Premjibhai Bhadabhi, districtAmreli. Comm: Mahesh Parmar

9220 Weather forecast

Naranbhai Kesharbhai Vadodariya, afarmer of district Junagadh, claims thathe can predict rains by observing a naturalphenomenon. The natural phenomenon isknown by the name of “datardu” orsickle. It can be seen around the moon atnine ‘o’ clock on the night of Vaishakhsudi 8 (eighth day of the bright half of themonth of Vaishakh). The rains can beforecast by observing the location of themoon on the sickle. If the moon is on thepointed end of the sickle, scanty rains areindicated. If the moon is positioned at themiddle of the sickle, medium rains areindicated. If it is located on the handle ofthe sickle, the forecast is good or heavyrains.

Naranbhai Kesharbhai Vadodariya,district Junagadh. Comm: Hamirsingh RBabariya

9221 Prevention of black spots inmangoes

The fruit of the mango tree ripens in hotsummer. When the rays fall directly on

the ripening fruit with the intense heat of

the sun, the skin of the fruit gets burntand black marks begin to develop. Thewhole fruit gets spoiled. Tulsibhai Gohiluses the leaves of ‘khakhra’ (Buteamonosperma) as a remedy against thisdamage.

The fruits ripening on the tree are coveredwith bowls made from ‘khakhra’ leaves.This prevents the rays from falling directlyon the fruits. It is a labour intensiveprocess and some extra expenditure hasto be incurred. Hence only a few peopleadopt this method though it can protect60 percent fruit from spoilage.

Tulsibhai Jivabhai Gohil, districtBhavnagar. Comm: Raghavbhai T Gohil

9222 Preventing mango losses

Mango farmers often suffer heavy losseswhen crop yields decline due toinflorescence and premature fruitdropping. If the trunks of the mango treesare covered with ‘kodara’ (a light cereal)straw before the monsoon, there will begood fruit setting in the next season.

Vanzara Beramji Thakraji, Taluka Bhiloda.Comm: Taral Kantibhai R

9223 Storage of cereals

Gram leaves can be used for safe storageof cereals like wheat and maize over a longduration of time. The gram leaves areground and mixed with the cereal.

Dodiyar Nanjibhai Maknaji, TalukaBhiloda. Comm: Taral Kantibhai R

Animal husbandry practices

9224 Arthritis

Cattle suffering from arthritis experiencegreat difficulty in walking. Their jointsbecome stiff and they cannot be used forploughing or drawing loads. Rajeshbhaiof the village Jambla uses the internal barkof Moringa pterygosperma and‘sangheda’ trees to

The Dancing Orchid

Pradit Khampermpoon, one ofThailand’s best known orchidgrowers, has created a new hybridplant, Udon sunshine, that respondsto the human voice by dancing, orat least moving its leaves in a mannerthat resembles the Ram Wong, a Thaifolk dance. The two small leaves atthe base of the main leaf move ina wavelike motion in response tosinging. The plants don’t respond

well to electronic devices, but areeasily set in motion by saxophonesand flutes. Nobody knows what makesthem dance. Whatever it is, Pradit’ssunshine garden has drawn a largenumber of people, some of whom arefrom the local hospitals and come fortherapeutic reasons. Pradit has notyet patented his new hybrid, nor doeshe intend to market it right now. Hefeels that if he sells it now, someonewill buy it, open a big air-conditionednursery and make a lot of money. Butthat will not benefit the poor peopleof North-East Thailand in any way.Instead, he is hoping to find apractical application for his dancingplant as either a tea or medicine.

Source: Times of India, 29th May, 1998


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relieve the affected cattle of pain. Onekg of the internal bark of this tree ismixed with four litres of water and themixture is boiled till it is reduced to halfits original volume. Then it is removedfrom the fire, cooled and rubbed on thejoints of the cattle. The massage shouldbe continued at intervals till the paindisappears.

Rajeshbhai Mathurbhai Radadia, districtJunagadh. Comm: Subha Chandra G.Chothani

(NAPDB: The dried root and stem ofMoringa pterygosperma is used fortreating rheumatism and arthritis inhuman beings also. (Ref: Kerharo J (1969)Plant Med Phytother. 3: 214-219))

9225 Diarrhoea

Dahyabhai of village Raiyali uses thepowder of the seeds of Tamarindusindica to cure cattle of diarrhoea. A finepowder of 500 g of tamarind seeds ismixed with half the quantity of waterand fed to the cattle. The mixture is

administered for five or six days. Thispractice has been followed forgenerations in this village and, accordingto Dahyabhai, yields very good results.

Dahyabhai Ranchhodbhai Vankar, districtKheda, Comm: Ramesh V Vankar

(NAPDB: The dry fruit pulp of Tamarindusindica is used in the human adult fortreating diarrhoea and blood dysentery.(Ref: Chabra SC et al (1987) J

Ethnopharmacol 21: 253-277, Singh YN(1986) J Ethnopharmacol 151: 57-88))

9226 Tonic for chickens

Bhikhabhai, a tribal farmer of villageGadia, supplements his agricultural

income by rearing 40-50 chickens.Sometimes, the chickens suffer fromacute diarrhoea and become weak andexhausted. In order to rejuvenate them,Bhikhabhai gives them a tonic madefrom the pods of ‘garmalo’ (Cassiafistula), onions and garlic.

Green pods of ‘garmalo’, or IndianLaburnum, are cut into small pieces andground with water. About 100 g of thisjuice is mixed with the essence of oneknot of garlic, two onions and 100 mlof water. This mixture is fed to thechickens whenever they feel veryhungry. The thick liquid rejuvenates thechickens in a day or so.

Bhikhabhai says that many people of thetribal area use this tonic for theirchickens.

Bhikhabhai Limbabhai Solanki, districtPanchamahal. Comm: Pravin H Rohit.

9227 Premature fruit drop canprotect gram

Pulses are even more difficult to storethan cereals. Premature fruit drop ofmango can be used to store pulses likegram. About 200 g of the dried mangofruit is mixed with 20 kg of gram.

Dodiyar Nanjibhai Maknaji, TalukaBhiloda, Comm: Taral Kantibhai R

Ancient Remedy for Burn Injuries

An ancient manuscript discovered ina dusty hospital basement will helpdoctors treat burn victims in the 21st

century. Scientists at Britain’sBradford Royal Infirmary found a12000 word Latin essay, “DeCombustionibus” (About Burns),written by Wilhelm Fabry. Surgeonshave hailed it as a medicalmasterpiece. The formulas it containshave been said to be “astonishinglyeffective” and will provide clues totreat patients in the next millennium.

Fabry was the first doctor to classifyburns in three degrees according toseverity and depth. He invented 200surgical instruments, wrote sevenbooks and 600 case studies.

Source: Brian Duffy, MID-DAY, May31st, 1995

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Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)

FMD is a viral disease that primarily affects cattle. The disease spreads rapidly. Common symptoms includetemperature, and blisters in the mouth and between the hooves. While death rates are not high, productivity of the

animals is severely affected.

S. Ingredients Method Dosage Source farmerNo.

1 50 g Withania somnifera roots Grind roots and feed Once daily for Samappato animal 2-3 days

2 50 g Butea monosperma bark Powder the bark and Once daily Samappafeed animal for 2-3 days

3 One kg Trigonella foenum-graecum Feed directly to affected Once Sharfuddinleaves, three Musa sapientum fruits animal

4 A handful of Coriandrum sativum Feed directly Once daily Ismailappaleaves, three Musa sapientum fruits for 3 days

5 A handful of Vitex negundo leaves, Mix together and feed Once Rubamma50 g dry grounded coconut, three the animal

Musa sapientum fruits and one kgTrigonella foenum-graecum leaves

6 Two fruits of Aegle marmelos Feed directly Once or twice Tuljamma7 A handful of Extract juice and Once Tukamma

Cassia auriculata leaves administer

(NAPDB: Withania somnifera displays antiviral activity in ethanol/water extract against Tobacco Mosaic Virus(Ref: Roychoudhari R (1980) Acta Bot. Indica 81: 91-94) and Spinach Mosaic Virus (Ref: Zaidi 2B et al (1988)Curr. Science 57 (3): 151-152)

Butea monosperma is reported to be inactive against Vaccinia virus and Ranikhet virus. (Ref: Dhar ML, et al(1973), Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 11:43)

The fruits of Musa sapientum are commonly used to treat stomach ailments.

The ethanolic extract of Vitex negundo is active against Tobacco Mosaic Virus (Ref:Khan M et al (1991) PlantScience 75: 161-165))

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Dr Khan Shaheen Hamed

With this issue we start a series on local veterinary healing systems observed in the Medak region of A.P. An attemptis being made by the Deccan Development Society’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra to document all such practices and validatethem scientifically. The effort being made by Dr Khan Shaheen Hamed in this regard is indeed commendable. Inthis issue we will deal with three important livestock diseases, Foot and Mouth disease, Tympany and Diarrhoea.All information has been collected from farmers in rural Medak. We invite comments from readers so that the providersof this information also benefit from an exchange of views.


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Diarrhoea

S. No. Ingredients Method Dosage Source Farmer

1 250 ml curd, Securinega obovata Extract juice from leaves, Twice daily Bheemapappaleaves mix with curd for 2 days

2 10 g of rhizome of Curcuma domestica, Mix, apply on tongue Thrice daily Bheemapappa10 g butter of animal for 3 days

3 250 g of Oryza sativa seeds Feed directly Once daily Sharfuddinfor 3 days

4 One dry coconut, a handful of Grind together and mix, Once daily AniappaBambusa spinosa leaves, 50 g feed bolus to animal for 2 daysAnethum graveolens seeds

5 Five Semecarpus anacardium seeds, jaggery Mix and grind Once Buvvamma

6 200 g of Punica granatum leaves Powder the leaves Twice daily Bagammafor 2 days

7 20 g seeds of Cuminum cyminum Powder, add water, Once daily Erammadrench to animal for 3 days

(NAPDB: Curcuma domestica is reported to cure diarrhoea (Ref: Deka et al (1983) Ancient Science 32: 108-105)

The dried seed decoction of Anethum graveolens is used to treat diarrhoea in human adults. (Ref: Perez C & AnesiniC (1994) Fitoterapia 65(2): 19-172)

The dried bark, flowers and leaves of Punica granatum are used extensively to treat diarrhoea and blood dysentery.(Ref: Singh YN (1986), J. Ethnppharmacol 15 1:57-88), Zhang N (1986), Fujian Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine19 3: 13-14)

Tympany

Tympany or bloat is a common condition in cattle and results when the muscles of the rumen (stomach) becomeinactive. This usually happens due to poisonous substances eaten by the animal. The gas produced during the

digestive process gets trapped in the rumen and bloating takes place.

S. No. Ingredients Method Dosage Source Farmer

1 10 g Trachyspermum ammi seeds, Grind and mix together, Once daily Bhimappaone bulb of Allium sativum, a handful feed bolus to animal for 2-3 daysof Gynandropsis pentaphylla leaves

2 50 g each of dry coconut, Powder, mix water Once daily SamappaAnethum graveolens seeds and for 2 daysCajanas cajan seeds

3 Five g sodium bicarbonate and Mix and feed Once Ismailappa0.25 kg sweet oil

4 10 g Trachyspermum ammi seeds, Grind and mix Once daily Aniappa10 g Coriandrum sativum seeds, for 2-3 daysjuice of 0.75 kg. ofTamarindus indica fruits

5 A handful Tylophora indica leaves, Grind and mix together Once daily Narsimhlufive g tine soda or sodium bicarbonate for 2 daysand water

6 50 g of Soymidia febrifuga bark Powder and feed Once daily Tuliammafor 2-3 days

7 A few Piper nigrum seeds Powder, apply on tongue Once Pushpalatamma


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This membership entitles you to receive the newsletter and other information about the network. Please send yourcontributions through bank draft or postal order or money order in favour of Sristi Innovations at the editorialaddress: C/o Prof Anil K Gupta, Editor, Honey Bee, Indian Institute of Management, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015,India. Email: [email protected] Fax: 91-79-6427896, Home Page: http://csf.colorado.edu/sristi

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An Invitation to join a global movement to conserve biodiversity through documentation, experimentation and valueaddition and dissemination of local innovations by farmers, pastoralists, artisans, horticulturists men and women. You

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What is Honey Bee?

The name Honey Bee signifies a philosophy of discourse which is authentic, accountableand fair. Honey bee does two things which many of us don’t. Honey bee collects pollenwithout impoverishing the flowers, and it connects flower to flower through pollination. Theidea is that when we collect knowledge of people, we should ensure that people don’t

become poorer after sharing their insights with us. Further, we should also connect one innovatorwith another through feedback, communication and networking in their local language. Honey Bee isbrought out in six languages through collaborators. Write to us if you would like to contribute to thisnetwork. You can become part of the Honey Bee network and get the newsletter by paying yourannual/life membership fee as suggested in the table.

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Nature’s capacity to heal has been well known. This is an extraordinary story of how Amith, a spastic child, wasbenefitted by the healing powers of plants. We look forward to hearing from our readers about similar instanceswith nature they may have had.

Protecting Amaranthus

Farmers of Karuppankulangara, aremote village in the Allepey districtof Kerala, have hit upon a unique,non-chemical way of dealing with themenace of leaf-hoppers and locusts.These pests used to eat the leavesand destroy a sizeable part of theAmaranthus crop, grown as avegetable in the fallow paddyfields.

Now farmers spread powderedgroundnut cake on the Amaranthusplots in the evening. The insects thatcome in droves to the field areattracted to the groundnut cake andconsume it instead of the Amaranthus.The groundnut expands and owing tothe high oil content, the insects feelthirsty. They are driven to drink a lotof water in the small ponds nearby.The next morning the farmers see alarge number of dead insects on theponds. They drank so much that theydied!

Not only does groundnut cake protectthe Amaranthus crop, it is also agood organic manure.

Source: Suresh Muthukulam,Agriculture Officer, Farm InformationBureau, Trivandrum-33, Kerala

The family of Dr Bhas, a resident ofThiruvananthapuram, was struck bymisfortune when his son was bornspastic. The child, called Amith, was bynature depressed, unresponsive andinactive. He was diagnosed by physiciansas suffering from “Hypoxic ischemia”,an incurable condition. Physiotherapywas tried for Amith’s over allimprovement, but was discontinuedowing to his lack of cooperation.

Then Dr Bhas noted that Amith showedan interest in plants. Dr. Bhas had asmall garden in the roof of his house.He grew about 25 varieties of vegetablesand fruits, mostly in gunny bags filledwith cowdung and the soil collectedfrom sewage canals near the house. Hewould place the gunny bags on theterrace and use the waste water collectedfrom the kitchen and wash basins forirrigating the plants. Apart from cowdungand compost made from kitchen andhouse waste, Bhas used fermented blackmould collected from the terrace formanure. Plants were grown organically.Insect pests were collected by hand anddestroyed. Smoking with coconut huskand spraying of biopesticides like neemdecoction was also done. A variety ofvegetables including bhindi, brinjal,tomato and cowpea were grown ingunny bags. The produce was not onlysufficient to meet the needs of Bhas’family, but also provided them with anincome of around Rs. 10,000 per yearfrom the sale of organic vegetables toneighbors.

With the help of his parents, Amithgradually got involved in the gardenactivities of his father. An amazingimprovement was noticed in the childafter his involvement in horticultural

activities. His motor skill as well ascognitive and linguistic skills improvedremarkably. He moved from one gunnybag to another, watered plants, pluckedthe vegetable produce and collected theinsect pests. This movement aided inthe gradual improvement of his motorskills. His cognitive development tookplace as over time he began to distinguishbetween various garden tools and plants.Together with the garden therapy, hisfamily made constant efforts to improvehis linguistic ability both in listening andself expression.

When horticultural therapy was started,Amith was two-and-a-half years oldwith a mental age of one-and-a-halfyears and motor age of 11 months.Now at five years of age, Amith showsa mental age of six years and motorage of two-and-a-half years (recordedby the Medical College,Thiruvananthpuram).

Dr Bhas has developed a new practicaland comprehensive package of practicesfor terrace cultivation. His family spendsmany happy moments in theterrace garden each morning andevening watching Amith grow in joy andhealth.

(Dr V S Vijayendra Bhas is working as aResearch Fellow in the Department ofApplied Linguistics attached to St. XaviersCollege, Thiruvananthapuram. Dr Bhas ispresenting a paper on his new approachof helping spastic children at theinternational physiotherapist conferenceto beheld at Thiravananthapuram SreeChithira Thirunal Institute of MedicinalSciences. :Ed)

1Agricultural Officer, “Anjana”, TC 25/3179, Vanchiyoor, Thiruvanthapuram -695 035

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Honey Bee Network Members getAwards

We congratulate our network membersHirjibhai Bhingradiya (Malpara, distBhavnagar), Vijayaben Govindji-dattani(PO Jamkalyanpur, dist Jamnagar),Murjibhai Lavjibhai Bhalani (PO Sampara,Sidisar, dist Bhavnagar), GafarbhaiMuhammad-bhai Kureshi (Ramlechi, Gir,dist Junagadh), Maheshbhai ChhagganbhaiPatel (PO Dharampuri, Zila Barodara),Jethalal Samardas Patel and KamlabenJethalal Patel (PO Dugharwada, distSabarkatha) for getting the KrishiSanshodhan Puruskar (AgriculturalResearch Award) 97-98. The ChiefMinister Keshubhai Patel honoured themat a function in Gandhinagar on 19th May1998.

Hittalagida Network Meeting:‘Indigenous Knowledge Systems, LocalResources and SustainableDevelopment”

Nearly 150 farmers attended the latestmeeting of the Hittalagida (Kannadaversion of Honey Bee) network. They meton 9th May at the farm of Mr B S Dineshin Saru village of Shimoga district,Karnataka.

Mr B S Dinesh is an innovative farmer(see p. 8, 9208) who had been invited tothe ICCIG conference in Ahmedabad lastyear. His innovation was the ‘mukkadaka’(Lasiosiphon eriocephalus) biopesticideagainst paddy pests. In fact, many farmersin the meeting volunteered to take up the‘mukkadaka’ biopesticide for on-farmvalidation.

The Hittalagida meeting saw wide rangingdiscussions on native food habits,improvement of local plant protectionmeasures, measures to strengthen thenetwork, conservation of the Westernghats, WTO, IPR and indigenousknowledge systems. It was suggested thata systematic survey and documentationof traditional food habits along with nativefruits, flowers and vegetables needs to bedone. Apprehension about the harmfuleffects of GATT and IPR were expressed.

ICAR Recognizes Creativity ofFarmers- Jagjivan Ram KisanPuruskar Awards

The Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch has decided to sponsor oneannual award of Rs 1,00,000 to aninnovative farmer involved in any field ofagriculture. The aim of the award is torecognise outstanding contributions ofinnovative farmers.

The award, titled “Jagjivan Ram KisanPuruskar Award”, will be given forcreative approaches and initiative, for eg.innovative farming technology leading toenhanced productivity. It can includeactivities in resource conservation,conservation of plant, animal or fishspecies, improvement in production andproductivity of a commodity or species,soil and water conservation, innovationsin dry farming techniques, developmentof better tools and equipment, new,improved food and feed products andcontrol of diseases in plants and animals.Any farmer who has been practicingagriculture, livestock rearing or an alliedactivity for at least ten years is eligible forthe award. A five member jury appointedby the D.G., ICAR, including one repre-sentative farmer, will scrutinize theapplications for the award. The award willbe given in the form of a citation and prizemoney.

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Innovations by Farmers in CentralAfrica

The Central African forests are noteasy environments to farm or make aliving. Constant innovation is neededin order to maintain yields.

An innovator in Mbalmayo, Cameroon,planted the vine Sida veronicifolia inhis fallow land to restore soil fertility,said to have been degraded by misuseof fertilizer. The leader of one women’sgroup planted sweet potatoes to maintainsoil moisture in her field. There wasdrought but her crops did not fail.Other innovations includeexperimentation with different soil typesfor pineapple, cassava planting methods,soybean cultivation and processing,use of Elone (Erythrophleumsuaveolans) bark as a pesticide intomato fields for nematode control,storing maize seed in ash for pest anddisease control and puttingChromolaena leaves in plantain holesbefore planting for plantain stem borercontrol.

Diane Russell, C/O BCN/WWF, 1250 24th

Street, Washington DC 20037.


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Indigenous Techno-logies of Agriculturein Bangladesh

Bangladesh Academy of Agriculture,372/B, Khilgaon Taltola, Dhaka-1219,Bangladesh.1997. Tk 500. p.160.

This book is the result of an attempt todocument and disseminate indigenoustechnologies in agriculture by theBangladesh Academy of Agriculture. Inthe face of a deteriorating agro-ecological system and decliningproductivity, it is an effort to promotethe systems and methods of alternateagriculture practiced by innovativefarmers. Exactly 169 technologies havebeen classified and presented sector andactivity wise, the majority being in thecrop sector.

Bangladesh is highly prone to naturalcalamities like floods, cyclones anddrought. Adverse conditions have forcedthe farmers to develop innovativepractices to survive. The practices are amixture of common sense and ruralwisdom. For instance, some farmerspreserve tomatoes by keeping them in acool sand bed. They can thus delayselling the tomatoes by 30-45 days andget a better price for them.

The livestock practices documentedinclude treatment of diseases, hatchingof eggs and their preservation andsupplementary feeds for milch cows.For example, the fruits of ‘babla’(Acacia nilotica)(Acacia nilotica)(Acacia nilotica)(Acacia nilotica)(Acacia nilotica) and ‘malancha’(Alternanthera philoxeroides)(Alternanthera philoxeroides)(Alternanthera philoxeroides)(Alternanthera philoxeroides)(Alternanthera philoxeroides) arereported as being highly effective inimproving the health of the cattle.

Under the fisheries sector, practices forcontrol of diseases, increasingproductivity and use of different typesof nets and other fishing implements arerecorded here. For instance, fishfarmers throw lime, banana plant andbranches of the neem tree along withleaves into the fish pond to prevent andcure diseases like ‘khatarogh’.Most

practices arise simply because ingenuityis needed in order to meet basic needs.For instance, in remote areas wherekerosene may not be available,indigenous tribal people have a novelway of lighting their lamps. They usethe cell sap of ‘sal’ (Shorea robustaShorea robustaShorea robustaShorea robustaShorea robusta)and ‘garjan’ (Dipterocarpus turbinatusDipterocarpus turbinatusDipterocarpus turbinatusDipterocarpus turbinatusDipterocarpus turbinatus)to light their lamps!

All in all, this is a useful book not onlyfor practicing farmers, scientists and

extension workers, butalso for anyone interestedin indigenous knowledgesystems.

Oryza Nirvana?

An NGO review of the Inter-national RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) in Southeast Asia.

Nicanor Perlas and Renee Vellve SearicePublication, 83 Madasalin St., SikatunaVillage, Quezon City 1101, Philippines.1997, p.181.

International Agricultural Research centresare credited with having heralded theGreen Revolution in much of Asia, thesocial and environmental consequences ofwhich have been debated for long. What isnew then in the publication under review?

The Southeast Asian Regional Institute forCommunity Education (SEARICE)undertook this review of the IRRI at thebehest of a coalition of NGOs. TheReview provides a comprehensiveaccount of the way the mandate of IRRIevolved over the years. SEARICEconcludes that IRRI has failed to serveits purpose of generating self-sufficiencyin an environment friendly manner, givenits insularity to local farmers and socialgroups working with them. Much of thecriticism in the Review is relevant. Forinstance, the Review points out that thebreeding material generated by IRRI’sinternational nursery could be drawnupon in local crossing programmes asper the goals of national and regionalbreeding priorities. But most nationalscientists in recent years merely screen

the material provided by IRRI and selectthe lines for local cultivation. The numberof varieties released has increasedconsiderably as a consequence even ifgenetic uniformity has also increased paripassu. Obviously the IRRI has createdconditions for decline of genetic diversity,but why did national governments(serving on the board of IRRI and co-operating with IRRI) not do anything toreverse the trend? It is also true that IRRIstill focuses on use of chemical pesticidesfor pest management. The focus of IPMprogrammes in most countries has beento legitimise the use of chemical pesticidesas an essential evil. Decline in the budgetof Ecosystems approach at IRRI is citedas an evidence of further divorce of IRRIfrom farmer oriented holistic concerns.

On the issue of germplasm collection atIRRI, it is highlighted that more than eightypercent is donated by more than 113countries while only the rest is collectedby IRI scientists. Interestingly, the largestrecipient of rice germplasm in 1993 wasnot a developing country, but UK, whichdoes not have any rice cultivation worththe name. But UK certainly has abiotechnology industry. The Review seesno good in biotechnology research nomatter who does it and for what purpose-a view too extremist for us to accept. Thedanger of narrowing the genetic base ofHYVs is highlighted with the tellingexample of South Korea which had morethan 75 per cent of its area under HYVsof a very few varieties. In 1981, it had amajor crop loss and imported one billionUS dollars worth rice from variouscountries- the largest import in the historyof the green revolution.

The Review concludes that a farmeroriented approach to develop non chemicalalternatives is needed to ensure economic,environmental and social sustainability. Agoal, SEARICE believes, is beyond thecapability of IRRI. The review is worthreading, despite all its biases (many ofwhich we share) and must be read byevery NGO and activist involved inreorienting agricultural research andmaking it more participatory.


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Greetings from Colombia

Mario Mejia GutierrezCarrera 43 #10-50 Apto 502, Telifono0092 3368531. Cali, Valle, Colombia,South America.

I sent you two sets of a book titled“Saber popular y medicina veterinariaherbaria” a year ago. There arefourteen pages in it from Honey Beeabout Indian indigenous knowledge.

During my travels in your wonderfulcountry I have affirmed my own karma.I was very impressed by some farmerswe visited. The families’ unity and willto work was truly admirable. I don’tventure to say that it was just anexample of family enterprise. It issomething totally Indian.

I am writing a new book titled“Agriculturas de no violencia: haciamodelos de armonma” . I intend toinclude a chapter about Gandhi’sagricultural ideas and another about thetraditional Indian practices documentedin Honey Bee.

(Mario, your book has come out very welland we welcome your effort to populariseHoney Bee innovations in Columbia.Please send us both traditional andcontemporary innovations from yourregion. Hopefully, the Spanish version ofHoney Bee will one day provide a bridgebetween farmers of Latin America and therest of the world. :Ed)

Open Letter to Parliamentarians

Prem SharmaParticipatory Watershed ManagementTraining in Asia (PWMTA) ProgrammeGCP/RAS/161/NET, FAO (UN), P.O.Box25, Kathmandu, Nepal

I want to seek your permission to re-produce a synthesis of your open letterto the parliamentarians in the 9(1) issueof Honey Bee, Jan-March 1998.

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There seems to be a conspiracy ofsilence and indifference on issues of thepeople’s knowledge and creativity. It isultimately the ethics, excellence,efficiency, equity and environmentalconsciousness at the grassroots level,which will help not only India, but alsoother developing countries get out of themorass of mediocrity at higher levels inour society.

(Thank you Prem for your effort topopularise the key ideas of our editorial(HB 9(1)) through your network. I agreewith you that a wider debate needs to takeplace on these questions, not just in Indiabut in every society. Unfortunately none ofthe parliamentarians have as yet repliedto our open letter. :Ed)

A Hodge-podge of Ideas!

Lucille Elna Parreno-de GuzmanDepartment of Agronomy, UP Los Banos,College, Laguna, 4031 Philippines

I am interested in writing a short articlefor Honey Bee. As of now I don’t haveany concrete paper. I have been workingon the validation of IndigenousKnowledge, but it is still in the initialstages. I do believe sharing knowledgewith the people is a necessary part ofthe research. I included it in mymethodology because the validation oftheir IK would make the communitiesproud of their knowledge. It wouldmake some of them realize that whatthey have been doing for a long timeis better and more ecologically soundand stable than modern practices.

Maybe after I do my field research thissummer in Mindanao, I can developsomething that will be worth sharing withothers. What we have as of now is justa “hodge-podge” of some indigenouspractices from different parts of thePhilippines, shared with us by our shortcourse participants, some readers of ourAgroforestry Seed Circular, students ofDr. Pam Fernandez and so on.

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An all Natural Biostimulant

Dane HobbsInnovations, 10801 HWY 36 N,Brenham, Texas 77833

While the industry has embracedsynthetically-derived plant growthhormones such as cytokinens for useas foliar biostimulants, natural productshave been almost totally ignored. I haveconducted my own experiments foralmost ten years using seaweed, fishhydrosylate, enzymes and otherproprietary products. I have developedan all natural and organic biostimulant,ACCELERATOR

TM , specifically to

address the needs of plants and thesoil. It can be foliarly applied, addedto drip irrigation systems or simplywatered in.

My tests with this product were onfruit and nut trees as well as variousshrubs and flowers. Results wereoutstanding with less than ideal weatherconditions. Kelly Klober (a columnistfor Small Farm Today) also testedACCELERATOR

TM as a drench for

vegetables. He found that the qualityof vegetables improved and there werefewer disease problems. Many othergrowers have reported similar results.I am just a one-man company whocannot afford extensive universityresearch but my customers know thatthis product works and that is all thatmatters to them!

(We are extremely happy to learn aboutyour innovation and hope that therecan be collaborations between smallscale informal innovators like you andlarge scale commercial innovators. Wehope you join the Honey Bee network.:Ed)

(Lucille, send us the “hodge-podge”innovations and ideas: Who knows, thishodge-podge may trigger innovationselsewhere! It is this hodge-podge world of

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peasants that a rational, reductionist mindoften fails to appreciate. Keep it up. Wehope to hear from you soon. :Ed)

Organic Farming

Shekhar A Karpe2 Manglam Chambers, Paud Road, Pune- 411 038, PH: 366741

I do organic farming on three acres ofcoconut plantation at Alibay. Every yearI dig semicircular pits around the trees.I put cowdung, paddy straw, 1 kgNimboni seed cake, 1 kg karanj seedcake and 2 kg bone meal in the pitsand then cover them. Along with thisI add a small teaspoon of milk bacterialculture of Azosphinlium ‘p’ soluble andDecomposition bacteria.

In October when the paddy fields areharvested, I spread straw obtained fromsaline land with a little cowdung to keepthe soil moist. The soil here is sandyso we have to increase its humuscontent. To control fungal diseases asolution of ‘suran’ (elephants foot) issprayed. For controlling the dungrollerwe place some asafoetida on the apicalbuds of the tree.

I do intercropping with arecanut, coconutand banana. At present I sell the bananaand coconut in the local market. I amhappy that I can supply chemical freefood. I have sent my grain samples toNCI to find out if there are anychemical residues in the sample becauseI have been farming here for just twoyears.

I am not interested in exporting thisvaluable food to foreigners. Let peopletry the products and find out forthemselves the difference in taste andnutrient value.

(Shekhar, do you know that you can alsoadvertise organic products in Honey Bee?We are starting a service for small scaleinnovators producing natural products toadvertise at low rates in Honey Bee sothat they can scale up their innovations.Keep it up and share with us your latestefforts. :Ed)

Ecological Agriculture

SabarmateeSAMBHAV, Rohibanu - 752090, Orissa

I went through a copy of Honey Beeat a friend’s place in Auroville and foundit really interesting. I shall be glad to beincluded in your mailing list.

SAMBHAV is a grassroots level initiativeworking in rural areas on environmentaland gender issues. A wide range ofpeople from all walks of life like themedia, NGOs, government officials,schoolchildren, farmers, tribals andresearchers visit our campus. It isa 90-acre farm practising ecologicalagriculture. We use a great deal ofteaching and learning materials at ourfarm, so any publications from yourcentre will be of help to us.

(Sabarmatee, we have sent you our lastissue, a membership form and a note onSRISTI. We hope that you join the HoneyBee network. Please also considermobilising others to revive the Oriya HoneyBee that Dr Rath (Crafts of Worth Society,5202, Goutam Nagar, Bhubaneshwar 751014, Orissa ) had pioneered. :Ed)

Honey Bee in Ethiopian extention

Marianne van ArkelTA International Education Project, Dept.of Agricultural Extension, PO Box 138,Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

I am writing to you on behalf of theDepartment of Agriculture Extension atAlemaya University of Agriculture(Ethiopia). The central objective of thedepartment is to create professionalextension personnel who can initiate,organise and execute effective extensionprograms in rural environments of thecountry.

We are very interested in the Honey Beenetwork for exchange of informationabout indigenous ecological andtechnological innovations. Wewould like to join the network and willsubmit suitable materials from thisregion.

(Marianne, we are happy that theEthiopian extension service would like tolearn from the Honey Bee network. TheIndian extension system is yet to do thisformally. Please let us know if we canhelp in any way. We are sending acomplete set of Honey Bee issues as a giftand hope to receive information on localinnovations from you. Do think aboutbringing out a local version of the HoneyBee newsletter. :Ed)

Kudos to Honey Bee!

Vijay DhasmanaC/O Shakti Vihar, Adhoiwala, RaipurRd., Dehradun, UP - 248001

First, let me congratulate you on bringingout such a wonderful magazine. I amamazed at the service Honey Bee isdoing.

I have been associated with thedevelopmental sector for the last fiveyears. During these years, I realisedthat the environment movement is anintensely personal one, like a questseeking harmony both within andwithout.

I find Honey Bee extremely useful forthe food and health part of my prioritiesand would be happy to take anyinitiatives in this regard.

(Vijay, we aren’t doing anything great.We merely make a humble effort to expandspace in our society for unlettered andunsung heroes and heroines. You arewelcome to contribute innovations withthe name and address of the innovators.After all, why should they remainanonymous when we all clamour forrecognition ourselves? :Ed)

�

Cul

ture

s &

D

evel

opm

ent

If u

ndel

iver

ed p

leas

e re

turn

to

Pro

f A

nil

K G

upta

Indi

an I

nsti

tute

of

Man

agem

ent

Vas

trap

ur,

Ahm

edab

ad 3

80 0

15In

dia

Reg

iste

red

New

spap

er

Tamil

Loksarv

ani

SRISTI

P O B

ox 15050

Ambawad

i P O

Ahmedab

ad 380 015

Hindi

Telugu

Kanna

da

Gujarat

iSpanish (?)

Bhu

tane

se (

?)

Punjabi (?)

Marathi (?)Khoj Bhal

Mr J S Johl21-C Gurdev Nagar

Ludhiana 141001Punjab

Sujh-BujhM

rs. Shalini Sharma

Energy & Env. Group

H-12 ODS Flats

Lajpat Nager 4

New Delhi 110024

Reg

d n

o :

6208

2/95

ISS

N n

o :

0971

-662

4

NamVazhiVelanmai

P Vivekanandan

43, TPM Nagar

Virattipathu

Madurai 625 010

Tamil Nadu

Hittal

agid

a

Tenetiga

Prof (Mrs)

Geervani

201 Dream Apartment

Road No.3 Banjara Hills

Hyderabad - 500 034

Andhra Pradesh

� ��*�� &

For the past nine years we have been bringing you thebest of creative solutions from the grassroots. Over theseyears Honey Bee has sustained itself without anysponsorship. Now we invite NGOs, the corporate andpublic sectors and individuals to avail of the services ofthe Honey Bee network to advertise their products at therates given below. However, we will advertise onlyenvironment friendly products that have been produced ina fair and just manner.

For a single issue:

National InternationalRs. US $

1/4 page : 3000 100

1/2 page : 5000 150

Full page : 10000 300

Back page : 15000 350

4 page centerfold : 30000 600

Bengali (?)

Dr T N

Pra

kash

Dept o

f Agr

i Eco

n.

UAS, Heb

bal

Banga

lore

560

024

july-september 1998

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