Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
A Photo Report on Bengaluru Seed Festival, September 28-29, 2013
Imagining life without seeds is
practically impossible. Thus, it is very important to study and know about seeds
in depth and save the seed diversity. The seed forms the basic input/ lifeline
of the Agriculture. As the world
progressed, population increased enormously, due to which there has been a constant
pressure on developing high yielding,
productive and efficient seeds. The continuous usage of such hybrid variety seeds
has resulted in rapid erosion of bio-diversity of our country. Fortunately, a
small fraternity of farmers have
preserved and re-used their diverse indigenous seed varieties over generations.
Kudos to these farming communities for having contributed in maintaining and
developing our agricultural heritage and diversity. Not many of us are aware that India has one
of the richest germplasm collections in the world. India can also boast of being home to more
than 60,000 rice accessions of the 425,000 accessions of the world.
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| Welcome To Seed Festival |
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| Celebrating the Rich Heritage of Traditional Seed Diversity |
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| Different Rice Varieties of Karnataka |
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| Black Rice |
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| Wild Wheat |
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| Different Varieties of Bajra and Maize |
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| Hot and Spicy from Meghalaya |
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| Varieties of Millets |
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| Medicinal Tubers and Shoots from Rajasthan |
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| Varieties of Tubers from Kerala |
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| Collection of Forest Tree Seeds |
Why is such an effort significant
and how will it influence the future? A classical example of saving indigenous
seed varieties and developing better ones in the same line is that of Late Mr.
Lakshmanaiah, popularly known as “Ragi Lakshmanaiah/ Ragi Brahma”. As a student,
I was fortunate enough for having studied and learned about this great man, who
single handedly worked and developed the best and the highest yielding variety
of Ragi (Finger Millet) named INDAF series, using various indigenous varieties
of Ragi. Indaf series, unlike today’s Hybrid and GM varieties, is one of those rare
varieties, which possesses all the properties of indigenous ones, apart from
having the advantage of being very high yielding and reusable. During 1950s, Mr.Lakshmanaiah
quit the coveted job of a clerk in the Indian railways in order to pursue his
passion for agriculture. The rest is history though unknown to the outside
world. Today, Indaf is the most popular Ragi variety grown across the driest
regions of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where Ragi is the staple
food. Many such varieties have been developed but have lost the race with time
against today’s Hybrid and GM varieties, leading to a total imbalance in the
eco-system by appreciating indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides.
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| Accessories made out of Seeds |
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| Our Field, Our Seed, Our Right |
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| Effects of Organic and Chemical Farming |
The exhibition aimed at educating
people, especially those linked with or involved in the field of agriculture,
towards bigger steps of using, reusing and preserving the indigenous seed
varieties. The seed exhibition in total was an educative one and managed to
attract a heterogeneous crowd.
Participants:
3. Sri
Masanasiddeshwar Savayava Krishikar Sangh, Munnahalli, Gulbarga Ph: 9972157413
4. Desi
Krishikar Balaga, Haveri, Ph: 9845890411, 9980679824
5. Hasiru
Consultants and Mkt Pvt Ltd., Ph: 9591984709
6. Desi
Uthana; Web: www.uthana.com, Ph: 9341415399, 7760596275
7. Bio-Diversity
Management Committee , Edavaka, Wayanad, Kerala
8. Agricultural
Training Centre, Fulia, Nadia, West Bengal
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Hampi Unseen -II
An obvious question that runs in
any travelers mind about Hampi is the actual time required to explore Hampi in
total. Most people, depending upon the period of vacation, number of places to
be covered, purpose of visit, etc., decide the duration of travel which may
vary from a few days to months. An elderly friend of ours was quite curious to
know if we had explored Hampi completely and when he questioned us about the
same, we replied with a smile and nodded our heads in a way that meant we
hadn’t, and also affirmed him of doing it shortly.
Long time back, we had read about
one, Mr. Robert in a newspaper which stated about him as follows, “He quit his
job in Dutch and came to India, traveled many places and finally settled at Hampi.
He has been a resident of Hampi and has been painting ever since”. Our search
for him began when we stepped into Hampi. Having met him, seen the paintings
and interacted with him about his passion for paintings about Hampi, we can say
for sure that they truly are a reflection of the grandeur of Hampi and the life
style of Lambani tradition. It is quite intriguing to know that Hampi has kept
him motivated for a long period of 35 years and is still on. He says with pride
that Hampi always has something new to offer him each day. Kudos to you from
all of us Mr.Robert! After meeting Mr. Robert, it seems like Hampi is an ocean
and any amount of exploration is just a drop in the ocean!
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| Robert's Workshop |
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| Mr. Robert |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Just Like That - Returns
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| Colors of Joy |
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| Male (Bright ) and Female Rainbows |
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| Prey and Predator |
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| The Master |
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| Mushrooms |
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| Changing Colors |
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| Ready to Sting |
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| Beauty & Beauty |
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| Perfect Blend |
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Need of the Hour - 2
Harvest, Save Rain Water
The following video explains about the importance and necessity of saving rain water. Imagine when such practices are prevalent and followed in desert regions, why can't we at least try the same in other places.
Video Courtesy : You tube and Ted.com .Further reading about Anupam Mishra :http://www.ted.com/speakers/anupam_mishra.html
It is not only about harvesting rain water but also preserving and following our simple traditional practices. There are so many stepped tanks across our country built during the reign of various kings. Except a few of these tanks, the remaining are almost in ruins which is a sad state for all of us because we have failed in preserving and maintaining whatever was already built for the good of us.
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| Completely Neglected Stepped Tank |
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| Beautiful Tank with no Maintenance |
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| Tank not in use |
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| Clean Tank with usable Water |
The above tanks are located in 4 different villages out of which the first three villages have canal system because of which these tanks are neglected. The last village had the tank cleanly maintained since the canal was far away from the village and hence this water is being used for drinking.
During an interaction with a village local, on inquiring about why the tank was not being maintained, he replied saying nobody is interested in doing so. And he had also taken an initiative in cleaning up the tank. We were glad to hear him say that. He also told us that the water stored in the stepped tank was a savior for the cattle and other purposes during severe drought period (2000-2002) when the canals and lakes dried up.
Rain water harvesting is not at all a new technique for us. It is an age old practice which disappeared in the wake of modernization. We waste so much energy on wrong things rather than preserving and doing simple things which can prove wonders. Nowadays, lakes in the cities have become a dump yard for sewage water and other harmful pollutant. Many lakes have vanished to become layouts, apartments, multiplexes and other buildings. Some time back, Bangalore had around 400 lakes in and around. But today, very few are in shape. Bangalore gets around 900+ mm rainfall (15 times more than the golden desert, Rajasthan) annually, but water is pumped from a distance of about 140 kms from Mysore region (catering to about 80% needs of Bangalore). Thankfully, now it has become mandatory to have rain water harvesting system for new buildings which is a positive action and a good move, but this has become another avenue for corruption and wrong practices.
Water is precious, hope someday we realize this and take a serious path towards harvesting rain water. Just maintaining rivers, lakes, ponds, stepped tanks, wells and other water bodies would do a world of good for everyone.
Instead of quoting "Water is precious, use it wisely", which we don't seem to really understand, it would be better to re quote the same to "Water is precious, waste it wisely" in today's world. At least then, we hope some change will occur in a positive way.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A postcard from Basaralu
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| Basaralu |
Above is the collage of all the sculptures on the walls of the Malikarjuna temple, Basaralu.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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