˘ ˇ - sristi1)hbjan-mar98.pdfand told them that he would name a year of the chinese zodiac after...

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2 A Dialogue on People's Creativity & Experimentation

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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

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Innovative Pest Management:Gram-pod borer .......................... 4

Can Fish Scare Water Cat?Insights from Tripura ................... 6

Ecopreneur:In search of efficiency ................... 7

Horticulture in Ancient India ....8

And other regular features

Honey Bee HumsHow Long Will the Wisdom of PullaGounder Survive? ........................................ 9Who Cares for the Knowledge RichEconomically Poor Workers? ....................... 10Pests Also Pollinate: When Does an InsectBecome a Pest? .......................................... 11Women’s Wisdom: Storage of Seedsand Shedding of Flowers ........................... 12

Survey of Innovations .................................. 15News & Views ................................................ 18Book Worm .................................................... 19Dialogue ......................................................... 20

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Farmer Breeds a Broad BeanVariety: Can farmers be partners inscientific breeding.......................13

Grain Bank: An InstitutionalizedInnovation.................................. 14

How can the ‘small’ make a difference?

Many years ago Buddha called twelve animals before him,and told them that he would name a year of the Chinese

zodiac after each. The animals were very pleased. But then the question oforder arose, and trouble began.

“I should be first,” said the rat, “because of my intelligence.”“No, I should be first,” said the ox. “Because of my size.”

The two animals argued for some time about which was more important,intelligence or size. After a while, the rat fell silent. “All right,” he said atlast, “I admit that size is more important” “Good,” said the ox. “It’s settled.”“Not so fast,” said the rat. “My size is more impressive than yours.” “What?”snorted the indignant ox. “ How can you a mere rodent, impress anyonewith your size?” “Let us go before the people,” replied the rat, “ and let theopinion of the majority decide.”

Buddha replied, “of course the rat is smaller than you are. But why not letthe majority of the people decide? Whoever impresses them with his sizeshall be declared the winner.” The ox, certain of victory, agreed.

“Lord Buddha,” said the rat. “With the consent of the ox, I wish to haveone favour granted before we present ourselves. If I am truly as small asthe ox insists I am, I should like to lessen my inevitable embarrassment.Therefore, I ask that you temporarily double my size.”

Buddha asked the ox if he had any objections. “Of course not,” the oxanswered. “After all, how much difference could it make? I wouldstill be one hundred times bigger than the rat.”

The ox and the rat, the rat now twice his ordinary size, went out and walkedamong the crowd. Everywhere they went, people exclaimed in amazement.”“Look at the size of that rat!” No one noticed the ox. Everyone had seen anox before. There was nothing unusual about him.

And that is how the rat impressed the people with his size, and became thefirst animal in the Chinese zodiac.

(Source: The Te of Piglet Edited by Benjamin Hoff, Mandarin Paperback, London,pp, 120-122)

How much different should a local innovation be, to be noted? or is it thatwe have to change the context of small innovations so that their biggerpotential can be appreciated? For how long will we continue to ignore smalllinks in the big chain of nature, social change and human vision?

Clue to Cover Story, 8(4): 97: Who rang the bell?

In the next morning, when the woodcutter climbed the mountain, he found two pheasantslying dead in the temple. Those were the same pheasants whose eggs he had savedfrom the snake. They had dashed their heads against the bell to save their benefactor.

Will you stand by the IPRs of peasants ? 3

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Editor

Anil K Gupta

Associate Editors

Srinivas ChokkakulaKirit K PatelRiya Sinha

Editorial Team

Vijaya Sherry ChandBrij Kothari

Shailesh ShuklaS Muralikrishna

AdvisorsSumati K Sampemane

Jayvir AnjariaJyoti Capoor

Graphics & Design

D T PadekarPalash Graphics

UnnikrishnanScan PointShailesh

Other Sources of IllustrationsIRED Forum

Yes

Administrative AssistanceR P S YadavR Baskaran

Balaganapathy MudaliarJivabhai Kotiya

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

India Innovates: An Open Letter to Parliamentarians

Dear Honourable Member of Parliament,

Honey Bee Network completes eight years of its resolute campaign to document,disseminate, experiment and honour local innovations developed by farmers, artisans,fishermen and women, pastoralists, etc., without any outside help of the state, marketsor even NGOs. About 9,000innovations including 7,494 fromGujarat alone have made someimpact at different levels. But,surely the impact is neithersufficient nor strong enough toput grassroots creativity on theNational Agenda. Internationalrecognition for this idea has beengrowing. This is of course, oflittle solace to us and thethousands of innovators in thecountry. Through this openletter I wish to draw yourattention to some of the possibleinitiatives that we could take torebuild our society. We need todraw upon an immense reserve of grassroots creativity, deep ecological ethics andextraordinary generosity among knowledge-rich economically poor people. The questionwe have to ask ourselves is: Should these people remain poor because their ethics issuperior?

I am mentioning some ideas which ordinarily will not make it to the National Agenda,no matter which political party or combinations thereof come to power. The reason isvery simple. The elite of our society seems to have no confidence in the capabilities oflocal genius, innovative communities and people for transforming our society.

1. What do we teach our children?

Please look at the text books used in primary education as well as at other levels andtry to find any example of local inventors, innovators and creative communities generatingenvironment friendly technological and institutional innovations. The absence of suchexamples implies that the minds of successive generations remain colonised even thoughthe country is “free”. Change in this regard is critical because once children becomeaware of what they can achieve through their own genius, they will not remain justpassive voters but demand more attention, space and say in the matters of governance.As a step towards this, we have organised biodiversity competitions among primaryschool children in different parts of the country. We have come across children lessthan twelve years of age knowing as many as three hundred plants, many with theiruses. The destiny of the majority of such children is that of an ‘unskilled’ labour becauseour society does not value such knowledge/skill in which these children are rich.Similarly, we have also documented large number of innovations by primary schoolteachers, which, normally, do not form the basis for national and state policy on primaryeducation. The reason is very simple. Most of these innovations need time, ears closeto the ground and imagination, much less, money.


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2. Will the suicides by farmers due toineffective chemical pesticides andexcessive debts go in vain?

We have recently written to the ChiefMinisters of Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka regretting the policy responseof doing more of the same, rather thanembarking upon a fundamental shift in ourapproach. The SRISTI and Honey Beedatabase has hundreds of examples ofnon-chemical pest managementinnovations developed by farmers. Howmany of these have been tried on large ascale, or tested by the agricultural researchsystem or have become extensionmessages in different parts of the country?Hardly any. The reason is not difficult tofathom. The clout of the chemicalpesticide industry and the sympatheticpublic policy makers and scientists will notchange the tracks only due to suicides byscores of farmers (Refer p.15). Toawaken the conscience of those whoshape policy, do we need a tragedy ofmuch larger proportions? After fifty yearsof independence, why do we need seriousaccidents and tragedies to force a changein policy, if at all ? Are we satisfied withthe efforts being made by public andprivate sectors in this regard? Some ofyou might wonder as to why farmers’innovations don’t diffuse on their own, ifthese are so good. The answer is notsimple.

3. Why don’t bridges exist between theexcellence in the formal and informalsectors of our society?

There is no doubt that the Indian scienceand technology system has achievedunique distinctions in many fields. Theformal scientific systems are capable ofachieving even greater distinctions. But,can we not combine the excellence in theinformal sector with the excellence in theformal sector? Unfortunately, we do notrealise the power of biodiversity and otherresource based knowledge systemsexisting in our society. China has almostforty five per cent of the patents based onherbal diversity and knowledge globally,followed by Japan and Russia. Should notIndia make a mark in this field? We have

a continuing tradition of invention invarious fields such as herbal pesticides,growth regulators, veterinary (and human)medicine, vegetative dyes, soil and waterconservation, local varietal development,horticulture, food processing, seedselection and storage, etc. Yet our policysupport in this area is weak. TheDepartment of Indian Systems ofMedicines receives only four per cent ofthe total health budget, not to mentionthe lack of venture promotion funds forindigenous veterinary knowledge. Theresources allocated by ICAR and CSIRfor this, are negligible. How will theknowledge systems of pastoralists,herbalists and others be improved upon,not only for their own’s sake, but also forour global leadership in such localknowledge and biodiversity basedproducts? Do we have a single lab whichis dedicated entirely to add value to localknowledge and combine the best of thescientific traditions in the formal andinformal sectors? We complain everytime somebody else in the world uses anddevelops a commercialisable productbased on traditional or contemporarycreativity. But we will not do anythingourselves.

4. How shall we stem the erosion ofknowledge and reward local creativity?

Have you ever participated in a functionon the occasion of republic orindependence day when the outstandinginnovators, traditional healers,communities conserving local resourcesthrough their own institutions, have beenhonoured? Should we not have a wholerange of instruments for rewardingcreativity including locally adapted butglobally recognised IPR systems? Wehave pleaded in the previous issues ofHoney Bee for a registration system(INSTAR) to provide protection toimprovements in traditional knowledgeand contemporary creativity apart fromdeveloping a product patent system. Webemoan about the lack of support for localvarieties such as Basmati rice but do notenact an appropriate Plant Variety Actwhich will help in protecting not only theheritage but also the contemporary

creativity of farmers and scientificbreeders. Please ask yourself whetheryou have met many younger herbalists andhealers in your constituency? Why aren’tyoung people interested in acquiring,assimilating and augmenting localknowledge? How do majority of poorpeople meet their own health needs andthat of their animals?

It is surprising that the design of the pulleyfor drawing water from wells remainedunchanged for such a long period of time,until Amrutbhai from Junagadh districtdesigned two improved pulleys. Thewomen who have to shoulder this burdenfound the new pulleys very helpful. Howmany of these have we been able to installin different villages? The InternationalConference on Creativity and Innovationsat Grassroots was held at IIMA during 11-14 January, 1997. GIAN - (GujaratGrassroots Innovation AugmentationNetwork) was consequently set up inclose collaboration with the GujaratGovernment, SRISTI, IIMA and otherinstitutions. Why should not suchinnovation promotion funds be set up inevery state or each in every district? Isthere any country which has developedwithout creating venture promotionfunds?

There are many more ideas emerging fromthe experience of SRISTI and Honey BeeNetwork which will not make it to theNational Agenda. But there must be amethod in the madness. The popularconsent behind the conspiracy of silenceand indifference on issues of people’sknowledge and creativity must havedeeper roots. I hope some of you willconsider responding to this letter to let usknow whether we are pursuing irrelevantissues or a lost case. We believe that it isultimately the ethics, excellence,efficiency, equity and environmentalconsciousness at the grassroots levelwhich will help not only India but alsoother developing countries get out of themorass of mediocrity at higher levels inour society.

Yours sincerely,

Anil K Gupta


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Ingredients: Two cups well-cooked pintobeans, one cup cooked rice,10 onions,two cloves, garlic, according to taste,salt, pepper, any favorite seasonings.If pinto bean is not available, use anyother common bean.

Preparation: Mix all the aboveingredients well, use a potato masher orany other utensil that will turn lumpbean into a mash. Add one cup cookedvegetables and mash again.

Vegetables: Tomato, carrot, squash,spinach or any other preferred vegetables.Add eggs and flour to this mixtureto make it thick. Although the suggestedamount is two-three eggs and half cupflour, one can fry one patty before

Sudhir K Kaura10-C, Friends Colony, Hisar-125001

The tree in the photograph is pipal (Ficusreligiosa) which is considered to be sacredin most parts of India. It is widely grownin religious places for shade. This tree isproved to generate more oxygen than othertrees and is also widely used in theAyurvedic system of medicine. All partsof the tree (root to leaves) are used fortreating a variety of ailments. People donot readily cut this for fuel-wood or otherdomestic purposes even when its growthendangers their houses.

I guess that the tree is surrounded by thornsbecause of the following reasons:1. To prevent any people (includingchildren) from climbing on it and cut anybranch.2. Some birds make nests and lay eggson the tree. People in the community may

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(We received a good response to our photo contest. We are carrying some entrieshere. We found this institution in Nana Ubhada during one of our visits toMansukhbhai, inventer of the Cotton Stripper. The thorns are put in order to preventcats and other predators from climbing the tree and destroying the birds’ eggs inthe nests. We are also getting regular responses to the recipe contest. We carryone of these here. We await more responses from you. :Ed)

Tickle to Thicken!

According to Gail Taylor, a lecturer inPlant Biology, tickling can stunt growthin plants. He has found that plants dorespond to external stimuli in a specificand pedictable way. For instance ifanybody strokes the stalk of certainplants ten times a day then their vertical

growth will get stunted while the stalkswould grow thicker. The phenomenon ,which is known as thigmomor-phogenesis, was originally proposed byTheoprostus in 300 BC. As Gail explainsthat although plants do not have anervous system but they still have controlon themselves, physical stimuli affecttheir enzymes which ultimately act asa catalyst or triggers in the plants’development and growth.

Source: Bulletin (Friday-Nov 29, 1996):University of Sussex, Institute of Educationsent by Dr Robert Chambers

Ramesh P MahajanUmavinagar, Jalgoan

The tree is surrounded by thorns in orderto prevent animals like squirrel fromclimbing the tree and destroying the fruits.

Ani

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have surrounded the trunk with the thornsto prevent cats and other wild predatorsfrom climbing the tree and save the birds’eggs.

Dr O SreemannarayanaPlot# 82, Pothinamallayyapalem,Visakhapatnam 530 041

This tree has a honey comb with honey,that is why it was protected by keepingthorns around its trunk. (Not true, really. :Ed)

S JayasankarWing 5, IIM Ahmedabad

The grown up tree is surrounded by thornsbecause I guess: (i) to prevent men andanimals from climbing the tree and cuttingits branches or fruits; (ii) to prevent theanimals from rubbing against the tree andhurting themselves.

adding all the eggs and flour to test theconsistency.

Heat oil in a frying pan, place abouttwo tablespoons for each patty andpress down each pile into a shape ofpatty, then fry on both sides. '

These patties are very delicious andnutritious and they do not spoil inwarm weather and don’t even needrefrigeration. The patties develop moreflavor as time passes and it is an idealfood for travelling purpose, they canbe easily carried in a plastic orcardboard container.

Janice Blue, 46 Rd., 3179 Aztec, NM87410, USA

Recipe for Rejuvenating Taste: Bean Cakes


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The Deccan Development Society-KrishiVigyan Kendra (DDK-KVK), Medakdistrict in Andhra Pradesh is exploringtraditional knowledge systems inagriculture and allied fields to overcomevarious production constraints inagriculture, particularly by small farmers.

Helicoverpa armigera is proving to be avery serious pest of pulse crops such asred-gram and chick-pea. One reasonwhy farmers are worried about itsincreased incidence in recent years isthe wide range of host plants (about 180species) on which it can survive. Roundthe year, it faces no problem inmultiplying seven to eight generations.The alarming nature of damage by thepest also indicates the limitations andfailure of chemical-based strategies.

KVK has tried to tackle the pests througheco-friendly non-chemical alternativerelying primarily on farmers innovations:

(i) Deep summer ploughing, (ii)Intercropping, (iii) Trap cropping, (iv)Bird perches, (v) Manual collection anddestruction of larvae, (vi) Cowdung andUrine extract, (vii) Chilli garlic extract,(viii) Jaggery solution, and (ix) Neemseed kernel extract

(i) Deep summer ploughing: Thepractice has been in use for long time.Deep ploughing reduces soil insects andthose, which pass through some of theirdevelopmental stages by (a) mechanicallydamaging the pest, (b) burying orexposing the developmental stages ofthe pest (c) changing the physicalconditions of the soil thereby hasteningthe growth or increasing the vigour ofthe crop.

This has been used as the prophylacticmeasure under Non-pesticidalManagement of Helicoverpa. The deepsummer ploughing exposes the pupae in

torpid stage to the natural enemies likebirds and to the scorching sun. Thusthe role of the natural mortality factorshas been enhanced to keep the pestpopulation under check.

(ii) Inter-cropping: Sorghum-redgram isa traditional inter-cropping system amongthe Medak farmers. It encourages birds

to alight especially during the paniclestage of the sorghum, thus harnessingthe birds as natural predators of pests.

(iii) Trap-cropping: Marigold, which isa susceptible plant to the gram pod-borer is grown near the Red gramcrop. It acts as a trap crop for thegram pod-borer and reduces the pestload on redgram. The female moths ofgram pod-borer prefer to oviposit onMarigold flowers. The larvae afterhatching can be collected and destroyed.

Polyculture systems are considered toreduce pest outbreak through their effecton movement and reproductive behaviourof insect pests; alternatively oradditionally through enhancement ofpopulation of their natural enemies byproviding them food and shelter.

(iv) Bird perches: The birds are thepotent predators on the larvae of insects.

The chance of predation of gram podborer larvae by the birds has beenhastened by erecting the bird perchesrandomly in the field at a rate of 10 peracre. A wooden log or a branch bifurcatedat the top is provided with an earthencontainer filled with water mixed withjowar grains to attract the birds. Inaddition the farmers of Medak region

broadcast puffed rice to attract birds intheir fields. (Readers may recall that asimilar practice of attracting birds wasreported in HB Vol 3(3&4):9, 1992 :Ed)

(v) Manual collection and destructionof larvae: Mechanical picking and killingof larvae is the last resort adopted byfarmers to control the menace ofHelicoverpa. The larvae after collectionare burnt and destroyed.

(vi) Cow-dung and Urine: Three tofive litres of cattle urine is mixed withequal amount of cow-dung and themixture is allowed to ferment for fourdays in a closed tank. The slurry isfiltered through a diaphanous cloth and200 to 250 g of quicklime is added tothis solution in order to neutralise theacidity. The stock solution thusobtained is diluted with 50 to 80 litres ofwater and is sprayed on one acreof land.

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L S Kasyapa1

Farmers erecting the bird perch


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The mixture helps in reducing the pestload, since the moth shows no preferenceto lay the eggs. The spray apart fromdiscouraging the infestation, alsocontributes to the crop health and flowerretention of the crop stand by means oftrace elements present in it.

It is always advisable to spray after 3.30pm. Spraying two to three timesproduces better results.

(vii) Chilli-Garlic extract: Thoroughlygrounded green chillies weighing two tofour kilograms are drenched in five toeight litres of water. About 400 to 750g of pounded garlic is soaked in 150 to200 ml of kerosene overnight. Both thecontents are mixed and stirred with aladle. A muslin cloth is used to filter andseparate the final extract. This extractis added to 50 to 100 g of dissolveddetergent and further diluted with 50-80 litres of water. The solution thusobtained may be sprayed on one acre.

Farmers give several reasons for itseffectiveness: (a) The female mothsprefer not to oviposit on the crop treatedwith chilli-garlic extract. (b) The volatilecomponents of the extract diffused overthe crop canopy deters the insect to layits eggs. (c) The kerosene in the extractturns the otherwise smooth and glossyskin of the larvae to wrinkled andcorrugated. (d) The natural burningcaused due to pungency of chillies repelsthe insect.

The chilli garlic extract is efficaciousonly when the contents are soaked forsufficient time as recommended andsprayed after 3 pm.

(viii) Jaggery solution: Farmers attractants and cowbugs to the Red gram fieldby spraying five per cent jaggery solution.The sweetness of the solution alluresthem and they predate upon the eggs ofHelicoverpa besides the initial instar stagesof the larvae. Four kilograms of jaggerydissolved in eight litres of water acts asthe stock solution, which is diluted to80 litres by adding water. This isadequate to spray on one acre of field.

Farmers say that besides attractingants, this also helps in improving thetexture of leaf. This solution is found towork more effectively in the fields withant mounds.

(ix) Neem Seed Kernel Extract (NSKE):the NSKE acts as the ovipositionaldeterrent. The leaves and other parts ofthe plant tainted with the active ingredientrepel the larvae from feeding, resultingin their death due to starvation.

The NSKE adversely effects the insectby intervening with its life stages and ismanifested in any of the followingways:

(a) The suppression of Ecdysonehormone does not allow the insect tomoult and keeps the larvae in theimmature stage, thus resulting in thedeath of the insect. (b) The concentrationof Azadirachtin, if not sufficient, thelarva may manage to enter the dormantpupal stage, but dies. (c) Still lesserconcentration may result in emergenceof malformed adults, being absolutelysterile without any capacity forreproduction.

Preparation of Extract

Three to seven kg of neem seeds arepounded. The powder obtained is tiedin a muslin cloth, made into a pouch

and then allowed to soak in 50 to 80litres of water for three hours. Laterthe pouch is thoroughly squeezed forfour to five times into the water. About50 to 100 g of detergent is added to theextract to get milky white NSKE.

Some suggestions for better results: (a)Neem fruits should be collected duringbearing season. (b) Seeds over eightmonths of age should not be used. Theseeds stored over and above this agelose their activity and hence are not fitfor NSKE. (c) Spraying of the extractafter 3.30 pm gives effective results.

It is always recommended to use thesenatural extracts alternately. Sprayings ofsame extract consecutively for twotimes may be avoided. The upper andthe lower limits in the range of thequantity indicated in the preparation ofextracts holds good for crop stand ofless than, and more than 40 days of age,respectively.

The upper limit of dosage is usuallyfollowed for Red gram on account ofthe incidence of gram pod-borer after45 days of sowing.

Several farmers in Basantpur andKalbemal villages in Medak district haveexperimented with these practices in thelast kharif season.

DDS- KVK acknowledges the supportfrom Centre for World Solidarity for itsfinancial and technical support to farmersfor carrying out trials.

1 Plant protectionist, KVK, Deccan DevelopmentSociety, Zaheerabad - 502220

Jaggery solution alluring ants

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Common-salt controls catterpillar

Catterpillars (stem borer) are verycommon pests in paddy and damage thecrop to a great extent. In the plain areasof the state, where paddy is the main crop,many farmers use common salt to protectcrops from catterpillars. About 30 kg ofcommon salt is sufficient for one hectareland. There is a similar practice amongtribal farmers of hilly areas, where theyuse common salt to protect brinjal cropfrom wilt disease. (This practice is alsofollowed in Faizabad dist, Eastern UttarPradesh. : Ed)

‘Khuchha’ (Holarrhena antidysenterica)leaves are extensively used both in plainsas well as hilly areas to control stem borerin paddy. Small branches of ‘Khuchha’are driven in the paddy field at equaldistance at a rate of 30-40 branches per0.16 ha. It is often seen in kharif season.The treatment is believed to be effectiveup to 70-80 percent.

Diarrhoea in poultry birds

Diarrhoea is one of the most commondiseases in poultry. Farmers have severalsolutions for it; feeding (i) onion juice orcitrus juice (ii) turmeric mixed withcommon edible salt and (iii) oneteaspoonful of country liquor.

Pig-Breeding arrangements

Exotic/cross bred pigs have been verypopular among tribal as well as non-tribalfarmers. Here is an innovative community

arrangement for breeding pigs. Onefarmer in a hamlet maintains a breedingboar. Each villager using the boar for

breeding purposes has to give one pigletafter furrowing to the owner of the boaras service charge. In most cases, a boarmay be used for three to four years andin some cases the boar is used about ayear after which it is castrated andfattened.

Deworming pigs

The seeds of broom plants (Thysanolaenamaxima) mixed with the juiceextracted from‘banak’(Pterospermumacerifolium) tree’s bark are fed to theanimals three to four times in a year at aninterval of three to four months. Farmersbelieve that such treatment not only curesworm-infestation but also many otherailments and keeps the pigs healthy.

Fish scares cat!

Tripura has rich water resources andmulti-species pisciculture is practisedextensively. A typical composit fish-culture is practiced in many areas, where‘kalbose’ (Labio kalbose) species aregrown along with six to eight culturablespecies. Interestingly, ‘kalbose’ does notgrow very well and also scientificpisciculture does not recommend suchcombination.

There is a typical advantage of the practicethat is beyond the imagination of anyscientist. A nocturnal wild water cat

(locally called Otter - Lutra Lutra) preyson fish and it is very difficult to save fishfrom its menace. ‘Kalbose’ saves fishfrom the water cat through a characteristicunique to it. The eyes of ‘kalbose’ speciesare so bright in the night that they scarethe wild cat. Also, ‘kalbose’ is a fastmoving species and compels other speciestoo to move frequently which results inincrease of growth.

Composite pisciculture: farmers’ way

Under composite pisciculture, species like‘catla’ (Catla Catla) and Silver Carp(Hypophthalmichthys moltrix) arerecommended for better production andhigh returns.

Swapan Das of Darikapur village has only0.2 ha of water area. He never growsSilver Carp in his tank. He believes that ifhe does not grow Silver Carp, naturalspecies like ‘mota’ (Amblypharyngodonmola) and ‘darkina’ (Esomus danricus)which are known as feed fish by scientists,grow very well. These natural fish givegood yields throughout the year and havegood market value. Their market pricevaries between Rs 80 to 100 per kg,whereas the market price of Silver Carpis only Rs 20 to 25 per kg. Thus byavoiding exotic Carp he earns betterreturns where much artificial feed is notrequired and on top of it, the growth of‘catla’ species also increases. Many otherfarmers also follow this practice.

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S K PradhanS K PradhanS K PradhanS K PradhanS K Pradhan11111

1Divyodaya Krishi Vigyan Kendra,Dibananda Palli, Post Chebri, Tripura(West)

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Khimjibhai Kanadia is a retired schoolteacher from Sabarkantha district. Atthe age of sixty, when most people thinkof retired and leisurely life, Khimjibhaithought otherwise. Apart from pursuingfarming, he keeps looking for new andsimple ideas for making life of womenand men workers more meaningful. Hedeveloped several innovative implementsto reduce drudgery and improveefficiency, such as a nursery seedlingbag-filling device viz., Kittanal; a smallfive litre Kushal mist sprayer; a wheatseed broadcaster, Joli orano; stoves,Tapni Unamanu, Cooker Yantra, etc.

Kittanal

A couple of years ago, he got an orderfrom the forest department to raise anursery of ten thousand seedlings in hisvillage, Gadha. He observed that thelabourers hired for the purpose, werefacing problems while filling the polythenebags with soil. While manually filling thebags, sometimes the mouth of theplastic bags got clogged and the soil felloutside. One had to use the scoopseveral times to fill one bag consumingtime and involving extra labour.Khimjibhai wanted to speed up theprocess. His meticulous observation ofthe process yielded a simple yet intelligentidea, which gave birth to ‘Kittanal’.Kittanal is just a piece of hollow PVCtube of 75mm dia with one end slightlybroadened and the other end cut at anangle to the axis. The tapered end isinserted into the polythene bag and heldover the PVC tube and the bag is filledby scooping the other end in the soilin one go. Khimjibhai demonstratedKittanal to the District Forest Officer

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of Himmatnagar and received an orderfor 200 pieces of Kittanal immediately.GIAN (Gujarat Grassroots InnovationAugmentation Network) sent a sampleto Ballarpur Paper Industries Ltd to getfeedback on its efficiency. Mr AjayNionding, Manager (Raw Materials),while placing an order for 100 piecesof Kittanal for trial, said, “We do usea device for filling polythene bags, butKittanal was found to be much moreeffective”. Linking local innovationswith big and external as well as localdemand may expand opportunities forinnovators as well as users. SEWA (SelfEmployed Women’s Association) alsofelt that this innovation could improvedaily earnings of poor women who raisenurseries for the forest department andget paid on piece rate basis.

Other Innovations

In 1965, he designed and developed asprayer, ‘Kushal Sprayer’. He receivedan award for it at a science fair heldin village Vadali. Only one person isrequired to operate this sprayer that hasa capacity of five litres. Khimjibhaidemonstrated Kushal Sprayer at theSRISTI Shodh Sankal meeting andreceived orders for six sprayers fromthe farmers.

‘Joli orano’-wheat seed broadcaster isdeveloped using a shoulder bagconnected to a long PVC pipe. A farmercan store wheat in the shoulder bag andcan easily broadcast the seeds usingthe pipe.

People usually burn lot of fuelwood tomake fire and keep themselves warmduring winter. Khimjibhai was interestedto make use of the fire which otherwisegoes waste. He had two brick layerediron vessels arranged as shown in thefigure and fixed taps to the vessels. Bysetting fire in between the vessels,

people can sit around to warmthemselves and also get hot watersimultaneously. Later on he modifiedthis design to include a cooker also.

In search of efficiency!

Khimjibhai says, “I don’t want tobecome an entrepreneur since I wantto utilise most of my time in research.But I would definitely like to see thatall my innovations become popular. AndI will help those who would like tobecome entrepreneurs using theseinnovations.” Any takers?

Gadha (Via Vaktapur), Taluka :Himatnagar, Dist. Sabarkantha -383 010.

We discovered Khimjibhai through a state wide competition that SRISTIhas been organising in Gujarat for the last five years. District RuralDevelopmnet Agency, Sabarkantha scouted him and deserves ourappreciation. Large number of similar Khimjibhais are waiting to befound all over the country provided we look for them. This note hasbeen compiled by Darshit Shah of GIAN.

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Transplantation to another place

Trees being taken to another place forgrafting must be smeared from root toits upper part with a mixture of ghee,sesamum, honey, ‘vidanga’ (Embeliaribes), milk and cow-dung.

Treatment of seeds

For increasing the productivity of seed

(i) The seed is to be soaked 100 timesin the paste of ‘ankola’ fruit (Alangiumsalvifolium) or in its oil or in the oilof ‘shleshmantak’ fruit (Cordialatifolia). Then it is sown in the soilmixed with hail-water. It appears thatin those days much importance wasattached to hail-water.

(Fan Sheng-Chih’s Chinese Encyclopediawritten in the First century BC reportsthat melted snow helps better retention ofmoisture in soil and also kills insects.Treatment of seeds with melted snow givesdrought tolerance to plants and yieldsbetter :Ed)

(ii) ‘Shleshmantak’ fruit seeds, afterremoving the shell, are soaked in watermixed with the slimy paste of ‘ankola’fruit.

After drying them in shade for seventimes or days (Saptakritva), they arerubbed with buffalo’s dung and thenstored in dry dung. Thereafter the seedsare sown in soil drenched with hail-water.

(iii) The seeds should be soaked in milkfor ten days, taking them out daily, withhands smeared in ghee. Then the seedsare to be rolled in the cow-dung, afterwhich they are planted in the soil thathas been prepared with sesamum as

Soil fertilization

Soft soil is conducive to the growth ofall varieties of trees, Varaha Mihirrecommends the following plants forpreparing manure:

1. Sesamum plants, when they are infull bloom may be cut into pieces andmixed with the soil.

2. ‘Veerana’ (Andropogon muricatus)a fragrant variety of grass may be usedas green manure.

Diseases of trees: Symptoms

Often trees get diseased from coldwaves, stormy winds and hightemperature, and the leaves becomepale-white. Sprouts sick, branchesbecome dry and milk oozes out.

Remedies:

1. The diseased part of the plant shouldbe scrapped off with a knife. Then apaste made up of ‘vidanga’ (Embeliaribes) fruit, ghee and silt should beapplied to those scrubbed parts, andlater sprinkled with milk and water.

2. When fruits get destroyed at apremature stage, they should be treatedwith a decoction comprising milk, black-gram, green gram, sesamum and barley.The decoction is allowed to cool andthen used for watering the tree.

Season for grafting

The season, Shishira (February-March)is recommended for grafting of plantswhich are yet to grow branches;Hemanta (December- January) for plantswith young branches; and Rainy-season(July-August) for trees which havelarge branches.

�� !�� "��Dr G V Tagare1

The Science of Horticulture in India is very old and provides information about selection of plants, treatmentand sowing of seeds, grafting, process of planting, choosing soil etc. Scientific research institutes may try to findout experimentally, the utility and feasibility of such cost effective methods discussed below.

1 3 Government Colony, Sangli, 416 415Maharashtra

Tomatoes’ Immunity to Injuries

A team of British and Germanscientists have come out with a veryinteresting insight about the complex

process by which plants can turn ontheir self-defense and wound healingactions after being injured by plant-feeding pests.

It is found that, tomato cells uponbeing injured, release small amountsof a fatty acid derivative calledJasmonic acid. In about a half anhour after the injury, this acidproduces a plant hormone ethylene.This hormone elicits a greaterproduction of jasmonic acid, whichin turn causes more ethylene to beproduced. Both of these substancestogether activate certain genes calledproteinase inhibitor genes. This genecause production of certain proteinswhich deter further insect feedingand begin wound healing.

Source: ACRES, May 1997.

noted above. Sprinkle with milk andwater, they will flourish and bloom.

The text suggests the treatment forflowering plants only.


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Nam Vazhi Velanmai(Tamil version of Honey Bee)Mr P Vivekanandan, EditorSEVA, 43, T P M Nagar, VirattipathuMadurai 625010, Tamil Nadu

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9101 For easy letting of milk

Handful of leaves of ‘appakkovai’(Kedrostis foetidissima), ‘ponnanganni’(Alternanthera sessilis), ‘siruporumbi’and ‘sithamutti’ (Sida acuta) are groundtogether and mixed with cow butter.The paste is applied on teats and udderof the animal externally for two days.

(NAPDB: Alternanthera sessilis showssome galactogogue activity in human.Ref: Sinha P et al (1981), Indian Drugs21:4:139-140

9102 Pyrexia in cattle

To treat animals suffering from fever,a whole plant of ‘kolunchi’ (Tephrosiapurpurea) uprooted along with its rootsis ground well and is mixed withgingery oil and administered to theanimal.

(NAPDB:This plant has anti-pyreticactivity and anti-analgesic activity)

9103 Release of placenta

‘Vellai kundumani’ (Abrus precatorius)a climber, is a particular variety ofAbrus which produces white colouredseeds and not usual black and redcoloured seeds. Five to ten seeds ofthis plant are macerated, crushed andfed to the animal as treatment.

9104 Cure for anorexic cattle

One kg of ‘pirandai’ (Cissusquadrangularis) is pounded wellwith equal amount of common saltand the resultant mixture is smearedover the tongue of the ailing animal.Some part of the mixture is madeinto small ball and fed to the animal.

9105 Healing fractured legs

Two fruits of ‘vilvam’ (Aegle marmelos)are partially burnt and then groundalong with ‘anaikattalai’ (Agaveamericana) leaves. The resultantmixture is boiled, and then appliedas a paste over the affected areaand tied with a bandage.

(NAPDB: Both the plants are extensivelyused to heal wounds, fractures, cuts andboils. Ref: Ramirez, V R, et al, (1988),Banco Agrario Del Peru and Nacl UniTrujillo, Peru, June pp.54

9106 Stress fodder

The villagers of Thandamuthur feed thegoats with ‘thiruku kalli’ (Euphorbia

tirucallii) during the times of drought.The cactus is chopped into small piecesof two-three cm bits and fed to thegoats. At a time a goat can consumeabout two-three kg of chopped cactus.This feed is supposed to act as agalactogogue.

9107 Indigestion in animals

A betel leaf smeared with castor oil isplaced on the diseased animal’s tongueover which a hot iron spatula (used forturning Dosai) is pressed. This treatment

is believed to remove small thorn-likered-coloured growths (‘nakku mul’)protruding on the oral cavity.

Source: Sri Narayanan, Annamangalamvillage, Tiruchi District

9108 Persistent diarrheoa

a) The leaf extract of ‘hupai’ (Bassialongifolia) is administered to the ailinganimal for intake. Another treatment isby feeding three kg of steamed ‘varagu’grains (Paspalum scrobiculatum) at atime.

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Sri Pulla Gounder is a 65 years old agriculturist. His family has been practicingherbal veterinary medicine for the past four generations. According to him thereis no general standard treatment package for any disease. For a particular diseasethe causative factors might vary. One should find out the proper cause and onlythen the treatment be prescribed. Few of his practices are published here. (NAPDBrefers to NAPRALERT database on Natural Products, Chicago)

Euphorbia tirucallii


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

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9110 Common animal wounds

A mixture of 100 g of camphor addedto 21 drops of Calotropis plant juiceand 400 g of fresh butter is applied overwounds of the animal.

(NAPDB: This plant is extensively used toheal wounds and possesses anti-bacterial,anti-fungal activity. To heal wounds,flowers are macerated in jaggery,externally applied in humans. Leaves areused for inflammatory swelling, Reddy, etal (1988), Int. J. Crude Drug Res. 26:4:189-196)

9111 Cold and cough in animals

Powdered ‘turmeric’ (Curcuma longa)is mixed with butter and a small portionof this mixture is applied on the tipof the stem of Caloptopis plant. It isinserted into the nostril of the diseasedanimal two to three times. Thereafter,Solanum spp. leaves are crushed and

mixed with the urine of the same animaland then smeared over the body ofthe animal.

(NAPDB: These plants are extensively usedto treat cold and cough and as aexpectorant. Ref. Srived J Z, (1963), Proc.Indian. Acad. Sci. ser. A4: 255-260 WasuwatS (1967), Research report, Abstract, No.1Research project-17, pp-22)

9113 For external parasites

A decoction of Pandanus tectoriusleaves is smeared over the body of theanimal to keep external parasites away.

9114 To cure yoke gall

Hundred grams of Pistacia lentiscus plantis fried and mixed with one kg of butter(preferably from native cow) in a brassvessel. This mixture is kept aside for aweek, stirring it everyday for an hour, tillit turns green. The resultant mixture isapplied on the affected gall portion till itis cured. The mixture can be stored in acopper vessel.

(NAPDB: This plant possesses anti-bacterial and anti-viral activity, Rios JL(1987), J. Ethnopharmacol 21:2:139-152 and Papadimitriol C; A Yannitsaros(1992), Fitoterapia, 63:5: 441-450

9112 Sprained neck

A mixture, made up of tiny pieces ofbath soap and albumen of egg isapplied over the sprained portion of theaffected animal. As the mixture hardensthe animal, feeling uncomfortable,begins to kick its legs. This vigorousmovement sets right the sprain. Two

b) Pods of ‘umatti’ (Datura metel)are burnt and given to the animalfor intake after removing thepericarp. Inspite of this treatment, ifthe animal does not recover, thenanimal may be suspected to sufferfrom rectal cancer.

Source: Sri Narayanan, dist Tiruchi

9109 Injured eyes

A handful of leaves of white colouredvariety of ‘thaivalai’ (Cleomepentaphylla) with ten seeds ofpepper are ground well afterdilution. Drops of this mixture issqueezed in the eyes of the affectedanimal through a white muslin cloth.It is sufficient to give this treatmentonce. The treatment may be repeatedsecond time if the eyes are notrecovered fully.

Source: Sri Nova, dist Timnelveli

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Ambaji Telanga is an agricultural labourer and a local veterinary healer.People in about ten villages in Bidar district in northern Karnataka consulthim for various veterinary ailments. Few of his practices are given below.Should he continue to share his knowledge without any reciprocity, respectand reward?. (NAPDB refers to NAPRALERT database, Chicago.)

or three applications of this mixture aresufficient to relieve the animal fromsprain.


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

(We appreciate the effort of Dr Ambekar incompiling such useful practices of farmersfrom Uttar Pradesh and sending them toHoney Bee Network. We hope, members frommore states will follow suit : Ed)

9117 Lunar phases for sweet mangoes

Many farmers observe the lunar phasesfor various agricultural applications.According to Ahmed Sher Khan of Kakori,the mango saplings planted during thebright fortnight i.e., full moon nights(Sukla Paksha) grow into healthy,disease-resistant trees and yield better. Thefruits are milky (‘dudhiya’) with longerstorage life. Whereas the saplings plantedduring the dark phase of the moon(Krishna Paksha) bear inferior, green-colored mangoes with shorter life. Thetrees are also prone to diseases.

9118 Timely irrigation saves crop

To avoid frost-bite in mangoes, theorchard should be ploughed, harrowedand irrigated in the month of December.It also helps to save the crop from anydamage due to sudden rise in temperaturein March. The trees also become diseaseresistant and yield better.

Ahmed Sher Khan, village Bastiram Katra,Kakori, UP

9119 Pollination through larvae

Just as ‘mahu’ (aphids) appears inmustard, same way the hopper pests infestthe mango flowers. The hopper larvae

appear soon after the arrival of flowers inthe mango trees. The colour of the larvaeis similar to that of the flowers in creamcolour. They can not be seen with nakedeye and can only be traced by shaking theflower bunches. The colour remains forabout a week after their birth and theycrawl from one flower to anotherfacilitating cross-pollination. After a weekthey start becoming black and can be seeneasily. This is the time to get rid of themby shaking the branches, as their furtherstay would damage the crop.

Zafar Ahmed, village Basti Katra, Kakori

9120 Banana dissolves ‘kankar pan’ inwaste lands

The farmers of Rai Bareilly district, UP,have experienced that in order to growmango trees on ‘usar’ (waste) lands(Sodic/Saline Alkaline Soils), bananaplants help. When planted near the mangosaplings, the banana saplings help in

dissolving the ‘kankar pan’ (hard pan ofcalcium carbonate mixed with clay).

They also suggest some inter-croppingpractices.

(i) Bengal gram and ‘jou’ (Barley), ifgrown together control fusarium wiltdisease in bengal gram (Why did wediscontinue this useful practice? Ask thescientists. : Ed)

(ii) ‘Jowar’ (Sorghum spp.) if grownalong with ‘arhar’, prevents the wilt in‘arhar’.

Tehsil Sadar, Dist Rai Bareillly

9121 Sheep for trampling fields

Shivmurti Lal of Rai Bareilly, suggests thatsix to seven days after irrigating bengalgram in the last fortnight of December,about 40 to 50 sheeps are allowed to graze

in the field. The sheep are driven fromone corner to the other slowly andsystematically. This practice helps inincreasing the crop yield to about 25 to30 quintal per hectare. (Nibbling of youngshoot tips helps in overcoming apicaldominance, promotes lateral branching andenhances fruiting. This is a practiceprevalent in Haryana and tested by formalscientists but never recommended. Ask themwhy? :Ed)

9122 Welcome birds

To control the menace of pod borerinsects, farmers fix small bamboo sticksin the fields. These serve as a perch forthe birds. The birds, specially the Blackbird, eat away the insects and save thecrop. (Refer HB, Vol 3(3&4):9 for similarpractice from Andhra Pradesh. Sometimes,farmers scatter seeds of maize in cotton cropfor similar purpose: Ed)

Shivmurtilal, Lalganji, Dist Rai Bareilly.

Contd... on page No. 11

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of water. It helps if it is repeated againafter a week.

1Dept. of Anthropology, S V University,TirupatiSource: Tenetiga, vol 2(3&4):23.

Tenetiga(Telugu version of Honey Bee)Prof (Mrs) Geervani, Editor201 Dream Apartments, Road No 3Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034Andhra Pradesh.

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9115 Storage Practices9115 Storage Practices9115 Storage Practices9115 Storage Practices9115 Storage Practices

(i) CamphorCamphor evaporates over time whenstored. To prevent this, grains of pepperare placed along with camphor in thecontainer.

(ii) Grains and pulsesA handful of rock salt kept at the base ofthe storage place helps preventing pestsin pulses and grains.

(iii) RiceThe pests of stored rice grains, can beprevented by keeping ten to fifteen drychillies along with the rice in a containeror in bags.

(iv) Seed storageSeeds of ‘kakara’ (bittergourd),‘ g u m m a d i ’ ( p u m p k i n ) ,,,,, ' p o t t l a '(snakegourd) and ‘beera’ (Ridgegourd)are stored by mixing them with ash. It is

believed that the plants grow well if theseeds mixed with ash are dried and thenplanted. (This is a wide spread practice inmany parts of South Asia. : Ed)

9116 Prevent shedding of flowers9116 Prevent shedding of flowers9116 Prevent shedding of flowers9116 Prevent shedding of flowers9116 Prevent shedding of flowers

(i) Other vegetablesShedding of flowers in ‘sorakaya’(bottlegourd), ‘gummadi’ (pumpkin)plants causes a great loss to the farmers.It can be controlled by using cooked ricefermented overnight. Early in themorning, without looking at anybody’s

face, the fermented rice is tied in thebranches near the flower buds. It isbelieved that within two to three days, theshedding of flowers is controlled and theplants yield well. (The restriction, not tolook at anybody’s face, may be to ensurethat the practice is followed early in themorning. :Ed)

Contributed by Mrs Parijatamma,Chittaturu, Putturu taluka, AndhraPradesh.

(ii) CoconutFarmers sustain heavy losses when thecoconut palm sheds flowers. It can becontrolled by pouring salt on the apicalportion of the flower buds. Salt is alsospread at the root zone and is given plenty

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The publication of Telugu Version is suspended for the time being due to otherpreoccupations of Dr Geervani. She has recently shifted to Hyderabad and is tryingto form a group to revive and sterngthen it. We are looking for devoted volunteersto help in this effort. :Ed

9123 Inter-cropping for pest control

(i) To protect Bengal gram from podborer insects, farmers grow corianderand ‘alsi’ (Linseed) along with bengalgram. (ii) To prevent diseases and insectsin mango crop, it is advised to growcoriander, mint, ginger and turmeric inthe mango orchards. (iii) To controlmosaic disease in tomato and chilli, somefarmers grow marigold along withtomato and chilli. (iv) To control ‘motha’(Cyperus rotundus) weed in the fields,manure made with mango leaves shouldbe applied in the fields. Green manureof ‘lobia’ (Cow pea) plants also prevents‘motha’. (Some farmers also grow ‘tulsi’for pest control: Ed.)

Comm: Agriculture Officer, distMoradabad

9124 Crop Rotation

Farmers of Tanda district have includedtobacco in the crop cycle of paddy. Thishas shown excellent results with aconsiderable increase in the paddy yield.They also say that when mustard wasgrown after harvesting the tobacco, theinfestation of ‘mahu’ (aphids) wasobserved to be negligible.

1. U.P. Diversified Agriculture SupportProject, A-11, Nirala Nagar, Lucknow -226 020

S S Balaji Rao1


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(We thank Dr D K Bagchi, ISI, Calcuttafor encouraging the young authors of thisarticle to contribute to Honey Bee. We hopethe other members of the network will playsimilar role. : Ed)

Farmer-bred new broad bean variety

Two types of broad bean (Dolichoslablab) varieties, ‘altapati’ and

‘midnapuri’ are cultivated locally in the24 Paraganas region of West bengal.‘Midnapuri’ variety is planted early, atthe end of August and bears smaller andthinner pods. ‘Altapati’ variety is sownlate and planted at the end of September.It bears larger pods than ‘midnapuri’.

Three years ago, Dhularam Mondalnoticed a broad bean plant with pods ofdifferent kind. He collected them and afterdrying them in sunlight, preserved themin a glass bottle. He used them as seedsin the subsequent year.

The new variety, thus found bears largerpods with thick cover. The number ofpods are also high and each pod bearsmore number of seeds compared to‘altapati’ variety. The sowing is done inthe last part of Ashar (June-July). Flowersappear towards the end of Ashwin(August-September).

Pod yields were very high in the last twoyears when the variety was sown duringAghrahayan (November-December) and

Pous (December-January). Dhularam saysthat the healthy condition of Broad beanplants was slightly stunted in this yeardue to absence of winter cold just afterDurga Puja (October).

Dhularam feels that the new varietyevolved due to out-crossing, when the‘midnapuri’ and ‘altapati’ were sown sideby side in the farm. The following twotypes of pests were found this year (i)Pod borer (ii) White fly.

Dhula Ram Mondal, Baradrone, 24paraganas

Rice seed preservation with leaves of‘nishinda’

‘Nishinda’ (Vitex negundo) brancheswith green leaves are kept below andaround the gunny bags containing riceseeds. The leaves repel the pests.

The leaves of Vitex negundo are also usedas medicine for curing jaundice by thevillagers.

Gopal Ch. Naskar. Baradrone, 24paraganas.

(NAPDB: This plant possesses insecticidalactivity. Mosquito repellant activity of oilsfrom VVVVViteiteiteiteitex x x x x have been reported. Ref: LinnHebbalkar (1992))

Pest control in brinjal and pumpkin

Two month old plants of brinjal (Solanummelongena), pumpkin (Lagenaria

vulgaris), and ‘mitha-kumra’ (Cucurbitamaxima) are treated with a mixture ofold ash of cow-dung cake with few dropsof kerosene sprinkled on the leaves. Thetreatment is repeated for second timebefore flowering and for third time afterfruit setting. Farmers say that commonpests are controlled with this treatment.

Dhularam Mondal and Bishnu Copat,Baradrone, 24 paraganas

1. Calcutta Society for Professional Actionin Development (SPADE): P-21, JogendraGardens (ground floor), Haltu, Calcutta-700 078

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Statement about ownership and other particulars about“Honey Bee”, required to be published under Rule 8 of theRegistration of Newspapers (Central) Rules, 1956.

FORM IV (See Rule 8)

1. Place of Publishing : Ahmedabad

2. Periodicity of publication : Quarterly

3. Printer’s Name : Kirit K PatelWhether citizen of India : YesIf foreigner, statecountry of origin : Does not apply

4. Publisher’s Name : Kirit K PatelWhether citizen of India : YesIf foreigner, statecountry of origin : Does not applyAddress : B/2 Sri Krishna

Apts, Near Ladsociety, VastrapurAhmedabad-380015

5. Editor’s Name : Prof Anil K GuptaWhether citizen of India : YesIf foreigner, statecountry of origin : Does not applyAddress : 315, Indian Institute

of Management,VastrapurAhmedabad-380 015

6. Name and addresses : SRISTI Innovationsof individuals who own B/2 Sri Krishna Aptsthe publication and Near Lad societypartners or shareholders Vastrapurholding more than Ahmedabad-380 015one per cent of thetotal capital

I, Kirit K Patel, hereby declare that the particulars givenabove are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sd/-Dated: March 1998 Kirit K Patel

Amit Roy and B I Mondal1

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member has to deposit 100 kg of paddyor more to the grain bank as theircontribution. During the lean months ofDecember and January, members in needof grain, can borrow paddy as loan fromthe grain bank. The borrower does notneed to follow many formalities, nor anypaper work is involved. One other memberhas to provide guarantee for him/her. Theloan is expected to be repaid along withthe interest in the next harvesting season.The rate of interest is about 12 kg of paddyfor 100 kg borrowed per year.

At the end of the harvesting season, paddystocks left with the bank are sold in themarket. A major portion of the funds thusobtained is distributed among the membersas dividend after deducting the salaries ofthe office-bearers and other operationalexpenses. Some portion may be added tothe corpus fund too.

Many grain banks paid dividends up to10-20 percent of the total share capital inthe past few years, while Chikmandoorgrain bank has not paid any dividends inthe last five years.

Death fund

About five to ten kg of paddy is collectedevery year from each member as acontribution towards death fund. In caseof a member’s death, some support fromthe death fund is extended to the bereavedfamily to meet the funeral expenses.

Godown facility

The members can store their excess paddystocks in the grain bank’s godown up toa maximum period of six months. Beyondthis period, the member is charged ademurrage fee. A shrinkage allowance ofabout two kg of paddy for every 100 kgof paddy stored is allowed.

There are about ten grain banks in Kodagudistrict registered under the Co-operativeAct which have been operating since 30-35 years. All the grain banks come underthe direct jurisdiction of the DistrictAssistant Registrar of the co-operativesector.

Origin of the idea

In olden days, when joint family systemwas prevalent, the head of the family usedto store paddy grains and distribute themamong the members of the family duringsowing time. The system broke downover time and people started facing severeshortage of seeds during lean periods. Toease this situation, the idea of grain bankwas mooted to help the marginal farmersduring lean periods.

How does it work?

Membership

Chikamandoor grain bank has 142members. A minimum of 500 kg of paddyis initially pooled as a share capital in orderto become a member of the grain bank. Amember may contribute more than thisquantity as his/her share capital. Themembership is limited only to the residentsof the village.

The grain banks can approach theGovernment for aid and NCDC (NationalCo-operative Development Council) forfunding infrastructural facilities likebuilding godowns for storing grains.Chikamandoor grain bank hasnot taken any grant from the Governmentso far.

Operation

Every year, after paddy harvest, duringthe month of February/March, each

Management

A Board of Directors manages all theactivities. All members meet once in threeyears in a general body meeting to electten members as directors for the next threeyears. The directors choose a presidentamong themselves. The president in turnhires a secretary and a storekeeper to helphim/her in the bank’s activities. The Boardof Directors and the President meet everymonth to review the activities of the grainbank. The President along with thesecretary and the storekeeper areresponsible for smooth functioning of thegrain bank. The secretary is responsibleto maintain records of the transactions,keep an account of them and update thesame regularly.

General body meetings are held at leastonce in a year where members have anopportunity to make suggestions or raiseobjections and discuss relevant issuesopenly. Decisions on the amount of sharecapital, procedures for borrowing andrepayment of loans, death funds,sanctions on defaulters, fixing amount ofdemurrage, etc. are made during the boardmeetings. However, the overallimplementation of the rules is done afterbuilding a consensus among all themembers.

Auditing of accounts has to be done everyyear which should be approved by theDistrict Assistant Registrar of Co-operativeSocieties. In case of misuse of funds ormalfunctioning of the grain bank, theAssistant Registrar can appoint anadministrator to take care of the day today functions of the grain bank.

Grain banks in Kodagu district, Karnataka are locally initiated institutions to help marginal farmers during droughtand lean periods. Most of these grain banks do not receive any support from the Govenrment though they havebeen recognised and institutionalised as cooperatives. They are totally managed by contributions from villagers.Dinker Madapa, a farmer and an active Honey Bee network member tells us about Chikmandoor grain bank inKodagu district of which he is a member: Ed.

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Dinker MadapaDinker MadapaDinker MadapaDinker MadapaDinker Madapa11111

1Hudikeri, dist Kodagu, Karnataka - 571249

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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

Leaves of Clerodendron phlomides forpreserving grains

Tribal farmer, Ratanabhai Thawarabhaiuses leaves of ‘arni’ (Clerodendrumphlomides) for preserving grains.

The leaves of Clerodendrum phlomidesare crushed to prepare its extract whichis bitter in taste. Five hundred ml ofthe extract is mixed with 40 kg ofgrains to be preserved. The grains are

dried and filled in big earthen pots.

Clerodendrum phlomides is found inhilly areas. Ratanabhai says that manyfarmers in his area use the extract forpreserving grains.

Ratanbhai Thawrabhai Charpot, Dist.Panchmahal. Comm: ChandrasinhMansinh Ninama.

9126 Increasing crop yield

Ambarambhai learnt this practice fromhis forefathers. He mixes 20 to 25 kgof common salt with about 10 cartloads of natural manure and applies inhis farm during the month of Jyeshtha–Vaishakh (May). It would be moreeffective if the mixture is applieduniformly in all the furrows.

Ambarambhai received 10 maunds ofcotton produce per vigha (1/3 of acre).He believes that the manure increasesthe crop’s resistance to pests.

Ambarambhai Tulshibhai Sanghani, Dist.Surendranagar. Comm: Dilip Koradia.

Will Farmers’ Suicide Go in Vain?

In this issue, like all the previous ones, we carry many examples of innovationsby farmers which deal with pest problems without using chemical pesticide.Farmers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh committed suicide because their cropsfailed due to pest attack. They had pawned even the sacred jewellery of thewomen to buy pesticide which proved ineffective. Rather than face the shameof not being able to retrieve the jewellery, they preferred to die along with thewhole family including children. Could there be a bigger tragedy in the globalhistory of pesticide induced disasters? And yet what have the governments done?We invite readers to share both the ideas to solve the indifference of the statetowards the plight of farmers (and the soil, water and future generation), andall the steps they have taken to increase the wider consciousness. Honey BeeNetwork will continue to plead for safe ways of pest management, animal care,and nature friendly resource management. Even if it means ploughing the lonelyfurrow.

A distinctive feature of this part of innovations is the experiments pursued byGram Bharati Vidyapiths, Amrapur to repel the animals. We hope more suchinstitutions will pursue research on farmers’ innovation. (NAPDB refers toNAPRALERT database, Chicago)

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Asafoetida for controlling groundnutblight

Kalabhai says that the blight in groundnutcan be prevented if the seeds are treatedwith asafoetida before sowing. Twentykg of groundnut seed is soaked in thesolution prepared by mixing 250 g ofasafoetida in two litres of water. The seedsare soaked for 12 hours.

Chaudhari Kalabhai Ragnathbhai,Dist.Banaskantha. Comm: Chiman H Parmar.

Prevention of wilt in cumin crop

Twenty five kg of cumin seeds aresmeared with two kg of castor oil beforesowing to prevent wilt in cumin crop.

Laxmanji Dahyaji Thakor, Dist.Banaskantha. Comm: Chiman H Parmar

(NAPDB: Castor possesses anti-fungal andanti bacterial activity.)

Modified inter-culture plough

Dahyabhai Lakhabhai Patel is a residentof Khambhisar village in Gujarat. He hasstudied up to tenth standard. He made aninnovative change in an agricultureimplement called ‘khappa’. Themodification benefitted many farmers.

‘Khappa’ is used for inter-cropping. Itsblade loses sharpness over time and needsto be sharpened very frequently. ‘Khappa’

Controlling Nilgai menace in ‘chiku’crop

Small plants of ‘chiku’ (Achrus zapota)are often damaged by Nilgais. They eataway the tender twigs and leaves of the‘chiku’ plant. The Nilgai particularlydamages the plants that emit milkysubstance.

Gram Bharati has about 240 ‘chiku’plants, out of which six or seven plantswere damaged in the last two years byNilgais. To prevent this damage, a mixtureof cowdung and water was sprinkled onthe top branches of chiku plants with thehelp of a broom. It was observed thatalthough Nilgais enter the orchard, theydo not eat the tender twigs and leaves of‘chiku’ because of the foul odour. Themixture was regularly sprinkled on the‘chiku’ plants every 15 to 20 days. GramBharati followed this practice for the lastone and a half year.

The cow-dung should not be very denseand it should be sprinkled only on the topportion of the twigs of the plant. Heavysprinkling all over the parts may affectthe process of photosynthesis which willhave an adverse effect on the plant’sgrowth.

Amrutbhai Patel, Gram Bharati, Amrapur,Dist Mehsana.

9128 Controlling green worm in tuvar

Rasulbhai Ahmedbhai Gandhi, a farmerfrom Bharuch district uses leaves ofAnnona squamosa and Clerodendrumphlomides to control green worms(Heliothis spp.). The leaves are boiled in

water and filtered separately in a pan andcooled. About 200 g of this filtrate ismixed with 10 litres of water and sprinkledon the crop. It remains effective for aperiod of six to seven days.

Rasulbhai Ahmedabhai Ghanch, Dist.Bharuch. Comm: Vijay A Chauhan.

(NAPDB: The leaves of custard applepossesses insecticidal activity. Ref: KapoorS L, et al (1980) Bulletin of Med. Ethnobot.Res. 1:120), Atal C K , et al (1978) IndianJ. Exp. Biology-16:332-349.)

Controlling Blister beetle in ‘bajri’

‘Kansia’ attacks the ear head of ‘bajri’(Pearl millet). For controlling these insectsKodarji uses a mixture of liquor andMercuric oxide (vermillion) to control thisinsect. He adds vermillion to 50 to 100 gof liquor till it becomes scarlet in colour.

Later, he walks in the field in the directionof wind, catches ‘kansia’ insects one byone, dips them in the mixture and thenallows them to fly away. Seeing thecoloured insects or smell of liquor, the restof the ‘kansia’ insects flee the crop.

Sometimes, instead of the above mixture,he also uses the leaves of a grass knownas ‘kamdo’. The leaves are crushed withhands as one moves around the farm inthe direction of wind. ‘Kansia’ insects flyaway due to the strong smell of thecrushed leaves. (A similar practice using‘dhumas’ (Combretum ovalifolium) wasreported in HB Vol.3(2):19 : Ed)

Kodarji Kaluji Pagi, Dist. Kheda. Comm:Pravin H Rohit.

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also had a limitation to plough hard soil.

To overcome these problems, Dahyabhaimade some changes in the implement, Hefixed a 25 cm (10 inch) long iron bar(‘kosh’) on the flat side of the bladeprojecting the bar beyond the pointed edgeby five cm (two inch). As a result, theblade and the pointed edge do not touchthe soil directly and the edges do not getblunted. Thus the modification helps theblades to retain their sharpness for long.The bar also helps deep ploughing in hardsoil.

Dahyabhai Lakhabhai Patel, Dist.Sabarkantha : Comm: Mahesh K Parmar

Animal Husbandry Practices

Expulsion of placenta

The animal is fed with one or two basketfull of green leaves of Bambusabambas. It is believed that the treatment

helps to release placenta within two tothree hours.

Mansukbhai Ramjibhai Savalia, Dist.Junagadh. Comm: Harshaben Chauhan.

Controlling ectoparasites

Gulabben, uses dry leaves of ‘mahuda’(Madhuca indica), castor oil, turmericand ‘avchi-bavchi’ (Moschosmapolystachyum) plant when cattle areinfected with fleas.

She takes 10 to 15 plants of ‘avchi-bavchi’

and rubs them on the affected parts ofthe body. She cleans the cattleshed withbrooms made out of the same plant andspreads about 100 g of dry ‘mahuda’leaves near the shed. The strong odour of‘mahuda’ leaves deters the fleas fromattacking the cattle.

For preventing ticks, Gulabben mixes 50g of turmeric powder (Curcuma longa)with 100 g of castor oil and rubs themixture on the affected parts of the bodyfor three days. The ticks drop down fromthe tender parts of the animal’s body likethe lower portion of the ear. Similarly,turmeric heals the infected parts of thecattle. The treatment offers great relief tothe animal, which otherwise becomesextremely restless because of the irritationcaused by the ectoparasites.

Gulabben says that the method has beenin use for a long time in her family.

Gulaben Abhesinh Chauhan, Dist.Vadodara comm: Vijay A Chauhan.

Urinary problems

One kg of ‘chhatodi’ (Boerhavia diffusa)

roots are boiled vigorously in two and ahalf litres of water till the quantity of waterreduces to one litre. The decoction isstored in a vessel and administered to theanimal having urinary trouble for two tothree days at a dose of 100 ml per day.

‘Chhatodi’ is a creeper with small round

leaves, bears white and yellowish pinkflowers. The roots of ‘chhatodi’ bearingwhite flowers are useful for curing thisdisease.

Ganeshbhai Nambhai Dodia, Dist.Bhavnagar. Comm: Dilip Koradia

(NAPDB: This plant has ethno medicinalproperties, and is used as a diuretic. Ref:Nandi R P, et al (1974) Indian J. Exp.Biology 12: 509-511)

Use of ‘karela’ for healing wounds

Kunvarben Hirabhai Parmar of Mehsanadistrict uses ‘karela’ (Momordicacharantia) to cure wounds infested byexternal parasites. ‘Karela’ is cut into smallpieces without peeling the skin and thepieces are crushed till the paste becomessoft like an ointment. The paste is storedin a separate container.

The affected parts are cleaned andbuffaloe-milk is poured on them. The milklures the worms to come out on thesurface. These are picked and removed.The wound is cleaned with cloth or cottonand the ‘karela’ paste is applied on it. Thetreatment is repeated twice a day in themorning and evening.

(NAPDB: The juice of ‘karela’ is useful forhealing wounds in human, Velezsalar(1944) Rev. Farm (Buenos aires) 86: 512-516; Morton J F 1967 Eco. Bot 21: 57 andpossesses antibacterial, antifungal andinsecticidal activity, Tuntivanich et al(1981) Sci. Thailand 38: 3, 750-754 andmay help to stop bleeding in wounds.)

Kunvarben Hirabhai Parmar, Dist.Mehsana. Comm: Chiman H Parmar.

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Three months study course on‘Participatory Planning, Managementand Evaluation of SustainableDevelopment Actions in Belgium

The course will be organised in Belgiumat the RUCA Campus, University ofAntwerp during September 1998,December 1998. The Programme isdesigned for NGO workers orGovernment officials involved inDevelopment work.

For Application and Details kindlycontact the Co-ordinator of the courseat South Research: Zwarte Zustersstraat,16/9, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail :[email protected]

Saving Medicinal Plants ConferenceBangalore, February 16-19 1998

An international conference on savingmedicinal plants took place in Bangaloreduring 16-19, 1998. It was organized bythe FRLHT (Foundation for Revitalisationof Local Health Traditions). There were400 participants from all over the world.The conference had two parallel themes:(a) Conservation and (b) IPR and cross-cultural transactions

Ashish Kothari convened aninteresting session on “Access andbenefit sharing as a political process”.Dabur representative pleaded forgreater freedom to use biodiversityand decried too much regulation.

Darell Posey focused on the spiritualaspects of indigenous knowledge,stressing that medicinal plants shouldnot be separated from food plants. Hecalled for a new interdisciplinaryscience for the next millennium.

There was a plenary session chairedby Prof Anil Gupta on Bioprospecting(Pros and Cons), Trade Issues andDistribution of community benefits.There was a panel discussion betweenGerry Bodeker, Uwe Schippman,Darshan Shankar, Darell Posey, RoyTaylor and Dr Sugumaran. There wasa very widespread participation fromthe audience in this session which waslively because of the tension betweenthose, who believed that benefits tolocal communities would flow onlywhen resources were augmented andvalue added vis-a-vis those, whowanted people to be left as they were.

Some things can never be compensatedequitably or otherwise. Indigenouspeople do not call it “bioprospecting”,but instead, “biopiracy”. Ethics and thewisdom of developing drugs for only asmall elite of humanity must includeissues of partnership and sharing.

IFAD Expo: ‘Hope to Harvest’

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IFAD (International Fund for AgriculturalDevelopment) organized an internationalexhibition “Hope to Harvest” in Romeduring 6-13 February, 1998 on the eve ofits 20th anniversary. As one of the foundingmembers of the Popular Coalition andFocal point of the Network onGrassroots Technology andInstitutional Innovation set up by IFAD,SRISTI was invited to participate in thisexhibition. SRISTI displayed someinnovative implements like ‘Santi’ - a multipurpose tool bar, ‘Mini Kaliyu’ -agroundnut digger, wheat sowing boxes,different models of pulley for drawingwater from open wells in the exhibition.All these implements were developed byShri Amrutbhai Agrawat, an innovativeartisan of Honey Bee Network from Pikhorvillage, Gujarat, India. A multimediadatabase on grassroots innovationsdeveloped by SRISTI was also displayed.Many scientists from various UNinstitutions, students, members of thegoverning council of IFAD visited the stall.The President of Mali was one of the keenvisitors of SRISTI stall. The exhibition willbe organized at several places in the world.Highlights of the Expo are available atwww.ifad.org.

Shodh Sankal meetings

Two Shodh Sankal (chain of experi-menting farmers) meetings were organizedby farmers in Junagadh district duringMarch 1998. Shri Gajera JethabhaiKurjibhai hosted the first meeting in Tintodivillage on March 7, 1998. About 110innovative farmers, artisans, horticulturistsand veterinary experts attended thismeeting in which about 20 were women.Shri Vallabhbhai Sojitra hosted anothermeeting the next day at Divarana village.About 70 farmers attended the meeting.

Amrutbhai Agrawat, Bhanjibhai Mathukia,Gafarabhai Kureshi, Rhematkhan Solanki,Devayatbapa Aahir, Rajubhai Makawana,Thakashibhai Savaliya, RasikbhaiBhensaniya and many others shared their

innovations in both the meetings.

The meetings encouraged several farmersfrom the host villages to share their owninnovations. Bhupatbhai Rupavatiya ofTintodi village presented a model of fruit-plucker developed by him. The pluckeris made of a PVC pipe, the diameter ofwhich may vary based on the height ofthe tree and size of the fruit.

Two grooves, similar to those on theholder of an electric bulb, are made on aPVC coupling. The coupling is fixed tothe top of the pipe. A PVC angle is fixedat the other end along with a bag to collectfruits. To pluck a fruit on the tree, thegroove side of the pipe is hooked to thefruit so that the fruit goes into the hollowpipe and the petiole into the groove. Atwist of the pipe plucks the fruit and thefruit falls into the bag through the hollowpipe.

Issues related to documentation anddissemination of innovations, on-farmresearch, increasing participation ofwomen innovators and young studentswere discussed in the meeting.Biodiversity contest and Gyan Vana forin situ conservation of biodiversity andassociated knowledge were planned asfollow up activities in collaboration withthe school in Divarana village.


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HumanscapeMonthly

Foundation for Humanizaton, 11 Yoguiti,18 S.V. Road. Santacruz (W). Mumbai400054, India.

A very interesting journal which focuseson a variety of social issues as they affectordinary people in their lives and thoughts.The tone of the magazine is refreshinglystraightforward, aiming to present abalanced view of issues in order to inspireoptimism while being informative andthoughtful.

One of the recent issues (December 1997)focused on “Disoriented Development”and the urgent need to protect ourenvironmental base. An article on thehuman rights of local tribal people dealtwith their plight. as urban decision makersproceed

Another article presents in photos theplight of the “damned and displaced” tribalslum dwellers of the cities who have fledtheir rural homes, displaced by dams andpower projects. Having lost theirlivelihood and self-reliant way of life theyend up as rickshaw pullers in cities,sleeping in the open without hope ofresettlement.

The journal also looks at health issues andreports on the sudden and unwarranteddeath of a young woman who wassterilised and died from complications.The article laments the disregard ofinformed consent procedures and theunreliable health services that behaveundemocratically and inhumanelyparticularly toward lower caste patients.

Further articles deal with the NewHumanism, viewed as a catalyst for socialand political reform that opposes allideologies that divide human beings andcreate hatred.

An index on Indian social issues, a list ofvoluntary organizations, poetry and evensome humour complete this veryinteresting magazine.

Prayog PariwarMethodology

Shripad A Dabholkar (1994), PrayogPariwar, 103, Salokhenagar, Kolhapur -416007

“Networking of Self-experimentingVentures for Nature-friendly and Man-friendly prosperity till the last man” is howProf Shripad Dabholkar calls the PrayogPariwar movement, initiated and led byhim. In this monograph, Dabholkarattempts to give a historical account andphilosophical basis of the Prayog Pariwarnetwork. Though not very well-structured, the sheer amount of ideasmakes the monograph a useful treatise onknowledge-based networking at thegrassroots.

A strong believer in what RabindranathTagore said, that the education must makeus “vitally savage but mentally civilised”,Dabholkar is an explorer right from thebeginning with no concern for anyacademic career building. Dabholkar’stryst with knowledge-exploration beganwith self-study courses. Over time,Dabholkar learnt that institutional formconstrains open knowledgecommunication and cannot accommodatethe vast amount of knowledge availableas “choiceless awareness” abounding inand around every individual. He closeddown the institution against toughresistance from his well-wishers andstudents.

In 1965, during food crisis after Pakistanwar, Dabholkar shared his experiments onincreasing agricultural productivitythrough a popular magazine. Atremendous response to it triggered an ideaof self-experimenting venture network,

which he later called Prayog Pariwar(Family of self-learners). His assumptionwas that the exchange of experiences ofventures would help people with similarproblems find solutions on their own.Prayog Pariwar quickly became verypopular and became a strong network.

A simplified version of how PrayogPariwar operates is the following. Aventure is beamed to the network throughany communication mode at disposal,mostly through postcards. Thoseinterested try the venture and send theirfeedback through cards. Gradually theinformation exchange precipitates tofocussed groups depending on the interestof the group. Dabholkar calls them cellsand he cites several of such cells. Mostfascinating of them being the ‘VaidnyanicDrakshakula’ (experimentally involvedgrape cell), emerged from grape-gardeners of Sangli district. The cell hasnow become a resource center for grapecultivation and the experiences ofexperiments deal with every aspect of thecultivation such as spacing, thinning,girdling, fruit preservation etc.

Dabholkar calls the Prayog Pariwarconcept as a kind of ‘grey matterrevolution’ which augments knowledgeand experience of people in thecommunity and relates to theneighbourhood ecology.

The monograph is organized into eightchapters. The first four deal withDabholkar’s early life, evolution of thenetwork and its growth. The latter fourchapters deal with his exploration intoscience for rural development under thebroad concept called ‘Nature Farming’.It is unfair to review this publicationwithin the space constraints of thiscolumn. It is a must to all those concernedwith knowledge-based communitydevelopment approach and participatoryresearch.

HUMANSCAPE


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South Africa calling!

James MurombedziP.O. Box 300953, Braamfontein 2017Johannesburg, South Africa.

As I continue to receive copies of theHoney Bee, I am struck by the absenceof such a publication in Southern Africa.

I am aware of several research initiativesinto such pertinent issues as indigenousknowledge systems, traditional medicineand so on. However, all of these are‘normal’ academic endeavours, andtypically result in publication in scientificjournals.

I have been thinking that perhaps yourpublication offers an excellent exampleof information dissemination where theinformation is not only accessible to,but is actually produced by the peopleat grassroots for their own use. I thinkthat Southern Africa needs this, andwould like to learn about your experiencein establishing the Honey Bee network.It is my hope that I can use some ofmy time at the Ford Foundation topromote such an initiative in SouthernAfrica. I think that local volunteers canreadily be identified from among therelatively large number of people alreadyworking on IKS in the region. I amthinking more of a regional SouthernAfrica program than just a countryprogram in South Africa. I am awarethat this may be more complex, but Ibelieve that we will get more valueadded from broader regional participationin a network of this sort.

(James, This is exactly what we wish tohappen all over the world. Our dream isthat one day creative communities andindividuals from around the world will beable to hear from each other in their locallanguage, idiom and metaphor. We hopeto remain in touch. :Ed)

Honey Bee taught in school!

Mrs Dana Amelia DeasC/o Frank Dias, “Pascharisma Angonn”550/C, Birondi-Benaulim, Salicete Goa403716 India

I am an unemployed housewife and myhusband is a laboratory assistant in agoverment aided school. Both of us arekeen and eager to support your voiceof creative grassroots innovators, for

we believe in the 21st century, organicfood will replace medicine. My husbanduses your Honey Bee magazine contentsin his value education, moral science,religious classes and environmenteducation for community.

In fact, if you could also send us a copyof Marathi language version of HoneyBee, we could try bringing out a HoneyBee edition in Konkani language. We candiscuss this idea with a local Goanmonthly ‘Gulab’ (Roman script based)and a daily newspaper ‘Sunaparent’(Devnagiri scrip based) for possiblecollaboration to bring out the Konkaniversion. We may like to at least publishsome articles translated from Honey Beein these publications for the benefit ofGoan farmers and students.

We however want the English editionof Honey Bee magazine for the benefitof English medium students in ourschool.

(Please organise a biodiversitycompetition among school children. Wewill gift an annual subscription to firstthree students. We welcome your idea oftranslating article for publishing inKonkani media. That is precisely thepurpose. Please do let the readers knowabout the contest. :Ed)

Patents are a problem

Padma Rajagopal35-Maidanahalli, YelwalaMysore - 571 130

I am very perturbed by the debates onintellectual property rights, especially withregard to persons like Karimbhai (editorialvol. Sept. ’97 issue). I greatly admireKarimbhai’s attitude and wish more of uscould develop the security it implies.Sharing knowledge can only make thesum-total richer. As a teacher of skills andrural technologies, I find that I amconstantly learning from my students’questions and ways of looking at things

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ContrContrContrContrControlling olling olling olling olling TTTTTererererermite inmite inmite inmite inmite inMangMangMangMangMango o o o o TTTTTrrrrreeeeeeeeee

Pramod jainPramod jainPramod jainPramod jainPramod jain10/21 H.A.U, Hisar - 125004

To control termite infestation inMango trees, farmers use leaves

of Calotropis giganteaCalotropis giganteaCalotropis giganteaCalotropis giganteaCalotropis gigantea. Theykeep them in a big earthen potfilled with water and leave itundisturbed for about two weeks.

Later, the water is decanted andapplied to the diseased trees at arate of half liter per tree.

The leaves in the pot are replacedafter two months. The treatmentis continued for two years toachieve complete control oftermites.

(We have published several practicesbased on CalotropisCalotropisCalotropisCalotropisCalotropis. Readers areinvited to contribute more examples,that we call this wonderful planta weed. :Ed)

Source: Jain Ram,Village Bhodia,Block: Adampur, District Hisar,Haryana

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anew.

Can a patent stop individuals fromsharing recipies, or making that for useor limited sale? I would like to see anetwork of people freely sharinginformation less trade secrets. Humaningenuity is limitless and the fruitsshould belong to man-kind. Knowledge,like nature, accepts no artificialboundaries.

(We appreciate your reservation but pleaseunderstand that patents do not precludesharing. Defensive patents are used toprevent others from patenting but not torestrict the access. In any case, shouldKarimbhai remain poor indefinitelybecause he shares his knowledge freely.Please appreciate that IPRs are only onekind of acknowledgement of creativity.Patents are given because people agreeto share their knowledge and not becausethey keep their knowledge as secret. :Ed)

Honey Bee ‘like’ publicationssuffer in Africa

Serge ChapatteSwiss Development Co-operation, BerneEmail: [email protected]

In West Africa, and specially in the ruralareas, the oral transfer of informationand knowledge still plays a key role.

There nonetheless exist some publicationswhich can be compared to Honeybee.All these publications are suffering fromsimilar difficulties:

(i) In reaching their target public on aregular basis (malfunctioning of thedistribution, losses, fees not paid, a.s.o),(ii) In renewing their publications (costof articles, interest and renewal ofthemes, a.s.o) (iii) In assessing theirimpact (translation in local languages,use of disseminated technologies, a.s.o),In meeting the printing costs (iv) Inworking together with like-minded andcomplementary groups.

(Serge, we went through all thepublications you sent and felt that noneof these was even remotely similar to

Honey Bee. Though we wish, these were.Based on normative knowledge base, someproblems are inherent. But our emphasisis on vernacular editions based on localcreativity and innovations. Elsewhereyou will find a letter from James fromSouth Africa confirming that such a newsletter does not exist in Southern Africa. Wewill be working with them over next twoyears to strengthen Honey Bee networkin several Southern African countries. Wehope that similar initiatives will emergein Western Africa and other regions of theworld. Thanks for taking the trouble andplease keep us posted with any otherinnovative networks. :Ed)

Joy of colustrum milk cakes!

Ramesh P MahajanUmavinagar, Jalgaon

I am very grateful to Honey Bee forpublishing the innovation on preservationof colustrum milk (Honey Bee 8(4):11).I live in the area of milk producers butI am not aware of this idea. Even themilk producers are also not knowing thesame. My special thanks to Honey Beebecause I am very fond of the colustrummilk cakes. Now I can enjoy themwhenever I feel to do so.

(Ramesh, you have been one of the oldestassociates of Honey Bee, we expect you toregularly scout for local innovations. Alsoa Marathi version of Honey Bee is on theanvil, will you volunteer to share someburden? If so, please contact RajeevKhedkar, Academy of DevelopmentScience, P O Kashele, Karjat Taluka,Raigadh - 410 201 Maharashtra)

A deal for contributing receipes:free Sujhbhuj

RavindraC/o Vikas Sahyog Kendra / PSINear Shilpisthan, Navtoli, Koel Kinare,Daltonganj - 822101, Bihar

We have collected at least ten varietiesof non-conventional (dried) leafyvegetables. All these are absolutelyorganic and many of them are collectedfrom forests or tribal farmers. We arein the process of preparing a herbariumof about 50 collections including

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medicinal plants. However it is a bitdifficult to identify the scientific namesat this stage because of our remotenessto literature and lack of expertise intaxonomy.

I have seen the recipe contest in HB.We want to suggest a deal, we willsend you recipes using uncommonplants gathered from various tribal villagesin the area we are working. In returnwe want a year subscription of Sujhbujhfor each village. I have introduced HBand Sujhbujh to all our friends here. Wewill try to contribute regularly.

(Done, Ravindra, we are going for it. Wewill also help in identifying the plantswith the help of competent taxonomists.This is a role that SRISTI is always readyto play for local community based groupslike yours. :Ed)

HB generates demand forAnnasab’s Raingun in SriLanka!

Dr E S Mahendrarajah7/4 King Street, Matale, P C # 21000Sri Lanka, Email:[email protected]

It was quite interesting to read aboutthe sprinkler designed by Anna SahebUdagavi. I showed the article to coupleof my friends and they are quiteinterested. It would be nice if you couldconvey our greetings and good wishesto Anna Saheb.

Further, we are interested in purchasinga few of his rainguns to test in SriLanka. Any information in this regardcan help the innovator and us. You canact as a bridge to spread and sprinklethe gospel of good work.

(We are very happy about your feed back.We will convey your greetings to AnnSaab and ascertain the information aboutsending few sprinklers to Sri Lanka. Isnot it interesting that none from Indianresearch system, ICAR or even corporatesector has yet responded but your lettercame so promptly. Keep it up. This is oneof the major goals of Honey Bee, togenerate global markets for localinnovations. :Ed)

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Category South Asia* International

Annual MembershipPatron Rs 2000 $500

or above or aboveSupporter Rs 500 $50Scientist/Professional Rs 150 $30Foreign aided NGOs Rs 500 $50Farmers/NGOs (without foreign aid)

�� Large Rs 150 $50�� Small Rs 50 $25

Students Rs 100 $20Unemployed Worker Rs 5 FreeInstitutions/Libraries Rs 2500 $200

Life MembershipIndividual Rs 2500 $500Institutions/Libraries Rs 10,000 $1000

Note : The prices are in Indian Rupees and U.S. Dollars.* Includes: India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka andThe Maldives.

Please send your contributions through bank draft/postal order/moneyorder in favour of A/c SRISTI Innovations at the editorial address;C/o Prof Anil K Gupta,Editor, Honey Bee, Indian Institute ofManagement, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015 India. Phone: 91-79-407241, Fax: 91-79-6427896 Email: [email protected]

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