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Honey Bee-Naama-I |
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In search of odd balls |
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While walking through the villages for thousands of kilometers, Honey Bee volunteers have realised that most of the innovators don’t even know that they have done an innovation. The eye of an outsider sometimes with an attention to detail uncovers creativity what may otherwise be consigned to obscurity. Over a period of time, the culture of recognising endogenous creativity has begun to take roots. Various initiatives taken up by SRISTI, NIF, GIAN and other volunteers of the Honey Bee Network are summarised here. Scouting and documenting grassroots innovations has been the anchor of our activities. The Honey Bee newsletter was primarily established to share insights documented from creative communities with existing and potential members of the network. Such cross-pollination of ideas through acknowledgement of knowledge providers as well as scouts started a new idiom in the discourse on knowledge exchange between formal and informal sectors. Till then, all knowledge of local communities was read and consumed anonymously; in fact, much of it is treated in the same fashion even now. There is still a long way to go... Scout, Support, Spread In this section, we offer a brief glimpse of the kind of innovations and traditional practices that SRISTI and the Honey Bee Network (HBN) have been documented so far. They include technological, institutional, cultural and educational innovations. It is worth noting that these clusters of innovations have been found to possess a common heuristic (a route or tool to arrive at the innovation). This becomes a subject of research, which can help create a better understanding of the processes of innovation. The output of such research, when shared with potential innovators, can help stimulate similar processes. Examples of such heuristics are given in italics at the bottom of some of the practices, which have been reproduced from earlier issues of Honey Bee. The first such study of the heuristics of innovation was carried out by Astad Pastakia, a doctoral student at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, under the guidance of Prof. Anil K Gupta in 1996. There is a need to promote such research in a bigger way as discussed in the section on research later. Scouting and Documentation SRISTI has been scouting and documenting grassroots innovations developed by farmers, artisans, livestock and poultry keepers, pastoralists, fishing communities and other individuals. Volunteers undertake extensive scouting and documentation activities, trained in workshops. SRISTI has developed precise guidelines for them that enable them to identify grassroots innovators and document their knowledge through personal interaction. Besides, the regional collaborators of the Honey Bee Network in different states, SRISTI’s field researchers, farmers and innovators write in about any scientific grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge based innovative practices that they come across. SRISTI has entered into collaboration with several rural universities, known as Gram Vidyapeeths, throughout Gujarat. The students of these Gandhian institutions spend a part of their summer vacation in their hometowns to track ‘odd balls’ (people following uncommon practices) and the underlying knowledge upon which they may have built their unconventional lives on. It helps SRISTI unearth rural geniuses. The process of locating such grassroots geniuses can be understood from a few examples from the Shodhyatra. For the readers who are new to the Honey Bee, the Shodhyatra is an event organised twice in a year which involves a group of volunteers, including the staff of SRISTI and members of the Honey Bee Network, walking from village to village for about a week. During this collective journey, volunteers interact with villagers, sharing the details of grassroots innovations from the Network’s database and, in turn, enrich the Network by learning about the innovations and traditional practices and institutions of the local people. The yatra is organised in difficult-to-access areas of the country and the travelers try to visit a place in a season when it is most difficult for locals. During the 18th Shodhyatra in western Uttar Pradesh, the yatris met Dr Das in Chipiyana village, where his car had broken down. He asked them the purpose and details of the Shodhyatra. Their answers brought to his mind a grassroots innovation he had known about. The next day, he brought Kamruddin Saifi with him. Saifi had invented a safety feature for the motor-powered chaff-cutting machine. Such commercially available machines do not allow blades to stop immediately even when the power is switched off. Since chaff is pushed with hands in such machines, the continous movement of blades becomes dangerous in the eventuality of an accident. Saifi’s feature allows the movement of the blades to be broken at will, thus saving the user from any major injury. How do we scout? Scouting shouldn’t be an extractive process. It is a mutually respectful and rejuvenating process. Without sharing we have no right to scout. SRISTI neither uses nor approves of any of the so called Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) or Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods. These methods can create a cast of mind, which legitimises shortcut approaches to learning and often leads to exploitative modes of relationship with people. SRISTI believes that learning has to be mutual, patient and in categories that people use for defining their world-view. Hence, instead of using pre-fixed formats, SRISTI has adopted a ‘snow-balling’ approach for scouting innovations. During the 33rd Shodhyatra in Haryana, when the participants were discussing innovation processes on the way to the next destination Shahbajpur, a young boy Sujit recalled his meeting with a farmer innovator who had developed a bicycle-based millet-sowing machine. The shodhyatris arranged for an interaction with the innovator Maharam. He explained that his innovative, a low-cost sowing attachment for a bicycle allowed seeds to be placed at a maximum depth of one-and-a-half inches, thus making the soil cover thin. On the other hand, when sowing is done with a tractor-based drilling device, the seeds are sowed deeper hence increasing the soil cover. In Maharam’s method, not just the tillering growth is higher; the yield could increase by about 20 per cent compared to the tractor-based method. Clearly, big is not always better! One of the major premises on which SRISTI’s documentation practices are based is an emphasis on stemming knowledge erosion. Often, compared with the intensity of resource erosion, knowledge erosion is a major hindrance to the “Great Indian Dream†of becoming the knowledge super-power. To that end, there is an urgent need to step up the documentation efforts of this valuable knowledge resource that is rapidly getting eroded. Facilitating protection of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) of Grassroots Innovators (GRIs) Often intellectual property rights of those outside the purview of the formal system are overlooked. The Honey Bee Network has strived hard to protect the rights of the knowledge-rich, but economically poor, creative individuals through multiple ways to ensure that innovators, traditional knowledge holders and GRI holders get recognition and justice. Village Knowledge Register In all villages visited by SRISTI, volunteers make it a point to provide a Village Knowledge Register that can be maintained by teachers, students and/or the village head. It contains proforma-based sections for documenting traditional knowledge of the village, for example, the species of plants found there and their local uses, details about centenarians, traditional recipes, cultural activities, climate indicators, farming practices, etc. The purpose of maintaining such registers is to check the erosion of traditional knowledge, which was earlier passed on to the next generation in the oral tradition. Intellectual Property Management Knowledge matters, and so does its protection. Various components of the Honey Bee Network work in tandem to protect the intellectual property rights of grassroots innovators. While SRISTI documents scientific and process details of innovations or traditional knowledge practices, the IP Management Division of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) conducts prior art searches, drafts, files and coordinates with various IP firms and attorneys globally for mobilising pro bono or paid support for grassroots innovators in filing patents, trademarks and other means of IP protection on their behalf. This division also provides legal assistance to innovators to negotiate and draft licensing arrangements and deal with issues of infringement of their IP rights. The NIF also screens patents and patent applications based on Indian traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations, so as to oppose the improper applications or granted patents, particularly those dealing with the practices entered in the National Register of the NIF. The amount of knowledge and innovation protected through IPRs is a small part of the ideas, knowledge, and innovation put in an open source. We have the concept of technology commons, which promotes open sharing among the innovators with patented technologies but suggests firms to source these through licensing only. Data sharing using ICT Tools Understanding the tremendous potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in furthering the cause of traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations, SRISTI has initiated a number of activities to network innovators, knowledge seekers, investors and entrepreneurs and facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and information pertaining to grassroots creativity. SRISTI’s ICT initiatives are aimed at easing the task of accessing the innovation database of the Honey Bee Network, breaking the barriers of language and medium of data sharing. These initiatives have also taken care to facilitate peer learning among innovators and traditional knowledge holders on the one hand and between formal institutions of excellence and the world of entrepreneurs on the other. Exploring alternative technologies for the elimination of child labour SRISTI, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) organised a nationwide idea competition in 2013, which involved leading engineering colleges and research institutions. Its objective was to push youth to develop and adopt innovative technologies to eliminate child labour. The exercise involved promoting this competition amongst institutes/colleges/ groups working in the area of technological innovation. SRISTI organised a national workshop in April 2013 to deliberate on the ideas collected through the competition and select the ones which could be turned into prototypes. Finally, a compendium of the shortlisted ideas was developed which was based on the likelihood of their success in various industries or occupations. More information on these ideas can be found at the following links: http://www.sristi.org/nochildlabour/ http://fairwallproject.wordpress.com/ Sadbhav-SRISTI Sanshodhan Laboratory About 15 years ago, on a cloudy afternoon, a middle-aged man with greying hair entered my room and said, “Professor Gupta, I am a chartered accountant in Mumbai and work with a family trust which is interested in supporting socially useful initiatives. We have checked everything about you and SRISTI. Is there a dream that has remained unfulfilled?†I was a bit flabbergasted. How can a stranger make such a generous offer so directly and precisely. His name was Anil Kamdar, a member of Sadbhav Trust set up by a business family in Mumbai under the leadership of Shri Madhukar Seth. I said, “Yes, there is one dream that haunts me all the time. You know that SRISTI has documented thousands of innovations and Traditional Knowledge practices through the volunteers of the Honey Bee Network. But while trying to work with scientists, we have not been able to add value to any of their experiments/practices so far, and without adding value, we cannot share financial benefits with the communities except sharing experiments/knowledge collected from others? We should set up a natural product laboratory.â€-Ed. Within a short while, a proposal was developed and Sadbhav- SRISTI - Sanshodhan (SSS) laboratory with a minimum set of equipments came into existence. That’s how began the journey of value added products by pooling creative practices of different communities and individuals with full acknowledgement and attribution, and appropriation of benefits for the communities. The Honey Bee Network recalls this example to share how so many volunteers in different fields have absorbed the spirit of the HBN and contributed generously towards it. Commercialisation as well as sharing of formulations of value added products as open source have been two of the major strategies of the SSS lab. Later, this lab has grown in infrastructure as well as scope of activities. It has been supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) through joint research activities with National Innovation Foundation. SSS lab pursues research on community knowledge and individual innovations and traditional knowledge practices in agriculture, veterinary sciences, human herbal treatments, traditional foods particularly those having some uncultivated ingredients but also others, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and microbial diversity. Soil samples are collected during every Shodhyatra (learning walks) and microbial diversity is isolated from these. These microorganism shared are then screened for various antibiotics and other purposes. An agreement has recently been signed between SRISTI and CSIR-IMTECH Chandigarh, a leading national lab to screen this diversity and jointly develop products of national importance.This is perhaps the only lab dedicated to add value to people’s knowledge but every country should have many such labs around the world. Else, our debt towards inter-generational knowledge produced by communities will not be paid even in part. Some of the initiatives of the laboratory are described below: Agricultural and Veterinary Products The laboratory has developed herbal agro-products, which include growth promoters, formulations preventing flower shedding, formulations controlling cotton pests, termites and mealy bugs. SRISTI Natural, a division of the laboratory, offers snacks, like khakhra and biscuits made from nine different grains. These multi-grain products have been formulated keeping in mind food habits of people, the ease of availability of raw material, nutritional benefits of finished products and off-the-shelf options for all age groups. Currently, the laboratory has 34 pesticides and growth promoters and 14 veterinary and human health-healing products, which are ready for commercialisation. SRISTI is looking for suitable partners to take them to the market. Human Care Products The laboratory has developed a wide range of products like Zematic for eczema and psoriasis, Care & Care for cracks and other foot-related ailments, Herbaglow for glowing skin, Mosqhit mosquito repellent, Pain Relief for joint pain and Herboheal for wound healing. Microbial Memories Over the years, the laboratory has developed a large microbial collection, samples for which were collected during the Shodhyatras in Gujarat and other parts of India. These samples were taken largely from stressed areas with relatively underdeveloped infrastructure, where the habitats were relatively undisturbed. SRISTI’s MoU with IMTech, chandigarh, signed in 2014 for collaborative research will reveal the hidden wisdom of microbes for the benefit of local communities of the concerned microbial resource regions. Herbal pesticide for controlling insects and pests of vegetables SRISTI has documented various practices about controlling insects and pests. The SRISTI laboratory has developed a highly effective, value-added herbal formulation for controlling vegetable pests which is based on the knowledge of grassroots innovators. This is based on practices documented from Kheda, Erode, Virudhunagar, Pondicherry and Dindigul areas during 1998 to 2000 by the scouts of the Network. The formulation uses several locally available plants, such as Ipomea sp., Adhatoda sp. and Lantana sp. either alone or in combination with many other plants, such as Pongamia sp., Datura sp. The formulation was developed in the laboratory using the oil extracts of different plants in order to increase its efficacy and shelf life. During laboratory and field trials, it was found that the oil extract of neem (Azadirachta indica) was very effective. Hence, neem oil was used as a main ingredient along with the oil extract of plants used by the innovators. Value added formulation was again evaluated for efficacy in the laboratory and field conditions and it was found to be very effective against aphids, jassids, whiteflies and borers. The final formulation SRISTI Sarvatra is the outcome of value addition done in the laboratory by pooling of representative practices in modified forms. The final formulation was also tested in the laboratory and field conditions in different seasons, crop stages and loci. It was found to effectively reduce the number of pests and insects on the cotton plants. Plants were healthier and gave a higher yield of fibres. The use of the herbal formulation not only protects the crops from pest attack but also contributes to the overall wellness of the plants. It is effective in adverse and diverse agro-climatic conditions, provides complete protection against sucking pests and increases the productivity of vegetable crops. Innovator and Community Representatives: Muljibhai Patel (1998) Sankara Lingam (HB 11 (2) 9 : 2000) R Venkatasubbu (HB 11(3) 18: 2000) K Chellamuttu (HB, 11(3) 6: 2000) P Muthusamy (HB, 9(2): 7: 1998) Evaluation of practices for controlling termite attack SRISTI evaluated the efficacy of farmers’ practices involving five plant species used in various forms (Odontotermes obesus Rambur) for termite control. These tests were performed in field conditions and it was found that compared to the individual treatments, mixture of extracts of C. procera, A. bracteata, S. surattense, oil of R. communis and milky latex of E. tirucalli showed better results in terms of mortality and hence should be preferred for termite control. Sahay N S, Prajapati C J, Panara K A, Patel J D, and Singh P K, (2014) Anti-termite potential of plants selected from the SRISTI database of grassroots innovations. Journal of Biopesticides 7 (Supp.), 164-169. Pink-Morning Glory: Case Study-I Ipomoea carnea Jacq. ssp. fistulosa (Mart. ex Choisy) D. Austin Morning glory is the common name of more than 1,000 flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae. This family has about 60 genera. “Ipomoea†is a Greek word, which consists of two words ipos, meaning “worm†or “bindweedâ€, and homoios, meaning “resemblingâ€. It refers to its twinning habit. The genus is found throughout the tropical and subtropical region of the world. Ipomoea has more than 500 species. One of them is known as pink-morning glory (in Gujarati, it is called Naffatiyo). This was introduced in India in the 18th century. The plant is believed to have originated in South America, where it grows in dense populations along riverbeds, banks, canals and other water-logged (wetland) areas. SRISTI has scouted 42 crop-protection practices from Gujarat where this plant has been used. Farmers have used it to control various insects, heliothis, aphids, leaf curl, sucking pest, termite, borers, fungal diseases, etc. and for growth promotion. It is also used to protect grains during storage. Out of the 42 practices, it has been used as the sole ingredient in 17 of them. In the practices where it is used with other ingredients, the maximum frequency is that of N.tabacum (seven times), whereas with A.indica, A.vasica, cow urine and buttermilk, it has been used six, five, four and three times respectively. These practices were also published in Honey Bee (Honey Bee, 3(1):13, 1992; Honey Bee, 3(1):16, 1992; Honey Bee, 4 (2&3):28-30, 1993; Honey Bee, 6(4):9, 1995; Honey Bee, 10(2):14,1999; Honey Bee, 13(4):18, 2002; and Honey Bee, 15(2):16, 2004). It is used in farmland for improving soil fertility in tropical countries (like India), where it is found in abundance (Kondap et al.,1981).It is also used for treating topical diseases, such as wounds and abscess. Abhalbhai H Patel from Charvi, Bansda in the Navsari district of Gujarat crushes the leaves of Ipomoea carnea and applies on maggot-infested wounds. Rayaliben Ramabhai Bariya from Dudhiya, Devgadh-baria in the Dahod district uses its leaves along with the leaves of Aegle marmelos, black Datura and jaggery to control abscess. Ramanbhai Bavabhai Patel from Chimla, Chikhli in the Navsari district applies juice of leaves along with camphor to control maggot infestation. [Also see Honey Bee, 21(4), 12, 2010]. Kondap S M, Yogeswara Rao Y, Wajid A M, Ramachandra Rao A and Srirama Raju K 1981. Proceedings of 8th Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference, pp. 153-155 Applications of Pink Morning Glory It is used for topical diseases such as abscess, fungal skin infection and pimples. Navneetbhai Maganbhai Patel, Borsad, Anand district, macerates 100 g of leaves on stone and applies for five to six days to cure abscess. Narvatbhai Virsingbhai Koli, Moti Bandibar, Limkheda, Dahod district apply the gummy secretion of branches on pimples two to three times in a day till the skin becomes normal. Pravinbhai Shantibhai Patel, Kalol, Panchmahal district makes paste from 100g leaves, adds a pinch of salt and 25g water. He heats it before applying and repeats this practice for four to five days to cure fungal infections. The latex of the plant is used in traditional medicine as a topical antiseptic in lesions (Chowdhury et al., 1997). Extracts prepared from the whole plant in hot, but not boiling, water is widely used as antirheumatic remedy in Bolivia (Shaltout et al., 2006). (Fatima et al., 2014) have recently summarised uses for, “anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, anticancer, anti-convulsant, immunomodulatory, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, sedative and wound healing activities†(Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, March 2014). The patent search for Ipomea carnea sp. fistulosa had shown two patent applications to control Ipomea carnea sp. fistulosa filed by Bayer Cropscience Ag in the year 2006 (Application number US 11/537,858; Publication number US 20080026945 A1 and US 7888286 B2). Chowdhury A K A, Ali M S and Khan M O F 1997. Fitoterapia, 68 (4): pp. 379-380 Shaltout K H, Al-Sodany Y M and Eid E M (2006). Ass. Univ. Bull. Environ. Res., 9 (1): pp.75-91. Nusrat Fatima, Mohammad Mijanur Rahman, Md Asaduzzaman Khan, Junjiang Fu (2014) A review on Ipomoea carnea: pharmacology, toxicology and Phytochemistry. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine; 11(2): pp.55-62 Other applications 1. Nematicidal: against the second stage of Meloidogyne incognita (NIkure and Lanjewar, 1981)2. Inhibition of the shoot and root growth of crops (Jadhav et al., 1997) 3. Insecticidal against: aphids, leaf folder, thrips, Japanese beetle, army worm and the cutworm caterpillar (Krishna et al., 2013)4. Induces systemic resistance in rice (Kagale et al., 2011) 5. Intoxication of livestock (Marilena et al., 2012) 6. Hepato- protective effects against liver toxicity (Gupta et al., 2012)7. Anti-inflammatory activity (Marilena et al., 2012)8. Anti-cancer activity (Anand et al., 2013) 9. Synthesis of silver Nano particles (Pavani et al., 2013)10. Promote menstruation, cure leucoderma, and manage convulsions and psychosis (Rout and Kar, 2013)11. Antiseptic and antimicrobial properties (Shaltout et al., 2006); (Khatiwora et al., 2012); (Tayung et al., 2012) 12. Rheumatism (Shaltout et al., 2006); (Khalid et al., 2011) 13. Wound healing activity (Ambiga et al., 2007)14. Phytoremediation of heavy metals (Ghosh and Singh, 2005) 15. Anti- diabetic effects (Kadiyawala et al., 2012)16. HIV-1 RT inhibitory potential (Woradulayapinij et al., 2005) 17. Adenocarcinoma de colon (L-HT29C) and human lymphocyte (L-THP) cell line in vitro assa of leaf extract- no cytotoxicity (Lamidi et al., 2000) Full references available on the online version: Vol 24 (4) Oct - Dec 2013 http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/article/pink-morning-glory.pdf Diffusion of innovations and practices and its possible policy implication Grassroots Innovations for Inclusive Development (GRIID) was a project of the Honey Bee Network funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that was a bold attempt to learn lessons from the work done so far, (a) analyse the policy implications in the country with regard to promoting and sustaining grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge practices, (b) build capacity of the Chinese component of the network, which has taken to the spirit of the network most earnestly, (c) develop a resource book for future researchers to pursue a GRIID approach. During the deliberations under the GRIID project, the Network members found that for the policymaker, an inclusive development model meant treating the economically poor and disadvantaged people as (a) consumers of public policy of assistance and aid for basic needs or (b) consumers of products at low cost made by large corporations [à la Prahalad] or state or other enterprises. The poor as providers is a concept that is contrary to the policymaker’s vision of treating them only as consumers. Can the poor be creative knowledge producers? The Honey Bee Network pursued action research to test the assumptions of the policymaker and top-down approach. Two of the cases where we tested this approach are presented here: We studied the diffusion of Bullet Santi and whey/buttermilk for disease control. In the former case, a multi-purpose toolbar was attached to a motorcycle-based traction system by the innovator and later many modifications were made. In the latter case, farmers applied whey/buttermilk for disease and pest control in crops and animals. In each case, we traced the genesis of the practice/innovation and then looked at how it diffused over time and space in different agro-ecological contexts. The incremental or derivative innovations done by users or secondary innovators have been captured and their diffusion has also been mapped. The changes over time reveal the way a dynamic system of innovation has worked at the community level. IP issues are involved differently. In the first case, a patent has been granted to the original innovator, Mansukhbhai Jagani in India and USA, for the Santi, i.e., multipurpose toolbar attached to the Enfield motorcycle. Several modifications have been made to the original design, but the innovator has not hesitated in sharing the original design or subsequent improvements with other fabricators. Bullet Santi: A multi-purpose toolbar attached to a motorcycle: Case Study - II The original innovation was developed by Mansukhbhai Jagani in Amreli in Gujarat in the early 1990s when the availability of bullocks and fodder had reduced and small farmers could not afford to buy tractors (Sinha, 2010; NIF, 2001) SRISTI had scouted him and later Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) helped him scale up after improving the design. Jagani got a patent for the innovation in India and the USA. The Bullet Santi was first manufactured in 1994, but at that point, its demand was weak. In 2004, it was modified and a reverse gear was developed, which increased the demand as this was more suitable for BT Cotton growers. Despite Jagani holding the patent, he did not object to the modifications by intermediate innovators, who interacted directly with the consumer. The success of the Bullet Santi was noticed by tractor-manufacturing companies. In order to compete, they started making mini-tractors for smaller farmers. Moreover, in order to tackle the labour problems, the mini-tractors used a hydraulic system. Intermediate innovators of Santi took a cue and modified it further to install hydraulic systems on it. Since Santi is smaller in size than the mini-tractor and since its width could also be modified according to the needs and requirements of the farmers, it was more adaptable for field usage. We list below two cases diversity in modification of Santi: (I) Diffusion based on the operating system It was observed that in four different districts, different operating systems of Santi were popular for various reasons. Farmers used hydraulic systems, hand-operating systems, foot-operating systems and simple hook systems. The farmers preferred a system taking into consideration the quality of soil, cost and availability of labour, the amount of labour needed, etc. (II) Diffusion based on the evolution of santi Students from Durgapur University modified Santi by installing a reverse gear, which led to the increase in its demand. As time went by and the supply of Bullet Santi dwindled, mechanics started assembling their own modified version of Santi. It came to be called Sanedo in the local language. The modifications made by the various mechanics over time were based on different factors: some modified it to change its look, while others modified it to add extra features or systems. Modifications were also made on customers’ needs. Using whey/buttermilk for disease and pest control in crops and animals: Case Study - III When chemical pesticides were not available, buttermilk was the only protection for the chilli plant against (leaf curl) diseases. There was also a practice in which the leftover water which was collected when buttermilk was made was sprayed or sprinkled on the chilli plant to help in its growth. Since there were no spray cans available, farmers improvised by using brooms dipped into buckets of buttermilk and then sprinkled over the plants. Farmers, at that time, would pour buttermilk into the roots of the plants to help promote the growth of the flowering fruits and vegetables. To get the best result, fermented buttermilk was used. The first practice which used buttermilk was shared with the Honey Bee Network in 1992. After which, through the networking of some volunteers and innovators, the use of buttermilk was diffused to other places. In 1996, after the buttermilk practices were published in Loksarvani, some religious volunteers, students and staff further diffused their usage. The people, who adopted these practices, over a period of time, modified them to suit their needs. By 2008, the diffusion of knowledge of buttermilk practices was the highest in recent years. However, it should be noted that the use of buttermilk for this purpose has dwindled considerably now for various reasons, like a reduction in the number of insects due to chemical farming, farmers’ choice for quick results, changes in crop varieties, etc. A similar study as part of the GRIID project was carried out for the application of flour of pearl millet (bajra) in buttermilk for pest and disease control in different crops and in different combinations. In this practice, only that pearl millet was used that had become unfit for human consumption. Lesson The incentives for farmers to share their knowledge in the above cases seemed more social than material. In the case of farm machinery, the mechanics or secondary innovators made improvements to obviously improve customer satisfaction and create location-specific changes for effective diffusion. Although, these practices were published in the local-language versions of Honey Bee, organising workshops for experimenting farmers and other means of dissemination have indeed helped in the process. |
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Honey Bee 25(4) & 26(1) 10-25, 2014-2015 (25 years celebration) |
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