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Honey bee publish details |
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Awardees |
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Making Inida Innovative |
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Richa 2000 perennial pigeon pea variety
Progressive farmer Mr Raj Kumar Rathore (40) owns 18 acres of land on which he grows wheat, soybean, mango, strawberry, and litchi. One acre is reserved for breeding new pigeon pea varieties. His family has always supported his plant breeding efforts, even when the government discouraged him.
Mr Rathore has developed a high yielding perennial pigeon pea variety with a bushy growth habit. He first began his foray into commercial plant breeding in 1997 when he noticed an odd plant in his field of ICPL-87. The plant remained green for a longer duration and had bigger flowers and longer leaves. He propagated the plant in isolation but found that yields were low until he began topping the plant twice a year to encourage further branching. Mr Rathore has struggled in the marketing of his variety but remains hopeful that a solution will be found.
Converting crisis into opportunity: Developing a disease resistant variety of pepper
Mr K T Varghese (51) is an innovative farmer from an underdeveloped area in the Idukki District of Kerala. He works as an estate manager in a private spice estate to supplement the income his family earns from their 4 acre farm.
When quick wilt epidemic in 1989 and 1995 decimated, Mr Varghese’s pepper crop were destroyed leaving him with only a few surviving plants, and his wife encouraged him to propagate these survivors. This was a fortuitous move as those plants were the disease resistant variety of pepper with a stable yield, and higher oil content and pungency than the local varieties. The variety has a highly developed root system making it resistant against quick wilt and foot rot, and can also be grown in stony areas with shallow soils.
Improved varieties of wheat, paddy and pigeon pea
Mr Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi (47) is an enterprising farmer living with his joint family. He cultivates wheat, paddy, and pigeon pea in his fields. His brother owns a seed company which sells the seeds he breeds.
Mr Raghuvanshi has developed a number of improved crop varieties, which are high yielding, resistant to major pests and diseases, and produce crops with appealing smell and taste. He has produced three varieties each of wheat, paddy and pigeon pea. One of the pigeon pea varieties is a perennial. These seeds are popular amongst farmers in many different regions of India. He is very generous in sharing his seeds.
Herbal formulation to control pests in cotton
Mr Naranbhai Samjibhai Solanki (39) lives with his wife and four children. He worked as a diamond polisher for ten years but has returned to his home to cultivate cotton, groundnut, and chilli among other crops.
Mr Solanki has developed an effective herbal method for controlling pests in his cotton crop. He mixes Aloe Vera stems, Karen fruit (Nerium indicum L.), ‘Kali Jeeri’ (Nigella sativa L.), Custard Apple (Annona squamosa L.), the inner bark of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), Chilli (Capsicum annum L.), Drumstick roots (Moringa oleifera Lam.), a few other herbs, and detergent powder in his formulation. He boils all the ingredients in water, filtering and diluting the solution when it cools, and then sprays it in his fields two to three times a month.
Kamaal hai! Herbal cocktail for pest control
Mr Ishwar Singh Kundu (45) lives with his mother, wife and three children. He has done many different jobs over the course of his life, and now owns an agricultural repair workshop where he mends small agricultural implements and pumps, and grows wheat and rice on 2 acres of land.
By experimenting with different herbs known for their pesticidal properties, Mr Kundu developed a multifunctional herbal formula which can be used as a bio-fertiliser, soil enhancer and insect pest control formulation for a variety of crops. This formula, called ‘Kamaal 505’ is a concoction of Neem leaves, Neem oil, Chirayta, Kaner, and Jaggery along with a couple of other herbs. These herbs are mixed with cow urine in an earthen vessel and left to ferment for fifteen days. The solution is then filtered and sprayed on the fields killing insect pests and acting as a growth promoter.
Mulberry ‘Chandrike’: Lesser cost, better base, occupies even lesser space
The late Mr Annegowda is remembered as a great sericulture expert. He cultivated mulberry, coconut, rice, and areca nut on a five acre farm. He is survived by his wife and two children who continue to look after his fields.
Mr Annegowda developed the idea of using mulberry sticks mounted on a rope cross-cross as cocoon stands, ‘chandrike,’ as a low-cost and disease-resistant alternative to conventional plastic or woven stick tray cocoon stands. These simple, environment friendly cocoon stands cost no more than Rs 10, can be used two to three times, and have a spinning capacity of around 10 kg. They are cheaper and more durable than bamboo and plastic chandrikes. This does not let disease spread from one season to another as it is very easy to pick out the diseased cocoons and clean the chandrike.
Hand operated water-lifting device
Mr K Sakthimainthan (47) is a farmer, innovator, poet and priest at the Kali Temple in Nannilam. His extraordinary skills in composing poetry and songs and writing compelling secular pieces has earned him many honors. He has also designed numerous innovations including a low-cost rope making machine and a self-operating irrigation pipe device to open and close canal pathways according to water levels in the field.
Mr Sakthimainthan built his hand operated water pump in response to a dearth of available pumps that could be afforded by small farmers. He built five prototypes over a period of fifteen years before finally perfecting his design. The resulting water-lifting device is operated by the continuously rotating a handle. It is simple in design and has a high discharge at low cost compared to the motorized pumps and conventional hand pumps.
Cut its head, and it grows faster!!!
Mr Akhil Mandal (37) has discovered by chance, a head cutting procedure that increases the productivity of Areca Nut Palm. Mandal, who lives with his parents, sister, nieces and nephews, has always been interested in academics and experiments. His regret is that he could not pursue his studies for long.
Mr Mandal discovered the procedure when he accidentally snapped off the vertex of one of his areca nut trees. He expected the plant to die, but found that six years later this tree had twice as many fruiting branches and was fifty to seventy percent more productive than his other palms. Farmers can achieve similar results by removing all but the lowest branches of the palm at the seedling stage or when they are three years old.
Repelling blister beetle in maize Fields
Many farmers of Valia taluka, Gujarat use the crushed leaves of a local plant (with or without mixing these with blister beetle) to repel blister beetle in maize fields.
Five-six farmers stand equidistant in a row and walk in the direction of the wind, crushing blister beetles along with these leaves. The smell emitted from the crushed insects and leaves is believed to repel the pests. Similar practices are employed in Kolvan, Taropa, and Siludi villages replacing the specific local plant leaves with other leaves. Further research is under way.
(Also see: HB, 3(2), 19, 1992)
Appreciation awards
Camel driven bus
Late Mr Radhey Shyam Mishra worked as a manager and a caring teacher at B L Kala Bal Mandir Montessori School. His co-innovator late Mr Mewaram Jangid is remembered as a caring friend and skilled carpenter.
The camel driven bus was dreamt of by Mr Mishra as a means of safely transporting students to and from school through the desert. Mr Jangid brought the idea into fruition with his technical skills in 1972. The driver of the bus steers from atop the camel and the students are pulled in a four-wheeled double-decker bus behind. This bus which can transport 80 students, is an environment friendly and affordable solution for mass transportation in desert areas. Seven such buses are still used to transport over 400 students to Bhanwarlal Kala Bal Mandir School.
Improved wheat and mustard varieties
Mr Mahavir Singh Arya (55) overcame a childhood of poverty to become a successful farmer. He is an advocate of organic farming and produces very high yields from his small farm despite never having used any inorganic fertilizers.
Mr Arya first became interested in plant breeding when he observed farmers crossing crop varieties on a visit to Hissar. He then crossed T59 and Golden to make a new variety of mustard named Sundari. Since then, he has developed more than ten new mustard varieties. The maturity period of all these varieties ranges from 130-150 days and the yield from 18-24 quintals per hectare. All the varieties are disease resistant and high yielding. He
has also developed many varieties of wheat with maturity periods varying from 135 -160 days, and yields from 40-80 quintals per hectare.
Ripening bananas and mangoes the herbal way
Farmer Mr Budhadeba Sahu (55) came to his present village after leaving the previous village, 50 km away when that area got submerged in an irrigation project. He now lives in a forest area with his wife and two sons. He began farming at 12 years years of age and his sons have now followed his footsteps.
Mr Sahu learned the herbal practice for ripening bananas from his father. He observed that the leaves of a local plant had an inherent tendency of being ‘hot’, which gave him an idea of using the plant to ripen bananas and mangoes. The experiments yielded wonderful results. He has been using this herb ever since. Bananas and mangoes ripen within 12 to 24 hours if treated with this herb. Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore is testing this practice under a joint CSIR-NIF research program and initial results are quite encouraging. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 17(4) & 18(1):16-19, 2006 & 2007 |
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