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Honey Bee Hums-II 25 years |
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Plant Variety Development |
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Plant Variety Development Developing a new tapioca variety Tapioca/cassava (Manihot utilissima Pohl) is considered the staple food of the people in the midlands and high ranges of Kerala. There are several varieties of tapioca, of which Ambakkadan variety has emerged as the most popular due to its taste and high yield of 120 kg per plant. This variety was spotted by the late Ambakkadu Thommi way back in 1964 and he popularise the the variety in Kerala by giving cuttings free to the farmers. The farmers of Kerala are quite impressed by this variety. In 1964, Ambakkadu Thommi sold half of his land and was moving all the resources to his new property as per ‘muppirakkuka,’ the practice of taking all resources from the old land to the new land. He also took a cutting of tapioca which he had grown by germinating the seed rather than through stem propagation. He had grown and kept this variety in his field for using it as a base to prepare rat-poison to protect his crops from rodents. Usually farmers do not prefer tubers propagated by seeds because of their sour taste. While uprooting the tapioca, he noticed that the outer skin of this variety was dark, almost black and the inner part was red. He boiled and tasted this tapioca and found that it was delicious. He planted several cuttings of this variety. On maturity, he found that each tuber weighed more than 8 kg. The next year, he planted 25 cuttings, and the yield was an amazing 120 kg of tuber from each plant. The rest, as they say, is history. Vol 17(1) & (2) Jan-Jun 2006 Indigenous Indicators Paddy and maize give bumper yield in the year when ‘karamada’ 52 (Carrissa congesta) trees bear too many fruits. It is also believed that if ‘Vika’ trees give more fruits, then in the same year paddy is also expected to give higher yield. ulji Somaji Damor, Vill: Rajvada, Tal: Meghraj, Dist.: Sabarkantha, Comm: Ramsinh G. Thakor Given the lead-lag relationship in nature, ecological correlations reduce risk and delay in the future extremities. -Ed.Vol 3(1) Jan-Mar 1992A king had seven sons and a daughter. One day they went fishing and each prince caught a fish. The princess put the fish out in the sun to dry. Next day, all the fish except one were dry. The princess was curious and asked the wet fish, “Why are you still wet while the others are dry?†The fish said that a haystack blocked the sunshine and prevented it from drying. The princess went to the haystack and asked why it had blocked the sun. The haystack said that since the cow had not eaten the hay it was still lying under the sun. The princess went to the cow and asked her why she had not eaten the hay. The cow answered that since her calf had not fed on her milk, she did not eat the hay. When the princess asked the calf the reason for not drinking her mother’s milk, it blamed her keeper who had not allowed her to feed. The princess was not satisfied with this, so she asked the keeper what had prevented him from setting the calf free to feed. He pointed towards the lady of the house and said, “Since she did not give me my daily meal, I forgot to feed the calf.†Now the princess summoned the lady of the house and continued her enquiry. The scared lady stuttered that the child had been crying continuously and as she was busy trying to calm him down, she could not cook any food. The princess asked the child why he had been crying. The child answered, “The ant bit my finger and so I was crying.†When the ant was asked why it had bit the child, she answered, “Why shouldn’t I, if the child puts his finger into my burrow shouldn’t I bite?†Vol 8(2) Apr-Jun 1997 |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee 25(4) & 26(1) 64, 2014-2015 (25 years celebration) |
