Thanks to voluntary water harvesting measures by a few, as well as legislation-led RWH by the others, many of Chennai's open wells have sprung back to life. The bountiful rains of 2005 showed that where conservation efforts are in place, even a single season's rainfall can largely restore water security. 'Shree' Padre reports.

Courtesy: www.indiatogether.org

Half-baked information on a farming method or a crop, which eventually leaves the farmers at a loss, has made them fear for change. As a result, most of the farmers stick to their conventional crops and few like Satyaprasad Kanjarpane dare to explore opportunities in farming by experimenting different methods and crops. Each time, it is his in-depth knowledge about his venture that has helped him to sustain.

Courtesy:Deccan Herald

Mobile Biodiversity Festival organised since 1998 has become a significant cultural event of farmers in Zaheerabad Mandal in Andhra Pradesh. It illustrates what the communities can do to reflect the rich agricultural diversity in a celebratory fashion. These annual festivals have provided a platform farmers of the region to discuss on ecological agriculture, seed control and organic market.

A few years ago, when Kallava Haklad used to grow only grains, the rains didn't add much to her low yield. Now that she has adopted integrated farming, the productivity of her farm has increased. And the shift has changed the fate of her family.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

Growing gherkins for Western palates has brought in good money for some farmers in Karnataka. But, buried in the soil are more issues to be tackled than meets the eye. Known writer Keya Acharya does some digging around.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

CAM is happy to introduce an interesting book edited by Johannes Odendaal and Namitha Dipak. The book, titled “The Sheep with Souls and other stories’ is a unique attempt to get veterinarians from different countries to write creatively about incidents in their professional lives that intrigued them or were plain unforgettable. The stories also bring in a bit of geography, travel, history, psychology, culture, and ecology and show that there are very few limits to what you can do with a veterinary degree – sometimes, it can even help you understand people better.

Organic movement is on the rise. Considerable number of farmers have realised the dangers of chemical farming and have started practicing eco-friendly farming. The demand for organically grown produces is also increasing, as the consumers are becoming more 'health conscious'. The concept of 'organic shops' is becoming popular among the urban consumers. Organic bytes contains articles on eco-friendly farming and related efforts.

Though late, people have started considering rainwater harvesting as a solution to the looming water crisis. Finally, the theory of soil and water conservation has been put to practice. This change was not immediate. During the transformation from using water to untilising it, many questions may arise. To make you understand the concept better and make the practical doubts clear we are providing you sources that are authority in rainwater harvesting. Help us to improve the content by passing on related information.

CAM brings you the collection of articles by well known development writer Devinder Sharma. The articles focus on the inextricable link between biotechnology, intellectual property rights, food trade and poverty. A food and trade policy analyst by himself, Sharma writes exhaustive articles on related issues.

Rural Diary is a regular monthly column Pushpa Surendra writes for The Hindu. She writes from a rural and farmers perspective. The reporting of media in general, the English language media in particular tends to be very urban oriented occasionally when they turn their attention on rural subjects. In her columns Pushpa attempts to correct some of these biases. The columns try to reflect the world view of the farmer in a simple and readable language.
(Courtesy: The Hindu)

Veerappa,a progressive farmer in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka has seen many ups and downs in his three decades of farming. What he stated when we left his farm is the essence of his experience. “In farming I follow a rule” he said, “Tie a thread to the hillock and drag it. If the thread is cut, it does not matter. If it pulls the hillock, I gain.” CAM team member and known writer Addoor Krishna Rao reports on his experiments.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was astride on a bicycle. There is nothing strange in our beloved President, known for his simplicity, riding a bicycle. But the bicycle he was on was special. The bike which can also remove weeds was designed by Gopal Malhari Bhise. Technology involved in this multipurpose bicycle originated by a villager astounded even the technicians present on Dec 17, 2002 at the 2nd annual celebrations of the National Innovation Foundation in Delhi.

Call it a craft, for drilling a hole horizontally through a rock with the most basic of equipments demands certain dexterity. Call it a tradition as village residents in some coastal districts have been practicing it for centuries. Call it magic, as these people know almost instinctively where to drill the mountain to find pure drinking water. Harish Halemane puts light on 'Surangas', the best examples of human ingenuity that finds an expression, when nothing else comes to their rescue.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

Suman Sangam is a song that began in January 1996, when we purchased 17 acres of more or less barren land - there was not even a single tree which could provide us shade. This land is about 10 km from Dharwad in Karnataka. We named it "Suman Sangam", meaning Confluence of Flowers and also Confluence of Good Minds.

Dr. Sanjeev Kulkarni takes you through the green road, which he is experiencing in Suman Sangam - his green abode.

Forced liberalization since 80s and the consequent imposition of rigorous rules of WTO's Agreement on Agriculture have been eroding the very spirit of food and agrarian policies introduced in India. The impacts on food sovereignty, in this respect, is clearly visible. Due to the progressive reduction in the support, the farmers in India are gradually shifting away from the food production in the post liberalisation era. Dr. T.N. Prakash Kammaradi says that Cancun collapse provides an opportunity to Revive the Food Sovereignty Issues in the country.

"Half an acre of farming is enough for a contended life," said Mr. Kumare Gowda and I couldn't believe. I was at Mr. Gowda's house in Indavara village, two kilometres away from Chikmagalur on Chikmagalur- Mallaandur road. There was a large plastic greenhouse on the left side of the road. Mr. Kumare Gowda took me to his vegetable, flower and coconut garden. After a morning round in the garden I sat down with him for a talk. After listening to him for three hours I had no way but to believe what he said in the beginning. According to him floriculture and growing vegetables in half an acre of land is enough for a family's livelihood.

Globalisation has entered India in a big way. Impact of this is felt in various sectors including agriculture. Result - frequent fluctuations in the demand and price of local produces. Farmer - backbone of our country is losing faith in agriculture. "Our produces' future is in our hands, not anyone else's. If we understand this bright future awaits for us." Development critic and CAM team member Addoor Krishna Rao examines the issue of globalisation through the experiences of his farmer father.

Genetically engineered foods emerging from new monopolies controlled by corporations in the west will soon create havoc in developing coutries, wiping out small farmers and further impoverishing rural folk. GE food has serious consequences from the environmental, social and health points of view. The technology consistently refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of potential risks.

Shivaram Pailoor suggests a foundation for sustainability of farm life through empowerment of farmers by making use of information as a tool for which information technology can be a vital component. The project proposal has been forwarded to Karnataka state government and IT giants in the state for consideration.

CAM team member, Mr. Shree Padre answers to www.southnexus.com and gives his idea on farmers and the media.

It is not enough, to just build some check dams and wash hands off the watershed development projects. How can we utilize the facilities and allocate funds pouring from the departments? How can we join our hands to the need-based progress? Ralegan Siddhi, a small village in Maharastra State, India has demonstrated it.

With the increase in the incidents of cancer, psychiatric cases, epilepsy, asthma, infertility and suicide in the area, villagers in Padre (Kerala State, India) have finally realised the cause – aerial spray of deadly endosulphan by the state-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala.

If you want to know how a person's perseverance and love of nature have transformed a barren stretch of land in to green heaven, meet Kareem at his ‘hand – grown’ forest! He has practically proved that "where there is a will, there is a (green) way!" For him, love of nature is not just a philosophical statement: It is his breath and dream of life.