January10, Thursday

Classlunchjan10: The Ag Systems class gathers for a group photo after conversation and a wonderful home-cooked lunch at the Somasundaram farm. [McCandless]

Cococlimberjan10:  The Ag Systems class gets a demonstration of coconut tree climbing
and harvesting from one of the laborers. Growers in Vettaikkaranpudur near Coimbatore average
150 coconuts/tree/year and receive about 36 cents/coconut. [McCandless]

Coconutjan10mcc: Dhiran Malani explains to the Ag Systems group that one of the biggest challenges he faces are fluctuating weather patterns due to climate change. Malani, who farms
40 acres of mango and 40 of hybrid coconuts, is being forced out of the mango business because
of irregular and scarcer rainfall, and higher than average temperatures at critical times. Another challenge is that the rate of growth and new construction in India makes it difficult to find farm
labor because they can make more as construction workers. [McCandless]

Somasundaramjan10mcc.jpg: O.V.R. Somasundaram, who owns an integrated tree plantation on 80 acres in Coimbatore, talk to the Ag Systems group about his nutmeg operation. Voted the best cocoa grower in 1990 and 1991, the 60-year-old Somasundaram farms 80 acres of trees and spices in Coimbatore, where he grows cocoa, coconut, beetlenut, breadfruit, pepper, sapoto, vanilla, and papaya in an integrated cropping system. Somasundaram believes the biggest challenge facing Indian agriculture is that young people are not going into farming. [McCandless]

Hinduprayerroomjan10: Dhiran Malani shows Judson Reid his family’s prayer room, in which devotions are practiced daily. Malani is a Jainist. [McCandless]

Jan. 10, 2008
Ag Systems
Hyderabad/Coimbatore, India

POSTCARDS FROM INDIA

Chelsea and I almost missed the bus just now! Thankfully, our leaders are more relaxed about timeliness than they let on (they have promised to leave without us if we aren’t on time). Just before getting on one of our Sathguru buses outside the Residency Hotel in Coimbatore, we each grab a packed lunch and a bottle of water. The packed lunches deviate considerably from the buffet-style meals that have become our normal repast. Although not as varied as the hotel’s offerings, Chelsea finds something in the lunch that substitutes for her breakfast.  Now, we sit on one of four buses bumping along on our way to two fruit tree farms. The landscape here in Tamil Nadu includes mountains on the horizon, quite a change from that seen around Hyderabad.  I am satisfied looking out the slightly open window at the landscape, the people … always many, many street-dwelling people, shopping, working, sitting, standing, occasionally playing. 

I am so thankful when we stop for the restroom. When I get off the bus, it feels like I am stepping out of an air-conditioned tourist bubble and into India itself. My senses sharpen and sights, sounds, and smells come into focus. We stand eye-to-eye with the shop vendors and the street-dwellers and must cross the road, weaving between the auto-rickshaws, the motor-bikes, and the lorries.  Crossing the road in India is no easy task; we hold hands and remember that drivers don’t drive on the right or on the left sides of the road but instead on the suicide. We hold hands and cross the street to the bus station. Behind the bus stalls are the restrooms, and we pay 1 rupee each to enter the roofless rooms.  As we walk back to the bus, we Americans and the Thai students pass around hand sanitizer while the Indians look at us, puzzled; they are similarly puzzled when we put on sunscreen. 

We arrive at the first farm, Malani Farms (Mango Gardens), and are each served a whole coconut with a straw.  After drinking the juice, the farm workers split each of them open, so we can eat the meat… the moist and tender meat is better than the harder meat that most of us recognize from U.S. coconuts. Dhiran Malani is the farm owner and is very savvy. He explains his operation and then he leads us through his mango and palm trees.  They are replenishing the ground water in the forests, which happens only once every two years, so we have to be careful where we walk. We would really like to see how the coconuts are harvested, so Mr. Malani asks one of his employees to do the honors. He easily climbs the tree after taking off his sandals and using a small length of coconut jute wrapped around his feet. Mr. Malani says that the really good harvesters scramble up the tree really quickly, but I’m impressed with this worker’s speed. Vanilla plants are held up on beetlenut trees with tire treads tied around the trunks. Mr. Malani explains that vanilla is unprofitable, so he is planning to get rid of this agroforestry design and replace it with coconuts. On the way back to the buses, a few of us veer off the road and peek inside the neighbors’ silkworm barn.  The worms are protected by an ant trough full of water that surrounds the building, while they feed on mulberry leaves. We’re quickly shuffled back onto the bus with claps and “Come, come! Get on the bus!”

Mr. Somasundaram’s house is new and very spacious. He seems to grow everything, most of which is just part of the kitchen garden, used in his home. There are so many tree fruits I’ve never heard of! His integrated system is immediately appealing to me and I imagine interning on the farm in the future. I ask Mr. Somasundaram if this is possible and he says, “Of course, you are always welcome.” After telling him that my family has an apple farm in the U.S., he also asks me to write down my name, address, and phone number. I take his business card. Although we have packed lunches from the hotel, Mr. Somasundaram has prepared an amazing spread of food.  It is by far the best meal we have had so far on the trip. I go back for seconds… and then thirds! 

After swimming in the pool back at the hotel, we pile into car taxis and the Indian girls take us saree and salwar shopping. I am completely overwhelmed by fluorescent lights and colors and patterns and sizing and bargaining. I find a blue salwar and purchase it before having it altered for no cost. Others buy beautiful sarees. 

It’s 10:30 p.m. by the time we get back to the hotel, so we eat a quick dinner before quickly falling asleep after a full day in Coimbatore.
Kristine Averill

DATE:10-1-2008
VISIT TO PLANTATION CROPS

Today students of India, Thiland and Cornell University USA visited Mango, Coconut, Arecanut, Nutmeg, Black pepper, Vanilla and Cocoa. We observed Mango cultivar Alphonso under monocropping and is at flowering stage. Coconut is intercropped with Arecanut, Cocoa, Vanilla, Nutmeg and Black pepper. We the students along with faculty actively interacted with Innovative farmers Sri. Malani and Sri.Somasundaram .
The hospitality provided by both the farmers are highly solicited.

M.Srinivasulu
V.Jyothi
M.Tirupati reddy

Animal Sciences

Date – 10 Jan
Student –Jyothi sharma
Places visited – ATIC, Anjur village and Livestock Research Station.
The day begin with our visit to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kattupakkam. KVK’s are the centers where information’s are available for the farmers of village to help them out. We met with programme coordinator Dr P.Kumaravel, who has given us all information about the functions of their KVK. It has scientists from six different disciplines for helping out the farmer’s by various ways. This body is mainly funded by ICAR. Some interesting features which we have observed were touch screen information kiosks, rat trap, water pond having star fish and seanimon along with some interesting fishes and two automatic weather recorders. Apart from that they have their lab for research. They do various activities for the welfare of farmers like conduct on farm trials, camps for infertility, deworming, vaccination etc and also give trainings in handicrafts, pickle making, candle making etc to women of village so that they become economically independent. Then we moved to Anjur village. The population of this village is around 5000. there is one primary and one higher secondary school, for providing good education to village people. There is a Goshala for rehabilitation of street animals, which is really a good step which shows the affection of Indian people towards animals. The expenses for this are Jain organization. The dung of the animals is used as manure is their agricultural fields. People also rear sheep, goat and poultry birds for their livelihood. Madras red sheep is common breed of this area.

After the interaction with village people then we reached to Livestock Research Station spread in near about 600 acres. This is a research and instructional farm. The unit have farms for dairy cattle, sheep, goat, rabbit, pigs, ostrich and Japanese quails. In addition to these farms there is one fodder unit, silage unit, vermicompost unit, mini slaughter house and one milk parlor. Main fodder variety was CO3 grass. Interestingly they have 69 ostriches and they use them for specialized leather production.