Category Archives: Agriculture

Meet Mathachan KJ, a farmer who grows pearls in his farm in Kerala

This farmer from Kasargod has been doing it for the past 22 years

Mathachan KJ   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Mathachan KJ spends most of his time on his farm in Kasargod, Kerala. There, he tends to over 1,00,000 mussels that grow in seven ponds. “They are not edible and are grown specifically to cultivate pearls. This batch is now nine months old. It will take another nine more months for the harvest,” explains the 65-year-old.

Mathachan set up his pearl farm 22 years ago after resigning from his work as a professor in Saudi Arabia. “In 1982, I got an opportunity to take up a course on freshwater pearl cultivation from the Freshwater Fisheries Research Centre, China. I loved it and decided to resign my job and do it full time in 1999.”

He initially cleared the rubber plantation with his 35 cents to dig the first pond to grow them. “It is large and can hold 20 lakh litres of water. The other six are comparatively smaller and are in different locations on my six acres of land. I also grow areca nut, vanilla and coconut trees in the plot.” Mathachan sources the fresh mussels from the river Kaveri, near his home. “I use the variety called Lamellidens marginalis that is abundant in the Western Ghats. Both the shells and the pearls have a golden tone to it,” he explains.

The mussels are immersed in the pond in suspended baskets, and feed on plankton found in the water. “It is important to maintain the pH of the water between seven and nine for optimum growth,” says Mathachan. The mussels dwell in the ponds for a month before they are implanted with acrylic nuclei, which later develop into pearls. “I use two nuclei for a mussel which gives me two pearls during harvest.”

It takes 18 months for the pearls to mature by forming numerous ‘nacre layers’ around the nucleus. “It is formed by a secretion of the mussels. There will be 540 layers formed when I harvest them.” The extraction is done manually, and Mathachan has six people to help him in the process. The shells are separated carefully to get the pearls. After being cleaned with water, the pearls are then sent to gemologists for certification. “They are then exported to Australia. The market for freshwater pearls is better abroad,” he says.

Mathachan has taken more than 1,000 workshops on freshwater farming so far across India. “Anyone can do it with a bit of patience and training. It feels good to see a growing interest. After the pandemic, I learnt to take classes online.” Other than mussels, he also grows fish in the pond. “It gives me an added income and also fresh fish for the family. Most of my weekends are spent fishing with my friends on my farm,” he concludes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life &Style / by Susan Joe Philip / February 02nd, 2021

Ardent gardener from Kochi rakes in lakhs via YouTube

Annie Yujin Stephen never thought that her passion for gardening and the meticulous manner of pictorially chronicling them would gain her worldwide fame.

Annie Yujin Stephen

 When you devote your time and effort to create something beautiful, you aim to keep it for eternity. This is what propelled Annie Yujin Stephen to start clicking photos of the plants growing in her garden.

However, she never thought that her passion for gardening and the meticulous manner of pictorially chronicling them would gain her worldwide fame. Annie is today a YouTube star and hosts two channels. While one exclusively caters to giving farming information, the other deals with how to live a happy life.

“Actually, it was my brother who asked me to upload the photos on YouTube. The idea was to save them for a long time since even if we save the pictures on our computers or hard disks, there are chances of them getting deleted or corrupted,” said Annie. So, she uploaded her photographs on YouTube.

“It didn’t have any background score or commentary. However, it was well-received and one of the viewers suggested uploading videos. So, I thought why not,” said Annie. She launched her YouTube channel Krishi Lokam in 2012. “I was a bit apprehensive. However, the views and the comments that the videos received increased my confidence,” she said.

With over 3 lakh subscribers and over 2 crore views, Annie now earns Rs 1 lakh a month from the channel! “It helped to be a passionate gardener. I didn’t have to act in front of the camera,” she said, According to her, in the first few videos, she just showcased her garden. “However, later on, I began giving voice-overs. This enabled me to emerge from being a very shy person to a confident one,” said Annie.

A native of Angamaly, Annie at present resides in Kochi and has been uploading videos since 2015. “The comments that I receive have given me the confidence to continue posting videos based on queries that I receive in the comments box,” she said.

Annie also provides farming tips by making videos of the entire cultivation process. “For example, if a viewer wants to know the right time and process of cultivating turmeric, I shoot the same at my farm. Right from telling the time, type of seedlings to be chosen, preparation of beds, fertilisers to be used to harvesting, the videos showcase everything,” she said. Annie and her husband own a one-acre plot in Angamaly.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Anu Kurivilla / Express News Service / August 28th, 2019

In 4.5 acres, she nurtures a dense forest

Devaki Amma, who was presented the Nari Shakti Puraskar recently, began planting trees 35 years ago

President Ram Nath Kovind after presenting her the Nari Shakti Puraskar on March 8, 2019, wrote this on one of his social media accounts, “Her contribution towards the environment has been a driving force of change and has raised awareness and consciousness of people.”

At the age of 85, G. Devaki Amma, a native of Puthiyavila in Kandalloor panchayat, near Kayamkulam, is showing the way to safeguard biodiversity and secure our future. She has transformed 4.5 acres of her ancestral property into a thriving forest.

Close to the backwaters, Kollakal Thapovanam, which is intrinsically green, is an ecosystem teeming with life, a fruit of nearly four decades of relentless planting and nurturing by this nature lover.

3,000 trees

At a time when forests are fast disappearing, Devaki Amma’s forest has around 3,000 trees, including over 1,000 trees of common, rare, endangered and biologically important species that support a wide variety of organisms. Huge trees and chirping of birds on them make it a special place in the coastal district.

Devaki Amma says she turned to planting spree following a road accident. “I used to enthusiastically participate in paddy cultivation. But, following the accident I was bedridden for almost three years and was forced to abandon rice cultivation. But it led to something more important. Helped by the family members, I started planting saplings 35 years ago. I never thought at that time the place would become a forest,” she says.

Today, Krishnanal, musk trees, star trees, and mahogany, among others, grow in the sandy soil in natural environment. It is also home to a wide variety of medicinal plants, fruit-bearing trees and tuber crops. The forest has ponds and different species of birds like Paradise Flycatcher and Emerald Doves visit the place.

Family’s backing

Devaki Amma’s age and physical challenges have not deterred her from planting new saplings and taking care of the forest. “I get enormous support from my children, grandchildren and their children in conserving the forest.

They contribute in a big way and want to protect the forest in the best way possible,” she says.

Her daughter D. Thankamoney, former head of Environmental Engineering Division, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, says planting trees is the best way to reduce carbon footprint and fight climate change. “Our mother started planting trees when nature conservation was yet to gain momentum. We are committed to continuing her legacy,” she says.

The place receives a lot of people, including students and researchers, regularly.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sam Paul A / Kayamkuam (Alappuzha) – May 04th, 2019

A windfall for mussel farmers of Valiyaparamba

It is harvesting time for aquaculture farmers doing raft cultures of green mussels in the Valiyaparamba backwaters, and they are happy that the yield this year is better than that of last two or three years.

The backwaters divide the Valiyaparamba strip and small islands and mainland, in Kannur and Kasaragod districts including Thrikkarippur and Padanna.

Mussel harvest

Farmers and their helpers start mussel harvest in April-May, by removing the mussel ropes suspended from rafts anchored to the backwaters.

They collect the mussel ropes, bring them to land in canoes, and segregate good mussels (with closed shells) and bad mussels (with open shells) before they are handed over to buyers who sell them to local vendors or those in neighbouring places.

“There are 1,949 green mussel cultivation units in the backwaters with each unit having 100 ropes,” said I.P. Athira, mussel culture district project coordinator under the Fisheries Department in the district.

They included 1,192 units under the Blue Revolution (BR) scheme for new farmers, and 757 units under the Janakeeya Matsyakrishi continuing scheme for existing mussel farmers.

Whereas individuals under the BR scheme could culture one unit each with a government subsidy of 40% of the cost (estimated at ₹15,000), self-help groups could cultivate up to four units with the same subsidy, she said.

Continuing farmers would get 20% of the operations cost, she added.

Increased production

While the harvest is still incomplete, initial yields show increased production.

Twelve tonnes of mussels was harvested in Padanna panchayat and eight tonnes was harvested in Thrikkarippur panchayat.

Valiyaparamba panchayat, having the highest number of mussel farmers, has so far harvested 10 tonnes, according to the Fisheries Department.

In November

The season of mussel culture starts in November when salinity is high in the backwaters.

“Yield this year is good and we are fetching ₹6,000-7,000 per sack containing 75-80 kg of mussels,” said P.V. Preetha, mussel culture farmer and promoter, who is tasked with recruiting more people into mussel farming.

Seeds were locally available this season, though some farmers had bought outside seeds which reached harvest stage early, she said.

There was no difficulty in marketing the product, she added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States > Kerala / by Mohamed Nazeer & Special Correspondent / April 29th, 2019

It’s ‘baiga’ harvest season for Neendakara fishermen


Long journey: Baiga, an export-oriented sea snail species, at a processing unit in Kollam. 

The sea snail, a delicacy in Japan, Taiwan, and China, is claimed to be endemic to Kollam

Over 250 boats from Neendakara are currently busy harvesting ‘baiga’ and it will take you some time to figure out that the word fishers use so casually is the Japanese for sea snail.

An export-oriented gastropod mollusc, it is endemic to Kollam with a two-month season ending in May. “It’s a species of sea snail abundant in Neendakara. We cannot say it’s totally endemic as its sporadic presence is seen in other places too. But Neendakara is the only place where it’s available in huge volumes,” says Fisheries Deputy Director H. Salim.

The fishers say they take daily trips, though not too far from the coast considering the current weather conditions. “These two months we focus on baiga and since it has to be brought live to the shore, we take daily trips. Before taking it to the processing plant, we keep it in fresh seawater for around five hours to clean the flesh. This species has no local market, so the entire catch goes straight to processing plants. In Kerala , Neendakara is the only region where you get this variety,” they say.

Priced up to ₹130, the fisherfolk consider it a good option just before trawling ban starts.

1,000 tonnes

According to exporters, Japan, Taiwan, and China are the main markets of the product where it is used in many traditional delicacies. “It’s a seasonal market operating hardly two months a year and an average of 1,000 tonnes is exported each time. In Kerala, all the export units get the product from Neendakara. Since it has to be cleaned live, it’s not possible to take it to faraway places for processing. It’s usually exported as a raw product without any value addition,” says Peter Austin of Capithan Exporting Company. He adds that Pakistan is a major competitor in the field as the country has a larger harvest window. “Karachi-based exporters ship the product for over six months.”

Mr. Salim says the Fisheries Department is trying for a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the species. “Currently, the yellow clam (Paphia malabarica) from Ashtamudi Lake is the only product from India to get that recognition. In the case of baiga, it is a very short harvest and the rest of the year we leave the species to breed, which is a very sustainable practice. So we are really hopeful of getting the certification,” he adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kerala / by Navamy Sudhish / Kollam – April 20th, 2019

India’s newest frog evolved 60 million years ago

The starry dwarf frog, named after Wayanad’s Kurichiya tribe, is found outside protected areas

It is just 2 cm long and sports pale blue spots and brilliant orange thighs. The discovery of the starry dwarf frog, a nocturnal amphibian that lives under leaf litter on a mountaintop in Kerala’s Wayanad, has been published on March 13 in PeerJ, an international multidisciplinary journal.

It was in June 2010 that frog researcher Vijayakumar S.P. first laid his eyes on the odd-looking frog and picked it up from atop Wayanad’s Kurichiyarmala.

“I knew that it was a new species, it had many interesting morphological characters… shape and colour patterns that I haven’t seen in other Western Ghats frogs,” wrote Dr. Vijayakumar, from the Centre for Ecological Sciences at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science, in an email to The Hindu.

Recently, Dr. Vijayakumar and his co-workers, including from the George Washington University in the U.S., studied its physical, skeletal and genetic characteristics. They also compared the frog with specimens of similar species in museum collections across the world. While scans of its skeletons showed it to be completely different from any other similar-sized frog seen in Wayanad, some of its physical characteristics (such as its triangular finger- and toe tips) closely resembled frogs in South America and Africa. Genetic studies, however, revealed a different story: its closest relatives are the Nycibatrachinae group of frogs that dwell in the streams of Western Ghats, and the Lankanectinae frogs of Sri Lanka.

The team named the new species the starry dwarf frog Astrobatrachus kurichiyana (genus Astrobatrachus after its starry spots and kurichiyana in honour of the Kurichiya tribal community who live in the area). It is not only a new species but different enough to be assigned to a new ‘subfamily’. Genetic analysis reveal that the species is at least 60 million years old.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by Aathira Perinchery / Kochi – March 13th, 2019

Rekha Karthikeyan, the lone Indian woman actively engaged in deep-sea fishing

From the deep sea-fishing Rekha Karthikeyan near Chettuva to mussel farming Praseela Shaji at Moothakunnam, there is in these women a spirit of determination and readiness to take on the challenges of life in their battle for survival. If you thought fishing came easy to these women entrepreneurs living close to the sea and backwaters, it is not true.

“It was so frightening initially,” says Ms. Karthikeyan, about her first venture into deep-sea fishing. “But the fright did go away. I was never intimidated,” she adds.

She has been recognised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute as the lone woman in the country actively engaged in deep-sea fishing.

She and her husband Karthikeyan use their boat for fishing ventures on a daily basis.

The couple with four children, routinely take to the seas to feed the family.

Undeterred by deluge

For Ms. Shaji, the mid-August 2018 flood was a life-changer. It threatened to derail her life. The floodwaters washed away the mussel farming ventures of dozens of women entrepreneurs like her. While some of them gave up, she did not. Ms. Shaji her friends have put the pieces together and is now fast on the road to achieving normality in mussel production.

The major fishery based micro-enterprises being taken care of by women self-help groups include bivalve farming (mussel and edible oyster culture), seaweed culture, ornamental fish culture, cage culture, Chinese dip-net units, fish amino acid units, fish fertilizer units, clam processing, fish drying, fish pickling, ready-to cook and eat fish products, aqua-tourism, seafood kitchen units, dry fish procuring, fish vending, prawn culture, crab processing, aquaponics and fish feed production, says a CMFRI scientist.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – March 08th, 2019

Seed festival from today

National seminar on ‘survived seeds’ also to be held

The fifth edition of the Wayanad community seed festival, a three-day programme organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), will be held at the foundation auditorium here on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Former Chief Secretary S.M. Vijayanand will inaugurate the programme at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

The programme is being organised in association with NABARD, Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Seed Care and Wayanad Tribal Development Action Council.

From all panchayats

Seeds of agricultural crops from all grama panchayats and municipalities of Wayanad district and seeds from adjacent districts such as Kannur and Kasaragod districts will be showcased at the programme. Farmers from Kolli Hills of Tamil Nadu will also attend the function with rare varieties of seeds. The farmers will get a chance to exchange their seeds to each other.

A national seminar on ‘survived seeds’ will also be organised in connection with the programme, the organisers said in a release here on Wednesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Kalpetta – March 06th, 2019

Ernakulam bags National Water Award

The district emerged second in the category of best performing districts in the southern region for rejuvenation/creation of water bodies such as lakes and ponds.

Kochi :

 Ernakulam district has received the prestigious National Water Awards 2018 instituted by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation at a function held in New Delhi.

District co-ordinator of Haritha Keralam Mission, Sujith Karun, received the award from  Central Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, on behalf of District Collector Muhammed Y Safirulla.

The district emerged second in the category of best performing districts in the southern region for rejuvenation/creation of water bodies such as lakes and ponds.

National Water awards were launched in the year 2007 to encourage all stakeholders to manage their water resources. The Minister of state for Water Resources Arjun Ram Mehwal and Secretary, Ministry of Water Resource U P Singh were also present on the occasion. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express/ Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 27th, 2019

MPEDA begins supply of black tiger shrimp seeds from Vallarpadam


K.S. Srinivas, chairman of MPEDA, handing over black tiger shrimp seeds to Hormis Tharakan, former Police Chief of Kerala, in Kochi on Monday.  

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) started supplying high-health black tiger shrimp seeds from its new Multispecies Aquaculture Complex at Vallarpadam on Monday. The inaugural sale of the seeds was done by MPEDA chairman K.S. Srinivas, who handed over a lakh of them to former Kerala Director General of Police Hormis Tharakan, who is also a shrimp farmer.

The MPEDA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and has developed the seeds with the help of its research wing Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture, according to a press release here.

Mr. Srinivas said lessons from the international market had prompted the MPEDA to promote the production of black tiger shrimp in Kerala. He said black tiger was the dominant cultured shrimp in India till a decade ago. In 2009, the country began experiencing non-availability of disease-free seeds of the species, prompting aquaculture farmers to shift focus to exotic vannamei species.

The MPEDA has now decided to encourage and expand the production of black tiger shrimp endemic to South Asia. Production of black tiger could support shrimp exports much more in the long run, said Mr. Srinivas.

Of late, tiger shrimp’s higher price and increasing demand in the international market has led India’s farming community to restart farming of the variety. To meet that, the country needs more disease-free seeds of black tiger.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – February 19th, 2019