Category: Agriculture

** Spreading innovation

Joseph Lobo, a 44-yr-old farmer,  is popularising the hydroponic method of cultivation and is growing the famous Shankarapura jasmine.

They say a farmer is a magician who makes his living from the mud. But that is not true in the case of Joseph Lobo, a 44-year-old farmer from the coastal district of Udupi.Lobo hails from Shankarapura, a tiny nondescript village sandwiched between the mighty Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. Shankarapura is called the jasmine capital of the Karnataka coastline and is famous for its Shankarapura mallige (mallige in Kannada means jasmine flowers). And like the majority of the residents of the village, Lobo too cultivates Shankarapura mallige. A passionate farmer, Lobo has been growing the Shankarapura mallige — which was accorded GI tag in 2008 — for the last 15 years. 

But what sets him apart from the rest of the growers is that he has attempted to grow his prized possession without soil! Yes, you read it right. Lobo became the first grower in the region to adopt the novel hydroponic method of cultivation, which in layman’s language is soil-less cultivation.Lobo says he was inspired after attending a workshop at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, and started experimenting on the new method of cultivation. Lobo has 32 jasmine plants already, including the three grown using the hydroponic technique.

** Grasslands are treated as wastelands and diverted for other uses: Infosys Prize 2021 winner

Says window of opportunity to combat climate change is closing rapidly

COVID-19 has put the focus on zoonotic disease like nothing else did before. The bigger issue here, Mahesh Sankaran from National Center For Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru says, is habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation.

Prof. Sankaran was awarded the Infosys Prize 2021 in the Life Sciences category in recognition of his work on the ecology of tropical savanna ecosystems, and his contributions to highlighting the biodiversity of important Indian ecosystems such as the Western Ghats.

** Woman Farmer Feted

Outstanding woman farmer Chandrika of Hunsur village in T. Narasipur taluk was felicitated during the press meet at Jaladarshini.

Chandrika has taken up farming in her 8-acre agriculture field for the past eight years following the death of her husband, growing a variety of crops.

World Farmers Day Celebration Committee President Dr. Shivarajappa, Dr. Mahadevaiah, retired Principal N.M. Nayak, Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association office-bearers Attahalli Devaraj, Somashekar, Hallikerehundi Bhagyaraj, Kiragasur Shankar and others were present.

** The man and his vision

Did you know as a tribute to former Prime Minister HD Devegowda, farmers in Punjab have named a rare variety of rice crops by his name?

Author Sugata Srinivasaraju has penned down more such lesser known facts in his latest book Furrows in a Field:

Furrows in a Field: The Unexplored Life of HD Deve Gowda (Penguin Random House, `799) which is a biography of the former prime minister. 

** Students earn while they learn in Bengaluru college

Dairy Science College trains students in production and sale of products developed with in-house technology

While educational institutions boast of placements, Bengaluru-based Dairy Science College has gone a step further to ensure that its final-year BTech students start earning even while they are learning.

The college, which is Karnataka’s oldest dairy sciences institute, has made its final-year students take up production as well as sale of milk-based value-added products by using its technologies as part of their training under the Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) of the Centre.

** Genie in a bottle

A Bengaluru-based organisation is educating farmers on using organic techniques to foster soil sustainability and conservation.

SOIL founder secretary P Srinivas Vasu is engaged in protecting and rebuilding soil health across Karnataka, with a focus on promoting sustainable agriculture.

About SOIL

Sustainable Organic Initiatives for Livelihood was started to address nutritional food security for life above and below soils.

Contact: soilvasu@gmail.com +91 94834 67779

** Scholarship for individuals clearing online course in ornithology

The scholarship is specifically for young people in the age group of 18 to 30 years.

Minds United Trust, Mysuru, has decided to offer scholarships to individuals from Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar, who will sign up for a basic course in ornithology and clear the examination.

For queries, interested persons can contact Vaishnavi R. Kanzal on mobile number 6360804814 between 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., the statement said.

** Merit scholarships for MSc (Food Technology) students at CFTRI

A function was organised at CFTRI in Mysuru on Thursday to distribute the Kerry scholarship to students securing the highest marks in the entrance exams for its MSc (Food Technology) for the 2021-23 batch.

A statement from CFTRI said the scholarships were bagged by Riya Saini, Krishna Kumar Upadhyay and Valcea Pearl D’Cunha.

The merit scholarships have been instituted by Kerry Ingredients India Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru, a manufacturer of food ingredients, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The scholarship, which starts from 2021-22, consists of tuition fees, boarding and lodging fee and development fee.

** Writer Rajeshwari Tejaswi passes away

She wrote her first book shortly after the demise of her husband, and was an account of their life together

Rajeshwari Tejaswi, 84, writer and wife of late writer K. P. Poornachandra Tejaswi, passed away in Bengaluru on December 14.

Rajeshwari began writing only after the death of Tejaswi in 2007. She wrote her first book ‘Nanna Tejaswi’ shortly after Tejaswi’s demise, and was an account of their life together. The book went on to have over six reprints. She later wrote a personal memoir titled ‘Namma Menegoo Bandaru Gandhiji’. Apart from being a writer, she was a passionate philatelist and gardener. She collected rare seeds during her travels.

She had been actively involved in the activities of K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi Trust at Kottigehara in Mudigere taluk.