Category: Nature / Environment

** Bengaluru techie-turned-farmer to host farming workshop

In order to create awareness among children about the importance of nature, Srivathsa Govindaraju, a techie-turned-farmer, has decided to conduct a three-day bio-diversity and farming workshop in April.

Govindaraju is known for his unconventional farm which looks more like a forest or a natural reserve. The uniqueness of the farm, which has around 250 species of plants and more than 50 species of wildlife, is that everything that is cultivated is edible or can be used for medicinal purposes. The farmer endeavours to make children aware about India’s heritage as an agricultural country and share knowledge on forgotten food and herbs.

** International workshop on gender issues in water management in Mysuru

The workshop will address gender-related issues in water resource management in developing countries

An international workshop on Gender Issues in Water Management in Developing Countries and Sustainable Development will be held JSS Medical College in Mysuru on February 22 and 23.

JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSSAHER), Mysuru, is organising the workshop in partnership with the Centre for Science and Technology of Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) and Scientific Committee on Problems of Environment (SCOPE), Amstelveen, The Netherlands.

** Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar has best air quality among Indian cities: CPCB data

 Chamarajanagar has the best air quality among 132 cities in the country, as per the Air Quality Index (AQI) by the Central Pollution Control Board. Though the air quality in Karnataka’s Bagalkot (50), Vijayapura (46) and Thoothukudi (39) in Tamil Nadu is good, Chamarajanagar claims an AQI of 36.

** Get your binoculars, the Great Backyard Bird Count begins today

Last year, over 360 species of birds were recorded in Karnataka

Starting Friday, hundreds of bird watchers from Bengaluru and across India, equipped with their binoculars and cameras, will document birds in their neighbourhoods and cities till February 21.

The four-day event is part of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), an annual avian census that marks the whereabouts of millions of birds.

** A golden future for turmeric

Soil-less agriculture could be the solution to increasing the yield and quality of turmeric cultivation in India, says this Bengaluru-based expert

For CV Prakash — a former naval officer who is also recognised as an expert in soil-less agriculture — making turmeric ( Curcuma longa ) more profitable for the ordinary farmer has become a passion during lockdown.

His ongoing Mission Turmeric 2021 aims to begin an “orange revolution”, he says, by teaching people to cultivate the spice in grow bags (large porous containers made of high density polyethelene) packed with coco-peat (made from the pith of the coconut husk) instead of soil, in shade houses.

Introduced to soil-less agriculture after he migrated to Australia in 2000, Prakash brought his interest back to his homeland in 2008. He has trained over 10,000 people in cultivating different crops using hydroponics and other soil-free alternatives at his CV Hydro training centre, which functions under the auspices of Aggragannya Skills, Bengaluru.

** How Bengaluru fell in love with the rose

When it comes to cut roses, Bengaluru is the biggest exporter in India. Pune is a close competitor. But Bengaluru roses are of better quality, says M Vishwanath, joint director, horticulture, Karnataka.

NRI teen girl invents problem-based learning to helps kids

“I saw my parents testing lead levels in water at home and the process was tedious, unreliable and expensive,” she said.

 Gitanjali Rao, a child prodigy and inventor, said the cause of her success was her community, a supportive environment as well as the focus on problem-based learning in schools.

Speaking at the Diaspora Diplomacy speaker series, organised by the US Mission in India, the 16-year-old talked about her experiences, her thought processes as well as her upcoming inventions. Gitanjali, an Indian-origin student from the US, is an accomplished inventor, having come to the forefront with Tethys, a device that detects lead levels in water and transmits the information over Bluetooth.

** Kundapur: Farmer strikes gold in papaya cultivation

Atul Kumar Shetty from Jannadi here, who cultivates areca nut and coconut, is now grabbing the eyeballs  with his papaya cultivation. He hit on papaya cultivation after witnessing the rich growth of the fruit in shorter stems during his visit to the Agricultural Science Research Station, Brahmavar. He received cooperation and support from the Dharmasthala Rural Development Project. As papaya cultivation was new to this area, he received the supporting information and technical advice. 

He created an 18 inches canal in a level field near his house. He filled the trench with organic compounds.to the level of the land and planted 60 seeds of Taiwan 60 variety which he brought from Brahmavar Agricultural Science Research Station. His also being a dairy farmer came handy to him and he used the manure from the cattle shed.  The trees began yielding starting in the sixth month.

** Stories on stones: City houses get new look with granite stones

This documentary captures the lives of prominent architects, the Kanade brothers, who brought in their own styles to the houses of Bengaluru.

The city’s housing structure has an interesting mix of old Chettinad architecture, British architecture and quintessential local styles. But as modern architecture seeped into the city, there came a pattern of houses built with granite stones. The main men behind the idea are Shankar Kanade and Navnath Kanade. Teepoi Production’s latest documentary Kanade, is based on these architect brothers.

The Kanade brothers are the brains behind the architecture of some iconic landmarks like Jal Bhawan, Jal Vayu Vihar to name a few. Content and research director Karishma Rao says she had always heard of the Kanade architects. “Many of the mentors from the industry also guided us in the project. They told us to capture the Kanade wisdom in some way or the other because they were very instrumental in the buildings of the  ’80s and ’90s,” says Rao, who, along with his team met Navnath Kanade for the first time at the Wadiyar Centre of Architecture, Mysuru in 2016.