Wednesday, November 6, 2013

noorumeni on shalom t v

http://www.youtube.com/v/lHP14lhiLbw?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&autohide=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=nM5rFoxPI-ipFIVNDY-LlQ&autoplay=1

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Bee Keeping In Russia

Beekeeping was known long before our era. Its development went through several stages. At first, wild beekeeping consisted of hunting for honey and beeswax—bees’ nests and their honeycombs were found in tree hollows. The stages of wild-hive beekeeping and stump beekeeping in logs and tree hollows (dupliankas) were followed by frame beekeeping, or the raising of bee colonies in sectional hives with movable frames. With the invention of the frame hive in 1814 by the Russian beekeeper P. I. Prokopovich and of the honey extractor in 1865 by the Bohemian apiarist F. von Hruschka, frame beekeeping became a highly productive branch of agriculture in many countries. 
Rehashing Robert Burns' poem we'd like to present Bashkiria region - the birth-place of honey the country of worth.
In Russia, beekeeping has been widespread for a long time in almost every area of the country. In 1910 there were 339,000 apiaries with an average size of six colonies, totaling 6,309,000 colonies, of which less than 18 percent were in frame hives. The marketable surplus from the apiaries was low. The average amount of marketable honey obtained from one bee colony did not exceed 5–6 kg. During World War I, the number of apiaries in the country decreased significantly, and by 1919 the number of bee colonies had fallen to 3.2 million. After the decree of 1919 of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR On Protecting Apiculture, beekeeping developed rapidly. In 1940 in the USSR there were more than 10 million bee colonies, 95 percent of which were in frame hives. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, the number of apiaries again decreased considerably, and the number of bee colonies dropped to 4.9 million. As a result of a number of party and government resolutions adopted in the postwar years concerning beekeeping, such as the resolution of 1945 of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR On Measures to Develop Apiculture, beekeeping was reestablished and became a profitable branch of the national economy.
With the amalgamation of kolkhozes, the size of apiaries increased. Specialized industrial sovkhozes and large bee farms have been set up, with the introduction of mechanization of the labor-consuming processes of uncapping and extracting the honey, outfitting the hive frames with wax, and loading and unloading the hives when the apiaries are to be transported to nectariferous areas. At these enterprises the technology of feeding and caring for the bee colonies is being perfected, and the efficiency of labor is increasing—one beekeeper can maintain 150–200 colonies instead of 35-40 as at nonamalgamated apiaries.
The three basic areas of specialization in apiculture are the production of honey, pollination, and bee raising.
In the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, Azerbaijan, Kirghizia, eastern Kazakhstan, and Armenia, where there are vast areas of wild nectariferous vegetation, there are large beekeeping sovkhozes with 4,000 to 20,000 colonies that specialize in the production of honey and beeswax. In intensive-farming areas, such as the Volga Region, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the Northern Caucasus, large bee farms with 500 to 800 colonies use the bees primarily to pollinate agricultural crops, for which the apiaries are moved to areas with flowering nectariferous plants. (In most areas stationary beekeeping has been replaced by migratory beekeeping.) In the southern regions of the RSFSR and the Ukraine and in Moldavia, Transcaucasia, and Middle Asia, where the abundant spring and summer nectariferous plants allow the bees an extended honey flow of 2.5–3 months, bee farms specialize in rearing queen bees of the best strains and propagating bee colonies to supply the apiaries of other farms.  

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Cultivating Fodder grass on rooftops

Scientists from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Kannur (KVK) of Kerala Agricultural University, Panniyur, have developed an innovative method to grow fodder grass (CO-3 variety) on rooftops of cattle sheds to help dairy farmers grappling with space constraints and fodder scarcity.
A recent experiment by Dr. T. Giggin, Assistant Professor of the Institute promises to address the green fodder requirement issue of space constraint for cattle growers easily.
High density planting
The technique, called high density double planting with drip irrigation, involves growing fodder grass in plastic ‘grow-bags’ usually used for cultivating vegetables.
The grass grows to a height of six to eight feet in a span of two months, according to Dr. Giggin.
At the KVK campus, the grass is grown in around 300 UV stabilized bags, placed equidistantly, with a foot’s space left between the bags.
Water and manure are supplied using drip irrigation. “The first harvest can be done after 10 weeks of planting and thereafter harvest can be done every 30 days. One set of plantation can give yield as many as eight times a year. Different varieties of grass can be grown by this method,” says Dr. Giggin.
The innovation is attractive because of the financial gain it can give the farmers. A cow, which is usually given concentrate feed costing Rs.22 a kg, can easily be given five kg of green grass at Rs.5 a kg.
Such a huge saving in production cost will be a boon for the dairy sector which faces regular decline in number of dairy animals every year.
Basic reason
“In a place where land availability for agricultural use is very low due to fragmentation and high cost, dairy farmers resort to expensive concentrate feeds as a replacement for green fodder. This is the basic reason for the high production cost of milk in many states and also the reason for many progressive farmers in Kerala moving away from dairy,” says Dr Giggin.
Apart from growing, farmers can also take up selling the root slips of the green grass that can give them some additional income. A single root costs Rs.2 and there is quite a demand for procuring fresh green grass.
Investment
An investment of Rs.100 a month produces fodder costing Rs.6,000 in six months. Grass grows faster in this method as ample sunlight is available. Moreover nagging problems of pests and weeds are mostly absent. A single bag has a three year utility span. The KVK has initiated this method for paddy cultivation also which is helpful even in water-scarce areas.
“The lush greenery in the terrace prevents direct sunlight from falling on the terrace which in turn reduces the temperature inside the cattle shed. This means less need for fans, and lower power consumption thus saving on electricity,” he says.
Providing green fodder for milch animals has always proved to be a difficult task for cattle rearers because sourcing the grass itself is hard work. Even if available, depending on the season (especially summer months), suppliers charge a huge amount.
Cost
A truckload of green fodder can cost anything from Rs.3000- Rs. 5,000 and depending on the number of animals the farmer needs to buy one or two times a month.
“We have tried this method as an experiment and found it to be quite successful. Our center is now trying to create awareness among cattle growers in the region to adopt a similar method and benefit,” says Dr. Giggin.
Interested farmers can get in touch with Dr. Giggin, Asst Professor, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kannur, Panniyur, Kerala Agricultural University,
Kanhirangad PO: 670142, email: kvkpanniyur@rediffmail.com, mobile:098473 35759, phone:04602 226087.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Success of Indian Farmers in Russia

India abroad: Farming profits on Russian land
Matharu Harjinder Singh at his farm.
As you go into the village of Novy Kutuluk, where the office of Matharu Harjinder Singh’s company RusBiznesInvest is located, there is a large Russian Orthodox cross. And at the centre of the village there is a banner with a portrait of Guru Baba Virsa Singh. Below the portrait, Singh has inscribed his mission statement: “Our programme is aimed at transforming all uncultivated land into a prosperous farm which will benefit all people, no matter what their nationality, race or religion”.
Singh’s tryst with agriculture has an interesting back story that mixes divine guidance, grit and hard work. He was destined to be a farmer in Russia, his guru had predicted long time ago, and the prediction has come more than true.
In November 2008, just after the first snow of the year, Singh went to the Samara Region, and bought two derelict farms along with 2700 hectares of weed-covered land and a herd of 500 cows, each one producing just two litres of milk.
He brought farmers from Punjab, the granary of India, and hired locals to work on the land and they turned the farm around completely. They cleaned out all the cattle pens, erected new wooden outbuildings, equipped it with modern technology, drilled wells, and put water troughs in each cowshed. In winter the farm employs 40-50 people. This number goes up to 100-110 in the summer.
Today the two farms owned by the RusBiznesInvest, Vostok and Neprik, have 20,000 hectares of land, 3000 Kalmyk cattle, 90 mares of the New-Altaisk breed for meat, as well as New-Altaisk breeding stallions.
But Singh’s pride and joy is his herd of 103 Australian cows – these cows have not existed in Russia for some time (each one costs around $7000). He had brought this herd over from the Green Continent in December last year. A one-way ticket (on a ship that leaves once a month for Novorossiysk, and then by road on eighteen-wheelers) came to around 100,000 roubles ($3500) for each cow. But Singh is confident his investment will more than pay off. “We are going to meet the “golden” calves.  These hornless cattle roam free around the green pastures of the Volga; unlike last year’s drought, this summer has been good for the meadow grass.”
“Mandolong cattle are ideally suited for the hostile Russian climate, where the temperature ranges from -30ºC in winter to +40ºC in summer. Over two months our young animals put on 150 kilograms in weight. And today the steers are already putting on as much as 2.5 kilograms in 24 hours,” says Singh, his voice dripping with pride. What makes these cattle special is the wonderful flavour of the meat, which also happens to be marbled. “So in the next few months we are planning to bring over another 500 of these cows, as well as 30 breeding bulls,” says Singh.  
Clearly, Singh has big plans for the future, but is not someone here just to make a quick buck. “That’s all in the future, but then we’ve definitely made good living quarters for the Indian workers out of the old bakery,” says the farmer entrepreneur.  He has made it a point to provide well for farm workers. They stay in a hostel, and are given a packed lunch. So far the only Russian food the Indian workers eat is semolina porridge (they have something similar back in India), and they are gradually starting to try other Russians specialities.
The Indian farm labourers have managed to avoid the issue with beef, forbidden by their religion: not one of the Indian workers has even tasted an ounce of the stuff. In the canteen they are served a special menu of chicken and vegetables.
Brought up in Russia, Singh is, however, in a different league, and says confidently that he will eat beef. “I’m actually very Russian in my outlook, as I was born and raised in Moscow. My father worked there as a presenter of Indian programmes on Russian radio. I went to a Russian school, though admittedly one with a focus on English. And then, much to my parents’ annoyance, when they were away in India (he smiles slyly) I married a Russian girl. But I have to say that now I am always with my parents, I divide my time between Samara and Moscow, where they live”.
“By the way”, says the businessman “there was one other turn of fate in my life. When I was a student at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, I had to write an essay on the artificial insemination of cattle. I then used to go to the EANE to study the problem and I would puzzle over who I was -  Was I going to be an economist or a vet? But it turned out completely differently…”  
Now, animal breeding has become his core business, and in the next few months the farm is going to become an approved breeding centre for Australian and Kalmyk breeds, which will mean Singh’s farm will be permitted to send its purebred animals and spermatic material to regions other than Samara. 
“Our meat is completely free of chemicals. We don’t get our cattle up to a good weight using hormones, God forbid, it is all because they have a good diet. We are hoping to produce marbled meat, which is still as rare as hens’ teeth in Samara, and we intend to start supplying it to restaurants and supermarkets as early as next year”, says Raju. “We are actually planning to increase the Kalmyk herd to 4000, and the Australian cattle herd to 6000. Our Mandolong herd is the only one in the whole of Russia”.
Besides raising cattle, Singh continues to breed horses. He has about 100 New-Altaisk horses and plans to buy six four-year-old stallions in the Altai region.
All this success has whetted Singh’s appetite for business. He is brimming with big ideas.  They include buying a meat-processing factory and opening the first tea-packing factory in the region, which could happen as early as autumn. The big project which is set to come to fruition this year will be setting up of a chain of family-run farms, each with 300 cattle. The company will oversee the building and day-to-day running of the farms, and deal with the maintenance side of things. 
Singh makes no bones about his ambitions; “We want to become the biggest livestock company in Russia. Today there is a similar farm in Krasnodar which has about 10,000 cattle. We would like to develop quickly and successfully. We have huge plans, but we are not going to hurry. As they say, everything in its own time.”
Singh is all praise for the Russian government’s agriculture-friendly policies. “Today the government in Russia is really helping to develop agriculture. It’s plain to see – this project is running on 40% borrowed money. But at the moment it is a good time for farmers to get a loan, the interest rate of the Russian Agricultural Bank is 13%, and if you deduct all the subsidies that we get from the government, it works out at 6%, and the annual credit is just 4%. We also leased all the equipment, everything is made in Russia”.
There is, however, skilled manpower crunch. Singh says although his company pays a reasonably attractive wage of 15,000 roubles ($535) per month, hiring locals is not easy. “So we invite specialists from India from Punjab state. They are good, honest, hard-working guys, they understand that farm work doesn’t adhere to a regular timeframe; if necessary they have to maintain the equipment at night and be in the fields in the morning.”
“In the year they have been in Russia they have done a good job of learning Russian and have got used to the cold weather. When it’s -25 outside, they are walking around in trainers. For young Indians it is a chance to gain work experience in another country, and work towards their future,” he says.
But all this success hasn’t got to his head. His friends often say to him. “Raju, why don’t you hire managers, you’re the president”. And sitting behind the wheel of his car, he will answer “Even if I am president, I’ll go where I have to go.” And on the way he manages to chat up everyone he meets and find out how they are getting on.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

വിവിധ ഇനം വാഴകൾ

              നിവേദ്യവസ്തുക്കളില്‍ പ്രധാനമായ വാഴ കൃഷി ചെയ്താല്‍ ദേവകളുടെ അനുഗ്രഹം ഉണ്ടാകും.  നിരവധിയിനം വാഴകള്‍ കേരളത്തിലുണ്ട്.  സാമ്പത്തികനേട്ടംഉദ്ദേശിച്ചു കൃഷി ചെയ്യുന്നവയുമുണ്ട്.   
                              

       വാഴയില്‍ ഇനങ്ങള്‍ കൂടിയവിഭാഗം കദളിയാണ്.  അണ്ണാന്‍, കണ്ണന്‍വണ്ണന്‍, എന്നീപേരുകളിലും ഇതറിയപ്പെടുന്നു.  ആറ്റുകദളി (അണ്ണാന്‍വിളനിരങ്ങി)രസകദളി(മധുരയണ്ണാന്‍, ഞാലിപ്പൂവന്‍)പൂങ്കദളി (മലണ്ണാന്‍)ചെങ്കദളി (കപ്പ)കറയണ്ണാന്‍എന്നിങ്ങനെ പലതരമുണ്ട്.  കദളിവാഴക്കു ദേവന്‍കദളിപൂജാകദളി എന്നീപേരുകളുമുണ്ട്.  പേങ്കദളിവിരൂപാക്ഷി എന്നീ പേരുകളുള്ള 'മട്ടി'യില്‍ പാണ്ടിമട്ടി,വെള്ളമട്ടിചെമന്നമട്ടി എന്നു മൂന്നിനങ്ങളുണ്ട്.  വാളിമൊന്തന്‍ അഥവാ വലിയമൊന്തന്‍പേമൊന്തന്‍, ചാമ്പമൊന്തന്‍ എന്നിവ വിവിധതരം മൊന്തന്‍ അഥവാ പൊന്തന്‍ വാഴകളാണ്.  നേന്ത്രവാഴ (ഏത്തന്‍) . പാണ്ടിനാടന്‍, കൂനൂര്‍ചെങ്ങഴിയോടന്‍എന്നിങ്ങനെ പലതരമുണ്ട്.  പടറ്റി (നല്‍ച്ചിങ്ങന്‍)  തമിഴ്നാട്ടുകാരനായ 'പാളയംകോടന്‍ '  എന്നിവ വൈവിധ്യമില്ലാത്ത വര്‍ഗ്ഗങ്ങളാണ്.  ഉള്ളില്‍ വലിയ വിത്തുകളുണ്ടാകുന്നകല്ലുവാഴ സൂക്ഷിച്ചുവേണം കഴിക്കാന്‍. റോബസ്റ്റമോറിസ് അഥവാ കുഴിവാഴ,മണവും മധുരവുമുള്ള കര്‍പ്പൂരവല്ലി എന്നിങ്ങനെ നിരവധിയിനം വാഴകള്‍ കേരളത്തിലുണ്ട്.  ശുദ്ധവും വൃത്തിയും വേണ്ട ദേവന്‍കദളിയുടെ ഫലത്തില്‍ സ്വര്‍ണ്ണത്തിന്റെ അംശമുണ്ട്.  ഇതിന്റെ പഴം കഴിക്കുന്ന ദിവസം മുട്ടമീന്‍, ഇറച്ചിതുടങ്ങിയ നിഷിദ്ധഭക്ഷണങ്ങള്‍ പാടില്ലെന്നും വിശ്വാസമുണ്ട്.  ഇതിലെ ഒരേഒരുവൈദ്യന്‍കായ ദീര്‍ഘായുസ്സു നല്കും.  പടറ്റിവാഴപ്പഴംവസൂരിമണ്ണന്‍, പൊക്കന്‍തുടങ്ങിയവ ഉഷ്ണരോഗങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ആശ്വാസകരമാണ്.  വയറിലെ അമ്ലാധിക്യം(അസിഡിറ്റി) കാരണത്താല്‍ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുന്നവര്‍ക്ക് കഴിക്കാനാകുന്ന പഴങ്ങളാണ്രസകദളിറോബസ്റ്റചെങ്കദളിഅഥവാ കപ്പ എന്നിവ.  നല്ലവണ്ണം പഴുത്തുകഴിഞ്ഞതിനുശേഷമല്ലാതെ കഴിച്ചാല്‍ കറയുടെ സ്വാദു മാറാത്ത വര്‍ഗ്ഗമാണുകറയണ്ണാന്‍.  ആയുര്‍വേദത്തിലെ പഥ്യാഹാരത്തില്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കാവുന്നപച്ചക്കറികളില്‍ വാളിമൊന്തന്‍ പ്രധാനമാണ്.  പടല മുഴുവന്‍ ഇറങ്ങിക്കഴിഞ്ഞശേഷംതനിയെതന്നെ കൂമ്പില്ലാതാകുന്ന കൂമ്പില്ലാ അണ്ണാന്‍ (കണ്ണന്‍) പൊതുവെ ദീര്‍ഘായുസ്സു നല്കുന്ന പഴമായി കരുതി വരുന്നു.  മലബന്ധത്തിനുത്തമമായി പറയാറുള്ള പാളയന്‍ കോടന്‍ കഴിക്കുന്നതു നന്നല്ല,.  ആറ്റു കദളി പഴം നല്ല മധുരവും ഉള്ളില്‍ മാവു തീരെയില്ലാത്ത വര്‍ഗ്ഗവുമാണ്.  ഇലയ്ക്കായി നട്ടുവളര്‍ത്താവുന്ന ഈ വര്‍ഗ്ഗത്തിനുരോഗപ്രതിരോധശക്തി കൂടുതലുണ്ട്.  ഒരു കായ മാത്രം ഫലിക്കുന്ന ഒറ്റക്കൊമ്പനെന്നമൂങ്കിവാഴക്കു ഔഷധഗുണമേറും.  ചെങ്കദളിയുടെ ഉള്ളില്‍ ഉലുവ നിറച്ചുവെച്ച ശേഷം കഴിച്ചാല്‍ രക്താതിസാരമുള്‍പെടെ മാറിക്കിട്ടും.  മട്ടിപ്പഴം അടപ്രഥമനില്‍ ചേര്ത്താല്‍ രുചിയേറും.  ഉണ്ണിയപ്പത്തിനെങ്കില്‍ മയമേറും.  പഴമായി കഴിച്ചാല്‍ ഏമ്പക്കം വിടുന്ന സമയം പുറത്തുവരുന്ന വായുവിനു ദുര്‍ഗന്ധമുണ്ടാവില്ല.  കല്ലുവാഴയുടെ ഉള്ളില്‍ കാണുന്ന കല്ലിനു സമാനമായ വിത്തുകള്‍ക്ക് മൂത്രക്കല്ലിനെ അലിയിച്ചു കളയാനുള്ളശക്തിയുണ്ട്.                          

    എല്ലാ ദിവസവും വ്യാഴം കേന്ദ്രീകരിച്ചുള്ള രാശി ഒഴിവാക്കി വാഴ കൃഷിചെയ്യുകയെന്നു കൃഷിഗീത പറയുന്നു.             
 'തോട്ടം തോറും വാഴ ദേശം തോറും ഭാഷ',        

 'ചവിട്ടിയ കന്നിനു ഇരട്ടിശക്തി',         

'ഇല തൊടാഞ്ഞാല്‍ കുല മലയ്ക്കു മുട്ടും 
തുടങ്ങിയ ചൊല്ലുകള്‍ വാഴകൃഷിയില്‍ പ്രധാനമാണ്.     

Courtessy:- Kerala Innovation  Foundation