A man-made forest is no oxymoron but a one and a half acre wide reality brought to life by the efforts of K V Dayal. T Satisan explores what is the enchanting result of man taking nature into confidence…
In the dense forest, the facade of the home of environmentalist
K V Dayal was adorned by a heavy bronze bell. Jaitha Dayal, lady of the house and wife of KV Dayal came out to greet us; Dayal was away for a meeting of Nature Club, a conclave of people endeavouring towards organic approach to agriculture. We decided to take, in the meantime, a round of the forest that has supplanted the once-barren Muhamma region in Alappuzha district of Kerala, thanks to the efforts of this 62-year-old nature enthusiast.
As we stepped into the forest sprawled over one and a half acres, teeming with trees of various geographic origins, the drop in mercury was palpable; we felt the temperatures fall by at least two degrees! From the British Walnut tree – the one that provides essential timber for the interiors of the regal Rolls Royce – to the Rangoon Bamboo to the regular coconut palms and papaya and cashew trees, they were all there – tall and disease free.
When Dayal returned from the meet, I gave vent to my curiosity – how did he manage to convert the white, sugary, dry sand of Muhamma into the fertile land that now hosts the rich woods? Having bought the land in 1982, his coconut trees fell prey to disease which ultimately led to total crop loss and eventual death of the trees. His quest for a solution led him to an edition of Soochimukhi, a prominent environment issues magazine, which had carried the Malayalam translation of some part of the seminal, “The One-Straw Revolution” authored by Japanese agricultural expert, Masanobu Fukuoka. Dayal was so influenced that he thereafter regarded Fukuoka as his unseen guru, so much so that his photo still adorns the foyer of Dayal's house. The first mantra he learnt from Fukuoka was ‘not to dig and shuffle the soil of agricultural land’. He learnt more from Joncy Jacob’s (founder of Soochimukhi) Organic Farming Council classes and activities. He earnestly attended many classes, including those on Onam, a day normally reserved by Keralites for family and feasting. The classes, he recalls, proved to be eye openers.
In keeping with Fukuoka’s ideas, Dayal realised the importance of natural farming, and left his one and half acre land idle for pest and wild bushes to flourish. Within three years, the whole area had been overrun by flora and fauna of the wild variety. His father, a traditionalist, pressed for digging and ploughing the land with spades. He obliged. But as soon as the digging started, the labourers found that the land had turned wet and moist, completely unbecoming in a place like Muhamma known for dry land where it is difficult to grow any vegetation, especially during summer. He then left the land like it was for another year, and the results were encouraging.
In those days, he attended another training camp, in Wayanad. The star attraction was an agricultural expert, Dr Venkat, who propagated renowned naturalist Bill Mollison’s Perma Culture (‘permanent agriculture’) concepts in India. Venkat insisted that sun is the only source of energy; its energy should always be conserved, and greenery is the medium for it. Whatever grows on the soil should be allowed to get assimilated back into it, so that the sun’s energy is absorbed into the soil. Burning dry leaves and branches is not at all scientific – it in fact kills the micro organisms that make the land fertile.
When Dayal came back from the Wayanad camp, he sowed all sorts of seeds in his land that had been left to the mercy of the elements, and definitely not in vain. Flowers bloomed; bees, butterflies and birds made it their playing ground and before long, rich vegetation burst forth. Dayal now lets the leaves accumulate on the land twice a year.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
In the dense forest, the facade of the home of environmentalist
K V Dayal was adorned by a heavy bronze bell. Jaitha Dayal, lady of the house and wife of KV Dayal came out to greet us; Dayal was away for a meeting of Nature Club, a conclave of people endeavouring towards organic approach to agriculture. We decided to take, in the meantime, a round of the forest that has supplanted the once-barren Muhamma region in Alappuzha district of Kerala, thanks to the efforts of this 62-year-old nature enthusiast.As we stepped into the forest sprawled over one and a half acres, teeming with trees of various geographic origins, the drop in mercury was palpable; we felt the temperatures fall by at least two degrees! From the British Walnut tree – the one that provides essential timber for the interiors of the regal Rolls Royce – to the Rangoon Bamboo to the regular coconut palms and papaya and cashew trees, they were all there – tall and disease free.
When Dayal returned from the meet, I gave vent to my curiosity – how did he manage to convert the white, sugary, dry sand of Muhamma into the fertile land that now hosts the rich woods? Having bought the land in 1982, his coconut trees fell prey to disease which ultimately led to total crop loss and eventual death of the trees. His quest for a solution led him to an edition of Soochimukhi, a prominent environment issues magazine, which had carried the Malayalam translation of some part of the seminal, “The One-Straw Revolution” authored by Japanese agricultural expert, Masanobu Fukuoka. Dayal was so influenced that he thereafter regarded Fukuoka as his unseen guru, so much so that his photo still adorns the foyer of Dayal's house. The first mantra he learnt from Fukuoka was ‘not to dig and shuffle the soil of agricultural land’. He learnt more from Joncy Jacob’s (founder of Soochimukhi) Organic Farming Council classes and activities. He earnestly attended many classes, including those on Onam, a day normally reserved by Keralites for family and feasting. The classes, he recalls, proved to be eye openers.
In keeping with Fukuoka’s ideas, Dayal realised the importance of natural farming, and left his one and half acre land idle for pest and wild bushes to flourish. Within three years, the whole area had been overrun by flora and fauna of the wild variety. His father, a traditionalist, pressed for digging and ploughing the land with spades. He obliged. But as soon as the digging started, the labourers found that the land had turned wet and moist, completely unbecoming in a place like Muhamma known for dry land where it is difficult to grow any vegetation, especially during summer. He then left the land like it was for another year, and the results were encouraging.
In those days, he attended another training camp, in Wayanad. The star attraction was an agricultural expert, Dr Venkat, who propagated renowned naturalist Bill Mollison’s Perma Culture (‘permanent agriculture’) concepts in India. Venkat insisted that sun is the only source of energy; its energy should always be conserved, and greenery is the medium for it. Whatever grows on the soil should be allowed to get assimilated back into it, so that the sun’s energy is absorbed into the soil. Burning dry leaves and branches is not at all scientific – it in fact kills the micro organisms that make the land fertile.
When Dayal came back from the Wayanad camp, he sowed all sorts of seeds in his land that had been left to the mercy of the elements, and definitely not in vain. Flowers bloomed; bees, butterflies and birds made it their playing ground and before long, rich vegetation burst forth. Dayal now lets the leaves accumulate on the land twice a year.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
