Skip to main content

olla

Cost Effective Solution to save Coconut trees during forth coming water scarcity months due to El Niño : Olla Irrigation - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Droughts. 🏺 Echoes of Ancient Clay pot Irrigation Long before the term olla entered agricultural vocabulary, ancient Tamil farmers practiced remarkably similar methods. In Sangam‑era Tamilakam, clay vessels called “ māṇ paṇai ” or “kulam paṇai” were used to store and seep water near tree roots - especially for coconut, banana, and areca palms.   These pots were often placed in earthen basins (thottam) lined with coir, husk, and leaf mulch, creating a natural moisture‑retention system. Inscriptions and temple garden records from regions like Pollachi, Thanjavur, and Madurai mention such paṇai neer vaḻi (pot‑water channels) as part of sustainable irrigation networks.  This continuity of wisdom - from ancient Tamil pot irrigation to modern olla systems -  shows how indigenous knowledge can guide regenerative farming in the...

Plastics, Plastic islands and Micro Plastics

We are in plastic world.
Plastic is almost used by everyone in the Planet.
Slowly it is showing its effect on environment.

We are at a stage to find immediate effective solution for this problem  as soon as possible. Most of the plastics used as of now are stable in the environment and not degrading easily. I have witnessed plastic bags strewn all over the places in land environment. This will cause effects on hydrological cycle and environment. They are polluting both land and water. When they are broken down after very long time, they become more dangerous by converting into micro plastics. These micro plastics can even travel between cells. They enter the food chain. More studies are needed to find the toxicity of these plastic substances. Plastic solids are eaten by birds and has caused mortality in little ones. Their stomach has shown to contain the bottle caps that could not be degraded even after they are dead. I have read about plastic islands formed in oceans because of plastic debris.

Recent story in CNN shows this effect in an alarming way -

Plastic Island Video

EPA Picture showing plastics in a turtle's stomach::


Day by day we are drinking polluted water, breathing polluted air, eating contaminated food, spending less and less time outdoors and not sleeping properly because of the electronic devices we use. All the five important necessities for sustaining healthy life is being threatened. Along with these, plastics also enter into bio-accumulation process through the food chain and start to affect - it is not good. We need to invest soon in bio-plastics that will degrade faster in the environment than these stubborn plastics. There are researches that add sugar to  plastics that will be eaten by bacteria and degrade soon. Further biological material such as plant fibers must be added to make plastic more bio-degradable. 
In 1990s we trained women fiber knitting (free training workshops)  to create eco-bags, an alternative to plastic bags. This also in turn recover women from poverty - a method to eradicate poverty and that eradicates hunger - which is our objective.
FIBER KNITTING TRAINING
NATURAL DYE PREPARATION
                                              SUN DRYING DYED FIBERS
                                           MANUAL FIBER KNITTING
FINISHED PRODUCTS - ECOBAGS - ALTERNATIVE FOR PLASTIC BAGS

These eco-bags should be encouraged to at least reduce plastics and give the opportunity to the under privileged women to come out of poverty.
More research should be done by plastic industries, scientific communities on biodegradable plastics and curb the effects of plastics to the environment and human health.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Farmers_Regenerative_Guide

  🌱 Regenerative Agriculture:  A Simple Guide for Every Farmer - By @EAFARMS  (A certified farm's  experience  - EAFARMS is a Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture (SONA) Farm with regenerative, permaculture, indigenous, ZBNF and spiritual farming methodologies)  Healthy Soil • Healthy Food • Healthy Future Today’s world needs farming that protects soil, water, food quality, human health and the planet . Regenerative agriculture is not a new concept, it’s a return to natural, smart, and sustainable farming practices that our ancestors followed.  The goal is simple:  G ive back more to the soil than we take from it. Regenerative farming in simple terms so any farmer can understand and start practicing today. 🌾 What Is Regenerative Agriculture? Regenerative agriculture means farming in a way that improves soil health,  increases crop yield naturally,  protects biodiversity and reduces chemical usage.  Instead of only focusing...

Greening the Environment

As deforestation is occurring in the name of development especially road expansions all over World,  it is very important to plant more and more trees to green the environment. Trees are very important for the environment.  They not only provide important oxygen but also are very important for rainfall for the areas they are in, apart from so many other benefits. Every one knows it is one of the important tool to fight the human induced climate change as it acts as great carbon sink. In India, Great Dr. Kalam envisioned the importance of trees, persuaded many to plant as many trees as one can. Recently, I had privilege to communicate with many volunteers, who want to plant as many trees as they can to reap the benefits, especially by the future generations. These great volunteers provide their valuable time and hard work. We have to salute each and every one for them for their hard work. As an Environmental Scientist, I am proud of such volunteers, and I will contribute my kn...

Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture - Regenerative Farming

Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture   Regenerative Farming EAFARMS Artificial Chemical Free Natural Farming: At EAFarms , we practice artificial chemical free farming. We use farm manure, natural defenses in our agriculture practices. Our aim is to produce artificial chemical free produce . Also we  avoid Genetically Modified Organisms .  We strictly use farm manure instead of chemical fertilizers.  We are Tamil Nadu Organic Certified farm :   We also laboratory tested our produce and found no traces of artificial chemicals.  Since food is one of the most important part of human life it is better to produce it in natural way. In Hindi language SONA (Sustainable Organic Natural Agriculture) means Gold. We at EAFarms ,  consider our produce as GOLD (Green Organic Land Development). Creating habitat and protecting Wildlife: At EAFarms we have created forests with lots of trees . Trees are important part of our EAFar...