Improving plant growth with a soil conditioner in the drylands of Tamil Nadu (India)

A Belgian group around the Past-President of one of the Rotary International clubs in Antwerp (Belgium), Dr. Stany PAUWELS, and SCAD (Social Change and Development), an Indian NGO directed by Dr. Cletus BABU in Tamil Nadu (South India) were recently introducing trials on the use of the soil conditioner TerraCottem (TC) for improving plant production in the drylands of Tamil Nadu. The Belgian group offered an important quantity of TerraCottem to SCAD and trials were set up at SCAD headquarters in Cheranmahadevi, at SCAD KVK Agricultural Center and in different villages in the drylands of Tamil Nadu.

SCAD has initiated intensive training programmes to promote the use of Terracottem and to motivate the rural people to set up kitchen gardens. The period of June – July is the prime Agriculture Season of Tamil Nadu. Farmers who received some soil conditioner have started application in their test plots.

As far as the test plots raised at KVK are concerned, the Terracottem-treated fields are showing a lot of favorable results. The Bhendi (okra)-fruits harvested from the treated plots are healthier and more vigourous than those of the control plots.

Since the farmers have started their work with TC recently, they are yet to see the results.

This year, SCAD has fixed 2000 Kitchen Gardens as a target in the Tuticorin District alone. In the first phase local native seeds have been distributed to 1250 gardens, along with the seeds offered by the Belgian groups. The production in these gardens will be closely monitored.

SCAD is also interested in “bottle gardening“, an idea launched in a former posting on this blog (see “My vegetable garden in plastic bottles“, 2008-02-13). SCAD has already given a training on bottle gardening to the Self Help Groups (SHG)-members. They showed a lot of interest on that method, motivating local people to eliminate plastic bottle from their environment.

Nowadays, SCAD KVK-scientists are closely monitoring the effect of TerraCottem (TC) on vegetables and other plant species and on the planned Kitchen Garden programmes. Promotion of TC among the farming community is going on in selected SCAD-sponsored villages. Feedback from the communities will be send later.

Family gardens or kitchen gardens are relatively new to this dryland region. The rural population has no tradition in gardening during the dry season. Together with bottle gardening, this method can improve food patterns and public health in a significant way. It can also alleviate poverty, offering farmers a chance to take their vegetables produced locally to the nearby market, thus competing with vegetables important from distant production centers in other Indian states.

Here are some pictures illustrating the actual situation in June-July 2008 :

2008-06 : Village Vedanatham – Mrs. Mariyammal – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans, etc. (DSCN 1768)

2008-06 : Village Vedanatham – Mrs. Mariyammal – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans, etc. (DSCN 1769)

2008-06 : Village Vedanatham – Mrs. Mariyammal – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans, etc. (DSCN 1770)

2008-06 : Village Vedanatham – Mrs. Mariyammal – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans, etc. (DSCN 1787)

2008-06 – Village M.Velayudhapuram – Mr. Muniyasamy – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans etc. (DSCN 1835)

2008-06 – Village M.Velayudhapuram – Mr. Muniyasamy – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans etc. (DSCN 1838)

2008-06 – Village M.Velayudhapuram – Mr. Muniyasamy – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans etc. (DSCN 1839)

2008-06 – Village M.Velayudhapuram – Mr. Muniyasamy – Crops raised : Gourds, Sesbania, Cluster beans etc. (DSCN 1840)

2008-06 – Village Thulukkan kulam – Mrs. Pushparani – Crops raised : Zinnia, Bhendi, Amaranthus & other greens (DSCN 4430) – Mixing the TC with top soil.

2008-06 – Village Thulukkan kulam – Mrs. Pushparani – Crops raised : Zinnia, Bhendi, Amaranthus & other greens (DSCN 4439) – Applying TC to Drumstick (Moringa) tree

2008-06 – Village Thulukkan kulam – Mrs. Pushparani – Crops raised : Zinnia, Bhendi, Amaranthus & other greens (DSCN 4449) – Mrs. Pushparani applying TC to Brinjal (Egg Plant) raised in a small pot (Container Gardening). Asparagus and Alternanthera in the small containers.

2008-06 – Village Thulukkan kulam – Mrs. Pushparani – Crops raised : Zinnia, Bhendi, Amaranthus & other greens (DSCN 4464) – Proud owner of the garden with Zinnia, Marigold plants. In the rear end, some papaya trees.

2008-06 – Village Thulukkan kulam – Mrs. Pushparani – Crops raised : Zinnia, Bhendi, Amaranthus & other greens (DSCN 4477) – Little girl sitting in her TC-treated kitchen garden with Amaranthus greens.

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Women SHG members – Test Plots showing healthy Bhendi (Okra) fruits – (DSCN 7690) – SCAD Anbu Illam cook is harvesting the Bhendi fruits (Abelmoschus esculentus).

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Women SHG members – Test Plots showing healthy Bhendi (Okra) fruits – (DSCN 7692) – Healthy bhendi plants with long fruits.

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Women SHG members – Test Plots showing healthy Bhendi (Okra) fruits – (DSCN 7695) – SCAD Anbu Illam cook in the TC-treated Bhendi garden

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Women SHG members – Test Plots showing healthy Bhendi (Okra) fruits – (DSCN 7696) – Fresh and healthy bhendi fruits harvested from TC-treated bhendi garden.

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Training for Kitchen gardens by KVK Staff Members – (DSCN 7712)

2008-06 – SCAD KVK – Training for Kitchen gardens by KVK Staff Members – Self Help Group of Women after training. -(DSCN 7713)

Back from my mission in Algeria

Dear visitors of my blogs,

It took me a while to tackle all the classical problems of a longer absence : correspondence, reports to write, reply to emails, etc. But now I am back at my blogs and hope to catch up as soon as possible.

For now, let me tell you something about the success of our UNICEF project in Algeria “Construction of family gardens and school gardens in the refugees’ camps of Tindouf (S.W. Algeria – Sahara desert)“.

The Sahrawi people are extremely motivated to get their small gardens ready as soon as possible. From 208 gardens in 2006, the number of gardens grew to more than 1200. These gardens are treated with our soil conditioner TerraCottem (<www.terracottem.com>) to stock a maximum of saline irrigation water in the upper 20-30 cm of sandy soil. Seeds of vegetables are provided by UNICEF ALGERIA. Young trees are offered by the Forestry Services of Tindouf. Local schools are also participating in the project. Follow-up is assured by a Technical Committee and several agronomists.

In August 2007, I launched an action of seed collection in Belgium. With the help of the media (newspapers, radio, television), I invited my compatriots to send me the seeds of tropical fruits, which are normally thrown in the garbage bin (melon, watermelon, pumpkin, papaya, avocado, sweet pepper etc.). There was a massive and remarkably positive reaction of the Belgians ! For the first time, someone is not asking money for development cooperation, but only garbage seeds.

I received already more than 100 kg of seeds, half of which were already taken to the refugee camps on my last trip, or send by the Algerian Embassy for use in Algerian school gardens (another nice UNICEF project, called : “Schools, Friends of the children”).

It is really fantastic to see, for the first time in 30 years in these camps of the Sahrawis, vegetables growing in small desert gardens. What a splendid contribution to human health in those extremely difficult conditions ! This is the best way to provide continuously fresh food and fruits with vitamins and mineral elements, in particular for the children.

You look for success stories ? This is one of the best ! I will soon show you some more pictures.

      

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

Unicef team and Sahrawis engineers carrying seeds from UNICEF / Some of the family gardens at the end of October 2007.

“Gardening kids are truly inspired, food providers for their families” (Kids Gardening)

Read at :

Kids Gardening

http://www.kidsgardening.com/grants/2006-evaluation-summary.asp

 Evaluation Summary ~ 2006 NGA Grant Winners

The National Gardening Association has been providing material assistance to youth and community gardens through grants since 1983, and in 2005 we started collecting data to track the impact of our grants programs via a year-end evaluation summary completed by grant recipients. Here are results for the 2006 grant cycle, based on 487 evaluations (74% response rate):

Grant Program	# responses	% response
Youth Garden Grants	116	77%
Mantis Awards	20	80%
Remember Me Rose	14	70%
Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs	305	72%
Hooked on Hydroponics	12	86%
Healthy Sprouts	20	80%

These grants are awarded based on merit. Winners were chosen through evaluation of written applications; winning applicants indicated well-planned, comprehensive, community-supported, and sustainable youth garden programs. Because the pool of applicants and types of programs vary each year, the statistics noted here are dynamic.

Evaluation Highlights (continued with several statistics)

Here are a few comments gathered during year-end evaluations:

My very simple strawberry bottles (Willem)

Having read Marie IANNOTTI’s excellent article on “How to plant a Strawberry Pot (Strawberries Optional)“, I want to show the good results that I obtained with strawberries growing in my plastic bottles :

Using classical PET bottles, I first perforated the bottom (making two tiny little holes of 2-3 mm).  Then, I have cut the upper cone of the bottle, made a slit in the wall of it (to be able to fold the cone a bit) and pushed it in the bottle, down to the bottom to form a sort of a dome over the drainage holes (stop taken off).

After filling the bottle with potting soil (mixed with a bit of water stocking TerraCottem soil conditioner), I planted a young strawberry plant on top, compacting quite well the potting soil by pushing it down, leaving a cavity of some 5 cm (2 inches) at the top of the bottle (for ulterior watering).

As a maximum of irrigation water is kept in the bottle (surplus is drained) and there is less evaporation, the potting soil with the TerraCottem keeps the inside of the botttle moistened for a longer time.  Thereby, the strawberries (or other plant species, even young trees !) are growing continuously almost without any water stress.

It’s simple and very cheap, but the results are remarkable (see  the picture above).  I am sure that the same results can be obtained with very cheap plastic shopping bags, that can easily be transformed into “grow bags“.

More successes in plastic bottles (Willem)

Today, I took some new pictures of my trials with plastic bottles.  I feel very happy about the outcome.  This is clearly a fantastic way of growing plants with a strict minimum of water.  I came to the conclusion that this technique belongs to the best practices to grow all kinds of crops in the drylands.  It can certainly play an important role in food security, particularly in regions where irrigation water is scarce.  One can grow vegetables, fruit producing species and even young trees in plastic bottles.

All kinds of plants in bottles (click on the picture to enlarge it)

Wild strawberries

Later on, the young trees can easily be planted by simply cutting the plastic bottle open at two opposite sides, bending the plastic wall over to liberate the rootball (to be surrounded with the soil in the plant pit) and bury the complete bottle.

Thus, we can not only recycle the plastic bottles during a certain period, but also eliminate them by simply burying them when planting the young trees.

A nice way to take care of our environment !

Of course, the same can be done with plastic bags.

Successful bottle gardening (Willem)

Having booked a lot of success with my trials on growing all kinds of plants on plastic bottles, I bring you today some pictures of these different trials.

Different plants growing in different bottle types :

* yoghurt pot

* small coke bottle

* one liter soda bottles

* inversed bottle top in water containing bottom

* inversed bottle in yoghurt pot

Success guaranteed because of higher water use efficiency. Even young trees are doing well.

Strawberries in plastic bottles still doing well (Willem)

Two months ago I informed you on my trial to grow strawberries on plastic bottles (see my former postings).

Here are some pictures of this successful trial in June 2007 :

Splendid development: flowering and fruiting

Flowers and young fruits

Promising yield

Interested ? Why don’t you try it at home ?

Building a selfwatering container (Tolledot / YouTube)

Already published on my desertification weblog on June 1, 2007

Building a selfwatering container (Tolledot / YouTube)

June 1, 2007

Posted by willem van cotthem in container/bottle gardening, horticulture/gardening, success stories – best practices, media – press, water. trackback , edit post

Joseph TOLLEDOT told me there is a YouTube video on how to build a selfwatering container :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZUCxBHeq04

He rightly asked me to first turn the volume of the sound on my computer down.

Interested in the way you can build your own selfwatering container? Go to the URL above.

You can also “Visit http://www.survivela.com for more tips from an urban homestead“, and find more videos on container gardening announced in the right column of the YouTube page.

Growing vegetables in a selfwatering container (Tolledot / Indoor gardener)

Already published on my desertification weblog on June 1, 2007

Growing vegetables in a selfwatering container (Tolledot / Indoor gardener)

June 1, 2007

Posted by willem van cotthem in container/bottle gardening, horticulture/gardening, success stories – best practices, water. trackback , edit post A couple of days ago, I received two e-mails from Joseph TOLLEDOT, informing me about the existence of models of “selfwatering containers”.

Here is one published at the website of

“Indoor Gardener – This is a blog where I document my struggle to grow vegetables enough for a family of three, indoors in a normal flat.”

by

“Rosengeranium

Indoor gardener and christian chocolate lover with too many interests at hand. In my non digital life I spend most of my time playing in the SCA.”

(For a complete profile of Rosengeranium, see his blogspot)

 

http://indoorgardener.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-make-selfwatering-container.html

Friday, March 30, 2007

How to make a selfwatering container

I’m as absentminded as a college professor and keep forgetting to water my plants. Self watering pots (or containers) have saved many a plant’s life in our home. They are expensive, though, especially when you need big ones. That’s why I’m making my own.

You need this:

Plastic box/container (in this post I’m using the plastic box FLAJ from IKEA.)
Leca
Synthetic fabric or tulle
Plastic tube
Soil

Remember to check that the place where you put the container can hold heavy objects. The pot described down below weighs twenty kilos (44.5 pounds) when it’s finnished.

Kids gardening in a bucket (Google Alert / About: Gardening / Willem)

Already published on my desertification weblog on May 31, 2007

Kids gardening in a bucket (Google Alert / About:)

May 31, 2007

Posted by willem van cotthem in gardening kids, desert/desert gardening, women/youth and desertification, container/bottle gardening, horticulture/gardening, success stories – best practices, water, ecology – environment, desertification, drought. trackback , edit post

Particularly interested in all kinds of information on “Gardening with kids“, I find today this article on the use of a container variant: the bucket.

Together with UNICEF Algeria, I am setting up family gardens and school gardens in the Sahara desert. For youngsters at school it should be fun and interesting to grow vegetables with a minimum of water, because drought is of course a major problem in this dryland area of S.W. Algeria. We want to show them how to grow vegetables in plastic bottles and bags (see my former postings on that topic), otherwise polluting their environment, but we will certainly use also “old” buckets, no matter if “there is a hole in the bucket, dear Lisa“, or should I say: dear Marie Iannotti (see below)?

Read at :

Google Alert for Gardening

About: Gardening

http://gardening.about.com/od/kidsgardeningprojects/ht/GardenBucket.htm

How To Garden in a Bucket – A Portable, Private Garden for Your Child

From Marie Iannotti,
Your Guide to Gardening.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

To make gardening fun and accessible to kids, you need to make it personal. This is a gardening project from my local 4H organization that you can easily do with your own little clover buds. ‘Garden in a Bucket’ lets kids create a personal, private garden that they can carry with them, take care of, show off and enjoy. Even the shortest attention spans can create a masterpiece and then these junior gardeners can enjoy their Garden in a Bucket all summer.