Kodagu: Land of Coffee, Oranges

About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, , , , , , , , ,
Kodagu is on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. It is a hilly district with the lowest elevation in the district at 900 meters (2,900 ft) above sea-level.
Kodagu district is bordered by Dakshina Kannada district to the northwest, Hassan district to the north, Mysore district to the east, the Kannur district of Kerala to the southwest, and the Wayanad district of Kerala to the south. 

Kodagu is on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. It is a hilly district with the lowest elevation in the district at 900 meters (2,900 ft) above sea-level.

The highest peak, Tadiandamol, rises to 1,750 meters (5,700 ft), with Pushpagiri, the second highest, at 1,715 meters (5,600 ft).

The main river in Kodagu is the Cauvery. The Cauvery starts at Talacauvery, located on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and, with its tributaries, drains the greater part of Kodagu. In July and August, rainfall is intense, and there are often showers into November. The principal town, and district capital, is Madikeri, erstwhile Mercara. Other significant towns include Virajpet and Somwarpet. The district is divided into the three taluks: Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

A seed collective in Malnad

The Malnad Forest Garden and Seed Keepers’ collective was born in 2001 as a network of seed exchange groups focused on celebrating and endorsing biodiversity. From 2003, the collective began promoting sustainable livelihoods through conservation-oriented enterprises. The seed collective officially registered as a trust in 2008. Vanastree’s office is located in Sirsi town, but the collective has members scattered across Malnad (hilly region of the Western Ghats) as well as in the narrow coastal belt and in the eastern fringes of the Ghats.
Vanastree’s objectives arose out of concerns for the economic stability of the region and the danger of losing its small-scale, traditional food production system to the forces of globalisation. Vanastree, which translates as “Women of the Forest” in Kannada, also emphasises the traditional role of women in conservation.
Vanastree’s activities include: Forming a decentralised regional seed bank and one in Sirsi town; building an internship programme, supporting collective members in creating a variety of home-based conservation enterprises. These include production of value-added foods based on local cuisine, sales of crafts and other items, camps
and eco-homestays.
(vanastree.org)


All for organic agriculture

Sahaja Samrudha started as a farmer initiated group to exchange ideas, seeds and share knowledge on sustainable agriculture. It  was the culmination of individual efforts into a more exciting and powerful force to make sustainable agriculture a way of life for the farming community. Samrudha has been establishing contacts, building networks, facilitating exchange of experience and developing programmes based on the needs of farmers of specific regions.
(sahajasamrudha.org)

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source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Supplements / Spectrum/ Know Your District /

Bopaiah Assures Science Centre in Kodagu

Science & Technology, , , , , , , , ,
Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah has promised to convince the Government with regard to setting up of science centre in Kodagu district.
Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah inaugurating the science writers and journalists meet by watering orange and coffee saplings at Nisargadhama near Kushalnagar on Wednesday. ZP President V M Vijaya, State Vijnana Parishat Vice-President Challakere Yariswamy, Vijnana Parishat Convener T G Prem Kumar and others look on. DH PhotoInaugurating the science writers and journalists meet organised by State Vijnana Parishat, State Science and Technology Department and State Vijnana Parishat District Committee on Wednesday at Nisargadhama near Kushalnagar, he said that help of elected representatives of the district and district administration will be sought while setting up the centre. “There is a need to develop scientific bent of mind among students and common man. More and more research in the field of science must happen. Education complimentary to the modern world is inevitable,” he said and added that students must pay more attention towards science. He opined that science needs to be developed on lines of our country’s history. 

Supporting this, State Vijnana Parishat Vice-President Challakere Yariswamy said that Government has already set aside a sum of Rs 2 crore for the purpose of setting up Science Centre in the district. There is a need to identify the site for the project either in Madikeri or in Kushalnagar.

Zilla Panchayat President Vijaya said that along with science students must be made to develop love for environment.  “Conservation of natural resources is a must in present day scenario. Science must aim at conservation or natural resources,” she said. State Vijnana Parishat Honourary Secretary C D Patil and Vijnana Parishat Convener T G Prem Kumar were present.

 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Kushalnagar / DHNS / May 26th

 

ISRO to set up 10 Automatic Weather Stations in Kodagu

Science & Technology, , , , , ,
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will set up 10 more automatic weather stations in Kodagu in the next three months, ISRO Deputy Director of Atmospheric Science Programme Dr Manikiam.
Addressing a press meet, he said ISRO had already set up  15 automatic weather stations in Kodagu. Weather forecast three days in advance would be provided to farmers and coffee growers in the district after fine tuning weather information. The services would be available  through the newly formed Kodagu Technology Users’ Association headed by Kitty Devaiah in a year. 

He said ISRO had set up tele-education in six rural schools in Kodagu. Five more schools will be covered under the tele-education programme in the district. The Rural India Health Project (RIHP) at Ammathi in Kodagu had been provided telemedicine facility. One more hospital in Madikeri will be covered under the telemedicine facility soon.  ISRO had established 825 automatic weather stations across the country. ISRO had also provided technology to manufacture 50 Doppler Weather Radars (DWR), each worth Rs 12 crore. Two of the DWRs would be installed in the Himalayan region, two in the north eastern region and one Bangalore.

The office of Kodagu Technology Users’ Association will be located at Madapura.  It will pass information gathered on weather to the needy, including the general public through media, internet and SMS.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Madikeri / DHNS / Nov 25th

Kodagu Handbook Released

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, , , , , , , ,
A compilation of articles on Kodagu (Coorg) ‘Dateline Coorg’ written by senior journalist P T Bopanna over the last two decades has been released.
Cover page of the book ‘Dateline Coorg’ by P T Bopanna.Inspired by the success of his last book ‘Rise and Fall of the Coorg State’, which went into reprint within two months of its release, Bopanna’s new book contains text of the full bench judgement of the Karnataka High Court on the controversial Jamma lands in Kodagu. 

Commenting on his new book, Bopanna says:  “As a journalist based in Bangalore, I had taken active interest in the affairs of Kodagu in the last quarter of a century. This book will come in handy for those wanting to understand the major socio-economic issues prevailing now in Kodagu. Besides, the book is intended to serve as an important reference for students of history in the future.”

The author was one of the first to report on the Union government’s move in 1993 to withdraw the exemption given to Kodavas (Coorgs) and Jamma-holders to possess firearms without licence. The Centre wanted to withdraw the privilege after guns from Kodagu reached the hands of the banned Maoists in Andhra Pradesh.Through his reports, Bopanna was able to put across to the policy makers in Delhi that people of Kodagu not only worshipped their weapons, but seldom misused their privilege. It was pointed out that the gun-running was the handiwork of a couple of gun dealers in Kodagu who had brought a bad name to the district.

There is a special chapter on India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s lurking fear of a military take-over and his unease with the two most popular Generals of independent India, Field Marshal K M Cariappa and General K S Thimayya, both hailing from Kodagu.
The articles range from serious issues pertaining to separate statehood for Kodagu, Jamma land tenure, gun license exemption, looting of forest wealth to subjects like the experiments involving the DNA study to explore the origin of the Kodavas and the moves to develop a script for the Kodava language by a German.

A postscript has been added to incorporate the developments taken place after the articles were written. The book is priced at Rs 100. Bopanna is the author of ‘Discover Coorg’, the bestselling handbook on Kodagu, published in 2006. The book has already run into three editions. Besides, a Kannada edition of the book has also been published.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Mysore / DH News Service / Aug 19th, 2010

 

Kodagu Temples Celebrate Shashti Utsava

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, , , , , , , , ,
Prayers offered at Omkareshwara temple
Devotion: Devotees thronging historic Omkareshwara Temple in Madikeri on the occasion of Shashti festival on Saturday. DH PhotoThe Shashti festival was celebrated with devotion offering poojas across the district on Saturday. Special prayers, poojas, bhajans and other rituals were offered to deities at many temples in the district. 

The rituals had begun at the historic Omkareshwara Temple in the wee hours and special poojas were offered to the deity of Subramanya Swamy. Prasada was distributed after the Mahamangalarati rituals. An annasantharpane programme was followed where hundreds of devotees had the lunch. The Teppotsava of the deity was held in the evening. Shashti festivities were held at the Muthappa temple in the town too. Special poojas were offered to the deity and annadana was arranged for the devotees at the temple.

In Virajpet, the festival was celebrated vibrantly at the Bairambada Subramanya temple. The homa, havana, archane and other rituals began at the temple at 4 am. Hundreds of devotees, who thronged from various parts of the district, offered prayers and poojas to the deity.

Pallakki utsava and Rathotsava were held at the Koodige Udbava Subramanya Temple in Kushalnagar and rituals were held at the Udbava Subramanya Temple in the Housing Board Colony too.

The festival was celebrated at the Umamaheshwara temple in Gonikoppal with religious rituals. Women poured milk to Naga dieties to mark the festival at various places in the district.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Madikeri / DHNS / Dec 11th, 20101

 

More from Dr. SMITH’s DIARIES…..

Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Nature, World Opinion, , , , , ,

 

Dr Smith was worried that the widespread destruction of the forests on the banks of the Cauvery, especially in Coorg, would ultimately kill the river, and turn Mysore into a desert like what had happened in Palestine.
He objected to the fact that every month, five Europeans were moving to Coorg, each with 150 acres and already 20,000 acres of forest had been taken over by coffee!  He felt that this was happening to Bangalore too, and spends 10 pages of his diary regretting the destruction of the forests around Bangalore. As he notes in 1849 “it is the opinion of the Superintendent of Nuggur that clearance of trees diminishes the quantity of rain”, and expresses concern that the groundwater springs that feed the tanks and lakes of Bangalore, and could be found as shallow as 50 feet below the surface, and exist among the rocks at a height, seemed to depend on the thick forests around NandiDroog and would be affected by the depletion of tree cover. 

He toured the countryside extensively, with Mark Cubbon in 1839, 1840 and 1849. They travelled long distances on horseback and elephant, between 300-700 miles each time, over several weeks, but with a large retinue.

On one trip the party is affected by cholera, and several die; while on n another one he is accompanied by his wife and child, and goes all the way to the top of Doddabetta. He describes the various temples and small villages of ‘great beauty’ and on yet another is awed by the carvings at Bailur (Belur). The Malnad comes in for special comment as it is seen to be extremely beautiful, with lots of parrots and birds, and well stocked with game (good shooting!), and they are even ‘surprised by a tiger’.

 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com/ by Sanjeev Jain and Pratima Murthy /

 

Its Time for Dahlia in Kodagu Districy

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, , ,

 

The courtyards of almost all the houses in Kodagu have been brightened with colourful dahlia flowers months after the onset of rainy season. Dahlia flowers of various colours have started blooming in front of houses attracting visitors.
Different varieties of dahlia flowers found in Kodagu district. DH PhotosGarden lovers start planting dahlia saplings during the onset of rainy season. The flower, which gets rebirth every rainy seasons, start blooming within a month. It does not require any extra care to grow dahlia flowers in the garden. The very speciality of dahlia is that its flowers are not only attractive and colourful, but also are dfferent in terms of size. 

There are many types of dahlia species and each one is different from another. It is said that the plant was introduced to India by a Swedish Botanist Doll in 1789. Kodagu district is famous for the dahlia flowers as it can be seen in majority of houses. People of Kodagu are fond of dahlia flowers that they collect different types of dahlia from their neighbourhood during rainy season. It is very easy to grow dahlia that either a piece of root or stump is enough to reproduce it.

A dahlia plant grown from its root gives flowers of bigger size. A combination of sand and soil will be suitable for the dahlia plants to grow. The plant will give more flowers, if organic manures were used. Timely pruning will make the plant more strong and also will produce more flowers.

“More flowers can be obtained from one plant alone, if it was taken care properly. March-April months are suitable for dahlia plantation. The roots can be preserved in soil after the season so that it can be transplanted in the next season,” says Gayathri Raveendra, a resident of Napoklu.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / DH News Service / Madikeri / Aug 15th, 2010

 

Kodagu Witnessing Rich Literature

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, , , , , ,
”Kodagu district is known across the country for peace and harmony. There is no discrimination on basis of language here in Kodagu,” said Litterateur and critic K P Balasubramanya.
Delivering the presidential address at the 8th Kannada Sahithya Sammelan at Murnadu on Thursday on the topic ‘Literature over the decade in Kodagu district,’ he said that though people from different castes and communities have been living in Kodagu, it has not had any adverse impact on the communal harmony here. 

“Kodavas are peace lovers and they are soft spoken,” he said opining that communal disturbances have always occurred in various parts of the country due to political instigation. “Since people of Kodagu are untouched by religious differences, Kodagu has been witnessing superior literature,” he said.

He pointed that over the last 10 years good analytical piece of writings and poems have been produced. “Scope of literature is vast and never ending. One can never complete reading and analysing literature,” he said.

Virajpet First Grade College Assistant Principal Dr Korana Saraswathi said that research is nothing but search for knowledge or thirst for knowing more. “Research should be based on truth and should take place within scientific frame work,” she said.

“Research can be done with various objectives but the main aim of any research is to find the truth and expand intellectual horizon,” she said adding that sincerity is the most important aspect in research.

Tribal literature

Dr J Somanna from Vijayalakshmi Pre University College said that tribals are those set of vagabonds who have developed their own culture and literature out of their distinct way of living.

“The tribals have been living a life of exile literally, saving themselves from the invasion of modern culture. Living in isolation from the outside world, these tribals have their own language, culture, rituals, belief system, way of worshipping, attire, literature, cope up mechanisms etc. They with such a way of living look unusual and peculiar to the urban population,” Somanna said adding that 60 years of independence had not changed anything for the tribals of the country.

“Sincere efforts to convince the tribals to adopt the natural, inevitable changes happening in the society has not taken place so far. The result is that majority of tribals still live like animals. There is a need to understand the tribal lifestyle, respect their culture and then bring in necessary measures to bring them into the mainstream,” he said.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / DHNS / Madikeri / Apr 01st, 2011

Saving Kodagu District’s Forests

About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Kodagu district, the micro hotspot of biodiversity along the Western Ghats is considered one of the eight hotspots of biodiversity in the world.
Degradation of natural forests, loss of tree cover and diversity, depletion of ground water resources, economic instability due to continuous and persistent negative impact on the mainstream activity of coffee cultivation in the form of low prices, crop loss, labour problems, increasing human elephant conflicts, land use changes, are some of the pressures calling for attention to save this landscape.

A group of likeminded people and organisations who are stakeholders and are aware and involved in conservation activities came forward to form an organisation which culminated in the Kodagu Model Forest Trust (KMFT).

An eight-pronged strategic plan to address the issues was prepared and programmes designed to rejuvenate the social, cultural, ecological and economic stability of this unique landscape. Accordingly, KMFT has been mobilising support from various organisations, funding agencies, government, research institutions, general public and NGOs who are the stakeholders for maintenance of the health of this landscape.

One such programme through partnership building with NGO-government-community is being implemented in mitigation of Human-Elephant-Conflict (HEC) in the fringe areas of the only National Park of Kodagu, Nagarahole. The project aims to understand the cause for degradation of the natural habitat of elephants, destruction of elephant corridors and work to improve the natural habitat through partnerships. The programme thus conceptualised, initiated and implemented by the KMFT is ‘The Green Village Community Forum’ (GVCF).

The partnership is between the Kodagu Model Forest, Karnataka Forest Department and the Communities living in the problem area consisting of coffee planters, plantation labourers, tribal settlement and the local governing body. The objective is achieved through education and demonstration.

The Department builds the infrastructure, while the community jointly maintains the infrastructure by generating the required funds from within the community and with technical support from the KMFT. Months ago, the GVCF (Thithimathi-Devarapura) was launched, wherein the responsibility of the maintenance of the infrastructure was handed over to the GVCF. An aspect of the programme includes the installation of solar fences and distribution of weather kits to guards.

 

source: http: //www.deccanherald.com / DHNS

 

Halappa Still can’t believe he is Indian Hockey Captain

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports, , , , ,
Arjun Halappa still cannot believe that he has been anointed captain of the Indian hockey team but as he prepares himself for the pressure cooker job, the veteran mid-fielder feels that a skipper should always lead by example.
Halappa has been a veteran of Indian hockey, having served the national team for nearly a decade. However, it is the first time he will be leading the national team after he was named captain for next month’s Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia. 

“I never thought in my wildest dream that I would become captain of the national team. My father (BK Halappa) used to play hockey but I started playing the game to get a decent job as the financial condition of my family was not good. It was a dream to play for India and today I am the captain. It’s unbelievable,” the mid-fielder from Coorg told PTI Bhasha.

“A captain should lead by example. He should be a good human being and always keep his cool under pressure. A captain should never get carried away by emotions,” Halappa said. Halappa said as he goes about his job in the Azlan Shah Cup, he would draw inspiration from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid besides former hockey skipper Dhanraj Pillay.

“Rahul and Dhoni, definitely, are huge source of inspiration. Dhoni has done wonders as a captain and Rahul is a proven performer. I also take inspiration from Dhanraj Pillay, who is one of the best captain Indian hockey has ever produced,” said the senior playmaker.

Halappa said that Indian cricket team’s World Cup-winning feat is an inspiration for the all sportsperson of the country, irrespective of their disciplines. “We all followed the World Cup as India was doing exceptionally well. The World Cup win is an inspiration for all Indian athletes,” he said.

Known for keeping his cool on the turf, Halappa said taking unnecessary pressure is not his style of playing. “I don’t take pressure unnecessarily. I always believe in what I do,” said the Olympian, who was a member of India’s silver medal-winning Delhi Commonwealth Games team. Despite going into the Azlan Shah Cup with a relatively young and inexperienced side, Halappa is confident of a good showing in the May 5-15 event, which India won jointly along with South Korea last year after the final was washed out.

“Last year also we had some new faces in the team but we won the title. I am confident of good show this time as well,” he insisted. In Azlan Shan Cup, India will be without the services of some key players, like drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, Sardara Singh former captain Rajpal Singh and Tushar Khandekar.

While Sandeep and Sardara are busy playing in the Belgium League, Rajpal and Khandekar are unfit. Halappa, however, said that the senior players will be back in the team before the Olympic qualifiers next year.

“We have 8 month to get prepared for the qualifiers. If we play to out potential, there is no reason why we can’t qualify for the London Olympic,” he said.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / New Delhi / PTI / Apr 21st, 2011