During my childhood, the sight of elephants being taken around to participate in festivals was common in Kerala. There were a lot of tamed elephants here. In those days, they rarely went into rut. In fact, by the time I turned 20, I had seen only one or two instances of an elephant running amok. When I enquired about it, a veterinary doctor said Kerala was cooler earlier. The atmospheric temperature in forests remained at 30 degrees, and was ideal for elephants. But when these animals were brought to the comparatively hotter cities, and taken along tarred roads where the mercury usually soars to 55 and 60 degrees, elephants became very uneasy and this naturally made them violent. Such a phenomenon is caused by global warming.
I first heard about it when I was 15 or 16 years old but not from a book or television (the TV had not appeared then) but from a casual conversation with a local ironsmith named Gopalan. He commented that the days were far hotter than they had been in his childhood. To prove it he said that earlier it took one week to sun-dry a kilo of steamed rice grains but now it took only two days. He said this in 1980 or ’81. But we dismissed it as a joke then. But today the whole world is talking about global warming. Earlier, Kerala had a pleasant, temperate climate. But the situation has changed drastically.
And it is to combat this phenomenon of global warming that we observe the World Earth Day on April 22 every year. This began in America in 1970 to help spread awareness among people. By 1990-2000, it became a big movement. On 22 April 2016, all member countries that signed the Paris Agreement, promised to do whatever they could to combat global warming. Since then, 22 April has been observed as World Earth Day, and the countries have pledged to do their best for the sustenance of the planet. Unfortunately Trump exited from it last week but this week, Trump was himself shown the door. So let us hope that the Agreement will come into effect.
I say all this for a different reason. Usually we never request you to share our videos. But this time we do because we are going to show you how to make a fruit garden in a tiny piece of land, covering roughly 300 to 360 sq. ft. Whatever you may say about scarcity of space, you will surely have 100, 200 or 300 sq. ft. to spare. If 10,000 individuals in Kerala can set apart a 435 sq. ft., that is, a 40 sq. m. or one-cent plot each for vegetable or fruit farming, following the Miyawaki Model, we will effortlessly be creating a 100 acre forest in the state. Therefore, kindly forward this video to agriculture enthusiasts now itself so that it inspires them to set up a fruit forest in their 50-cent or two-acre plots before 22 April.
What I’m going to show you now is a small marshy plot at Peyad where Anita, my colleague at Invis Multimedia, and Jayakumar her husband, a KSEB employee, put up a Miyawaki forest two years back. That’s what you see behind me. Right here, in this 360 sq. ft. plot, they are about to plant a fruit forest. First, whatever the area we wish to bring under cultivation, we should loosen the soil one metre deep. So remove the top half-metre of soil, and loosen the next half-metre using either a JCB or spade. Next, we should add a mixture containing equal amounts of coir pith, cow dung powder and rice husk (or wood shavings) and compost. We usually add 40 kgs each of cow dung powder and coir pith per sq. m. of land. As rice husk has a lot of volume, 15-20 kgs of it will be sufficient. Rice husk is hard to procure and the labour charges on loading and unloading are prohibitive, often more than the cost of the material itself. Some people say that coir pith is also difficult to get. But please do not use coconut husks as a substitute. It is said that they contain a pigment harmful to plants but I am not sure of its truth value. Instead, tender coconut husk may be added to cow dung, so that after some time, it will decompose and become paste-like in texture in a couple of months’ time. After this potting mixture is mixed thoroughly with the loosened soil, the garden bed is ready.
In this 360 sq. ft. plot, that is, a little above three-fourths of a cent, we decided on the number and variety of fruit trees to be planted. This is how the arrangement is. You can see saplings of curry leaf, jack fruit, lemon, clove, watery rose apple, guava, another guava, custard apple, black plum, mulberry, another variety of rose apple, star fruit, ponkurinji, Guinea guava, rambutan, pomegranate, watery rose apple, guava, mango, soursop, cashew, coffee, curry leaf, Malabar tamarind, cherry, star apple, another watery rose apple, yet another, guava, another rose apple, mootapalam, rambutan, lemon, a wild rose apple, star apple, cashew, mootaplam, rambutan, custard apple, rambutan, watery rose apple, mulberry, chickoo, gooseberry, star apple, another watery rose apple, guava, purple guava, jack fruit, another variety of custard apple, gooseberry, mango, clove, nutmeg, lemon, mootapalam, sweet lemon, curry leaf and so on. So, if you have three-fourths of a cent to spare, you can plant 100-160 plants.
After they grow, they will yield fruits enough for a family. If required, after 3-4 months, you can plant vegetable saplings too in between. Nearly all varieties of fruit trees grow in Kerala. All you need to do is nurture the saplings in the potting mixture within large grow bags. I underscore the importance of the soil-cow dung powder-coir pith-rice husk mixture because even last week, we had a person complaining about the poor growth rate of plants in his Miyawaki garden. Whereas the saplings that we plant usually grow to more than 10 feet in six to seven months, his grew only to three feet. We tend our saplings in large grow bags and pots filled with the potting mixture so that roots get plenty of space to spread and grow.
Some people, in order to reduce expense, fill the potting mixture only in the pits into which they transfer the saplings. This creates a problem. As the surrounding soil has not been loosened, the roots will find it difficult to penetrate and spread easily. The solution therefore lies in loosening the soil of the entire plot up to one metre in depth and mixing it thoroughly with manure and other materials. Cow dung will ensure the presence of earthworms that will dig extensively into the soil and permit airflow inside. Nurturing the saplings in grow bags for three months will guarantee a height of two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half metres. After that, they should be carefully transported into the plot, and up to four of them can be intermixed and planted within the demarcated segments.
Here, we have planted only three because we intend to plant vegetable saplings in between, like lady’s finger, brinjal of different varieties, tomato, cluster beans, spinach and so on. Also African bird’s eye chilly, and various other types of chilly. We shall share fresh videos after they too are planted. As we plant three saplings within each segment, we take care to see that the same variety does not come close to each other. The larger varieties, like the jack fruit tree, which will require climbing in order to pluck the fruits, may be planted in the peripheral segments. Those with thorns can be reserved for the innermost segments in the plot. After the planting process is over, thick mulching has to be done using dry leaves, hay or even green leaves. This is to retain moisture in the soil and prevent weeds from sprouting. All this can be done in your plot too.
Today is 8 November. You have plenty of time – at least four months – to procure saplings, transfer them into grow bags so that they grow fast and healthy, measure the area that is set apart for cultivation, earmark one metre segments in which to plant three saplings each, and decide on which varieties to have in your fruit garden. By 22 March or 22 April, all of them would have grown enough to form a forest. Thus on World Earth Day, you will have a rich fruit forest on your own patch of land. You will get enough fruits for your family and also for birds and other creatures. The sounds you hear in the background are the squeaks of squirrels. There are five or six Miyawaki forests in this vicinity. So they get plenty of stuff to eat. If you are a bird-lover, you will get to see them at close quarters in your own forest. You don’t need to own acres of land. A 100 sq. ft. space – area equivalent to a room – will be sufficient to put up a forest.
Some people wonder whether they should spend up to Rs 300 per sq. ft for the sake of a forest. In reality, we spend more on tiling, if you count the cost of tiles and the labour charges involved. The advantage of a forest is that all the rain water will get absorbed in the soil, and will eventually solve the problem of water shortage. Ensure that all the water that flows out of your plot through gutters, drains into your Miyawaki forest. The mulching will function as a sponge, and absorb all the water. In this manner, we will be able to improve our atmosphere by increasing the oxygen levels too. Besides, the atmospheric temperature will come down considerably. So set apart what little patch of land you can, and set up forests by 22 April. If this happens all over Kerala, it will be a big movement. Therefore, share this video to as many interested people as possible. If you have any doubts regarding this subject, please contact us. We will be only too happy to help.