The Agroforestry Survey
Today, I spent a lot of time estimating heights – and somehow, seemed to get them all consistently wrong.
This was my second day in the field, and as a part of team Vanilla, I was estimating heights, measuring circumferences, marking and cataloguing trees in the different farms of Hallusarige. The purpose of this agroforestry survey was to take stock of the non-agricultural trees in the area. Agroforestry is defined as that “which incorporates multifunctional trees into agricultural systems and collective management of nearby forest resources” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610163/).
The farmers of Hallusarige interspersed Mango, Nutmeg, Paramygnia (a citrus fruit) and coffee with the primary crops in the region.
Biogas, and the closed loop
One of the things that interested me the most, however, was the use of a biogas generator in the village. Manure from the cows is traditionally used as fertilizer for the plants (as an alternative to chemical fertilizer). At the same time, India has been swept by a revolutionizing “biogas technology” wave, which basically converts cow dung into methane gas for use as fuel in homes. The set-up is simple, easy to manage as well as energy efficient.
So, at such a small scale, an Indian farmer can actually be sustainable and have a “closed” energy use loop. This is something inspirational, especially to large conglomerate farms all over the world that have the potential to be very sustainable at a large scale, and the capital to invest in great technology that facilitates this.
(You can find out more about the biogas process here)
Signing off,
Anvisha
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