KANPUR: With the state machinery striving hard to uproot vilayati babul (botanical name prosopis juliflora) from nearly 150 acres of land in the reserved Fisher Forest
area of Etawah district for Lion Safari, it is an opportune time to
talk about a crusader, who is also on a mission. He is toiling hard to
revive the fertility of soil and sustainable living in the ravines of
Chambal.
According to experts, vilayati babul may have protected the ground erosion in the Chambal region but its excessive growth over the decades has destroyed the fertility of soil, environment and human health.
Tribhuvan Singh Chauhan, who belongs to nondescript Dibhauli village of Chakarnagar block in Etawah, decided to take up the issue of reviving the soil fertility and restoration of environment as the mission of his life since 1999. He began working hard and by the year 2000 concluded that agriculture practice could be made possible even in the ravines.
On walking into Chauhan's sprawling 5-acre farm in the ravines of Dibhauli one will be surprised to see a large variety of trees and plants. Right from the stately and tall Ashoka trees to mango, `bael' fruit (wood apple), 'jamun' (black berry), 'aonla' (gosseberry), anar (pomegranate) and lemon trees could be seen at the farm. The green crusader had tried his best to make his mission successful. He has been travelling all around the ravines to make villagers commit for the cause, asking them to take a pledge to improve the fertility of the soil.
There is a story behind this endeavour of Chauhan as the barren patch of ravines that once used to be a playfield of dacoits, was gradually converted into a garden.
With a purpose to educate the children and youth, Chauhan moved to the ravines in 1999. In the next two years, he went on adopting natural methods to convert ravines into plains by uprooting vilayati babul and drilling pits and filling it with a borewell water in order to revive the fertility of soil.
"I had to struggle and work hard to drill pits as there was no water even at 100 feet," he said.
He met several scientists and experts, but they certified ravines as totally unfit for cultivation.
Yet he decided to go ahead with his plans. He started off with Ashoka saplings and took an entirely fresh approach to farming through his knowledge of reading and interacting with agriculture experts.
For example, while planting mango saplings, Chauhan left a gap of 20 feet between two and dug a deep pit. He then filled it water, added manure and mixed it with cow dung.
He follows many other ground rules, which are only path breaking in farming. People who mocked him for buying that piece of barren ravines then, are now lauding his efforts.
A project like this needs a lot of patience and there are ways to do this with the help of experts and environmentalists. "My other intention was to spread awareness so that such type of steps can be taken up by others as well," he said.
The plantation of vilayati babul for the protection of land from erosion had been taken up as early as 1888 by Fisher, the then collector of Etawah. He induced the `zamindars' to permit the wastelands to be managed as single unit with a view to conserve fuel and fodder. It covered about 3,000 acres of area. This forest is said to be largely responsible for saving Etawah district from the erosive action of the Yamuna.
"Vilayati babul pushes groundwater table down, dries surface soil and kills native plants. "It's a massive botanical disaster being allowed to continue," he lament. "The forest department, which is still involved in planting vilayati babul, is only misleading the people and the agencies."
According to experts, the weed grows very fast, takes the form of full-grown tree and start pollination in vast areas. "Weed stem is very tough, penetrates ground beyond 20-25 meters to suck underground water. This creates desert-like situation. Wherever, its fruits will fall, the weed will take roots. That's how it has spread in vast area of the Chambal region. Its pollen is known to cause asthma," said Anirudh Dubey, a scientist at an agricultural institute.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Crusader-goes-extra-mile-to-make-Chambals-ill-famed-ravines-fertile/articleshow/14701566.cms?prtpage=1
According to experts, vilayati babul may have protected the ground erosion in the Chambal region but its excessive growth over the decades has destroyed the fertility of soil, environment and human health.
Tribhuvan Singh Chauhan, who belongs to nondescript Dibhauli village of Chakarnagar block in Etawah, decided to take up the issue of reviving the soil fertility and restoration of environment as the mission of his life since 1999. He began working hard and by the year 2000 concluded that agriculture practice could be made possible even in the ravines.
On walking into Chauhan's sprawling 5-acre farm in the ravines of Dibhauli one will be surprised to see a large variety of trees and plants. Right from the stately and tall Ashoka trees to mango, `bael' fruit (wood apple), 'jamun' (black berry), 'aonla' (gosseberry), anar (pomegranate) and lemon trees could be seen at the farm. The green crusader had tried his best to make his mission successful. He has been travelling all around the ravines to make villagers commit for the cause, asking them to take a pledge to improve the fertility of the soil.
There is a story behind this endeavour of Chauhan as the barren patch of ravines that once used to be a playfield of dacoits, was gradually converted into a garden.
With a purpose to educate the children and youth, Chauhan moved to the ravines in 1999. In the next two years, he went on adopting natural methods to convert ravines into plains by uprooting vilayati babul and drilling pits and filling it with a borewell water in order to revive the fertility of soil.
"I had to struggle and work hard to drill pits as there was no water even at 100 feet," he said.
He met several scientists and experts, but they certified ravines as totally unfit for cultivation.
Yet he decided to go ahead with his plans. He started off with Ashoka saplings and took an entirely fresh approach to farming through his knowledge of reading and interacting with agriculture experts.
For example, while planting mango saplings, Chauhan left a gap of 20 feet between two and dug a deep pit. He then filled it water, added manure and mixed it with cow dung.
He follows many other ground rules, which are only path breaking in farming. People who mocked him for buying that piece of barren ravines then, are now lauding his efforts.
A project like this needs a lot of patience and there are ways to do this with the help of experts and environmentalists. "My other intention was to spread awareness so that such type of steps can be taken up by others as well," he said.
The plantation of vilayati babul for the protection of land from erosion had been taken up as early as 1888 by Fisher, the then collector of Etawah. He induced the `zamindars' to permit the wastelands to be managed as single unit with a view to conserve fuel and fodder. It covered about 3,000 acres of area. This forest is said to be largely responsible for saving Etawah district from the erosive action of the Yamuna.
"Vilayati babul pushes groundwater table down, dries surface soil and kills native plants. "It's a massive botanical disaster being allowed to continue," he lament. "The forest department, which is still involved in planting vilayati babul, is only misleading the people and the agencies."
According to experts, the weed grows very fast, takes the form of full-grown tree and start pollination in vast areas. "Weed stem is very tough, penetrates ground beyond 20-25 meters to suck underground water. This creates desert-like situation. Wherever, its fruits will fall, the weed will take roots. That's how it has spread in vast area of the Chambal region. Its pollen is known to cause asthma," said Anirudh Dubey, a scientist at an agricultural institute.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Crusader-goes-extra-mile-to-make-Chambals-ill-famed-ravines-fertile/articleshow/14701566.cms?prtpage=1
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