The fag end of February is a good time to wonder why it felt so much like June. Why daytime temperatures averaged at 35 degree Celsius in Tiruchi (according to accuweather.com) in a month meant to be the dregs of winter.
The point about global warming, is well, that it is global, and therefore as local as it gets. But we seem to be more comfortable living in an air-conditioned bubble where the Earth’s rising temperature is always happening ‘somewhere else’.
Making space for discussing climate change and learning how to adapt to it are just some of the goals of Chennai-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) that held a media workshop on the issue in Tiruchi recently.
Organised in collaboration with research body ClimaAdapt, the February 23 event explored ways in which print and electronic media in the region could place the effects of global warming in a local context. Nancy J. Anabel, director, Information, Education and Communication (IEC), MSSRF, spoke to MetroPlus about on a range of issues affecting the State’s farming community.
Excerpts:
Tell us about IEC and your work in Tiruchi district
MSSRF has six programmes, of which one is Information, Education and Communication, by which we are using multiple technologies to give demand-driven knowledge down to the last mile in rural pockets.
We work in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Kerala, focusing on agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, health and education.
When we started in 1992, technology was not used to change lives and livelihoods of the farming community. People didn’t have any means to get timely information so that they could take informed decisions.
We were among the earliest organisations to prove the transformative power of information communication technology. Then Professor Swaminathan, who pioneered this project, took his ‘Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre’ to the national level, where it was renamed as Grameen Gyan Abhiyan.
Currently we are working with agencies to help people adapt to climate change in Tamil Nadu, Andhra and after bifurcation, Telangana. Everybody has tried to solve this issue in isolation, even though it is a task that requires lot of integration between various departments.
This project aims at bringing about changes in the rural areas specifically in increasing water use efficiency. Since water is getting scarce, we have taken up research in water-rich and drought-prone areas.
In Tamil Nadu, we are working with ClimaAdapt, TN Agricultural University, Water Resources Department and Irrigation Management Training Institute, Thuvakudi to study the water usage in the villages near Kalingarayan, Erode and those in the Ponnaniar Basin near Vaiyyampatti, Tiruchi district.
We share new ideas in agriculture that will be of help to the local farmer. TNAU has come up concepts like modified system of rice intensification (SRI) and alternate dry and wet cultivation methods. We also look into gender in farming. Agriculture doesn’t concern men alone. Women farmers too are involved in agricultural activities, but nobody bothers whether they have access to knowledge, technology or water.
What is the current participation of women in agriculture?
It is significant, right from the beginning. Women are involved in the tasks which are drudgery-intense like weeding, transplanting, planting, raising nurseries and so on, but they are not acknowledged. We have tried to give them access to technology, especially in rice cultivation, where it has been highly appreciated.
Similarly women farmers can also be tapped to formulate chemical-free organic pesticides that are based on native agricultural practices. This empowerment adds value to their life and their status outside their home.
So is bottling water the only safe way to consume it?
Yes that’s how it’s projected now. But it wouldn’t be right to think that bottled water is automatically safe and pure, because we don’t really know where the water is obtained from, where it is packaged and if the filtration processes are scientifically done.
At the individual level, everyone has to ensure that they are using water hygienically, especially in the villages. Whether they get the water from public taps or open wells, most villagers don’t cover the vessel when they transporting it back home. So there is always a possibility of contamination, especially when the cooks keep dipping their bare hands into the water.
There needs to be an awareness of how to handle potable water, especially among consumers.
The next generation of farmers seems to be non-existent. Is that going to be a problem for climate change adaptation programmes?
Attracting youth to agriculture is the need of the hour. There are movements which are trying to bring them in, but we need to examine why the youth are not taking it up.
The technology and infrastructure that they need are still stuck at research level.
Mechanised farming requires large tracts of land. But there is no solution for the majority of our agricultural communities, whose land holdings are small and fragmented.
These are the things that are really discouraging the younger generation. When you keep projecting agriculture as an unprofitable employment opportunity, how will they get interested in pursuing it?
The farmers themselves don’t want to keep their children in the profession because of this perception.
But the government and organisations like ours have projects like Youth Science Congress to encourage innovators from different states. A lot of effort and technology is required, but it is not impossible.
I’ve seen many youths from a rural background who have studied up to post-graduation and then come back to agriculture after having a change of heart. They have brought new technology to the fields, and made farming very profitable. It is possible, because youth are tech savvy.
How can technology help unite the research being carried out in different institutions?
MSSRF believes in the Village Knowledge Centre, where any scientifically proven methodology or implement that can be replicated, is shared with the public.
This common resource could be started by anyone. For example it’s happening in Singapore, where a central knowledge hub for research papers has been created online.
When you have a unit, you can always push demand-driven information to the right people. Our project is also trying to do that. We rely on collective response. Though we are based in different locations, we pool in all our expertise and resources.
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Brief biography
An alumna of Carleton University, Canada, with a Masters degree in Social Work and M.Phil in Sociology, Nancy Anabel has over 20 years of experience in rural development.
Originally from Madurai, Ms. Nancy has been with M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) for over a decade.
“The simple communication strategy that Professor Swaminathan has given us is that when you don’t know anything, there is always a scientist to scientist communication that can bring you back. We also need to respect that there is a knowledge base in the farming community. When the scientists don’t know or understand some concepts, they should consult the farmers, because they also have practical experience of many issues,” says Ms. Nancy.
MSSRF’s Fisher Friend mobile application, developed with Qualcomm and TCS, helps fishing communities with information on GPS interface, species-specific forecast, marking of danger zones and emergency helplines. It won the m-Billionth Award South Asia in 2014.
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Points to ponder
Did you know?
-Mangrove forests in Pichavaram (near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district) protected 6 hamlets against the fury of the 2004 tsunami by reducing the speed and volume of water entering dry land.
-Nammakal is probably the only and the first town in the country to become a zero garbage town. It has introduced the practice of door to door collection, night sweeping, and removal of encroachments from all roads and streets.
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In our State
Coconut yields are expected to reduce by 24% by 2030 due to climate change
Change in minimum temperatures is projected to range from 2 degrees Celcius to 4.5 degrees Celsius along the east coast, the higher end being limited to Tamil Nadu
The average sea level rise has been 1.3 mm per year along the Indian coast. This would permanently inundate about 1090 sq. km along the Tamil Nadu coast.
Source: Climate Change and India: A 4X4 Assessment - A sectoral and regional analysis for 2030s; State of Environment Report, Tamil Nadu
