“There is more to a retired life than staying within the four walls of your home,” says a group of former retired teachers of the College of Agriculture, Vellayani. Their Association for Developmental Initiatives in Sustainable Agriculture and Home Science (ADISAH), ‘a non-profit, non-governmental and voluntary organisation’ is into promoting agriculture and related sectors. ADISAH completes two years of its official launch this Saturday (October 20).
On a Sunday, I meet 14 of the total 22 members at the residence of one of its members at Pettah. “We wanted to keep doing something for society, especially women, based on what we have learnt and taught. That led to the formation of this group,” says V L Geethakumari, the spokesperson of ADISAH and a resource person in crop nutrition and organic farming. The group has been holding training programmes on farming, food and nutrition in addition to providing guidance and counselling.
Erudite gang
“What works to our advantage is that we are experts in different areas related to agriculture, such as crop production, crop protection, social science and home science. It is a resourceful group. Our members have over three decades of experience in their respective fields and through this platform we want to disseminate the knowledge that we have gained,” says G Sobhana, chairperson of ADISAH, who has been handling agricultural extension programmes.
Moreover, ADISAH keeps their friendship alive. “We have not only been teachers at the college, many of us have studied there as well, dating back to 1971-1972 when the Kerala Agricultural University was formed,” points out A Naseema, a specialist in plant pathology. These teachers have also been members of Club of Lady Scientists, a platform of women teachers of the college, which is still active on the campus.
ADISAH has conducted sessions on safe vegetable farming, vegetable and food processing, mushroom cultivation, making value-added products from jackfruit, cake making and summer diet. P Santhakumari, executive director of ADISAH and an expert on plant pathology, says: “When we hold a class in farming, several topics have to be covered. Such as selecting the crop, duration of the crop, farming methods, pest attacks, diseases... Veterans in each subject cover each of these aspects.”
After every session they collect feedback from the participants based on which the topic for the subsequent session is chosen. They also provide career guidance as in the case of a training programme for agricultural assistants.
Among the training programmes there have been some interesting sessions, points out Rajani Chandran, former faculty member in home science. “We helped the staff at the Mental Health Centre, Oolampara, to prepare wheat bread. Another session was one on making value-added products from passion fruit,” Rajani says. In addition, the group has conducted counselling session for a group of adolescents at a care home in Thiruvallam and skill development programmes for differently abled.
Looking ahead, ADISAH wants to promote vegetable farming in homesteads. “We will help them to set up a model kitchen garden. We will provide all the technical know-how and can arrange for the service of our students for the regular upkeep on paying a stipulated amount,” Geethakumari says. An ecoshop is a long-term plan of the group.
Before I take leave, S Chandni, a member tells me, “This get-together is something we all look forward to. If there was no such initiative, we might have gone into depression.”
A close encounter with people and places in the city
Mark the date
On October 21, ADISAH holds a training programme to make value-added products from pulinchikka or bilimbi. There is a session on vegetable farming in homesteads on November 1. It will be at House No 212, KRRA, Kesavadev Road, Mudavanmugal. Time: 11 am to 2 pm. Contact: 9446447979
