Black Pepper and Long Pepper belong to piperaceae family. Black Pepper which is also known as (Kurumulaku in Malayalam – Kali Mirch in Hindi – Marich in Sanskrit) is cultivated for its fruit. Which is normally dried and used as a spice, medicine and seasoning. Black pepper is endemic to western ghats of Kerala. Since centuries India is a source of high quality pepper specially the Malabar variety. Pepper was…
Why you should not buy a vechur dwarf cow
What makes vechur cow so special? 1) This is the first endemic cattle of Kerala registered with (ICAR) Indian Council of Agricultural Research 2) By 1970’s less than 100 cows were left, so it was in the extinct list, Normally when this happens people are ready to pay a hefty amount to keep the specimen of the species. 3) They are very small in size, docile and adorable. If you…
Is Kerala repeating Cuba’s path of farming?
Kerala and Cuba has undergone tremendous social reforms. They also have a lot of things in similar be it foot ball, tourism (tourism is one of the main sources of income in kerala and cuba), politics(Communist Party has high influence). It reminds me of a Malayalam movie by sreenivasan Arabikatha. Actor Srinivasan’s name in the movie is “cuba Mukundan”. He has great respect for cuba and its leaders. In the movie Mukundan…
Stingless Honey Bee(Dwarf Honey Bees) or Cheruthen Eecha
Stingless honey bees are found in most parts of the world. It some what varies in color and appearance. One thing common among them is they are all small not bigger than 5mm and they have no stinger. In Kerala we call it cheruthen eecha, it is 3mm in size. This species is know as trigona iridipennis. Did the bigger bees develop stinger or stingless bees lose their stinger??? How…
Toddy Kerala’s Backyard Beverage
Toddy – Kerala’s Backyard Beverage Kallu (Toddy) as we call it in South India “Mula pal kainechto kola pal”. This line means after mother’s milk its coconut flower milk. Once upon a time in Kerala kids were given fresh toddy or un-fermented toddy, when they are ready for external feeding after breast feeding. It is one of the super food. Kerala governments law for extracting kallu and selling was restricted in…
Effective Application of Ash in Rural and Farmers Life
Ash plays a vital role in every farmers or rural house hold. There are numerous benefits of ash. Ash has been replaced by Potash and potassium in our era. During ancient times potash was derived by mixing wood ash with water in a iron pot and evaporating the water for a white end product know as potash, so ash derived from pot(pot-ash). End product is a chemical, which is used for cleaning…