Kerala is a big homegarden

Homegarden is an agro-forestry practice. Agro+forestry happens when we integrate trees on the farms and in agricultural fields. Homegardens emerge when we plant trees and agriculturally useful plants around our house. Most likely there will not be any planting pattern-just plant where-ever there is space!

Kerala, India, I beleive was once a big homegarden by itself. There was so much greenery. Being close to forests, this state had lot of "Green Umbrella"s, once upon a time. Now, fragmented, severely!

As a part of adapting to climate change, I beleive, the homegardens should make a come-back in Kerala. Trees and tree-based systems like the homegardens have considerable biophysical resilience which can withstand the various shocks (like flood, drought, pest and disease outbreaks etc) related to climate variability.

With rain, they just sprang up!

Hippeastrum sp.

Haemanthus multiflorus

Providing some respite from heat, we received a few showers. Within a couple of days, I was delighted to see these two beautiful flowers.

Greenhouse gases and global warming

Have you ever stood under the glass roof of a greenhouse? Very hot, isn'it? Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (there are many more ), when in excess in our atmosphere, act like the glass roof of a greenhouse. They trap heat and warm the Earth.

So, firstly, reduce emissions of CO, CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Then, Plant a TREE. As your seedling grows, it traps CO2 and store it in its wood, bark and leaves. Less the carbon in our atmosphere means less will be the global warming.

Earth Day 2010: plant a TREE

Let us take action to create a healthy and prosperous GREEN ECONOMY now and for the future.

Plant a TREE.

നഗ്നസുന്ദരി

നമ്മുടെ കാടുകളിലും ചില നാട്ടിന്‍ പ്രദേശത്തും ഈ നഗ്ന സുന്ദരിയെ നിങ്ങള്‍ കാണാതിരിക്കില്ല.  

Popularly known as "Venthekk", this large deciduous tree has a very smooth pale bark, hence the name "Naked lady or Naked maiden". Botanically, it is Lagerstroemia lanceolata.

The C connection of Eyjafjallajoekull

Yup, the gases from a volcanic eruption could include Carbon dioxide and Carbon monoxide as well..

But the grounded flights means, less emissions from human induced sources!

Mount Eyjafjallajokull: Is there a C connection?

The BBC is "breaking news" about a $200 m loss per day due to flight disruptions across Europe. 63,000 flights are cancelled since Thursday!


I am yet to put my brain on the "carbon" thing in volcanic ash. But I am pretty sure about the "carbon gain" in the current air travel crisis.

Yup, the "carbon footprint" of the global aviation industry is pretty "green" now. Why, the air over Europe is more cleaner now (Sorry travellers).

Carbon foot print

Carbon Foot Print= Per capita greenhouse gas emission

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all are instrumental for the production of greenhouse gases almost on a daily basis through our activities.

Unplug your mobile phone charger when not in use.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. CFLs use two-thirds less energy and give off 70% less heat.

Switch your screensaver setting to none or blank screen.

Try http://www.blackle.com/

Adopt & Adapt to a new lifestyle

A more serious change in our climate is a stark reality. The hotter days, I and others experienced a few weeks back in our neighbourhood and elsewhere is just a small warning. Past climatic data has proved that the earth is more hot now than it was a few years back.

That means we should NOW start ADAPTING (or rather adjusting ourselves) for the various impacts that a changed climate can bring in. Yes, We have to be ready for the future.

Water will become a more scarce resource in future. Not only for us, but also for other living organisms as well. So dont waste it. Start harvesting rain water that falls in your roof and compound. During rains, put hurdles (by placing bricks or stones) and stop the water from running away fast. Let it seep down into earth. Let this water first quench the thirst of earth. Later on we can dig deep and tap it for our use.

Revive community ponds, lakes or wells in your area. They trap rain water in huge quantities.

The hotter our days, the quicker will the water in the reservoirs of our hydroelectric projects dry up. That means, electricity will be more dearer in

future. So start conserving. Learn to use electricity judiciously. Start a "Switch Off" campaign among your friends, colleagues and relatives. Ask people to open their windows (windows are to be kept open, not closed!) to let in sunlight (also moonlight) and fresh air.

We need oxygen and not CO2 to breathe. So plant more trees to "mop up" the excess CO2 that we humans produce through reckless burning of petrol and diesel. More trees means more O2.

If you have a choice, use a public transport system to move from one place to another. By not using our own vehicle, we avoided a personal opportunity to pump out CO2 and other noxious gases into our atmosphere. The less the better, isn't it?

Carry your own water bottle. Re-use it. The less you buy the packaged drinking water in the plastic bottle, the less is the chance that you will throw it away.

Plastic is non-biodegradable and will choke the soil and earth. Look at the mounts of garbage safely secured in plastic carry bags. As far as possible, re-cycle things. Fight against the "use-and-throw" culture.

Vishu kani

Malayalees (native of Kerala, India) are gearing up to celebrate Vishu-the first day of Meda raashi (as per Indian astronomical calendar) on 15 April.

Get up early and catch a glimpse of "Vishu Kani"-an array of tropical fruits and vegetables topped with that yellow Cassia fistula flowers beside that nilavilakku (oil lamp in bell metal) and Lord Krishna. That scene is beleived to bring eternal glory for the rest of the year.

Ah then, it is good (and a very wonderful experience indeed) that we are waking up and seeing all these wonderful plant products..So, this Vishu, while seeing the "Kani", let us pledge to protect our plant wealth so that in future years too, we will be able to display the fruits and vegetables and the Kanikonna flowers.

Wishing you a very prosperous VISHU.

tree is a home

My earlier post on urban wildlife was to highlight the need to plant more-either trees, shrubs or herbs-say, any form of plant in the "concrete jungles" which we so affectionately refer to as towns or cities.

As I wrote before, any plant form houses one or more type of organism, like my bamboo sheltering those munias. With the concrete structures getting erected all around, where would all our fellow creatures go? For the birds and spiders and the like, the the plants are their homes.

Walk around your garden. Look up your tree or plant. How many insects, lizards, spiders can u see? 1, 2..10... the list can grow.

Next time, before you disturb a plant..Think of it's residents. Under the Green Umbrella there is an exciting world! Discover and protect it.

By un-necessary dislocating a plant or tree, you might be dislocating or even killing an organism.

my wildlife

I maintain a small bamboo bush just in front of my official residence. This is the home to a 4-5 group of white-rumped munia. I see them only twice. By about 6 AM I could just catch a glimpse of "rockets" speeding away from the bamboo thicket. Before I realise what is happening it is gone!

By dusk, the group comes swooping down like fighter jets. It just penetrates into the thickets and is gone. Silence follows....

Dracula attacks teak

Last day, while I was visiting my wildlife biologist colleague Dr. P.O. Nameer's up coming house, I saw the dracula on an young teak (T. grandis) tree.

Two days later, at Patturaickal junction in Thrissur town, I was amazed to find white coloured "cannon ball" fruits. Cannon ball fruits are produced by the cannon ball tree Couropita guianensis. The brown, giant round fruits look like the original cannon balls, hence the name.

This dracula is not of the Bromstoker variety, but the mealy bug (see my earlier posts on this vampire) that has become a concern here in Kerala state, India this summer. Starting with Carica pappaya, they moved to Hibiscus rosa sinensis, to some other plants and now teak and the cannon ball tree.

Gandhiji on environment

“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not am inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.”

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Watch the video of The great Salt March of 1930

tree branches also merit attention

Un-necessary axing of trees located in public places has now been brought under a regulatory body (Panel to decide on tree cutting)..Good Work..The Green Umbrella is thankful for this wonderful gesture.

By the by, it would only be wise that this body also strictly regulates the un-scientific removal of trees branches.

the perils of deforestation

Understand the world around YOU

As I wrote some time back, every plant is different. So do are the other oragnisms. This difference in plant and animal life contributes to what is called biodiversity or biological diversity. It is also the diversity of biological organisms around us. We need to conserve this diversity at any cause in order to live peacefully. Take it from me, they are so important.

Taxonomy is the science of identifying (trying to make out b/n) different organisms, assigning names and classifying it. This science is re-emerging now. I think all of us should spare a thought for this discipline. Visit this link to know more on this: Understanding the world around you

നാട്ടിലെങ്ങും പൂവായി

അതെ, സത്യം തന്നെ!

കണികൊന്ന പൂത്തുലഞ്ഞു നില്‍കുകയാണ്‌ നാട്ടിലെങ്ങും.

വിഷുവിനെ വരവേല്‍ക്കാന്‍ മഞ്ഞപൂക്കള്‍ മാത്രം ചൂടി എത്രയോ വൃക്ഷങ്ങള്‍ ഞാന്‍ കാണുന്നു. മണ്ണിലും മഞ്ഞ പരവതാനി വിരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു ഈ വൃക്ഷം.