DR.GOPIMANI: 25 YEARS OF ORGANIC FARMING ATOP THE ROOF
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| Dr.Gopimani, Thiruvananthapuram |
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Agricultural experiments, like charity, begin at home. Leave aside the other worthwhile achievements of Dr.Gopimani, his quarter century long organic cultivation atop the terrace of his house in a 6˝ cent plot would itself be cause for inspiration.
Not that he lacks other credentials. Development Officer in Agriculture Department, Research Officer in State Institute of Language, Professor and Head of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Kerala Agriculture University, these are some of the offices he has occupied. Add to it the 30 books, 50 plus research papers and over 3000 scientific articles he has published and we get a thumbnail picture of the acclaimed agriculture scientist.
But more inspiring is his experiments in his own house and its surroundings. In 1976, after he had constructed a 2-story house in Thiruvananthapuram, he started cultivation of vegetables on the rooftop. Long before Japanese practitioner Fukavoka’s ‘One Straw Revolution’ had landed on the soil of Kerala, he had gone ahead with sustainable organic farming without waiting for models or methods.
His cultivation in jute bags includes vegetables like spinach, ladies finger, bringal, chillies, tomato, yam, peas, giger etc. Taller trees like tamarind, gooseberry etc also find a place in his experimental farm. And not to be left behind are bonsais of many varieties of banyans and guava.
If anyone had doubt about the efficacy of either the organic cultivation, or the ability of concrete roof slab to support the experiment, his cultivation is itself the proof of the pudding.
Plants and vegetables in gunny bags
Courtesy: M.B.Santhosh (text), S.S.Ram (photo), Kerala Kaumudi, October 13, 2002
Contributed by: Administrator
