Reflection Paper
Content
IARD 6020 Field trip information
“The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only a page of it”.
CHENNAI - Right from the beginning, the trip started with introducing ourselves to the faculty and students of Cornell University and get to know each other well. We learned some steps of Bharatnatyam and gained somewhat more about health care and acupressure technique, especially designed to control the body and mind. Flied to Coimbatore from Chennai and got a chance to witness the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) campus. COIMBATORE - Learned the concepts of Millets breeding research station, precision farming practice, got acquainted with DEMIC cell and farmers call centre in TNAU. The idea of “farmers market” was really excellent and way TNAU is connected with farmers impressed us a lot. Explored the city in the evening. OOTY - Went to Ooty (Queen of hills) and found many new varieties of vegetables, flowers with their medicinal importance at Horticulture research station and Floriculture research station respectively. Learning Organic farming practice and visit to bee museum was the best part. The guest lecture by Mr. Sri Ram, CEO, Contemporary Tea Auctioneers Pvt. Ltd. helped us a lot in understanding the concepts of Tea, its production, processing and marketing. There was a Tea plucking competition (I participated for the first time), along with a visit to the tea museum followed by a brief session and a tour to the floriculture unit. We even spend some time understanding preparation and the dynamics. Apart from all this, we had an idea about the concept of Biodynamic farming practices. We were greatly impressed by the Self Help Groups and the Earth Trust Organic Foundation for their efforts in helping the students there to secure a better future for tomorrow. We also discovered the Keystone foundation and got to know for how they are working and preserving the traditional system, knowledge and culture. Flyed to Hyderabad from Coimbatore. HYDERABAD: got to know ICRISAT (Science with a human face) with its aims for moving towards a brighter and greener future better by orientation presentation, demonstration and on fields visit by the scientists there. ICRISAT is specialized not only in conserving rainwater but it also serves as a safe place for the birds too. ICRISAT along with Agribusiness and Innovative Platform (AIP) and Network of Indian Agri. Business Incubators (NIABI) guided us to the opportunities in entrepreneurs sector on various aspects. Tour to kothapally water shed in Hyderabad was quiet interesting. It follows combining traditional practices with new knowledge for a better management of resources and that is exactly the idea what I really liked on my personal front. I appreciate the efforts of Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) for they are doing a good job by helping farmers to obtain Monetary benefits and it also plays a lead role in popularizing Integrated Pests Management Practices in rice. Then we went to Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) and figured out its vision and its objectives. It was good to hear the efforts from both INDIA and UNITED STATES in the talk of Mrs. Dhanani to diminish the gap and strengthening INDO-US relationships. The session was followed by a brief talk on BASIX by Mr. Vijay Mahajan. Lastly the tour ended with an exciting visit to a district called as Pochampally, known for its Handloom Park. Learned to weave cloth and undergoing it through a famous technique of tie and dye. People enjoyed shopping and they do bought many items for their families and relatives. This program really brought knowledge and exposure to students, has helped them to know their likes and dislikes so that they can make almost the right choices in life ahead. To conclude I would like to say that – “Give a man a fish and he has food for a day, Teach him how to fish and you can feed him for a lifetime“
“The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only a page of it”.
CHENNAI - Right from the beginning, the trip started with introducing ourselves to the faculty and students of Cornell University and get to know each other well. We learned some steps of Bharatnatyam and gained somewhat more about health care and acupressure technique, especially designed to control the body and mind. Flied to Coimbatore from Chennai and got a chance to witness the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) campus. COIMBATORE - Learned the concepts of Millets breeding research station, precision farming practice, got acquainted with DEMIC cell and farmers call centre in TNAU. The idea of “farmers market” was really excellent and way TNAU is connected with farmers impressed us a lot. Explored the city in the evening. OOTY - Went to Ooty (Queen of hills) and found many new varieties of vegetables, flowers with their medicinal importance at Horticulture research station and Floriculture research station respectively. Learning Organic farming practice and visit to bee museum was the best part. The guest lecture by Mr. Sri Ram, CEO, Contemporary Tea Auctioneers Pvt. Ltd. helped us a lot in understanding the concepts of Tea, its production, processing and marketing. There was a Tea plucking competition (I participated for the first time), along with a visit to the tea museum followed by a brief session and a tour to the floriculture unit. We even spend some time understanding preparation and the dynamics. Apart from all this, we had an idea about the concept of Biodynamic farming practices. We were greatly impressed by the Self Help Groups and the Earth Trust Organic Foundation for their efforts in helping the students there to secure a better future for tomorrow. We also discovered the Keystone foundation and got to know for how they are working and preserving the traditional system, knowledge and culture. Flyed to Hyderabad from Coimbatore. HYDERABAD: got to know ICRISAT (Science with a human face) with its aims for moving towards a brighter and greener future better by orientation presentation, demonstration and on fields visit by the scientists there. ICRISAT is specialized not only in conserving rainwater but it also serves as a safe place for the birds too. ICRISAT along with Agribusiness and Innovative Platform (AIP) and Network of Indian Agri. Business Incubators (NIABI) guided us to the opportunities in entrepreneurs sector on various aspects. Tour to kothapally water shed in Hyderabad was quiet interesting. It follows combining traditional practices with new knowledge for a better management of resources and that is exactly the idea what I really liked on my personal front. I appreciate the efforts of Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) for they are doing a good job by helping farmers to obtain Monetary benefits and it also plays a lead role in popularizing Integrated Pests Management Practices in rice. Then we went to Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) and figured out its vision and its objectives. It was good to hear the efforts from both INDIA and UNITED STATES in the talk of Mrs. Dhanani to diminish the gap and strengthening INDO-US relationships. The session was followed by a brief talk on BASIX by Mr. Vijay Mahajan. Lastly the tour ended with an exciting visit to a district called as Pochampally, known for its Handloom Park. Learned to weave cloth and undergoing it through a famous technique of tie and dye. People enjoyed shopping and they do bought many items for their families and relatives. This program really brought knowledge and exposure to students, has helped them to know their likes and dislikes so that they can make almost the right choices in life ahead. To conclude I would like to say that – “Give a man a fish and he has food for a day, Teach him how to fish and you can feed him for a lifetime“
