Pitchandikulam Forest – Small Enterprise Options Assessment
Vermicompost Units
There is a growing realization that Vermicompost provides the nutrients and growth enhancing hormones necessary for plant growth. As the cost of production of this compost works out to about Rs.2 per kg, it is quite profitable to sell the compost even at Rs.3 per kg.
The Vermicompost containing nutrients are rich manure for the plants. When the commercial scale production is aimed at in addition to the cost of production, considerable amount has to be invested initially on capital items. The capital cost may work out to about Rs.2000 to Rs.2500 for every tonne of compost produced annually. These units will be manned by mainly SHGs.
Wastes are pulverized as they pass through the worm, the surface area of the material increases, which in turn helps as a base for nutrients. Vermi compost, apart from supplying nutrients and growth enhancing hormones to plants, improves the soil structure leading to increase in water and nutrient holding capacities of soil.
Spirulina Cultivation
Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae. It is a simple, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies. Spirulina is being developed as the "food of the future" because of its amazing ability to synthesize high-quality concentrated food more efficiently than any other algae. Most notably, Spirulina is 65 to 71 percentcompleteprotein, with all essential amino acids in perfect balance. In comparison, beef is only 22 percent protein. Spirulina has a photosynthetic conversion rate of 8 to 10 percent, compared to only 3 percent in land-growing plants such as soybeans. In addition, Spirulina is one of the few plant sources of vitamin B12, usually found only in animal tissues. A teaspoon of Spirulina supplies 2½ times the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin B12 and contains over twice the amount of this vitamin found in an equivalent serving of liver. Spirulina also provides high concentrations of many other nutrients - amino acids, minerals, pigmentations, rhamnose sugars (complex natural plant sugars), trace elements, enzymes.
Pitchandikulam Forest is already involved in the production of spirulina as an experiment in the region with the rural communities in the village of Nadukuppam. A few of the SHG members are technically trained in this cultivation and processing unit.
Objectives
Training the local rural women self help groups in spirulina production.
To generate direct employment opportunities for 220 women
To empower the women to take up challenges of managing the enterprise on a sustainable basis by imparting skills through training
Bamboo based enterprises
Bamboo is a raw material that is grown abundantly in the bio-region, every village is replete with a few thick bamboo bushes. Under the JFM scheme, the Government of Tamilnadu had planted bamboo as one of the community asset creation crops in the forest areas in this district between the years 1997 – 2004[1]. This has resulted in a significant amount of bamboo based industries being developed in this region in recent years. A study that has been carried out on the availability of bamboo in the area shows that there is a sufficient supply of bamboo for at least five years to warrant rural enterprises. The growing eco-awareness has meant that bamboo is seen as an aesthetic as well as eco-friendly alternative in household furniture and other items
Medicinal Plants Collection and Production
Pitchandikulam Forest is working on environmental and community projects in the targeted area. These include ecological restoration programs, women’s self help group programs, traditional herbal dispensaries, environmental education programs in schools, training in indigenous plant propagation and organic farming practices. Pitchandikulam Forest is involved in a number of village development programs, particularly in Nadukuppam panchayat. The target people of this project are already aware of the value of traditional herbal medicine due to Pitchandikulam’s previous work with the community.
The existing self help groups can implement and monitor the herbal medicine and recipe production unit as an income generation activity for elevating their socio-economic status. This enterprise proposal will aim to create new viable micro enterprises for SHG women’s groups and bioregion plant collectors through medicinal plants and production. It would aim to:
Promote sustainable income generation through plant medicine production to provide an environment in which productivity is possible towards economic growth.
Create awareness among the community on the significance of a local health tradition.
Improve health of the community through usage of herbal medicine.
Set up medicinal plant production facilities in the Nadukuppam panchayat.
In the 356 villages of the Kaluveli bio-region, there are around 300 traditional healers who are practicing their craft with the help of locally grown herbal plants; they are dependent on the herbs from forests and local fields. An intricate relationship has developed between people and the forest over millennia and today over 250 species are used medicinally, many also have important roles culturally and for crafts.
Key activities to be taken in the project
Herbal medicine production and sale:
Disease survey of the Human health problems.
Selection of the SHG’s for herbal medicine production in the Nadukuppam panchayat.
Choosing herbal medicine for production according to market needs.
Training on herbal medicine production.
Marketing support and branding of products
The herbal medicine products will be of high quality thorugh SHG’s production. The market arrangements will be made for creating outlets at panchayat, block and district levels.
Establishment of micro-enterprise on venom and polyvalent anti-venom serum
Project objectives
To provide training in snake handling and extraction of snake venom for establishment of micro-enterprise (at a later stage to establish a centre for venom extraction and production of anti-venom serum in the Villipuram district)
Need
Snakebites are an occupational hazard to farmers across India. India has some of the world’s most venomous snakes and the high density of humans here makes snakebites a common problem. Accurate statistics are hard to come by, but it is estimated that half a million people are bitten each year and fatality estimates range from 10,000 to 50,000 people. The high population of rodents (which are attracted to food grains) in villages and fields attract snakes which is a matter of significant concern for communities.
A phylogenetic interpretation of Asian snakes is much needed. Popular literature lists 4 species of common venomous snakes: Indian Cobra Naja naja, Common Krait Bungarus caeruleus, Russell’s Viper Daboia russeli and Saw-scaled Viper Echis carinata. Unfortunately India being a large country and containing many biomes, the inter-specific variation is enormous. For example, Wuster and colleagues have shown that Naga naga is not a widespread polytypic species, but represents multiple lineages. Given this variation in speciation it is natural that there are also variations in enzymes secreted by geographical variants. This point was strongly reinforced when a person died of Russell’s Viper bite in JIPMER, Pondicherry, because the antivenom serum was produced in Haffekine Institute, Mumbai and did not contain the antibodies that would have saved the person’s life if it had been produced from venom extracted from specimens in the local region. It is a regular practice to inject over 50 vials of antivenom when 10 vials would be sufficient if the antivenom is produced from venom collected from snakes in the region.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Central Research Institute, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, recognizing the fact that a national polyvalent antivenom serum must be developed that overcomes geographical enzymal variations has suggested the creation of venom extraction and processing units throughout the country.
At least two venom production units are in the pipeline awaiting Ministry of Environment and Forest clearance. If these two industries get sanctioned there will be a great need for skilled snake catchers and venom extractors throughout the state.
Lacuna
At this point in time only one legal organization exists that sustainably extracts snake and scorpion venom – the Irula Snake Catcher’s Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd. at Vadanemelli, Kancheepuram Dist., Tamil Nadu
The afore mentioned co-operative is limited in its operations to the districts of Kancheepuram and Tiruvalluvar districts. As such, the venom extracted from the snakes captured in the region do not have the enzymes necessary to produce an effective antivenom serum for snakebites in other places within the country.
Applications
Snake and scorpion venom is not only needed to produce antivenom serum but also for a whole range of pharmaceutical products – for example, cobra venom is the prime ingredient in leprosy vaccine.
Snake venom is an expensive product. A gram of dry venom can fetch up to Rs. 1,75,000.00. This makes the establishment of a venom extraction and processing industry a very viable option.
Historical background
The Irulas are a forest dwelling community in India, who inhabit primarily the northern and part of the western districts of Tamil Nadu. According to the 1991 census the total population of scheduled tribes in Tamil Nadu was 5, 74,000 and the Irulas are the dominant community accounting for about 1, 16,850.
They were once a nomadic people, but later settled down near forest fringes, they largely live in groups that rely on forest products. Shrinkage of forests and forest resources and the enactment of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) has affected their lifestyle. In the 1970s they subsisted by poaching snakes and monitor lizards for the snakeskin industry, which was outlawed in 1972. Since they had not been trained in agricultural practices and had no land ownership rights, they were forced to become agricultural laborers and unskilled workers in rice mills and brick kiln industries.
Mr. Romulus Whitaker and Tmt. Revathi Mukerji endeavored to protect their traditional knowledge and particularly their snake handling and tracking skills. As suggested by the Department of Industries and Commerce the Irula Snake Catcher’s Industrial Co-operative Society was registered on 19.12.1978. Since then, the society has gone from strength to strength. In 1982 – 1983, the society had only 26 members and the annual sale of snake venom was valued at Rs. 6,000. In 2007 – 2008 membership has increased to 344 and the annual sale of snake venom is Rs. 1.35 lakhs, a phenomenal increase. A member who has been issued with the license to capture snakes can earn up to Rs. 4,000 per month, in addition to other financial and social security benefits.
Replicability
Enzymes of the same species of snake vary from district to district, state to state and country to country. This makes collection and processing of the entire range of venoms for which a species exists a priority, not only from the social angle but also the humanitarian and scientific angles. What this project aims to do is train Irulas to set up a replicable model in Villipuram District that already exists in Kancheepuram and Tiruvalluvar districts. At a later stage it may expand further into other districts / states.
Community Based Eco-Friendly Cottage Enterprises
In additional to agriculture & allied enterprises and natural resource based enterprises, another other for development will be skill based enterprises, which will focus on the implementation of cottage units in the bioregion. These will depend on the waste material in the region and surrounding areas (waste paper based products making) and fabric (cloth bags as an eco-friendly alternative for plastic carry bags and quilt making) based enterprise units.
Eco-Friendly Cloth Bags
Objectives of the Enterprise
Additional income generations through home vocation to improve livelihood opportunities
Income generation through a known skill
Creating environmental awareness among the local community
Promoting sustainable self employment opportunities for the skilled women groups
Awareness on the usage of cloth bags instead of plastics
Improvement of tailoring skills by regular stitching
This program will be implemented in collaboration with UPASANA, a design studio in Auroville. An agreement will be made with the unit to supply a definite number of bags every month.
Small Steps is an initiative to promote environmental awareness. The project's first step is to promote a responsible alternative to throw-away plastic bags. Upasana has designed a cloth bag, a “small step” to address this problem, it hopes to distribute these bags without cost throughout India, but the main aim is to promote the use of re-usable bags.
Who doesn’t dream of eliminating ugly plastic heaps from roadsides in India? What did people do before plastic bags arrived? Through Small Steps, individuals are inspired to always carry a cloth bag with them, trendy and useful, a striking way to say NO! to throw-away plastic bags. In India carrying cloth bags is considered old fashioned.
The aim of the Small Steps Program is tomake 10 million bags, this in turn creates the possibility of 1000 jobs in the villages.
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