Blogs from Mangalore, Karnataka, India, Asia

Geo: 12.8694, 74.8426... read more

Providing training to farmers is often referred to as “extension services” and is often done through the same measures such as workshops, seminars and on-farm demonstrations. This is often carried out in India with public funds directly through Government staff, where the project I currently manage Many people have asked me if there is a need to educate farmers in the UK when we have much higher rate of literacy and general increased level of awareness. Both UK and India need to communicate ideas and new technologies to farmers and it’s not always easy . After talking with many different agriculturalists here in India I have found many similarities, despite the very different climate and geography. In the UK our average farm size is approx. 50ha which is much larger than India’s 2ha. Even with these ... read more

Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 January 2013 It’s fair to say that we have been ‘Indianised’. When we first arrived in Mangalore everything was a shock to us. The food, the traffic, the noise and the litter. Now, we are back in the city and everything just feels like home. We don’t notice the noise or the litter anymore, the traffic feels calmer and we can’t wait to eat the Mangalore food and see some of our old friends! We are back in Mangalore for the district conference. Although we got to relax and meet friends at the venue on Friday night, today was time for serious work as we had to present our experiences to over 3000 people. First though, we were able to listen to the rest of the guests and keynote speakers. Our ... read more

10 January 2013 The traditional industries of Mangalore are clay tiles, cashew nuts and beady (not sure if that’s the correct spelling!) which we are told is a form of cigarette, rolled in a leaf. Apparently many of the men in the families used to spend their weekly wages on alcohol so the woman would roll beady at home to sell and support the family while she cared for the children. Today we are visiting a tile factory and cashew factory to learn more about them. Ramkrishna has been looking after us for the past few days and we visit his family tile factory, UMA Tile Company, which opened in 1947. Ram used to work here when he was younger during his school holidays. He knows the business inside out and runs it now with his ... read more

8 January 2013 I’m learning lots about life in India, including the frequent power cuts. We have another while I’m in the shower this morning! The family are keen to learn lots about like in the UK too including jobs, the recession, minimum wage, cost of living, lifestyle, hobbies and family circumstances. Much of this is very new to them. The economy in India is booming and people here are not worried about jobs. From what people are telling me, the Government here don’t seem to be supporting some of the things you would think they would, like rubbish collection. The Government used to collect road tax annually but now ask for 15 years worth in one go to help fund projects. It is ironic really because on our travels we have seen countless half built ... read more