Sunday 30 September 2012

Ukraine

Well, we made it through our red eye flights ok, and welcomed the cooler air of Kiev, capital city of Ukraine. Our host Dave Fulwood met us at the airport and we made our way to Hotel Ukrainia, right in the heart of Kiev city. It is a beautiful city, some lovely old buildings, nice and clean, and a good atmosphere at night with lights and people wandering around everywhere.
We checked out some local markets, and then did a boat cruise down a major river that runs through the middle Ukraine. It was a nice way to see the city.
Dinner was a traditional Ukrainian meal, delicous, along with toasts and shots of vodka, not so delicous..
With only a few hours of sleep, I hit the sack pretty early and I dont know how they did it, but most of the crew hit the vodka bar, with some not hitting the pillow to 5am this morning!! Stamina!

It was a great fun morning, as people dragged themselves from their beds to head on our tour to Chernobyl. There were a few sore heads!! It was an amazing day learning about the tragedy of the Chernobyl disaster. The town where the power plant is located, was a full ghost town. We wandered through abandened apartments, schools, sports centres, houses, civic centres, fire stations, fair grounds and more. In the 26 years since the meltdown, nature is taking over and trees and shrubs cover a lot of the buildings. Everyone has just up and left, they were told that they could come back in a few days to collect the stuff, so of course they left everything. Most of this things had been looted and trashed.

We carried with us a metre that read the radiation levels, and we were able to see it increase as we approached different areas and also different machinery that had been used in the clean up. The area is entirely safe, however tourism is only just starting. Nobody lives in the 30km zone full time, but many transit in and out as they continue to run another 2power stations. As we are the first of tourists to start to go through, many of the places we went may never have been visited before.

As we left we had to go thorugh 3 different testing stations to measure our radiation levels, which we all got through no worries. The bus also had to be tested before it was allowed to leave the site. On the way to and from, we watched some videos on the bus that explained how the disaster happened and some of the tragedies that occurred. Many brave people risked their lives trying to stop the radiation leaking out. The government tried to cover the whole thing up for many years. People are still suffering the side effects today, similar to asbesots in Australia.

Tommorow its time to get back into some Agriculture, we have reeally been tourists for a few days, so we are looking forward to getting out of the cities and back into some Ag stuff.

A small village just out of the main city where the plant was. This was a street and there are actually houses on each side covered in bush.
An abonded farm, lots of old barns and feedlot area's
 
BATTERY on camera went flat here, so Linda has the rest of the pics I will add on next time!!!
 

Friday 28 September 2012

Qatar

This crop grown in Qatar - amazing!!!

Checking out the sheep for sale for immediate slaughter


Irish and I and Camels for sale

Camels

Dinner at the market

Our hosts Annabelle Coppen and Blythe from MLA

Brenda and I before last meal together
 
Doha city, capital of Qatar, in the middle east region, was a pretty cool few days. We stayed in the VERY lovely golden Radisson hotel. It was rather deluxe, with a beautiful pool, drinks and snacks available 24/7, awesome gym and very comfy beds. Spoilt rotten !!!! Annabelle Coppen and MLA consultant Blythe were our hosts, and did an awesome job of showing us round. We’re so lucky to have locals in these different countries, so we really get to experience the culture.
After we checked into our hotel, we headed to a very flash shopping centre, firstly to check out all the Aussie and New Zealand lamb on sale, then just to check out the shopping centre, and get an idea of the wealth in this country. These people have mostly got it pretty good. The shopping centre included an ice skating rink, fair park with rollercoaster ride, and rooves that were very high and painted with clouds like the sky.
We were able to catch up with Hussad food manager for a chat about the business of Hussad. As Qatar can hardly produce any of their food at all, to feed the poplation of 1.4 million people, Hussad food is agricultural land all over the world, to ensure Qatar has food security. What started as purely a food security business, has evolved into a large agricultural investment company, which is more commercially driven and will trade ag products all over the world. There 5 products of investment were predominately wheat, rice, poultry, lamb and sugar. They are funded by government, and done an amazing job in their growth in the last 3 years.
Our first ‘non indian’ meal for me was a terrible pizza, and I missed the curry immediately!
Wednesday morning started with a great workout in a very flash gym, then a delicious breaky! We headed to Hussad food headquarters, and had further discussion about the business. We easily could have spent a few hours with them. We headed out on the bus, with their head agronomist, to visit one of the few farms that Hussad is trying to start up in Qatar, using grey water irrigation. Driving out through the city, past the white limestone soil, sand covered buildings, it is hard to imagine anything growing in this country. It really just looks like a desert. Then, in the middle of no where is this farm, with huge irrigation pivots growing fodder crops for cutting small hay bales. They are growing alfalfa and Rhodes grass, and because of the very warm conditions, they are able to get multiple cuts 4-9 per year of these perennial crops. It was pretty cool. The farm is set up with these very flash Arabic looking sheds and quarters for the workers.
We headed back to another hotel to meet with David from MLA. It was a really interesting presentation on the live export sheep trade and all the issues MLA has been dealing with in recent years. A topical point for sure!! MLA have made some huge improvements, and are really getting places with the people over here.
We were treated to a traditional ‘gulf’ meal at a local restaurant. We crammed into a small room, and all sat on cushions around the floor. An abundance of food was placed in the middle, and just grabbed it with our hands, threw it on our plates then shoved it in the mouth. Apart from the stiff legs and pins and needles, it was a very enjoyable night. The food was delicious, a few of the local guys that hosted us showed us the best way to eat with your hands (can you believe there is an art to it!), and we had a lot of laughs. No alcohol can be consumed in Qatar, except for hotel bars. Which, considering we struggles to get off the floor as it was, was a very good thing!
Thursday morning we had a very early start to get to a slaughter house, that imports and slaughters Australian sheep. MLA has been working hard with this place to ensure that it meets the new Australian standards that have been imposed since the live export controversies. The standards were far, far better than I expected, and I was really impressed with the tidy operation that was being run. I had never been to any abattoir before so it was really interesting to see in action. The sheep have to be killed in a certain direction and a prayer said before every sheep to meet the religious standards. Every part of the sheep is consumed except the lungs. Even to hooves!!!!!
Because of the issues with Aussie sheep being rejected in Bahrain, this abattoir was just about to run out of sheep to kill. They are very frustrated with the lack of stable supply from Australia, and can almost always can take more sheep, if we could supply.
We visited a public slaughter house next, where people are able to come and pick out their live sheep from the sale yards, then watch it being killed and take it home cut up in a bag all in a matter of 10-15 minutes. It sounds pretty awful, but it is actually a very good thing. Whole families come and choose their animal, then the kids and all, watch the slaughter of the animal, and then talk to the butcher while he cuts it up in the cuts they like. It is such a great way to educate people about where there food comes from. On a weekend it can get pretty crazy, with people yelling and screaming and trying to keep an eye on ‘their’ sheep the whole process. The ‘e’ festival is a time when every family comes and buys a lamb each to celebrate a religious festival. They all want to choose the best animal, then get it cut up into thirds, with a third for themselves, thirds for family and a third for the poor. You can imagine the caos when so many people all want to do this process within a few days, and the MLA have to ensure that all Aussie standards are met.
We wandered through the saleyards, and saw so many different type of sheep. The sheep over here are so different than ours, gates are left open and they never wander out, and they stand on the back of utes without anything to keep them in. No wander they don’t know how to deal with our wild aussie sheep, and the MLA spends a lot of time teaching them in stock handling techniques.
We also saw a camel and a cow being killed, the camel carcass was SO massive hanging from the middle of the room.
We wandered down to the local markets, where all sorts of fresh produce is marketed everyday. Fruit, vegies, spices, poultry and seafood, It was great to wander through.
We had a relaxing afternoon, and even enjoyed a beer by the pool. It is so bloody hot here, we had really got warm wandering through the markets, so a swim was well appreciated.
We headed out to the Souk markets, were they sold fabric, scarfs, jewellery, kitchen utensils and more. It was a relaxing stroll through the area, and I even brought myself some pearls. Go shopping with Brenda – and I think you’ll always bring something home, she is a good encourager which I need. We then had a fantastic boat cruise in the Qatar inlet, looking back at the city lights was a great way to see the city. We had a swim – in the dark and it was SO salty, then had a meal on the deck. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening.
Friday morning I was able to fit in my sports fix, with a game of squash, tennis and swim in the pool. We headed out to watch some Camel racing in the afternoon, and WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT, it poured with rain in the desert and the races were cancelled. Becuase it never rains here, there is no drainage and the roads were an absolute mess. It was quite amusing to watch the cars go through the metre high water, and some not making it. We were able to visit a local camel race breeder, and have a chat to him about his camels. Well not a chat he couldn’t speak any English, so we communicated, and a few had a ride on his camels.
Tonight we went out for dinner at the markets, and now we have made it to the airport to catch a flight at 2am this morning. The sad part about tonight that I have been leaving out, is our dear friend, travel partner Brenda has been very sick, and has had to leave us to head for home. It is so sad to have a group member go home, and we are all so sad for her, and we will miss her lots. BUT we have had an amazing 2 week trip together with lots of memories, so that will last forever!
Ukraine here we come!!

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Asha centre and slum photo's







Here or there


Here or there.....

India is an amazing place, but it sure is a hard place to get anything done. It seems the culture of greetings, farewells, thankyou’s, awards etc etc slows down a lot of things! We have adopted the sayings ‘here or there’ for this place that when someone says it will take an hour ‘here or there’, it means plus or minus 2 hrs!

On saying that we have had a great day and arrived to the airport on time to fly to Delhi. This morning we visited a female professor at the university,she had spent time at UWA, and was VERY excited to see us. We were meant to call for 10 minutes only, but she had baked and prepared copious amounts of food (we had finished breaky 15minutes earlier), and was so excited that we stayed about an hour.

Australians could learn a lot from the reception/welcoming that Indians give. It is always so lovely, heartfelt and a little over the top, but makes you feel special all the same. To say no to the food is NOT an option, you can try but it won’t work. So this morning we worked our way through white curd milky stuff, nuts and noodle mix, deep fried vegies, pancakes, yellow cake, sweet jello cake, coffee, and fruit platter. WOW! Some may have gone into my handbag..... Then we were individually presented with a gift each of a souvenir god.

We then made our way to Raj’s fish farm. He has been our host for last 2 days so was nice to see his place. We looked around for about 5 minutes and then had a presentation of certificates to us each individually for attending Raj’s farm. Afterwards we went to his home, and had cooldrink, more cake and coffee, and were given gifts of saree’s (for the girls), souvenir coins(for the boys). They were truly special gifts, and we really appreciated. We had a quick look at Raj’s organic rice crops, then headed to one of very few turf farms. A quick look at the turf, then more drink, more cake and more biscuits, all of which is impossible to say no too, and not because its tempting.

We headed towards the airport and can you believe we stopped for lunch!! But in the end made it no worries to catch the dodgy kingfisher airways flight (going broke airline) to the city of New Delhi. Our drivers and cars got us back to our hotel, and we retired early before our last day in India.

The morning was filled with 4 meetings/presentations. 1- FFICI which is a group that helps connect the government with the farmers, and help develop new policies etc. 2- Investment into Indian Agriculture 3 – Austrade, and freeing up the trade negotiations between India and Australia, 4- An Australian government aid programme that helps in Indian agriculture research. It was a really good way to round out our trip and get lots of queries answered.

The afternoon was a trip to the Asha centre. A volunteer aid organisation that helps slum areas of Delhi. 2 amazing ladies explained to us the slum situation. There are nearly 4 million people in the different slum area’s around Delhi. The Asha centre is helping young ladies and children to improve their education, so they in turn can help others around them. ASha has organised bank loans and got ladies running their own small business, and children attending school and college. They have been able to get water in the form of hand pump stations in some slums They have been able to help 350000 slum dwellers.

We visited a slum that Asha has been helping. 3 different groups joined us in the Asha learning centre. A group or middle aged ladies, children and college teenagers. Through an interpreter we were able to learn a little of their lives and how Asha was helping them. I was very apprehensive about visiting the slums, fearing the sadness and poverty that we would experience. But these people were so kind and happy, we really enjoyed our time with them.

The walk through the slum area was a little harder to take. This slum at least had some brick and clay homes, but the drainage and sewerage ran openly throughout the housing. Mostly we were greeted with smiles, but the odd person would lower their eyes. The children followed us as we walked through and saw these homes with electrical wires running everywhere, rubbish and stench all around. Many people actually owned or rented their very small brick home, about 3x2m, housing a family of up to 6 people. They had electrical metres and had to pay for all their power. The toilets were shared, or were just done wherever around the area, and most people seemed to wash at the water pump area’s. We went into a family home and it was neat and tidy and clean on the inside. The owner lady worked cutting up the v that goes on rubber thongs, getting paid one dollar per day for almost 8-10hrs work. She did this in her home. Her husband owned a car and was a driver in the city. They basically cooked in the walkway out the front door of their home, and used a gas bottle for cooking, but some just had an open fire. The children played happily, and young toddlers were thrown around by the older kids without a kid in sight. Parents in oz, would never let kids this age out of their sight. Visiting the slums was an experience never to forget, and I am forever grateful for the life that I have been given
We finished India with one last curry meal out, then flew out Tuesday morning to Doha, Qatar.

 
Guys cutting the turf into strips, they sit like this all day, I think I could probably do 5 minutes at the max

Raj's organic rice crop -

Raj's family
 

Saturday 22 September 2012

 
Hot Farmer Fair Day in India
This morning I was treated to an awesome gym. Had ALL the gear, so that was a good start to the day. Breaky was even better with muesli, yogurt and all my favourites. We then headed out to the Punjab agricultural farmer fair. It was very busy, and we were shown through some of the stalls by a local farmer and president of the Punjab University Farmers Club. It was pretty hard to all stick together, and we wasted a fair bit of time just trying to get the group together. But there was a huge variety of things on show. Small machinery, Seeds, Crop Varieties, Ladies stalls with their home produce etc. They had quite a bit of technology for farms on a very small scale, but it was interesting to read in the local paper, that many farmers were complaining that the fair was only for the rich farmers and there was nothing there for the everyday farmers.
We were dripping in sweat by the time we got to an auditorium where they were doing presentations for the local farmer awards. We were placed on the stage as guests of honour for the day, and sat in front of probably 1000 farmers as speeches were made, songs were sung and trophy’s given. As it was all in their local language, we had no clue as to what was being said and it was a long 3.5 hot hours, but a memory that will last forever that’s for sure. We were very honoured at the end to be awarded a framed certificate each and have photos with the dignitaries.
We continued afterwards to explore the museum, and explore the field days a little more. Unfortunately we were running on Indian, so most of the stalls were closing up. We were all really worn out, hot and hungry so we certainly didn’t make the most of it. We made it back to the hotel, and had a very well enjoyed freshen up, and then headed out to a local farmers place for dinner.
This guys was doing REALLY well, and had a beautiful home. His 2 young sons, 26 and 29, had both lived in America and Canada for a period so spoke perfect English. We were spoilt to a beautiful meal (WAY to much), while we fired questions at these blokes about everything to do with Indian culture and how young people were fitting in with the Indian ways. Agriculture was forgotten for a while as we discussed weddings, arranged marriages, housing, starting businesses and more. They were very welcoming a spoke openly about their lives in this country.
It was irish’s birthday, so they even thought to have a cake and we sung happy birthday. We had a beer back at the hotel to celebrate the birthday too, and finally retired to bed around midnight.
 
 
Farmer visit yesterday

Hot and Tired at end of day

Univerity Halls, a little different than ours, their culture is so different in terms of the conditions they choose to work in and live in.

View from th stage out, there was no nodding off!

Friday 21 September 2012

GOLDEN TEMPLE PHOTOS





rice and wheat


From Amristra we headed south east this morning towards Ludhiana. Our first stop was with a group of farmers, on a typical rice/wheat farm. It was so fantastic to talk to them, and also was more relative to me with the cereal farming. They planted all their rice and wheat by hand, and also sprayed and harvested by hand. They irrigated everything, and their water levels are dropping at a dramatic rate! A huge concern! They yielded 5t/ha and they received a fixed price for their wheat of $350/t set by the government. It was hard to converse with the language barrier, but we were able to ask a few questions, and have a good look around.

Our second stop was 3 much larger and wealthier potato seed growers. They were very clever guys, and although in India you are only allowed to own a maximum of 7ha, they are able to lease a lot more land for a relatively cheap price. They were innovative farmers looking for ways to improve their production, and looking also for value adding. They were concerned about their water table dropping so quickly, and also how they were going to continue providing enough food for the ever growing population. Very interesting people to a talk to, and I will update more info later!

IN the afternoon we visited a freshfield factory, which is a company which packages fresh produce and exports it overeas. They packages mini corn, basil, coriander, and many more herbs. It was interesting to see the many ladies on the packaging line, earning $4/day, but they were happy and offered us many smiles which was nice!

We are now booked into a 5 star hotel and it is very,very nice. Malhi is showing us fancy Indian style! We have had a cruisy nigh with dinner downstairs and now early to bed!


Thursday 20 September 2012

Photos from farm visits

 Above; Farmers tanks, most farmers have deep underground tanks like this one, it was far deeper than can be seen in picture.
Milk pick up trucks, all picked up in these very small containers by these very smal utes.

Dairy Shed for 10 cows, they are tied up all day everyday, but are in very good condition compared to some others we have seen

Farm manager collecting the manure for the gas recylcling plant to get methane into the kitchen, for cooking.

The ladies sharing there festival lunch with us.

Sitting on the floor of their home enjoying tea and rice pudding. what an experience!!!!

 A typical farm backyard, cows, goats, dog, few crops.....
Inspection of dairy operation, dellightful photo, but at least we got to taste the icencream!!!

Punjab region with Malhi


We arrived in Bangalore  at around 7pm. The plan was for the boys to head to the bar, and the girls to the shops! But the boys all weakened to their feminine side, and we allwent out shopping together. It was good fun, as we entered a Saree shop and were literally swamped with attention. We all came out spending a bit too much on scarfs, tunics and saree’s but it was good fun. We headed to the Monkey bar, and again saw another side of India. Young people partying just as they do in Oz.  A few beers and dinner, and we didn’t get back to the hotel midnight, exhausted againJ
A 4.30am start to catch our flight to Amistra meant a lot of tired people. But we handled the Indian airports no worries and arrived in Amistra to be greeted by our hosts  Malhi and Rajwinder. We had met both of them at previous Nuffield events, so it was great to see them. We were taken to our hotel in a small bus, and it was amazing to see the difference in this city compared to Bangalore. It seems to be more developed, with better roads and buildings, but still very dirty and lots of small dark alley ways. There are a lot of turbans with the Sikh religion dominating the city.
We then experienced one of the most amazing things in my life. We visited the Sinkh golden temple. On entering the area, we removed our shoes and all placed scarfs over our heads. We had to wash our hands and feet on entry. The temple is beautiful, made of pure gold. Malhi our host was extremely proud to show us the temple, but we stood out from the crowd a lot and received lots of looks and comments, (All very happy and welcoming). A lot of younger people wanted their photo with us. Everything was peaceful and relaxing. We brought an offering and entered the temple were music was playing and many people were on the ground praying or just listening to the music. On giving our offering, we were given half back to eat our selves but were all too nervous to try. Malhi also gave me an orange parcel (which I am not quite sure is yet), and I was told it was very very special and look after it very much.
There was a large ‘pond’ around the temple and many people were bathing or drinking the holy water, we were able to dip in our feet. Once we excited we went to the free tea room where they serve meals for everyone who comes to the temple. We tried some hot chai tea, but didn’t have any of the food. 2 million enter the temple every day, and up to 50,000 people eating in the tea room at a time! It was just the most mind blowing experience, and we are so lucky to be able to do it. I was surprised that the people were so open to us coming to have a ‘look’ at their religious culture up close, but they really seemed so welcoming. Nuffield sure does open up some doors to fantastic experiences!
We had hoped to get to the Pakistan/India border to have a look, as we are less than 100kms from it, but unfortunately we spent too much time at the temple and couldn’t make it. We are now enjoying a precious hour to ourselves catching up on phone calls and emails. We will head out for dinner soon.

Punjab region with Malhi


We arrived in Bangalore  at around 7pm. The plan was for the boys to head to the bar, and the girls to the shops! But the boys all weakened to their feminine side, and we allwent out shopping together. It was good fun, as we entered a Saree shop and were literally swamped with attention. We all came out spending a bit too much on scarfs, tunics and saree’s but it was good fun. We headed to the Monkey bar, and again saw another side of India. Young people partying just as they do in Oz.  A few beers and dinner, and we didn’t get back to the hotel midnight, exhausted againJ
A 4.30am start to catch our flight to Amistra meant a lot of tired people. But we handled the Indian airports no worries and arrived in Amistra to be greeted by our hosts  Malhi and Rajwinder. We had met both of them at previous Nuffield events, so it was great to see them. We were taken to our hotel in a small bus, and it was amazing to see the difference in this city compared to Bangalore. It seems to be more developed, with better roads and buildings, but still very dirty and lots of small dark alley ways. There are a lot of turbans with the Sikh religion dominating the city.
We then experienced one of the most amazing things in my life. We visited the Sinkh golden temple. On entering the area, we removed our shoes and all placed scarfs over our heads. We had to wash our hands and feet on entry. The temple is beautiful, made of pure gold. Malhi our host was extremely proud to show us the temple, but we stood out from the crowd a lot and received lots of looks and comments, (All very happy and welcoming). A lot of younger people wanted their photo with us. Everything was peaceful and relaxing. We brought an offering and entered the temple were music was playing and many people were on the ground praying or just listening to the music. On giving our offering, we were given half back to eat our selves but were all too nervous to try. Malhi also gave me an orange parcel (which I am not quite sure is yet), and I was told it was very very special and look after it very much.
There was a large ‘pond’ around the temple and many people were bathing or drinking the holy water, we were able to dip in our feet. Once we excited we went to the free tea room where they serve meals for everyone who comes to the temple. We tried some hot chai tea, but didn’t have any of the food. 2 million enter the temple every day, and up to 50,000 people eating in the tea room at a time! It was just the most mind blowing experience, and we are so lucky to be able to do it. I was surprised that the people were so open to us coming to have a ‘look’ at their religious culture up close, but they really seemed so welcoming. Nuffield sure does open up some doors to fantastic experiences!
We had hoped to get to the Pakistan/India border to have a look, as we are less than 100kms from it, but unfortunately we spent too much time at the temple and couldn’t make it. We are now enjoying a precious hour to ourselves catching up on phone calls and emails. We will head out for dinner soon.

Running late ALL the time :)


After meeting Shane Whittaker, we embarked on another journey into the mountains with another 20 hairpin bends. We were all a little tired, and the 1.5 hr trip up the mountain was a challenge to stay awake. We arrived at 8.45pm, and the farmers we were meeting had been waiting since 7pm, oops! They still greeted us very warmly and welcomed us to their club. It was a very old building, and pretty rough, however the farmers were obviousy pretty wealthy! They all grew coffee, oranges and pepper. It was a shame we were there inn the dark and couldn’t tour their farms. They all spoke good English,and it was easy to chat. They talked of rising labour costs, and no one willng  to work anymore as govt’s were giving out more and more handouts (tv’s). They also believed there was no poverty which was interesting. Their wives however were the biggest hit, as we chatted to them about Sari’s, arranged marriages,and life as a female in India.

The trip home was far more entertaining, as the Irishman, fuelled by afew beers, started a sing a long, and we sang all the way down the hill. Exhausted we got home at 12.30am, and booked into our hotel.

This morning we headed out at 8.30am for 2 farm visits! They were a REAL highlight! The first was a dairy farmer who delivered milk to Shanes milk factory. It was a husband wife team and obviously pretty progressive. They milked 10 cows, and had a very neat and tidy farm. They grew  perennial grass on their 2 acres for their cows, which they cut and fed to their cows. They had an interesting system of gas production, where they put the cow manure in a pit and collected the methane for gas in the kitchen. We looked at a very deep, wide well, that they pumped water into from their electric bore, then used for irrigation and the cows. All the urine from cows was also reused onto crops. Today is a religious holiday in india, so we were invited into their home to share some of their food. We all sat on the floor and shared some creamed rice, roasted nuts, and tea. They were really beautiful people.

Our 2nd farm visit was to a typical mixed farmer. Father/son team had goats, 1 dairy cow, silk worms, coconuts, corn, and silage. It was also a neat operation, on  acres!

It was good to see some clean, neat operations, amongst the chaos of this country. Driving along, one would think that everything  is a total mess, and wonder howanything got produced and distributed. But behind the scenes there is some organisation behind the caos.

Shane whittaker works for Hatsun Dairy. They source milk from 120,000 farmers in the area. From farmers with 2 cows to farmers with 200. They pick up all the milk in 20l steel containers in little trucks. I cant quite comprehend how all the logistics work. We visited one of their plants were milk, butter, gee, powdered milk and icecream is made. The export market has only just recently been opened up, so their powered market is growing rapidly. However most of the milk is distributed and consumed locally. WE looked through the factory, then jumped in the bus to Bangalore.

Ramesh our local Indian host had to say goodbye to us here and it was sad to say goodbye. He was the best host and really wanted to show us real india, which he did well and truly. He departed heading for the religious day festivities. He explained the birthday that the country was celebrating and the rituals that would take place.

So i am literally bouncing around on the bus to Bangalore. The roads are SO rough!!!! I type with one jolted finger! The bus is continuosly beeping its horn as it overtakes vehicles in crazy places. However saying that, our bus driver is fantastic, and been very understanding of all our stops, and running late!

 

 

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Composting sugar and apparel park

 
I am on the bus again on the last leg of our day trip, heading to Salem for our overnight stay. Last night we headed though some very steep mountain ranges, in the dark, in crazy traffic,with 27 hairpin turns. So we crossed the border and are now in another state of India. We didn’t arrive at hotel till 10pm, so I skipped dinner with the crew and hit the sack exhausted. Even Linda’s snoring couldn’t keep me up for long.
Mike and I started the day with a run. The adrenalin was pumping as we dodged traffic, jumped over dodgy sewerage, and men and women looked at us very strangely in our western running outfits. I wore ¾ tights, which Indian men had ever seen before and I had many looks. We were determined not to get lost so didn’t stray far from the busy traffic streets, it was a great experience to see a busy Indian city waking up!  (but I would never do it alone)
After brecky we headed to a Apperal ‘park’. This is an area that government and private industry set up, with many different clothing factories in one area, manufacturing clothes for export. It supports better wages and conditions, for all workers, and allows buyers to source product from one area and know that the clothes are produced under good conditions. We were able to visit one of the clothing companies, and talk with the owner/manager. He was a fantastic guy, who knew that to get the best from his workers he had to treat them well, and also communicate and listen to their concerns. They produced a wide range of clothing and many well know clothing brands.
We then headed for a REAL traditional Indian lunch. It was great! We ate with our hands off banana leaves, it was SO hot, I was sweating and eyes watering. Delicous though! Had to dodge a few chicken guts/necks/bones, yummo!
We then headed towards Ramesh (our host) ‘fertiliser’ farm. It was actually a composting site for sugarcane byproduct, in which they add bacteria to improve the speed at which they are able to break down the cane, into nutritious, organic compost for the farmers. Through research they have been able to reduce the time of composting to 25 days, they hope to get it even lower. Many workers are involved in the process of getting the compost  from the site to the bags for delivery. Ramesh’s factory gave us a really fantastic traditional welcoming, with flowers given out, a dot on the head between the eyes, a welcome sign and some art on the dirt saying welcome. It was really humbling!
We then headed to the sugar factory where the byproduct comes from. The company is doing a lot to try and help farmers improve yields and the machinery they are using. They run field days and try to help farmers improve yields.
SO we are now on the bus and tonight we are meeting with Shane Whittaker – Aussie dairy farmer , and some other local farmers, for dinner 



Monday 17 September 2012

INDIA

 
We have had an amazing day!! Heading south from Mysore to visit some farmers we passed through some remote villages, and a huge assortment of different farm crops. Growing at the moment is sugarcane, corn, banana’s, turmeric, tomato’s, coconuts, spices of all varieties, potatos, and so much more. There is so much diversity. Although some towns got a little tidier, there are a lot of very poor people.  We are now sitting on the bus with a 5 hr drive ahead of us, and its 5pm. I just passed some ladies who sit on the side of the road breaking up blue metal with a hammer all day to use for road works.

The countryside was pretty dry, as the monsoon season is soon to begin. Im not quite sure how to describe the villages. We are passing through one now and there is rubbish EVERYWHERE. But the people are mostly well presented, and look clean and tidy. All the shops are on the street, with cars and scooters galore. A lot of the houses are falling down, with roofs covered with tarpaulins or banana leaves!

The farmers we visited explained that turmeric was their main profitable crop at the moment. It is used in most Indian dishes and has very good health benefits. It can also be used as a skin product, by rubbing the tube on your skin. We were offered coconut water, fresh from the coconuts of the tree! Very delicious and refreshing! One of the farmers was able to speak English, so it was great to be able to have good discussion, on the many crops that he grew. He, as many farmers do, had an electric pump to draw water from 400 feet to irrigate his crops. Farmers receive free electricity from the government and there is no limit to the water they can draw (for now).

Rashem explained that the main challenge was education for the farmers. They had little understanding of their soils and continued to do what they had always done for years.

We stopped at a school, and were able to enter the classrooms and converse with the children. They were so happy and excited to see us, it was beautiful. Stu gave a frisby away and it was fun to play in the street with them.

We had a packed lunch on the bus, and we are now trying to find beer for the long trip to the next hotel. It has been so good to travel on roads that tourists never go, and see the real India. These people have never seen white people before and are fascinated by our presence.  I find it a little uncomfortable at times given our huge wealth, but they are so welcoming and happy it is ok.

Over and out!
Picture 1 - herbicide and pesticide shop!! very small scale, the one on the far right is gramoxone!
 
 p2 - amazing what these guys fit on a bike! we stopped on this corner and just stood and watched for 30 minutes
 
tumeric - grown a lot in the area, and looking good!
 farmer discussion with all th gang, more and more workers joined us as we went!
 
the gang enjoying coconuts
 yum and refreshing!!!!!

Sunday 16 September 2012

INDIA

WOW! This place is everything I imagined, but still amazing and confronting to see! Crazy traffic, scooters and motorbikes, terrible infrastructure, both the rich and the poor and people, people, people everywhere.

We jumped on a pre-oragnised bus at the airport, and with our hosts Marc and Rasesh we headed to our first hotel. The pride hotel was very nice, and we didnt really get a taste of India till we jumped on the bus and headed out of the city south towards Mysore. It was Sunday morning but the traffic was still horrific, and it took over 4 hours to travel 150km. It is horrible to see how some of these people have to live in tents and tin shacks, and we can only imagine how they survive in the monsoonal season with all the rain. Our host Rasesh explained some of the history of India, and how as a country they are so young, but the population growing at such a HUGE rate, that it is impossible to keep up with the infrastructure (housing, roads, sewerage, electricity etc), leading to the problems that we were seeing.

Rasesh also talked about the religions, schooling, unemployment, health, politics and more. It was a great to have a host to introduce us to India, and be able to ask all the questions!

Once out of the city we could see the first of the small agricultural plots, that many farming families are surviving on. There was rice, corn, sugarcane and some small horticulure plots. Most farms between 2-5 acres, with all the produce traded on a local market for other produce. We stopped at one sugar farm 'production', but that was all we were able to see today.

When we arrived at Mysore, we visited a historic palace, which was really cool. No pictures as we werent allowed to take Camera's in. Tommorow, Monday, we will head further south and start some Ag visits.


Picture below - outside the palace there were markets and hawkers galore. These guys literally chased us to the bus and would not give up. Some of the guys relented and brought some 'quality' Indian produce.
 This is the sugar production unit, they are heating the sugar sap to make itinto little sugar cubes. 2 guys sit there all day, one stoking the fire and the other stirring the pot.
 Our first Indian lunch stop. Most of us have brought 'travelan' for the stomach so all fingers are crossed! The food was SO good though, heres hoping my stomach agrees!
 One of many markets and peoples houses on the side of the road as we travelled on the bus
 Our crew on the bus, a very comfortable one and plenty of room.

We had dinner at our hotel last night, with more delicous food and some local kingfisher beer which was also very delicous! Bit scared to go for a run in case of getting lost, so just some situps then time to start the day! Tooraroo