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