As President of Meloor panchayat in Chalakudy, Thrissur, Kerala, P. P.Babu has imagined, pursued, and achieved much that any leader could be proud of. Yet there are many problems in the development field to besolved to achieve gram swaraj. The Asraya Destitute RehabilitationCentre,,indigenous industries, small self financing units with the helpof Kudambasree - these and other ideals of local government have beenplanned and implemented for the development of Meloor Village . In this tiny hamlet situated in the interior of Kerala, aspirations turn into reality. The panchayat President was selected for Nirmal Gram Puraskar award 2007-08 for implementation of sanitation schemes in villages. He received the award from the President of India. He was also selected as the best Panchayat President in Thrissur District by Kerala youth Guidance movement .

In an interview to Sreeni K.R , P.P Babu,'Panchayat President talks about the responsibilities taken up to protect the Meloor village environment, and his vision to guide the village to attain the statusof gram swaraj.

When did you take charge as the President of Meloor Village, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Kerala?
I took charge on October 6, 2005 as the President of Meloor Village, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Kerala.

Asa panchayat chief, most of your responsibilities are centred around protecting your village environment. Does that mean you got ample opportunity to try out Gandhis ideas on gram swaraj?
MeloorGrama Panchayat consists of 16 wards which covers an area of 230 6hectares with an population of 24854. Agriculture is the back bone of Meloor village and as a part of decentralisation of activities, much has been gained in the production and service sectors in the panchayat which holds the first place with respect to area and population. Maybe you can look at this as an economic ideal or as Gandhian thinking.However we lack the facility to market our products. Most of the things we sell are “unfinished products”, such as harvested crops, unpasteurized milk, banana and coconut oil. We send these items off to other places, to be processed, packaged, and transported back to us.

First of all, planning needs to be done to improvise on our village development. We have to bring small agro based industries to our village so that middle men can be avoided and this also helps to find employment through new economic activity. Yet there are many problems in the development field which need to be solved to attain gram swaraj.

Meloor is the largest producer of Banana in Kerala. Are you thinking of some source of capital for a few startup ventures to make them fairly independent so that you are able to generate more job opportunities in your village?
Once Meloor was the largest producer of Banana in Kerala. But,for the last few years, production has  drastically reduced. To bring Meloor back to the map, we started compulsory agriculture on uncultivated land. We are providing free seeds, fertilizer ,water and all necessary infrastructure to the farmer groups . In this way we are able to make a drastic change in the production unit. With the help of Kudambasree units, we planned and started cultivating 50 acres [25 acres of rice and 25 acres of vegetable of land using organic fertilizers in the first phase. In the second phase, we planned to start some agro based small scale industries which have helped to solve unemployment problems, to some extent.

Many of the projects undertaken by you are successful. But the underlying purpose of these efforts is to transform society, is it not? What is your verdict on that larger goal?
183Kudambasree units are functioning in our village. We have completed many successful schemes with their help and we are looking forward to doing more in future. We want to convert each of these Kudambasree units into a small scale industry in order to solve the unemployment
problem. For this we arrange regular training programmes and classes conducted by experts.

How many Kudumbasree Ward Samithies or Area Development Societies(ADS),and Kudumbasree Panchayat Samithies or Community Development Societies(CDS)are working at the panchayat level in Meloor?
In Meloor, 183 Kudumbashree units, 16 ADS and 1 CDS are working at the panchayat level .

What are the goals you have set for your village and which are the upcoming projects?

Goals
Sampoorna Village: All the basic facilities for those who reside in our village, such as land,water,hospitals,schools and electricity.
Street Lighting using Compact fluorescent Lamp [CFL]' in our village.
Swajjal Dhara Plan completed at Pushpagiri, Poolani, Koovakkattukunnu which helped to remove water deficiency in these areas.
We welcome more agro based industries into our village.
New projects
Organic farm project[We
have started experimenting on 50[25 acres of rice and 25 acres of vegetable] acres of land using organic farming methods;Expecting result
on or before Onam].After looking at the success rate, we will implement and extend the same to the whole village.

Cancer Detection Centre Prevention Cell to reduce the suicide ratio.Old age Pension Scheme.

In an interview to Sreeni K.R ,Prof.Namboodiri talks about the prospects and growth in the Fisheries sector.

When did you take charge as the Dean of College of Fisheries, Panangad?
I took charge of the post in Feb 2002.

College of Fisheries, Panangad is the third Fisheries College in the country. When was it established and what is its aim?
The
College of Fisheries, Panangad was established in the year 1979. This
is a constituent college of Kerala Agricultural University and one
among the 14 Fisheries colleges established in the country. The aim of
the college is to develop adequate trained manpower for manning the
fisheries sector in the State, which include both the Government sector
and the private sector. Another objective is to generate adequate
number of B.F.Sc. graduates and also post-graduates who can be utilized
for the overall development of the Fisheries sector. Providing
professional education to children from the fisheries community is also
the aim of the college. With this objective, reservation has been given
to children of fishermen community in the admission of the college.

As an academician,what are the methods you have adopted for the smooth and proper conduct of academic and related activities?
As
an academician I have taken every possible step for the smooth and
proper conduct of academic activities of the college. As far as the
students academics are concerned, I have taken the role of a
felicitator providing a conducive environment for the smooth
functioning of academic activities. Based on the performance of the
students in the ICAR/JRF exams, the college has been nominated as the
most outstanding among the 14 Fisheries colleges in the country by ICAR
several times.

What are the major problems faced by the Fisheries Department?
Kerala
State is blessed with a 590 km long coastline which contributes to 10%
of India's total coastline.On an average 5.8 lakh tonnes of marine fish
is produced annually by the state, which accounts for about 20% of the
national fish production. Inland fish production is 75000 metric tonnes
from 32000 hectares of freshwater bodies. However we face several
problems:
1.Coastal sea is subjected to maximum fishing pressure
continuously by mechanized, motorized crafts and diversified gears. Per
capita income of fishermen has reduced substantially.
2.Fish/shrimp production from freshwater ponds and paddy fields has not increased substantially.
3.Only about 25% of installed capacity of fish processing plants in Kerala is being used now.
4.Facilities to ensure quality in the domestic fish marketing sector are insufficient.
5.Service of technically trained manpower is not adequately utilized by the Department.

Do you think the Fisheries sector can play a major role in the economic recovery of the State?
Yes,it
can.The contribution of the Fisheries sector to the GDP of the state is
greater than that of the agricultural sector.It can greatly contribute
to the food security of the state by increasing fish production from
aquaculture and also from capture fisheries. Inland fish production has
to be increased from the present level of 75000 mt. to 250,000 mt. in
the next 10 years. It can be done by bringing an additional area of
10,000 ha. of brackish water bodies under aquaculture. Scampi
productivity has to be increased from the present level of 270 kg/ha/yr
to the national average of 860 kg/ha/yr. Income of the fishermen
community can be increased by adopting better post harvest measures to
reduce fish loss and also increase the returns of the fishermen by
value addition of raw materials as well as processed products.

What are major problems faced by fishermen in the outer islands and remote areas?
Lack
of adequate returns from fishing operation is the major problem faced
by fishermen. This is mainly due to the lack of proper technology and
also lack of required marketing facilities.

On the
research front, the scientists of the faculty have made notable
contributions. In spite of all this where do you think you have failed
to address the problems of the fishermen community?
The
scientists of the Faculty of Fisheries of Kerala Agricultural
University have made abundant contributions in various research fronts.
In aquaculture, hatchery technology of the fresh water prawns
Macrobrachium rosenbergii has been developed by the scientists of this
faculty. Similarly technique for ornamental fish farming has been
standardized. The college has developed captive breeding technology of
about 10 species of indigenous ornamental fishes. A depuration system
was developed for making the bi-valve meat free of sand and
microorganisms. Also bioactive compounds have been separated from the
marine organisms, cuttle fish and squid wastes. A major problem facing
this area is the lack of proper transfer of technology to the fishermen
community. As a result,the real benefits of research have not reached
the sector.

A commercially viable technology is used for
hatchery production of seeds of the giant fresh water prawn. What is
the technology known as and what is its value in the commercial market?
A
commercially viable technology has been developed by the College of
Fisheries for the hatchery production of seeds of the giant freshwater
prawn. This technology has been extensively adopted by various
hatcheries throughout India, especially Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The college was also consultant for setting up of freshwater prawn
hatcheries for the Fisheries Department of the state, Gujarat and
Karnataka. Based on the technology, 71 Macrobrachium hatcheries with a
total production capacity of 1.8 billion seeds started operating in the
country (as per the recent estimate). Using the seed produced in these
hatcheries, more than 40000 hectares of farm area are under
Macrobrachium culture in India with a production of approximately 40000
tonnes. Nearly 6000 tonnes of Scampi is exported and the rest is
domestically consumed.

Vembanad lake,which forms the
major inland water body of the State of Kerala is known to be the best
place for the growth of fish population. What are the related problems
of the lake and what steps did the Government & Fisheries
Department take to protect the Lake?
The Vembanad wetlands
spread out in Ernakulam, Kottayam and Alappuzha districts covering a
total area of 132 km., is the largest among the backwaters of Kerala
state. It extends to a length of 90 km from Alappuzha in the south to
just north of Kochi . Vembanad Lake supports a significant growth of
fish population in the state.However this has been badly affected by
the Thanneermukkom barrage, which was commissioned in the year 1975 as
a project to enhance the rice cultivation in the Kuttanad region. After
commissioning of the Thanneermukkom barrage, several environmental and
ecological problems have been noticed in the wetland system leading to
the reduction of fish catch concentration of pollutants and increase in
weed growth upstream. Another problem is the shrinkage of Vembanad
wetlands to 37% (13224 ha.) of its original area (36329 ha.) as a
result of land reclamation. Urbanization and unscientific construction
of roads and bridges have also caused deterioration of the aquatic
ecosystem. The State Government has initiated steps to regulate the
opening of the Thanneermukkam barrage so as to improve the fish wealth
based on the report of the technical Expert Committee appointed in the
year 2002. The Government is also taking measures to reduce land
reclamation causing shrinkage of the Vembanad wetland system. Recently
a programme called "Vembanad Fish Count" was carried out to assess the
fish wealth of this region. Kerala Agricultural University, College of
Fisheries and Regional Agricultural Research Station, Kumarakom have
taken a leading role in this operation.

When did you take charge as the Head of the department(HOD) of Agricultural Meteorology?
I
took over as Head of the Department on 17.6.1999. Became Associate Dean
of College of Horticulture on 11.6.2003 and continued till June 2006.
It was the highest position in any State Agricultural University at the
college level. I was also in the highest position of Kerala
Agricultural University (KAU) for a short period as the Director
(Academic and PG studies) and the Director of Research. Unlike
traditional Universities, the mandate of a teacher in KAU is to carry
out teaching, research and extension in respective specialties in the
field of Agriculture for the benefit of the farmers of the State of
Kerala.

What sort of changes have you seen during this year in the Agriculture sector?
There
was no food crisis due to supply of enough foodgrains the world over.
This scenario took a U-turn in the field of foodgrains in recent years.
The crisis now is food security and food price. It is reflected acutely
at regional scales in some parts of the world like the African and
central Asian countries. It could be attributed to global policies in
the field of Agriculture.On one side,food has become very costly to
common man and on the other, farmers are in distress due to
uncertainties in farm income as weather-related disasters become
frequent.

Now a days, a lot of changes are seen on the climate front. How adversely does it affect agriculture in Kerala?
Yes,
reports at the global level indicate that climate change is real. It
has negative consequences on the society in relation to health,
agriculture, sea level, water resources including water quality,
biodiversity, forestry and socio-economic status at the regional scale.
As far as its effect on agriculture is concerned, wheat and rice
production is likely to decline marginally on a global scale in ensuing
decades and further aggravated with time by 2100 AD, as per the
simulation models across the world fitting in CO2 increase and
temperature rise at 550ppm and 3°C, respectively. It is a debatable
piece of work on research methodology in highlighting future crop
scenarios based on simulation models. I strongly feel that the threat
to agriculture is not based as much on climate change as it is on the
climate variability in the form of frequent occurrences of floods and
droughts and heat and cold waves. Of course, their frequency is likely
to increase based on the climate change projection models.

What sort of scientific support do you have in Kerala for your programs?
Farmers
are really in need of agromet advisory service based on weather
forewarning to improve crop yield through minimizing crop losses
against weather adversities like floods and droughts.In this context,
two aspects come in the forefront to deal with farmers on advisory
services effectively.One is reliability of weather forecasting and the
other one is, preparation of cropping system-based advisory across the
State to meet the farmers' requirements.It is really the need of the
hour.Initiatives are taken to involve the related institutes and the
technical personnel required. In a few months time, it will produce
results. The Kerala Agricultural University, Department of Agriculture
and Ministry of Agricultre are at it in formulating agro-advisory
services based on weather forewarning at least at the district level,
to begin with.

Briefly explain the science of Meteorology and in which field it is applied?
The
science of Meteorology deals with the physical process of lower
atmosphere that produces weather. It concerns with the study of the
structure, the state and behaviour of the atmosphere, based on which
weather forewarning is made through synoptic analysis and objective
global and regional atmospheric models. Its application started with
aviation purposes. Now, it is applied in various fields.Agricultural
Meteorology deals with crop husbandry, Zoo Meteorology deals with
Animal husbandry, Hydrometeorology deals with water, Forest Meteorology
deals with forestry, Marine Meteorology deals with marine products and
Bio Meteorology deals with human health. All these reveal that it has
wider applications and importance since it is a society-linked science.

Global scales push the threshold of the perception of Meteorology into Climatology. Do you agree with the statement?
Well.
It is not a correct statement though it looks similar from the
application point of view. Climatology is a part of Meteorology like
Synoptic Meteorology, Dynamic Meteorology, hydro-meteorology and
Agricultural Meteorology. It deals with statistical figures of
principal atmospheric variables like temperature and rainfall while
meteorology deals with physical and thermal processes of land, ocean
and atmosphere continuum which produces weather.For example, daily
rainfall is seen every day during monsoon season(June to September) as
it is derived as a long period average (over a period of 30 years ),
while it is not really so, as it depends on weather systems, the
physics of which is explained in Meteorology. Similarly in Climatology,
the onset of monsoon is derived as June 1+/- 7 days. That means the
monsoon is likely to arrive from 25th May to 8th June on any day as per
the climate norms while in Meteorology, the actual onset of monsoon is
derived based on certain monsoon systems prevailing across the globe.
In simple terms, Meteorology is a weather science while Climatology
looks at statistical figures of weather variables.In other words,
Climatology is nothing but statistical Meteorology.

The
monsoon forecast system is of great relevance, as the rain has a major
role in deciding the national economic growth.In this context,what are
the new areas of research work progressing at Kerala Agricultural
University?
The science of Meteorology, aimed at weather
forewarning, is being dealt by the India Meteorological
Department.There are four types of weather forecasting viz., now
casting, short range weather forecasting, medium range weather
forecasting and long range weather forecasting.Except medium range
weather forecasting,the other types of forecasting appear to be
sound.From the farmers point of view, the medium range weather
forecasting is the need to get response time for field operations as it
deals with a span of 3-10 days.At the same time, it is difficult to
give reliable forewarning at the district level.Many research
institutes also work on the medium range weather forecasting using
different mesoscale modelling.Such programmes will be taken up by the
KAU in collaboration with other scientific institutes within the State,
with finance from funding agencies.In this direction, KAU would like to
tie-up with similar institutes on an experimental mode.

Where do you think, in spite of all the progress, you have failed to address the problems of the farmers' community?
In
fact, the science of Agricultural Meteorology is not a direct field
application science unlike crop improvement, crop production and crop
protection. However, weather science acts as a tool for all farm
operations including crop protection for sustenance of agricultural
production. Nevertheless, it is recognized as a field science in the
form of agromet advisory services based on weather forewarning. Due to
agromet advisory service, farmers do improve crop yields, varying from
6 to 19 per cent depending upon the season and crop over the central
zone of Kerala. It gives us lot of confidence in extending the agromet
advisory service state-wide. If this service is made operational and
extended further, I am sure the farming community will be directly
benefited at large. Otherwise, the question remains unanswered.

Among
the Agri-Horticultural commodities getting exported from India, cashew
ranks the 2nd position.Kerala is the one of the largest area holders of
this crop. It generates employment in the processing and agrarian
sector for over 50,000 persons with 95% of them being women. What type
of research are you doing to save the industry?
You are
100% correct in this respect as far as cashew industry in Kerala is
concerned. Like many other sensitive crops, the reproductive phase in
cashew is highly dependent on prevailing weather conditions. Though
several programmes were initiated by the developmental agencies since
the last two decades to improve the cashew production in Kerala, it
fell down to the 4th position in terms of cashew production when
compared to the national level. One of the main reasons attributed to
the decline in cashew production was stiff competition from other crops
like rubber. This crop needs immediate attention in the interest of the
cashew industry, just as the interest shown by the planners including
Government agencies in the case of paddy.

From your personal diary, you have published many works at the national and international level.Which are they?
There
are many. But I feel elevated when my textbooks/publications are read
by my students, teachers and researchers and commended for
improvement.More than that, I feel elevated when my material is
referred and I am requested for comments in the print media
nationally/internationally. For instance, when I got an enquiry on
monsooned Malabar coffee from a company in Singapore… Similarly from
our own print and e-media… It reveals that my work, which has emerged
out of my effort over a period of three decades in the field of
Agricultural Meteorology, is recognized. I would like to highlight the
following books with my imprints: