Akola Day Two

I don't read Hindi but I get the idea, watch out.

Today was our first full day in Akola and the team split up for the morning session.  Rachel went visited some schools, Sarah and Kat went to a couple banks while Tyler and I went to the PDKV Agricultural University. At PDKV Tyler and I first visited a research site where they are working on medical plant farming.  Indians consume large amounts of medicinal plants and the wild stocks are dwindling.  Commercially raised plants are showing lower concentrations of the active medicinal chemicals in the plant so they are researching ways to improve this. They are also working on inter-cropping medical plants between existing crops. We then went to another research area where they are working on water conservation methods such as drip irrigation and contour farming.  We have noticed a big disconnect between the researchers and the farmers as there is little to no educational outreach to teach the farmers more efficient farming techniques.

Tyler demonstrates the converted stairmaster well pump

This bucket drip watering setup uses 1/3 of the water and gives a better crop yield than the normal irrigation method.

Check dam near Akola

After lunch we all got back together and headed off to the countryside where there is a project sponsored by the Seattle Rotary District 5030 that builds check dams for villages. The check dams serve to capture the tail end of the monsoon flows in the stream and retain the water for a number of uses.  The farmers are able to use the water for supplemental irrigation, it helps to recharge the dropping groundwater levels, provides water for women in the nearby village to use so that they don't have to walk miles to do laundry, and the kids enjoy playing in the pool when it is hot out.  All our visits have been great here in Akola and the hosts have been wonderful.  We have a combined Rotary club visit this evening at 9 where all 5 clubs will join up for our presentation.