Plantation Tour

This is basically a transcript of the tours I give at Mojo Plantation.  Sometimes I leave things out and I'm pretty much never this articulate, but I think most of this information comes across. 

Welcome to Mojo Plantation…

 

Our Plantation is composed of four valleys, totaling 24 acres, about 18 of which are cultivated and certified organic.  Our main crop is cardamom, a native of this region, followed by coffee, black pepper and vanilla.  We also cultivate pineapples and citrus fruit.  Due to the extreme climate (we get about 200 inches of rainfall per year, mostly in the span of three months), it is difficult to cultivate food crops, which prefer drier soil.  During the drier winter and summer seasons (October through May) we have been experimenting with vegetables.  We are currently growing tomatoes, brinjal (eggplant), peppers, nerkol (colrabi), cabbage, beans, sweet potatoes, turmeric and ginger.  Unseasonable and unpredictable rainfall has ensured that our yields remain mediocre. 

 

Sujata and Anurag Goel founded the plantation 15 years ago.  They were both working as geneticists at an institute in Delhi.  Due to the misappropriation of knowledge for commercial use by companies like Monsanto without proper background research, the Goels became skeptical of their roles in the field of genetic modification.  They made the decision to leave the lab and the city and move south.  They loaded up their jeep (now the infamous “Blues Mobile”) and started driving.  Along their path they encountered in India’s many agricultural fields an unprecedented use of pesticides.  The men and women applying these chemicals wore backpack sprayers and no form of protection.  Sujata achingly recalls an encounter with a young child in a recently sprayed field, eating fresh cardamom pods coated in toxins while her parents looked on.  The chemicals don’t just affect those who manually apply them.  All members of communities exposed to these toxins suffer.  Women pass on the affects of their exposure to their children, who develop learning disabilities and/or deformities, if they do not become sterile.  An increase in the occurrence of cancer in these villages and communities is also common.  Though the consumer imbibes these chemicals in much smaller doses, these same effects have been documented. 

 

When the Goels found this piece of land, they knew they had found their “Mojo,” or magic charm.  This was their calling!  The land had been owned by a man who recently had passed away.  His sons, working out of Mangalore, visited the property infrequently and left the farm’s management to the family that still works with us today.  Sujata and Anurag inherited a crop of cardamom infected with the khate virus.  This virus becomes apparent by the yellow streak pattern it produces on the leaves of the cardamom plant.  By the time this visual indication is recognized, the entire crop may already be infected.  The only option is to uproot the entire crop and burn it, so that it may not infect the farmer’s new crop.  They planted a new crop of cardamom and at first (at the behest of the Karnataka Spice Board) cultivated it using conventional techniques (applications of NPK fertilizers and minimal pesticides). 

 

Above: Cardamom plant; Below: Conogethes punctiferalis moth.

Despite following the accepted practices for cardamom cultivation, they still encountered a destructive pest.  Conogethes punctiferalis is a voracious lepidopteron (moth) whose larvae bore into the juicy stem of the cardamom plant, gestate and emerge through a second bored hole in its adult form.  It then commences to lay its eggs in the plant’s canopy or the leaf litter below.  Being of a scientific mindset, the Goels did not see this as cause for despair, but instead a call to experiment. 

 

After applying for numerous grants to conduct their research, a significant level of funding was provided by the National Geographic Society.  They proposed to investigate the effectiveness of pesticidal/pest repellent properties in decoctions of many common growing botanicals in the immediate local area.  Their research confirmed common folk knowledge of wild tobacco as a pest repellent, and showed it to be particularly successful in repelling the Conogetes moth.  After trials in a lab setting, the wild tobacco decoction was applied on a field level with positive results.  The pest level dropped dramatically in their first year of spraying, and after the second year, the repellent was no longer necessary.  The Stem Borer population had dropped below pest level, and was now a balanced member of the Mojo Plantation community. 

 

Wild Tobacco plant

Why were they able to stop spraying?  Conventional plantations will spray their far more powerful pesticides at regular monthly intervals, yet their pest populations never fall enough to cease use of the pesticide.  The wild tobacco decoction was not the only pest control method in use.  Look around-- see all those weeds?  We love weeds here.  Weeds serve many purposes on this plantation.  Most importantly for the cardamom story, it acts as a primary habitat for carnivorous insects, spiders, frogs, lizards, dragonflies and damselflies; all of whom help to control our pest populations naturally.  Of course when the natural system is out of balance, there are too many pests for these workers to control.  When an organic pest repellent is used judiciously during key times in the pest’s life cycle to relieve the population to a manageable level, these predators take care of the rest, maintaining the natural balance.

 

Our weeds are our most valuable resource.  Not only do they provide habitat for our predators, they also act as a living mulch to keep moisture in the soil during our hot months, fuel our livestock, provide alternative food for potential pests, and provide an invaluable compost input.  Most farmers and gardeners struggle constantly against weeds.  They do require a significant amount of manual labor to keep in check, but they need not be uprooted, burned, asphyxiated and killed with herbicides.  Providing each crop plant with some open space to grow but leaving the majority of the weeds in one’s garden is essential for sustainable cultivation of plants as crops.   

 

Vanilla

 

Vanilla is our highest grossing crop.  It is the second most expensive spice in the world, saffron being the first.

Hand-pollinating vanilla.

 

Vanilla is an orchid, indigenous to a mountainous region of Mexico.  Conquistadors discovered this exotic and intoxicating plant (the only orchid that bares edible fruit) and were either seduced by its fragrance or saw its commercial potential in Europe (probably both).  They sailed cuttings of the plant to another colony on the other side of the world, Madagascar.  There they established vanilla plantations, but after many seasons of flowering without fruit production, the cultivators realized something was missing.  It was finally discovered (by a plantation slave, as the story goes) that each vanilla plant must be manually pollinated to induce fruit production.  There is a species of bee in vanilla’s native region of Mexico that is solely responsible for the pollination of these flowers.  Because this bee is absent everywhere else in the world, every April a team of our finest human bees makes its way through the vines, equipped with sterile forceps, and manually pollinates each individual flower, thus ensuring a crop in February.

 

Vanilla is an epiphyte (an organism that lives on a tree without parasitizing it) and will grow straight up a tree trunk and into the canopy unless diverted.  We train the vines along vertical tubing strung between tree trunks, but all the energy for growth is still concentrated at the top of the plant.  The culprit of this inconvenient pattern of growth, known as “apical dominance,” is a hormone called auxin.  This hormone pulls all the plant’s growth energy into a controlled upward sprouting, and limits fruit production.  To outsmart the plant, we cut the top off of the plant, dispersing the growth energy down the vine, encouraging more fruit growth and a more vibrant harvest.

 

When a plant is subjected to moderate amounts of stress (too little water, too high temperatures) it will speed up its reproduction cycle, for fear of dying without producing offspring.  We often induce controlled desiccation (water deprivations) on our vanilla plants to stimulate fruit production.  This produces an early vanilla harvest (crops gross more early in a season) and saves our water resources.

 

Most of our vanilla crops are still young and have yet to reach their yielding potential.

 

Compost and EM

 

The most important aspect of any organic farm is the health of its soil.  In conventional agriculture, the role of soil has been reduced to a mere physical support for plants.  When one uses chemical fertilizer or pesticides, one is in fact killing the plant’s actual source of a whole range of nutrients.  Microbes in the soil are responsible for the assimilation of nutrients into the soil that plants may readily absorb.  Nitrogen is the most important of these.  Our atmosphere is 98% Nitrogen, but the soil contains only .002% of this valuable nutrient, and little of this is in a form assimilable by plants.  More than one scientist has characterized this as a cruel joke of nature; that life’s most essential nutrient is so plentiful yet so inaccessible.  But these scientists weren’t looking into their microscope hard enough!  Billions of tiny workers are constantly converting that abundant resource into nitrates.  Many plants, notably legumes, have developed symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil.  In fact, the practice of “green manuring” intersperses crops with leguminous plants, so the crops may experience the benefits of this relationship. 

 

The best way to build up a healthy soil community is through composting.  We practice traditional composting-- with a twist!  Because we don’t mechanize anything on the farm, we have to manually distribute compost to each individual plant.  To make this tedious task more manageable, we have localized compost pits in each valley.  Our compost is comprised of many layers of biomass (our friends, the weeds), cow manure, diluted cow urine and EM (Effective Microorganisms).  These EM are cultures from native soil.  They are used globally for organic farming and gardening and span a vast array of uses. These cultures boost the microbial content of our most important fertilizer.  They help to destroy potential diseases in the cow dung, and make the compost even more nutritive.  They are also useful in a number of arenas outside of compost.  They generally destroy “bad” or disease-causing bacteria, so they can be used to eliminate odor in human or animal waste, reduce fly populations on garbage heaps, and rehabilitate poorly maintained soil when shifting from conventional to organic agriculture practices. 

 

Healthy soils make healthy plants.  Feeding a plant synthetic NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium) to the exclusion of other vital nutrients is like raising a kid entirely on white bread.  Sure, it will grow, but it will be sick and unable to defend itself against disease.  Growing unhealthy plants like these necessitates pesticide use, thus causing the farmer to become dependent on synthetic fertilizer (which kills the microbes which ought to feed the plants nutrients) and on chemical pesticides (since the plants are incapable of using their natural defense systems to protect themselves against disease).  What part of this system is logical?

 

Plants have evolved for millions of years without humans to kill their pests for them.  They have evolved advanced, elegant (and poorly studied) methods of self-defense, because they don’t have the luxury of getting up and walking away.  A healthy and lively soil feeds plants a full and varied diet of nutrients and minerals that allow these protective measures to function.  It’s like feeding a kid round meals, whole grains and lots of vegetables!

 

Coffee and Intercropping

 

Coffee berries on the branch.

We intercrop two types of coffee with our other crops and weeds.  Most farmers in our area are unable to grow Coffea arabica, because it is a smaller plant and more prone to pests and diseases (specifically another lepidopteron borer).  We are able to grow this species because we intersperse the saplings with its stronger sibling, Coffea robusta. 

 

Intercropping is a practice that can cut down pest growth before it becomes problematic.  The practice of monoculture is a relatively new technique that basically invites pests to chow down on an unlimited food supply.  It was only the advent of chemical pesticides that allowed this method to flourish.  Intercropping relies on diversity within a single field.  You will not see an expanse exclusively filled with coffee or cardamom on this plantation.  All our crops are interwoven with each other and with weeds.  Our valleys themselves are separated by fallow, uncultivated land.

 

Farming in a Shola-Grassland Ecosystem

 

Inside the plantation we are at the bottom of a forested valley.  One has difficult seeing clearly for 10 meters, let alone kilometers.  Climbing to the top of a hill reveals the true nature of our surroundings.  We are located in what is referred to as a “shola-grassland ecosystem.”  Due to the extreme erosive forces in this region (mainly rain but also wind) soil from the hilltops is regularly washed down into the valleys, where a deep and nutritious soil supports dense forest.  Most of the native Western Ghats forest has been obliterated.  Estimates range from between 2 to 20% of the native shola forest remaining.  Looking over the valleys one sees many trees, but looks can be deceiving.  Farmers in the Kodagu region do not legally own the trees on their land, and so must pay the Indian government substantial fees in order to cut one down.  For this reason, most of the local agriculture takes place under a canopy out of necessity. 

 

You may also notice patches of tall, light green trees against the dark native branches.  These are fast-growing, non-native Australian Acacia.  The Indian government officially classified grasslands in the same category as wastelands.  During a wasteland rehabilitation project, these intruders were planted as quickly replenishing sources of fuel.  The trees have disrupted the grassland ecosystem and the nesting patterns of many species of birds.  It’s just another example of what happens when humans don’t take the time to understand natural systems. 

 

 

 

Cynics Stay Home

Few people experience less than awe when confronted with unadulterated Nature, though the ranks perhaps are growing.  In our built environment everything is placed into convenient packages; thoroughly researched, poked, prodded and analyzed until Western science is satisfied that it has become boring enough for human consumption.  In a natural system, biology becomes something that cannot be parceled and measured.  It’s too vast.  Too inclusive, too extensive and at the same time too minute.  In a forest, a biologist is forced to surrender to her subject.

 

I came to India without a clear purpose.  And in a way, I have yet to come to India.  I live more in a parallel universe than any particular country.  India is that bustling, chaotic, mystical land of dust and rivers.  Here, in the little-known shola-grassland ecosystem of the Western Ghats, the favored images of the subcontinent fall to pieces.  I have several times tried, and every time failed, to describe my natural surroundings in these black and white words.  The layers upon layers of gently (ever so gently!) sloping hills, topped with grasslands like pink bald spots, and between these “barren” lookout points: densely forested valleys that are fertile, feminine and fierce.  One feels damp just gazing over the landscape from the grassy tops of the hills. 

 

My home is beneath the canopy.  A canopy that cannot legally be sacrificed in the name of development or agriculture.  The trees are owned by the government, and by some fluke it is illegal for farmers to cut down the native giants on their land.  The undergrowth was not afforded the same luxury.  So although I’m surrounded on all sides by plantations, I can barely see a meter in front of me without a tree, dripping in epiphytes, blocking my line of vision.  Sometimes it’s overwhelming, claustrophobic and limiting to my state of mind.  I feel trapped in this strange world where I couldn’t use a cell phone if I wanted to, where I haven’t seen a television commercial for four months, and where I have just plain stopped following the news altogether.  So I walk.  I walk up.  Playing with new-found muscles in my city-atrophied legs.  I walk up towards the grass.  Towards a simpler, less oppressive ecosystem.

 

I snap out my chettai and let it unfold itself in the breeze.  It lands catawampus on the poky grasses and I stretch my body out, tip back my “Coorg Wildlife Society” cap and gaze.  At nothing in particular.  I let my eyes greedily drink in the wide, gaping, open hillscape.  Some call them mountains, but Pacific Northwesterners would scoff at the thought.  These are foothills, if they’re anything.  The foothills of mountains that no longer exist.  They have been scraped and chiseled down by ages of extreme rainfall and relentless winds into these humble green and brown crests.

 

As my head tips back, I see the blueness of the dusky sky.  Further back and I see the upside-down tips of the grasses, left to grow un-mowed save for cow-tooth maintenance, and I focus on these.  Slowly what was a speck in my vision becomes a tiny spider.  I reach out to touch it but am blocked by a deceptively strong, invisible web that sticks to my finger as I pull it back.  And then I see them: Hundreds of tiny spiders.  Each staking out a separate blade of tall, seedy grass.  You can’t see them until you get down to their level.  They are the silent militia of the grassland; laying in wait for the flying insects that emerge with the dusk.  I have probably ruined a night’s hunt for many of them with the unfolding of my chettai, having smashed down their barracks. 

 

So here is what I’ve learned in my non-India: that Nature is telescopic.  It functions in perfect balance on both the greatest and the tiniest scales imaginable.  How arrogant we are to think we live outside of it!  Or even to think we can throw off its balance.  This impending doom we’re all cowering from is Nature shaking us off her back.  Balancing herself.  Our parceling, patenting and marketing of “nature” is laughable! Elements of the natural environment (as directly opposed to those of the built environment) can only be truly understood in that web of existence from which none of us can be extracted.  And that kind of understanding is not a scientific pursuit; it’s a spiritual investigation.

 

How have we come so far from the understanding that we can’t understand it all?  Why have so many children (including myself) grown up without the deep reverence for a quiet forest at dusk that should simply come with being human?  And what does it mean for our future as a species?

 

But you don’t have to be a child to gain that respect and humility.  It’s too natural to be inaccessible.  It’s unnatural not to feel connected to the rest of life on Earth, and so it comes easily when you let it. 

 

I guess there are tons of theories out there about consciousness, but I am actively not a philosopher, so I don’t know them.  But it’s my opinion that our ability to look outward with a critical eye was an evolutionary fluke-- just like every trait in every plant or animal.  I think our generation’s salvation lies within our Nature-given ability to look inward and ask, Why do we think we can know it all?  Why would we ever think we could take the world apart into little digestible pieces and finally figure out the puzzle?  Solve everything?  What even needs to be solved? 

 

Why do we need anything more than to gaze out at the natural world and marvel that we are part of this?