VK-nardep Books Catalogue

Some of our publications:

A Second Look at Agriculture

This book lucidly explains in the form of a conversation between a wise old man and a progressive farmer the real perils of chemical farming despite the seeming initial successes. The old man explains to the initially enthusiastic and soon to be depressed farmer that Indian traditional agricultural system is a time-tested system which is now in danger. With the new generation farmers neglecting the traditional knowledge there is a strong possibility of the traditional knowledgebase becoming extinct. The book contains about 30 cartoons depicting important key concepts in sustainable farming. The book explains through the words of Kaka a village elder how the scientists are today slowly and steadily integrating the traditional wisdom with modern science. Our Indian scientists have developed a lot of new techniques like Farm Yard Manure, NADEP Compost, Vermi Compost Biogas slurry, Vermi Wash and many others. All these improve the efficiency of the organic manures. Scientists are developing biopesticides also. There are absolutely no side-effects. The book was published in 1998 and since then VK-NARDEP has published so many books on sustainable agricultural technology. However for the lay public and the beginner this book remains one of the finest introductory step towards sustainable farming. The reason is the increased awareness for the ecological understanding of farming. This book is an ideal and important first step for anyone interested in understanding the need and fundamentals of organic farming movement as well as sustainable development paradigm.

Biogas a Boon
This book has 18 chapters including the introduction and references. Each chapter takes up a specific concept and explains lucidly that aspect of Biogas plant in a way that is introductory for lay person and useful for Biogas maintenance personnel as well as the end user. History of biogas, the different types of biogas, its design, etc are explained in an interesting manner. One of the problems faced by biogas users is when the dung and water availability fluctuate. Then the biogas users usually farmers with livestock- may want to change the capacity of biogas. Then how to do that? Scaling of Biogas plant provides you an idea. The book also explains VINCAP model. With locally available materials this model can be made. VINCAP model is particularly useful for low volume biogas plants which in turn are ideal for marginal livestock farmers. There is a separate chapter on Shakthi-Surabhi the bio-methanation plant that VK-NARDEP has developed. One of the added advantages of the book is its cartoons which explain different aspects of the biogas plant. Free of jargons yet conveying the science and technology behind the biogas without dilution this book is another publication which can reach out to vast sections of the population including students, biogas technology trainers, biogas users and maintenance and installation personnel. The benefit analysis providing a case for subsidiary is aimed at policy makers. The book is excellent introduction to the technology as well as a ready-hand reference for its various aspects.

Handbook on Rainwater Harvesting

This is a richly illustrated handbook on rainwater harvesting released by Vivekananda Kendra-NARDEP. [Book cover] The book contains two parts. The Part-I has all the panels of the water section of Gramodaya park. The Part-II has eight chapters each dealing with important aspects of water harvesting. After dealing with the importance of rainwater harvesting, the book deals with: * domestic rainwater collection system * design of a roof top rain water harvesting system * ferro cement technology for the construction of storage tanks * Comparative study of different water Sumps * Cost effective storage technologies * storage in subsurfcae (aquifers) and * open-space methods As stated earlier the book is rich in both technical detail as well as aesthetic content. For example the book provides almost 6 pages of step-by step illustration of ferro-cement storage tank construction. It also richly presents traditional wisdom in the form of indigenous water harvesting structure as well as in the form of couplets from ancient Tamil spiritual-ethical work Thirukural on the importance of saving rain water. On the whole the book provides a wonderful insight for both lay person and professional into the world of rainwater harvesting. The book is supported by CAPART, New Delhi.

Green Health Care for Livestock

Green Health Care for Livestock is a well-researched, easily understandable richly illustrated hand book for marginal dairy farmers and also extension workers working with marginal dairy farmers. The book covers cattle care, both preventive and curative. All the suggested medicines can be prepared from locally available materials. These medicines more suitable to livestock in Indian climate can be prepared based on locally available plants and they also leave no side effect. Given the aggressive commercial approach of the corporate pharmaceuticals this book is a boon to the field of sustainable livestock farmers and those interested in promoting sustainable agriculture. The book is rich in content and the concepts are explained lucidly through highly creative and communicative cartoons. The book is the result of the churning of highly authoritative traditional Siddha treatises on livestock healthcare like Pasu Vaidhya Chintamani, Agasthya Mattu Vakadam, Pasu Roga Nidhanam etc. This book is a must for anyone who wants to take care of the health of the cattle in a cost effective manner and in a holistic way making use of local resources. Sixteen common ailments of livestock and their treatment have been enlisted in this with a detailed description of required drugs which is usually locally available herbs, preparation method, dosage, secondary preparation if any as well as third preparation and the duration in which it has to be administered. The book has good and humorous cartoons which makes its reading a pleasure for a common man. It also makes the book attractive for students who may be interested in the subject. There is a glossary of 62 herbs that can be commonly used for the livestock treatment.

The Wonder Fern Azolla

Rural India faces a grave shortage of green fodder. The deficit is compensated by feed concentrate. The prices of concentrate are increasing day by day. The non-availability of protein rich raw materials forces the manufacturers to mix chemical protein supplements like urea which affect the health of cattle and the quality of Dairy products. So what is the way out? Azolla the wonder fern provides the way out for the marginal livestock farmers. Though Azolla has been well known as a biofertilizer for decades, its use as a bio-feed for cattle and poultry is an innovation. Azolla combines the quality of concentrate feed and fodder both. Further Dr. Kamalasannan Pillai of VK-nardep has further innovated a method for backyard cultivation of this wonder fern. A farmer can produce with wastewater cowdung and little mineral. He can harvest every day and feed dry to livestock to get the result on the very next day. The book provides detailed photoplates of the nardep method of Azolla cultivation. It also gives the diagrams of various methods of integration of this technology with the farmers homestead. The book also provides an evolutionary history of Azolla and future possibilities of the Azolla usage which cover a wide spectrum of uses. Different trials with cattle and livestock are also given in easy to understand tabular forms. The book also gives agronomical practices to be followed in using Azolla in the paddy field. The book has fourteen chapters including user feedback from different sections of the society.

Gramodaya for Right Living

This book is a reproduction of the panels of the permanent exhibition Gramodaya Park in Viveknananda puram, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari. The panels represent a sustainable rural development models in a few chosen fields where the institution has made some humble contributions. The fields are: 1. Shelter 2. Water Management 3. Sustainable Agriculture and 4. Indian System of Medicine. IN each field the first few panels depict what the particular field aims for all human beings. The next series of panels show the present scenario, highlighting how our present model of development has brought lopsided growth and ecological crisis. The rest of the panels in each field show how the malaise can be healed through alternative ecologically oriented technologies where modern science and traditional knowledge base are fused seamlessly. (Published in three languages)

In-depth Introduction to Sustainable Technologies in Different Languages:

Some of our Tamil Publications

Can Humanity survive modern times?

This is a detailed dialogue between world famous environmentalist Edward Goldsmith and Indian philosopher Krishna Chaitanya. The book is in Tamil. The central thesis of this dialogue shared by the two thinkers, Edward Goldsmith and Krishna Chaitanya, is that the industrial way of life is no longer sustainable. It must end, one way or another, within the foreseeable future. Mankind, feel both thinkers, could meet the logical end only in two ways: either by an act of will to alter the course of progress fundamentally, or by allowing consequences to overtake it. This dialogue, on the malaise of our times, would therefore be of interest to readers. The conversation brings in beautiful insights and a variety of new, refreshing perspectives. The translation gives the spirit of the original while remaining readable. In the course of the dialogue Goldsmith states: People may trade in the superfluities of life; they may sell spices to each other for instance, but not fundamental things. The 'great transformation' - the change that did more than anything else to create the modern world, with all its horrors, and trigger off the destruction of our planet - was the development of the market system in which people traded not only in spices, but in the basic constituents of the living world, such as man himself and more important still, NATURE. What we need is an understanding that goes beyond mere knowing. Krishna Chaitanya states: Knowledge is not a motivating factor. It has to mix with the blood which courses through the veins before it can become a motivation. The enormous task ahead is a sacrificial endeavour; as I said, people may have to be satisfied with one meal every alternate day for a long while, if they want to change over to a new kind of order. We still grope for the answer. But one definite conclusion that we, in our small way, seem to have arrived at, is that the world is a continuum, a system in a profound sense, not in the materialistic sense or in the sense of the physicist; Elegant and meaningful Eco-Cartoons add beauty to the book.

The usage guide for backyard herbs (Manaiyadi Mulihai Sasthram)

This is an introduction to common herbs found in the backyard of most houses in rural Tamil Nadu. Usually common ailments if left untreated tend to become chronic diseases and for the common people can become a real problem of life and death. Preventive medicine through medical institutions are costly and out of reach for most of our rural population. In such circumstances what is needed is a house-based preventive care system. This book aims to give the rural households such a system through establishment of herbal home garden and utilization of herbals plants that may already be there in the rural households. The following herbs are listed with their common name, scientific name and black and white photographs. For each herb the common ailments for which they are cure is given. It also provides the way to cleanse the herb before preparing the formulation and the extraction of the medicinal component and then the procedure to prepare and administer the formulation. A brief description of how to grow the herb in the back yard is also given. Of the fourteen plants listed some are well known food plants and the book shows how these plants also have medicinal value. As the back cover of the book explains this is a system where food itself acts as a medicinal fortification of body against the diseases. In South India every rural house will have surely more than one of these plants as they have food value, aesthetic value etc. By revealing their medicinal properties in a way the housewives can use them to handle daily ailments the book has provided a useful guide for the rural households to face one of their major problems: health care with self-reliance.

The Complete Catalogue

S.No 1 Name of the Book Aduvome pallu paduvome Book No 1 Language Tamil Songs 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Biogas plant construction Guidelines Biogas Sanyantra Nirman Nirdesh Sanaarivayu kalan kattumana vazhikati A Second look at Agriculture The Scared Earth Biogas A Manual on repair & Maintenance Biogas Marammat va rakharakhav par Karyavidhi pusika Biogas Upabhokta nirdesh pustika Manpulu Uram 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 12 17 English Hindi Tamil English English English Hindi Hindi Tamil 10/10/10/15/20/50/50/15/25/3rd Revised Edition 11 Biogas a boon 19 English 50/2
nd

Rate Rs.25/-

Remarks 5 revised Edition

th

Revised

Edition 12 13 14 Nalam Tarum Mooligaigal Thinasari Valkayil Purachulal Unarvu Nilaitha sugamum Needitha Ayulum 20 21 22 Tamil Tamil Tamil 50/40/70/2 nd Edition 2 nd Edition 4 th revised Edition 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Oosai Thalir Bumiku Achuruthal Adamannil Therithu Vanam Naveenakalathil Manithan uyir thappi pilaithirukka mudiuma? Thaiyen madiyil Muligai sagupadiyil Amukura 24 25 26 29 30 31 32 Tamil Tamil Tamil Tamil Tamil Tamil Tamil 30/40/20/25/25/40/25/2 nd Edition

22

Gramodaya ( For right living)

36

English

300/-

23

Gramodaya ( For right living)

37

Tamil

300/-

24 25. 26. 27. 28 29 30. 31 32 33 34 35 36. 37. 38 39 40

Biogas Manure Users Guide Gramodaya (For right living) Ferro Cement Thozhilnudpam Biogas Manure Users Guide Biogas manure users Guide Green Temple Chart Agastiyar Picture Varmapullikal Azolla Azolla Hand book on Rain water Harvesting Azolla Valviyal Chinthanigal Manaiadi Mooligai Vanam Gunapaduthum Mooliaigal Pasumivivasaya Thozhilnutpangal Hand book of Bio-Methanation Sakthi Surabi

38 39 40 41 42

English Hindi Tamil Tamil Hindi Tamil -Tamil

15/300/35 15 15/35/7/30/70/50/150/70/100/20/20/75/100/2 nd Edition 2 nd Edition 3 nd Edition

43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

English Tamil English Hindi Tamil Tamil Tamil Tamil English

Contact: Secretary, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, Vivekanandapuram Kanyakumari-629702 Phone:91-4652-246296 [email protected]