Agriculture & Protection of the Environment

With a high demand for fuel to cook meals for 500 students several times a day, API has provided Chetna Highschool with the expertise and financial support to build Central India's largest solar kitchen.

The Munich International Rotarians donated four out of five solar cookers which were installed in spring 2004.

These five parabolic dishes called Schaeffler cookers provide enough renewable energy to prepare the midday and evening meal including porridge, rice, vegetables and chapatis. At the same time, the school's gardeners use drip-irrigation and eco-friendly fertilizers to grow food for the students.


PLANNED INTERVENTIONS:

The Neem tree is India‘s wonder tree as it plays an important part in healing and religious ceremonies throughout the country. The Bhils use Neem leaves for their effect in curing malaria and skin diseases. Lately, the Indian Government together with the United Nations Development Fund has developed a technique by which famers are able to make pesticides from Neem seeds themselves. These eco-friendly insecticides have been evaluated in field trials and present with promising economic and employment opportunies while they make farmers independent from expensive chemical pesticides which have been used so far. This program will be initiated across the district along with massive efforts to plant Neem trees. Drip irrigation will also be heavily propagated given the alarming drop of ground water levels. Rain-water harvesting and the ! use of solar lamps, water-pumps and cookers will complete the efforts to make use of natural resources and renewable energies.

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