A guide to composting Human manure

Hand book prepared by Joseph Jenkins can be downloaded from :
http://www.weblife.org/humanure/
Coverage included micro-husbandry, composting toilets.

Using a biological, low-technology system of thermophilic composting, Jenkins has successfully recycled his own family's organic material for over twenty years. The end product: hygienic, nutrient-rich humus, is used to amend the soils in his food garden. Humanure was the inevitable result of Jenkins' two decades of practical experience with composting and organic gardening paired with extensive research gleaned from scientific journals and texts.

TUC coordinators meet at Trivendrum

Next meeting of TUC coordinators is planned at Technopark, Trivendrum from on 4th & 5th February 2008. Shri Chandrasekharan Nair is coordinating the event. For incubators, this will be continuation of ISBA 2008 conference scheduled on 31st January to 2nd February at the same place.

Contact:

K C Chandrasekharan Nair
Chief Finance Officer &
Programme Co-ordinator, New Initiatives
Technopark
Trivandrum 695 581
Kerala India
Ph: +91-471-2700222 Fax : +91-471-2700171
E-Mail: kccnair@technopark.org
www.technopark.org

Akash Ganga-water from air

TePP received few proposals for developing gadgets to tap humidity in air but did not support any. See this profile of innovator SS Sivakumar who successfully developed one such an innovation without any support from government to produce water from humid air. He is reported to have sold 400 units of air-to-water converters.

interview with Harish Hande

LiveMint interviews Social entrepreneur Harish Hande an Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur product and doctorate degree holder from University of Massachusetts with solar speciality, Hande is the managing director and co-founder of SELCO-India. Recommended reading.

Rural Business Hubs

Ministry of Panchayat Raj invites proposals for setting up Rural Business Hubs. This fund can be accessed for bridging critical gaps in local infrastructure like common facilities / pooling centres for farm products/minor equipment/ connectivity, etc.For raising plantations with long gestation period, labour compensation for preyielding phase can be supported. Ideally suited activities are those where production is decentralised (production by masses). Direct marketing of agri-produce, sourcing of fruit and vegetable, food processing, floriculture, Jatropha / bio-diesel crops, handloom, handicrafts, bio-mass based power generation, etc. can been taken up.

TePP supports innovations and RBH supports technology diffusion. TUCs can apply to set up RBH.
For details:
http://www.rbh.in/home/
http://rbh.in/home/RBH-funding.pdf

contact person:
Shri PK Kesavan, Director Rural Business Hib, Ministry of Panchayat Raj, Room no 126, Sardar Patel Bhawan, Parliament street, New Delhi-110 001, kesavan.pk@nic.in