 SHAKTHI DAILY |
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| Online edition of Kodagu's first daily | |||
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| They call him 'The Dirtman' | |||
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[This article appeared in the Canadian daily 'The Daily Gleaner" dated May 19th, 2007]
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
[Picture - Soils in his blood: Taumey Mahendrappa, senior research scientist with Canadian forest service, holds a sample of New Brunswick soil.]
Fifty-eight years later, 65-year-old Mahendrappa - a.k.a 'The Dirtman' - is still getting his hands into the earth as senior soil chemist with Natural Resources Canada and he's not interested in quitting his life's work anytime soon. Mahendrappa's father supported the family as a schoolteacher and his mother contributed to the family income by growing coffee and rice. In 1961, when he graduated from Karnataka University in India with a bachelor of science in agriculture, Mahendrappa was quick to want to test his knowledge. "I said: 'Mom, I know so much about soils, I can help double your yield. She looked at me, smiled and said 'I'm very proud of you, but keep your knowledge to your job,' " he says. "She wouldn't let me do the farming."
[Picture - He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty | Taumey Mahendrappa is dedicated to defending the future of New Brunswick's earth]
New Brunswick's soil is poor to begin with. It's glaciated, less than 10,000 years old, often low in clay, acidity and low in organic matter. Hard to believe in a province that built its wealth on agriculture and forestry.
Mahendrappa cringes every time he sees potato fields planted in furrows running up and down hills instead of crosswise to hold moisture and soil together or when he sees farmland plowed to the very edge of a river or stream. "When you do that, water comes and washes all the fine particles down the river. You're losing all the fine soil," he says. Farmers who plant the same way their fathers and grandfathers did have to get with the times, Mahendrappa believes. He tells them to fence off waterways and create dedicated drinking spots so that cattle can't wander freely and trample river and stream banks as they search for water. Planting trees along stream banks prevents soil erosion. Use best practices, he urges. In the forest industry, Mahendrappa says hauling trees to the roadside and then burning off slash instead of leaving it to die and decompose on the forest floor is robbing the ground of nutrients and acidifying the soil. Sweden stopped slashing and burning in the mid-1970s after realizing forestry yields were dropping by 20 per cent, Mahendrappa says.
In 1989-90, pulp and paper prices were down and forestry companies didn't like Mahendrappa's angst against clear-cutting. They urged his boss to fire him. "I went to them and said, 'I'm not fighting you. I'm trying to figure out how to help you. It's my soil. "It's your soil. We have a moral responsibility to ensure we leave it behind in good shape for our children and grandchildren,'" Mahendrappa says. "Do you want to pay now or later?"
Mahendrappa now has a different tactic. He is working to educate the public, especially young people about soil, hoping a future generation will learn young about its importance. "Everything we eat, drink, wear, and use for construction of our shelters comes from the soil. "We have to understand how important it is not to let the soil particles get washed away because we have no second chance, not for generations. If we have no soil, we have no life," Mahendrappa says. He created a video called Our Soil that was sent to every school in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
A decade ago, he convinced the McKenna Liberals to name Holmesville soil the province's official soil type, alongside the province's other provincial emblems of the purple violet, black-capped chickadee and balsam fir.
Globally, some 37 soils in the 20th century have become extinct and Mahendrappa says he's seen soils from Russia to China to India become salt-saturated wastelands because of improper care and misuse of the land. "Iran and Iraq 2,000 years ago were the breadbasket of the world. Now they're desert," he said. Since actions resound louder than words, Mahendrappa became interested in demonstration projects in New Brunswick and in India that show the smart practices make for better soil. For 20 years, Mahendrappa was a member of the soils and water conservation subcommittee in the Fundy Model Forest in New Brunswick.
Knowing the benefits of sustainable management of forests, he felt compelled to give something back to his homeland. In 2000, he began a letter campaign to urge officials in Kodagu to start a model forest project.
During 2001 and 2003, 101 elephants were slaughtered for their ivory, lands were being over-harvested and non-native tress were being planted within coffee plantations. Dozens upon dozens of letters, pleas and pitches later, Mahendrappa convinced citizens and land owners in 2003 to develop a model forest protection plan to guard native species, land and water.
Mahendrappa's persistence is what keeps him going on his mission even when he encounters skeptics or opposition. "I never give up. I never quit," Mahendrappa says. "We have to change. It is our moral responsibility to make sure that we do not destroy our soil. That's our duty."
A few words from those who know him well
"He is a determined guy. There's no 'no' for him. Taumey is a very dedicated person. He headed the group of people from soil science in the province in coming up with the Homesville Provincial Soil.
"He did most of the legwork and really the credit should go to him and not to the whole committee. He did most of the work to have a soil named as a provincial soil, beside the provincial bird, flower and tree."
"He's an easy-going person who is everybody's friend. He trusts everybody and I made friends with him very easily. He's straightforward and what you see is what he is. He's dedicated to his work. He's a good human being. I feel privileged to have met Taumey."
"As we are caught up in our busy modern lives, within which there is little time to reflect, we need moral guidance to remind us of the need for reverence toward the natural systems that sustain us and upon which we are absolutely dependent. Taumey Mahendrappa is one of those few who has been able to rise above the distractions of daily living and determine that our present behaviour toward natural ecosystems is not sustainable. He has elected to serve as a champion for the soil resources that are the base for all terrestrial production as his career as an active scientist begins to wind down. Taumey's efforts to draw attention to the wonder and essential nature of soil has resulted in his success in creating a New Brunswick provincial soil designation that will serve as a symbolic 'totem' long after he has faded from memory."
These are a few of his favourite things
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Copyright © 2004, Shakthi Daily, Madikeri, Kodagu District, Karnataka, India - 571201 eternal@sancharnet.in |
When he was barely out of knickers in Kodagu, India, seven-year-old Taumey Mahendrappa took a handful of soil, placed it in a container, added water and shook. As sand and grit settled to the bottom of the container and murky water rose to the top, Mahendrappa showed it to his mother and told her all he knew about the properties of soil.
In 1966, armed with his doctorate in soil chemistry and a master's in soil microbiology from Utah State University in the United States, Mahendrappa joined the Canadian Forest Service in 1966 at the Atlantic Forestry Centre in Fredericton. At 153 centimetres - a diminutive 4 foot 10.5 inches tall - Mahendrappa jests that his hands are closer to the ground than most people's and he's doing the work he was meant to do. Tiny in stature, Mahendrappa is as feisty as a Sumo wrestler when it comes to defending the future of this province's earth. He's riled giant forestry companies, ticked off farmers, railed against abuse of the land and lobbied politicians to start protecting the ground on which we all walk. "It takes a million years to form one centimetre of useful soil. We do not get a chance to replace the soil that is lost due to our carelessness," Mahendrappa warns.
Full name: Mukkatira (Taumey) Kariappa Mahendrappa