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 The liberation of society and nature from the growth imperative is possible only when intergenerational equity is established by
subjugating private interests to that of the community. We believe that indigenous ecological ethic contains the seed of subversion of the hegemony of developmentality. |
| Organisational Structure | Precepts & Principles | Activities | Publications | Vrihi | Basudha | Events & Announcements | Contacts
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Activities Centre for Inetrdisciplinary Studies
Conservation
of Crop Genetic Diversity CIS has established the first non-governmental folk rice seed bank, Vrihi, which conserves more than 520 indigenous rice varieties in situ, and distributes seeds of folk rice varieties among indigenous farmers. It seeks to reinvoke the evanescent resource management practices, local food cultures and the ancient culture of free exchange of seeds among farmers. CIS has collected and is conserving over 500 folk rice varieties from different districts of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Italy. All these varieties are being grown on its research farm Basudha. Read article by Dr. Samantak Das. Ecological Agriculture CIS has established Basudha, its research station, in a remote village in Bankura district of West Bengal, to conduct grassroots research in various methods of ecologcial agriculture. Over 500 rice landraces are cultivated in the one-acre farm of Basudha, where local varieties of 20 different species of non-cereal crops are also grown. Novel methods of pest control, soil management and crop yield enhancement are taught to farmers after replicated field expermients conducted with local farmer volunteers as participant-researhers. Conservation of the Institution of Sacred Habitats The
first scientific records of sacred groves and sacred ponds, housing a
large
spectrum of wild biodiversity in West Bengal, were published on the
basis of a pioneering study conducted by CIS workers. Alongside, CIS
continues to document
indigenous knowledge systems regarding traditional resource use and
management.
Awareness Campaign and Advocacy CIS strives to reflect its precepts in its practice. Its major activity involves campaign against the current mode of industrial development, and developmentality, that dominates the economic thought and lives of peoples around the world. CIS holds public seminars and informal rural meetings to galvanize local resistance to corporate control over natural resources and to biopiracy of indigenous knowledge systems under the WTO/TRIPS regime.
Farmers'
Training CIS
periodically conducts farmers' workshops in different parts of the country, and
gives training to farmers and NGOs in crop genetic diversity   
CIS periodically holds a Study Circle, to discuss diverse topics of popular interest at Basudha to cultivate knowledge. The Study Circle involves young students, school teachers and social activists from the surrounding villages, with disciplines ranging from Social Darwinism to atronomy. Sometimes the discussion follows screening of a classic film of socio-political importance (e.g., Chaplin's Modern Times, Truffault's Fahrenheit 451, De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, and Benigni's La Vita é Bella). Partcipants are encouraged to form informed opinions on diverse scientific, cultural and political matters relevant to current social discourse and movements. At Basudha, we encourage children from surrounding villages to explore nature with the help of hand lenses, lens-fitted insect box, binoculars, and a bamboo microscope. 
  CIS also organizes an annual Nature Camp, where young children as well as old housewives participate and learn about the local plants, birds, insects and reptiles in the wild, and stars and planets in the sky. Basudha has a stock of educational toys for teaching village children probability theory and solid geometry. Alongside, CIS organizes various non-formal educational programs to inculcate scientific thinking into children, including school drop-outs. CIS members are engaged in movements to oppose superstition and various forms of social injustice. Fostering Indigenous Cultures
Every winter, CIS celebrates a three-day Basudha Festival. The festival includes indigenous sports tournaments and a musical night, usually around the third week of October. If you happen to arrive at this time, you will surely relish the verve of Bengal’s folk culture.
Low-Cost
Housing, Ecological Architecture Basudha, the research station of CIS, is built of adobe bricks and mud - to preclude wood burning, which is necessary to make standard kiln bricks. Basudha's windows and doors are made of bamboo mats, instead of boards of wood. The house is designed to maximize entry of sunlight to keep the interior warmer in the winter, and cut off sunlight in the summer to keep it cooler than outside. Basudha demonstrates how ecological footsteps of households can be minimized by using locally available building materials, ecological santiation, solar energy, and ecological architecture.
CIS demonstrates how simple, low-cost structures can be built to harvest rainwater during the monsoon months and mist in the winter. The Basudha farm is a dryland, without irrigation facility, and yet grows more than 30 species of crops in addition to 500 varieties of rice every year. In the summer, stored rainwater is used to moisten the topsoil. Mulching with leaves from "weeds" and legume cover crop are used to minimize water input, and also to enrich the soil. Three types of composts, plus night soil from the EcoSan dry toilet are employed to replenish all soil nutrients. Publication |
Many forms of folk music and indigenous sports
are now disappearing, thanks to the advent of corporate-sponsoed
cricket and commercial film music. CIS aims to
protect the traditional
sports like archery, stilt race and women's pitcher race by
holding annual
tournaments. CIS also invites the indigenous school of 
