NGO Post - The Pet Bharo Project-Solution to Poverty and Hunger in India

HYDROPONICS - PET BHARO or POCKET BHARO? (Written in Public Interest by V.Shanker) I attended a Simplified Hydroponics Training Course in Bangalore on May 7th 2009 conducted by C V Prakash who runs an organization called  “Institute of Simplified  Hydroponics”; (Bank Account Number No 03532000005854 HDFC Bank, Kalyan Nagar  Branch Bangalore.) The Course was advertised and 'promoted' as a solution to grow food for the poor masses in India using HYDROPONIC techniques. This 'social cause' was implied in the name "PET BHARO (Hindi word translated to mean "FILL YOUR STOMACH"). We were also given to understand that "HYDROPONICS is a COST EFFECTIVE method to grow food using minimum water and land resources". This was meant to HELP the hungry millions in India to escape poverty and malnutrition. Clearly all this was a sales gimmick to exploit India's Poverty and derive support and sympathy from the public for an undeserving, dubious cause and perhaps to find a few gullible individuals to part with a substantial sum of money. The duration of course was 3 days and the fee charged was RS 10,000/-. All the hype and subtle salesmanship made it appear that the course was 'real value for money'. A few names of foreigners were dropped into the kettle to give it a flavor of scientific research and United Nations backing. The course had nothing much to offer other than information commonly available on the Internet. We were shown a few video clips of some plants grown hydroponically in Mexico/Cuba. WE WERE NOT SHOWN A SINGLE PLANT THAT WAS GROWN BY Mr. C.V. Prakash and his team from ISH (Institute of Simplified Hydroponics). We had to simply go by his word that he had a great deal of experience and knowledge. The BIGGEST DISSAPOINTMENT and RUDE SHOCK to the students who paid RS 10 K was that at the end of 3 days of an utterly boring and plagiarized training programme we were told that the FORMULA for NUTRIENT was a "TRADE SECRET" only known to Mr. C.V. Prakash and that we would have to order the NUTRIENT MIX (Fertilzer salts mixed in specific quantities) only from Prakash. (Despite the fact that he has NO TRADING LICENSE for handling these very dangerous chemical substances!)   We were further required to PAY a sum of Rs 7250/- for 1 year’s supply of Nutrient Mix. This was VAGUELY described as the quantity required for 200 Sq Mt of garden for 1 year. There was NO WEIGHT mentioned on the packing. When I called to find out the weight I was informed by a staff member that the weight was no known as I had not ordered by weight! (I had supposedly ordered a ‘year’s supply’) Now we were in a BLACKMAIL situation where we had already spent more than 3 Days in Bangalore (most of us were from other cities), given a fee of 10K, spent about another 10K in traveling and hotel expenses. We (some of us in the class) requested Mr. C.V. Prakash to give us the NUTRIENT FORMULA to enable us to buy the ingredients in the open market but he refused, saying that it was his TRADE SECRET! All along C.V. Prakash was posturing as a "SAVIOUR" of the poor, hungry masses of India - and ...WHAM!  Now he has mutated into this shrewd businessman. (Of course there is nothing wrong in wanting to make a little money or a lot of money either- but this had a VERY BAD SMELL to it ... it was a SCAM!. The whole idea of "PET BHARO" suddenly became a "POCKET BHARO" project!!! Anyway, I paid up the 7250/- and he shipped the Nutrients to me after nearly a month or so. It was further shocking when I saw the condition of the PACKING - absolutely shoddy. Just a few HDPE sacks loosely packed and tied with a rope. There was NO INVOICE! Imagine shipping FERTILIZERS across India without a LICENSE! I reconciled myself to the reality of the scam and decided to go ahead and give our friend CV Prakash the benefit of the doubt. I set up a 200 SQ MT garden using coco peat as the substrate. I invested in several thermocole tubs, racks, etc. I did a lot of hard work. I spent a lot of time trying to make the best of a bad situation. For 5 months till date I have been working on the project - with extremely disappointing yields and mediocre results. To make matters even more FRUSTRATING, I realized that the NUTRIENT FORMULA strength was inadequate. I used it for my garden for 3 months and so did some of my enthusiastic friends who were victims of this Pet Bharo joke. The growth of the plants was very poor. I subsequently tested the NUTRIENT FORMULA in the prescribed quantity of water that I was advised to use and came to the conclusion that unless the QUANTITY OF NUTRIENT SALTS was doubled it was unlikely to give a suitable PPM reading (1500 to 2000 PPM is required according to other expert sources, whereas the PET BHARO MIX was only providing a PPM count of around 700 as per ratio of Nutrient-Water advised by ISH). The YIELD of the various vegetables was found to be very low. Nothing extraordinary! The pests had to be kept out using a variety of bio pesticides. In fact this WHOLE FUTILE EXERCISE has proved to be VERY COSTLY in terms of TIME and MONEY. In fact, in my opinion the COST OF VEGETABLES using this method of HYDROPONICS will exceed the MARKET PRICE of vegetables by at least 200% …... imagine solving poverty in India! My conclusion: 1. The Simplified Hydroponics Training Course conducted by C.V. Prakash is NOT WORTH THE 10K 2. The Course should obviously provide a DETAILED NUTRIENT FORMULA to all, to enable them to produce the mix as per their specific requirements. 3. The ISH should MANUFACTURE and MARKET the NUTRIENT FORMULA with a proper Registration and License and it should be delivered with PROPER PACKING. 4. The name PET BHARO along with all its connotations of ALTRUISM should be discarded and Mr. C.V. Prakash should SELL HIS COURSE as a “HOBBY for the ELITE” not as a SOLUTION for the POOR.