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ddress of Innovator Details of Innovation Thiruvananthapuram Kerala The family of Dr Bhas, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, was struck by misfortune when his son was born spastic. The child, called Amith, was by nature depressed, unresponsive and inactive. He was diagnosed by physicians as suffering from Hypoxic ischemia, an incurable condition. Physiotherapy was tried for Amiths over all improvement, but was discontinued owing to his lack of cooperation. Then Dr Bhas noted that Amith showed an interest in plants. Dr. Bhas had a small garden in the roof of his house. He grew about 25 varieties of vegetables and fruits, mostly in gunny bags filled with cowdung and the soil collected from sewage canals near the house. He would place the gunny bags on the terrace and use the waste water collected from the kitchen and wash basins for irrigating the plants. Apart from cowdung and compost made from kitchen and house waste, Bhas used fermented black mould collected from the terrace for manure. Plants were grown organically. Insect pests were collected by hand and destroyed. Smoking with coconut husk and spraying of biopesticides like neem decoction was also done. A variety of vegetables including bhindi, brinjal, tomato and cowpea were grown in gunny bags. The produce was not only sufficient to meet the needs of Bhas family, but also provided them with an income of around Rs. 10,000 per year from the sale of organic vegetables to neighbors. With the help of his parents, Amith gradually got involved in the garden activities of his father. An amazing improvement was noticed in the child after his involvement in horticultural activities. His motor skill as well as cognitive and linguistic skills improved remarkably. He moved from one gunny bag to another, watered plants, plucked the vegetable produce and collected the insect pests. This movement aided in the gradual improvement of his motor skills. His cognitive development took place as over time he began to distinguish between various garden tools and plants. Together with the garden therapy, his family made constant efforts to improve his linguistic ability both in listening and self expression. When horticultural therapy was started, Amith was two-anda-half years old with a mental age of one-and-a-half years and motor age of 11 months. Now at five years of age, Amith shows a mental age of six years and motor age of twoand-a-half years (recorded by the Medical College, Thiruvananthpuram). Dr Bhas has developed a new practical and comprehensive package of practices for terrace cultivation. His family spends many happy moments in the terrace garden each morning and evening watching Amith grow in joy and health. (Dr V S Vijayendra Bhas is working as a Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Linguistics attached to St. Xaviers College, Thiruvananthapuram. Dr Bhas is presenting a paper on his new approach of helping spastic children at the international physiotherapist conference to be held at Thiravananthapuram Sree Chithira Thirunal Institute of Medicinal Sciences. :Ed) 1Agricultural Officer, Anjana, TC 25/3179, Vanchiyoor, Thiruvanthapuram - 695 035 Honey Bee, 9(2):21, 1998 G S Unnikrishnan Nair

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