Jacob Sebastian no longer wants to invest in his vanilla plantation. He still has more than 1,000 vanilla plants intercropped in his half hectare (ha) rubber plantation in Kerala's Kottayam

In 2004, with the market crashing around them, vanilla farmers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu came together with the help of the Spices Board of India to form a cooperative called Vanilla India

In situ propagation of butterflies was attempted through establishment of a butterfly garden in a 0.5 ha degraded moist deciduous forest patch at the Kerala Forest Research Institute campus at Peechi, Kerala. Creation of butterfly habitats through landscaping and introduction of suuitable host plants to sustain different species of butterflies were the major activities undertaken.

This paper envisages present scenario of solid waste management system in Sabarimala Pilgrimage Centre, Kerala, during its festival season from mid November to mid January. Studies were made to delineate the possible sources, quantity and quality of solid wastes generated.