“I have been passionate about gardening since childhood. In the past six decades that I have lived in Bengaluru, working as an engineer, I managed to build a terrace garden from scratch and maintain it. But after retirement, I knew that I needed more. It was a dream to move to Mysuru, a cleaner and less congested city, and that came true in March 2018,” said Harish, while speaking to The Better India (TBI).
The overwhelming traffic and pollution were a few other reasons for his migration. “We wanted to live a toxin-free life and help others do that as well. So it was decided that we will move to a place with cleaner air and grow our food organically,” he adds.
As a result, after moving in 2018, they decided to utilise thousands of acres of land near Mysore Ring Road, to build their dream garden.
In the next nine months, with the help of relatives and friends, Harish and his wife managed to transform 14,000 acres of land into a fully-organic farm that boasts over 300 varieties of fruits, herbs, vegetables and flowers.
“I have had some experience with on-ground and terrace gardening, but working on such a big land is a different ball-game altogether. So we reached out for help and hired a full-time gardener and slowly began the work in January 2019,” he shares.
Parallel to the preparation of the soil, a green living fence was also created with vine-based vegetables like double beans, broad beans, pumpkins and passion fruits planted along its length.
To keep things in order, the huge farm has been divided into parts.
The outer circle has around fifty drumstick tree saplings along with twenty-five flax tree saplings, while the inner circle is surrounded by fencing and a row of tree saplings planted on all four sides including mango, five varieties of jackfruit, pomegranate, avocado, sapota, different types of citrus plants, water apple, rose apple, nutmeg, cinnamon, fig, custard apple, five varieties of guava, coconut, and neem.
“We are also growing around 50 varieties of cashew nuts on either side of the garden entrance. We have tried to stretch and grow as many varieties of plants as possible, thus enhancing the biodiversity of the place,” he says.
After almost six months of hard work, Harish now grows 300 varieties of plant species that include vegetables, fruits, herbs, greens and flowers. One hundred varieties out of these have harvested half a ton of produce so far, he added.
A passionate gardener with substantial experience, Harish uses home-made organic traditional fertilisers to nourish his plants. “We make our own Panchagavya and Jeevamrutha at the garden and are regularly feeding organic matter in the form of dry leaves, cow dung, plant and vegetable waste etc.
A garden full of different types of earthworms which will convert organic and biodegradable waste to vermicompost makes the soil healthier.
He adds that to improve soil quality and reduce weed growth, he grows Amaranth plant at the base of each plant as a way of natural live mulching. “Not only does it protect the tree saplings from heat and weeds, but also produces two sacks full of edible greens high in nutritional value, every single day. We send this harvest to a nearby hostel mess for students, free of cost,” Harish says.
However, the garden is not the only project Harish has his hands on. In his efforts to make Mysuru greener than ever, he also volunteered to work on 1.25 acres of public park and the common area of a complex close to his farm where he hopes to grow 300 trees and has managed to plant around 50 till now. But, that’s not it. Taking his efforts a notch higher, he also planted some 60 trees in the area and hopes to increase it in the coming years.
“What’s the point of growing an exclusive green haven when the world around you can be rotting in pollution. It’s a chain effect, and I am doing whatever I can to improve the situation,” says Harish, who spent almost seven lakhs in these past months to make the area green.
Open to all, his garden stands as a stellar example of individualistic efforts reaping the collective benefit.
For instance, the produce harvested from the garden is much more than Harish and his wife can consume, and so he gives away the surplus to people in his housing complex or beyond.
“It was not meant for commercial purposes, and so I distribute the extra for free. But recently, people have been asking me to attach a price tag so that the room for hesitation on asking more is eliminated and they get to buy as needed. So now, based on the benchmark on rates charged by online grocery portals, I set a nominal cost for the items,” he said.
He believes that while efforts can be at the individual level, outcomes should be for the collective.
“We wanted to do our little bit for society and nature. If each one of us thinks like that and begins to do their smallest bit, it would have a larger cumulative impact in creating a healthier and greener India in the future,” he concludes.
This article is part of a series by experts in support of the ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon – organised by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and The Better India. Read more about the marathon here.
“In the current Indian agricultural scenario, last mile connectivity is a major challenge. This needs to be corrected urgently because extension services are a much-needed requirement for farmers who are the backbone of our country,” says Naveen Kumar, whose revolutionary mobile application, NaPanta, is aiding over a lakh farmers across the country better their crop yield with an all-encompassing agri-encyclopedia.
He adds, “The gaps in the government extension system are occupied by dealers and distributors, or the intermediaries who are present in every corner of India. Because of their commercially-oriented involvement, the farmer bears the maximum brunt in terms of money as well as productivity. This kind of unwanted system has been impacting India’s GDP in quite a drastic manner.
This sector’s contribution to the GDP is roughly about 30 per cent, and this also includes agro-based industries. On its own, the core agriculture industry contributes to about 18 per cent. Imagine how much greater this contribution could be if the last mile connectivity is also achieved!
Digital penetration and smartphone access have played a significant role in helping farmers. Today, close to 90 per cent of farmers are using smartphones or feature phones, and internet charges are much lower compared to earlier days. Even access is quite easy.
Naveen Kumar with a farmer.
So, through the utilisation of these tech-incorporated provisions, it has become possible to reach the end farmers and give them agro-advisory and customised solutions.
Without going the extra mile, tech corporations can help bring down nearly 15 per cent of costs and expenditure that would otherwise be spent by farmers under conventional market norms.
At the same time, proper advisory can enhance 20 per cent of farmer’s productivity, and the distance factor, when sorted, can impact nearly 35 per cent of the profitability, and that too, without the implementation of any form of innovation.”
It is the agriculture sector that primarily drives India’s economy, and despite suffering from poverty, farmers are essentially the cogs in the wheels that feed the nation.
But as Naveen mentions, many roadblocks like last mile connectivity, scientific knowledge, weather appropriate farming practices and farming equipment can be resolved through optimal utilisation of technology in an industry like agriculture.
In recent times, there has been a surge of agri-tech enterprises that play an essential role in helping farmers across the country through a variety of services and provisions.
Innovation is vital, irrespective of which field or sector it has been employed too, and technological interventions are surely what India owes its farmers.
Mobile applications need not be the only intervention when it comes to agri-tech. In recent times, the utilisation of social media platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp by farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to sell their produce and value-added products are becoming more and more prevalent.
So how exactly can such platforms bridge the gap between farmers and consumers?
Sharing insight about social media intervention in the agrarian sector is Chamrajnagar-based engineer turned organic farmer and entrepreneur, CV Srinidhi, whose business model solely rests on Whatsapp and person to person communication.
CV Srinidhi (right).
“The platform is perhaps one of the easiest ways to market any item. Unlike the conventional methods, here, one can directly cater to customers, either through direct messages or broadcast groups. There is ease of communication for not just placing orders but also to coordinate and follow-up on deliveries.
There are so many mobile applications out there today to aid farmers, but I feel that people in rural areas still lack awareness about agri-tech intervention. Even so, one can’t say people are entirely oblivious to the Internet or social media trends as apps like TikTok are quite popular even in the rural side, with almost every household having at least one smartphone.
I do feel that agri-tech interventions, be it mobile apps or marketing through social media, will be picked up soon. If farmers can utilise platforms that guide them through more sustainable farming practices and provide them with useful information about say, crop health or suitable weather conditions, things can significantly change. Awareness over such innovations is crucial, though.
While tech interventions have surely solved my communication and marketing aspects, one area that I’m still struggling with is transportation. Since I personally make door-to-door deliveries, it becomes tiresome and rather expensive. If there were tech-based interventions to resolve this situation, many farmers, including myself, would surely save a lot of money,” he adds.
Like Srinidhi, G Sriram Prasad is also an engineer, who is based out of Coimbatore. However, for his foray into the agri-tech sector, he took the e-commerce route.
Through his venture, Keerai Kadai, where he sells fresh, native greens, Sriram is offering a healthy eating culture to his customers while providing better livelihoods for farmers working with him.
“The agricultural sector has, without a doubt, witnessed a boom in the last few years, and this is not just from the purview of farmers but consumers as well. More and more people are becoming aware of food adulterations and want to know where their food is coming from and how it is grown. But this isn’t possible if they have to buy vegetables or fruits from local markets.
There is also this shift in urban households, and families seldom find the time to head to the market, let alone inspect the greens like our parents used to do.
Sriram Prasad with a farmer.
How does our intervention help? We let our customers pre-order farm fresh greens a day before on our website, like every other e-commerce site. The farmers who work with us receive alerts through Whatsapp, and any one of them who has the necessary supply will accept the order and keep the required harvest-ready by the next day, that is delivered by our staff.
The tech intervention keeps both customers as well as farmers happy, all the while reducing wastage of time, efforts and most importantly, produce. More than consumers, such interventions end up bettering the lives of farmers.
We surveyed the farmers’ expenses and discovered that over 30 per cent of the value of their produce goes into logistics.
In our case, we rule out that expenditure, so that means doubles their savings, while also saving time. Similar tech-based interventions can go a long way in alleviating farmers across the country,” adds Sriram.
Given the digital penetration in almost all sectors across India, the integration of tech-based solutions undoubtedly holds an enormous scope for the agrarian industry. While innovation is central to propel change, the fact that real-time application of the same can only happen if it is accessible and economical needs to be quite seriously considered.
Naveen adds on to this aspect.
“A significant concern one has to keep in mind is that nearly 80 per cent of the farmer population includes small and marginal farmers, who may or may not be adept with technology. So, it is imperative for any innovative idea to add value to farmers’ lives and livelihoods, and you should think about this before heading out to help them with tech-based interventions.
For instance, you cannot come up with a fabulous IoT (Internet of Things) device that you feel will alleviate the lives of farmers, but sell it for an exorbitant price. You need to understand the audience you have developed the innovation for and their financial limitations. You need to collect information on these aspects before you start anything.
Think about it, if I am going to develop a big data analytics and my intended users are farmers based in a remote village who have to pay thousands of rupees to avail the services, the intervention serves no purpose here.
So, factors like value addition to the cause, low-cost solutions and swift market penetration are key for agri-tech interventions in India to steer the agrarian economy forward,” he concludes.
It is innovations like these that ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon aims to develop by giving young innovators a platform to take their ideas to products and help solve issues in different fields from agriculture and infrastructure, to environmental conservation and waste management.
Know more about the ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon here.
It is not easy to leave a well-paying profession and start something of your own, but ten years ago, Gaytri Bhatia, an environmental analyst with the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Boston, decided to do just that.
Today, she is a full-time organic farmer and entrepreneur, who owns a 10-acre plot about a three-hour drive northeast of Mumbai.
This plot is called Vrindavan after the ancient forest in Hindu mythology where Krishna spent his childhood days.
“Over my years of (environmental) consultancy, I recognised that a paradigm shift was needed in the way we treated ourselves and the earth, one that could be scaled up only from the roots. Working in environmental analyses prepared me for the extent of the damage being done to humanity via damage of the earth in our industrial-driven lifestyles. Farming was the way to grow this change (for me),” this first generation farmer told us.
When she arrived, Vrindavan was a mango orchard with some coconuts, cashew nuts, and black pepper crops.
Today, along with the mangoes, banana, papaya, mulberry, chikoo, pineapple, jackfruit, wild berries, cashew apples, heirloom tomatoes among others also grow on the farm. Spices like turmeric, ginger, pepper, greens like lettuce, baby spinach, basil, native sorrel, moringa, and amaranth and vegetables like bottle gourd, papaya, pumpkin, tomatillos, brinjal, yam, lemongrass—it’s an almost never-ending list.
Gaytri now produces and sells clean food, freshly processed products, conserves heirloom seeds and preserves them in seed banks.
“We grow the crop during its seasonal cycle annually to maintain its presence in our bank. Seeds are stored in ash in glass jars. On a small scale, we share seeds with neighbouring farmers.” she adds.
The several thousand kilos of mangoes harvested from her farm are sold to top restaurants in Mumbai like the Smoke House Deli, Kala Ghoda Cafe, The Pantry, and Olive.
“We bring produce and products to Bombay, our closest market. Based on what it [amount] is (the scale of each of our crops varies), we serve everyone we can, from families to restaurants,” she said.
And all of this is done organically.
Gaytri doesn’t always use indigenous seeds, but they are always open-pollinated and from farmers, not labs.
She has four cows, and their excreta is the crucial ingredient in home brewed bio fertilisers, made from cow dung, cow urine, fish excreta, algae, dried leaves, and flora from the farm. Fungicides are made from garlic and insecticide is made from neem.
Gaytri works alongside eight people, all locals from the village, on the farm. The locals work diligently from 10 am to 6 pm, while she singlehandedly takes care of the work after dusk.
“We should work with our hands once again. Feel what it’s like to touch the soil, grow a plant, prepare your bread, or even walk with your dog for that matter. And for agriculturalists, we should take back the lands. Take back the seed. Once again, become responsible. In this, is freedom,” Gaytri finishes.
As Gaytri’s story illustrates, the stereotypical definition of a job as a ‘9 to 5’ activity is not necessarily true anymore.
The world, as we know it, is changing, and this includes the ways and means to earn and subsist. Today, the parameters for success are unquantifiable, so instead of giving up on people who don’t hold a ‘regular job’ or associate the same with failure, isn’t it better to leave them to write their own destinies?
A little more support, a little less shame, will surely start bringing things back to a healthy balance.
#EndTheStereotype
This story is part of The Stereotypeface Project, an initiative by The Better India that challenges 26 stereotypes, which continue to exist even today. We are showcasing these stereotypes through all the letters of the English language alphabet.
Stereotypes exist everywhere — they are passed down over generations. Instead of embracing and celebrating what makes us unique, we stand divided because of them!
We’ve unconsciously learned to stereotype, now let’s consciously #EndTheStereotype.
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Monsoons are all set to make an entry and if you think any of your gardening plans are going to be dampened, fret not!
Of course, gardening in the backyard might not be a feasible idea, but hey, this is perhaps the perfect time to put your terrace or even indoor space to some use.
We, at The Better India, have covered many stories of people whose love for gardening led them to make the best of their limited spaces and turn them into veritable oases of vegetables and fruits. You can read some of those here.
Good soil, sun and plenty of moisture, and you have a winner here! One of the easiest plants to grow, cucumbers are rather prolific, as they can thrive in grow bags that are replete with fertile and evenly moist soil. You can buy cucumber seeds here.
One of the most loved veggies in India, how awesome it would be if you could grow these at home. Well, our beloved bhindi thrives during the monsoon when plants can be individually grown in grow bags. Additionally, these make excellent garden borders because of their beautiful burgundy-hued leaves, so you could grow them in your kitchen garden during other seasons as well. Check out The Better India Shop the seeds here.
Not just regular ones, even cherry tomatoes can be easily grown during monsoons. One of the most versatile and widely-used vegetables in the Indian cuisine that is originally a fruit, these are full of vitamin C. Get the seeds of both varieties here.
Salad, paratha, sambhar: an underdog of veggies that finds its way in a variety of dishes across the country. Yes, Radish it is! With several varieties that can be grown during the monsoon, let radish be your gardening experiment this rainy season. Buy radish seeds here.
Bitter, Snake, Ash, Bottle, Ridge: name any type of gourd, and you can grow it during the monsoons! In fact, this is the only time when these creepers grow vigorously and give a bountiful of healthy, watery vegetables throughout the season. While raised beds are perfect, grow bags also work perfectly for all types of gourds.
Besides these vegetables, you can also grow brinjal, lima beans (sem phali), beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, beetroot, Chinese Cabbage, broccoli and amaranthus in this season.
One of the oldest and most effective advice of all is to take everything with a pinch of salt.
This tip might work well in life, but when it comes to food, you need the perfect amount, and not too less or more, to breathe life into a dish.
However, the quest to add piquancy to food does not only depend on the quantity of salt used, but also its type and quality. A dash of colour, freshness and a sharp, edgy taste is what these alternatives to the table salt have been doing for decades.
Collectively known as pahadi namak (salts), they have been a traditional staple in Uttarakhand households.
Pounded and ground, in a myriad of combinations of herbs and rock salts, this coarse pisi (or pisyu) loon (salt ground with herbs and spices) is indeed a magical addition to the cuisine!
Recipes of these flavoured salts have been passed down by generations of mothers to their daughters. One such mother-daughter duo Indira and Divya Chowfin from Pauri, Uttarakhand, are bringing these precious pisi loon salts to the world through their enterprise, Himalayan Haat. You can experience your share of the edgy Pahadi cuisine here.
A salty history
The world is not new to flavoursome coloured salts. From the pink-hued rock ones found in the Himalayas or the marshes of Camargue in France, to the black lava salt or blue salt found in Iran, nature continues to dazzle us with its bounty of this mineral.
And, when these naturally formed salts meet human imagination, the colours and flavours are endless, especially in India which has a long ancient tradition of flavoured salts.
In the quiet hills of Kumaon and Garhwal, located in the east and west of Uttarakhand, respectively, a long line of salts infused with flavours of mustard, coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, different types of chillies (red, green and yellow), form a crucial crux of their cuisine.
Apart from the extra punch they give to any boring dish, these salts are also simply eaten with rotis and paratha, as survival food, during the winter when the mountain ranges are inaccessible.
Speaking to Down to Earth, Vimala Rawat, one of the many women from Dehradun who are trying to keep the salty tradition alive, points out that daindoosa, a pungent salt made of chilli and mustard seeds is her favourite.
From generous sprinkles on fruits and chats during summer or slight dust over chapatis brushed with ghee in winter, daindoosa is one of the many salts that form an integral part of the regular cuisine.
Rawat claims that people living in hilly areas have a common habit of consuming less water during winters. And, so including salt in their daily diet was to ensure more hydration as it makes one thirsty. Some even attribute its flavour as the contributing factor behind its popularity.
“In several households, it is served as a side dish, particularly during the lean season when vegetable supplies become scanty,” says Rekha Kothari, another resident of Dehradun.
While most talk about the flavours and colours of these salts, according to many others, pahadi salt ensures that people consume more healthy herbs in their diet.
The usual ingredients in these salts—carom seeds, ginger, garlic and cumin seeds are known for its digestive abilities, making it one of the top choices for a healthy diet. Additionally, pisi loon is traditionally made of rock salt, which is high in micronutrients and is organic with no additives, as opposed to a common table salt which is processed and packaged.
Also, the coarse texture of rock salt, as opposed to the finely powdered table salt only enhances the aroma of the food.
Prepared by local women at home, the gaining popularity of these flavoured salts in urban regions of the country has opened up a new possibility of livelihood and financial independence.
While many women are working with NGOs or within self-help groups, many are meeting the demand individually through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. For instance, Kothari, along with NGO Mahila Navjagran Samiti, sells these salts on Instagram.
With the increasing demand for such unique salts on the internet, Kothari and many women like her are out to carve a culinary niche for not just themselves but also the region’s cuisine.
Over the past few months, I have been closely following the stories of farmers and people who gave up their city jobs to take up farming. Each story inspires me as it revolves around the narrative of living close to nature, of growing food and understanding that organic cultivation is the way to the future.
These stories have always posed certain questions to the urbanite in me. How does it feel to get your hands dirty while farming? And how easy or difficult is this occupation? For those in Bengaluru, like me, who want to try their hand at farming, but are not sure if they can go all in, M Sunil Kumar offers a rent-your-farm option at an affordable rate of Rs 2 per square feet!
Sunil, who has a Master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences, worked at a corporate job in Bengaluru for 14 years until the mediocrity got to him. Since he had grown up in a family with a farming background, he understood that agriculture is the need of the hour.
Inspired by the concept of self-farming wherein people take responsibility to grow what they consume, Sunil started this venture in the heart of Bengaluru.
Sunil Kumar in his farm.
It is a Gandhian philosophy to labour in proportion to our consumption and Swayam Krishi is trying to implement this concept in the field of agriculture. “Hundreds of people living in cities have, in recent times, become excited to farm. The problem is that they don’t have land. Those who have the land, don’t have the expertise and those who have both, don’t have labourers. Swayam Krishi is bridging all these gaps together to help an urban farmer farm,” Sunil says in conversation with The Better India.
The concept in itself is quite simple. You, as a client, rent a plot from the organisation at Rs 2 per square feet. From a small 500 square feet to a huge 1 acre, you can choose a plot of any size and rent it for four months to a year. On this plot, you will be guided on sowing techniques, the technicalities of nurturing your crop and harvesting.
Says Sunil, “I want to encourage people to spend time on their farms.
“The only way of making organic vegetables affordable is if people grow the food themselves and to achieve that, we need to make people spend time on their farms.”
Once people rent the farm, they go back to the cities and not return for about four weeks. The labourers at Swayam Krishi take care of their farm during this time. After four weeks, the vegetables start growing.
“I send them photos of this development and that brings the people back to the farms. Slowly and steadily, this idea is showing my customers how wonderful and equally tough it is to grow a crop. This, I hope, will encourage them to start growing their own food and stop wasting the food they get,” he shares
When he started the venture in 2015, Sunil had spoken to his friends and family about the importance of subsistence farming. He began with only one customer. But the idea, as sustainable, innovative and adventurous as it is, soon got more attention. Today, he is 166 clients strong, each of whom has deep admiration about the processes.
Sunil explains that at a set amount, the organisation offers land, seeds, labour, manure and expertise to maintain your farm.
(L) Munireddy and (R) Karthik, two experts who work tirelessly on the farms.
From tomato, cucumber and carrots, you can also grow your own broccoli and various gourds and beans. The farming process is fully organic wherein Sunil and the labourers offer innovative solutions like natural insecticides and pesticides to replace chemicals. You begin by planting the seeds and once the WhatsApp updates start coming in, the customers are encouraged to come to the farm where a labourer helps them harvest. If you are growing tomatoes and your farm neighbour is growing radishes, you can barter with them.
“I have leased 15 acres of agricultural land in Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru. Parts of this land are rented to the customers,” explains Sunil, adding, “I have 12 permanent labourers who will oversee the nurturing of the fields. The impact has been so overwhelming that about 30-40 of our clients haven’t stopped renting their farms. We hope that more people start farming for their own needs so the burden of the farmers reduces and we can enjoy organic vegetables that are affordable and guaranteed authentic.”
If you are excited to visit the farm, contact Sunil on 9945508995 or click on this link for their address.
(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Being forced to eat and appreciate vegetables, especially the dreaded Karela (bitter gourd), is an extremely painful memory from my childhood. My grandmother would come up with myriad ways of concocting vegetable-based savouries, but they still remained an unwelcome taste to the palate.
The situation is pretty much the same even now.
Speaking of Assam, one does get reminded of its amazing range of delicious tea so if you want to sip on a fresh cup of organic whole leaf black tea from Assam, check out the product TBI Shop here.
The story remained the same for the children of the Jorhat district in Assam whose mothers went through the same troubles to make their little ones consume nutrient-rich vegetables but with no tangible results.
But then, suddenly, the tides of vegetable consumption amongst the younger populace changed for the better!
Seeing their children eat veggies at home made the parents wonder at the reason behind the miracle. And it was at the Parents-Teachers Meeting that many found why. Their children were choosing to eat vegetables at home because during the Midday meals, their kids were being served veggies they had themselves grown at school, and the little ones were actually liking it!
The same trend was witnessed in 500 schools across seven districts of Assam.
More than 50,000 students from grade 6, 7 and 8 are actively involved in growing different varieties of vegetables in the backyard of their respective schools.
Farm2Food implements organic farming in Assam schools
What’s more?
The vegetables are grown free of chemicals and pesticides and are 100 per cent natural. Also known as ‘Farmprenuers (farming+entrepreneur), these school students are part of a programme started by the Farm2Food Foundation. It aims to set up Nutrition Gardens in government schools across the state by practicing low cost organic farming.
Through farming activities, the Foundation also looks to change unhealthy eating habits. Furthermore, the vegetables that the students grow in the school premises are sold to the Mid-Day meal authority of the school.
The organisation also looks to change unhealthy eating habits
Along with farming, students also prepare and sell vermi-compost, vermi-wash, and bio-pesticides to the community and earn profits!
The brainchild of Deepjyoti Sonu Brahma, the social enterprise was founded in 2011 by him and a few friends with an intention to empower the local farmers in Assam by optimising the use of land.
How It All Started
Deepjyoti Sonu, founder of Farm2Food with school children
Having been born and raised in Assam, Sonu was well-versed with the violent agitations in the state that have, time and again, crippled people’s personal and professional lives.
Assam has a very high rice consumption rate and despite blessed rainfall patterns, it imports rice from Punjab and Haryana. Likewise, Assam imports fish despite having freshwater. Except for tea, we lack in almost all sectors, especially education. I realised the repercussions of agitations only when I moved out of the state for my higher education, Sonu tells The Better India.
While studying in Delhi, Sonu saw how peaceful protests in the University helped in encouraging social dialogue.
There was a meaningful social engagement that existed in Delhi which created a room for dialogues and discussions. It was missing in Assam. A Masters from TISS also gave me different perspectives on ways to resolve issues, he says.
During and even after his studies, Sonu joined citizen-driven movements like Narmada Bachao Andolan where he came face to face with the power a citizen possess. He also worked with several social and educational organisations for almost 15 years.
Armed with all the learning, knowledge and experience he had gained over the years, Sonu moved back to Jorhat district and launched his company to train farmers.
Sonu aims to start organic farming in all schools of Assam
However, it did not get the kind of response he had expected.
It was difficult to change the traditional methods of farming. We did get some success but the resistance from the farming community overshadowed it. Since the state is a region burgeoning with rich indigenous resources and has youth potential, we shifted our focus from adults to children, shares Sonu.
Sonu came up a model of farming where he incoporated farming techniques with the concepts that students study in science and math books. Sonu approached the schools in Jorhat district and implemented the farming model on a pilot basis. Since it was a bootstrapped model when they started out, Sonu and his team started a ‘Beej Daan’ (seed donation) drive in the region, “Most of the population in the district is into agriculture and during summer vacations the children often help their parents in the field. So, the donation drive went smoothly.”
Children knocked on people’s doors and collected seeds. The curiosity of the parents urged them to impart ‘Gyaan Daan’ (Knowledge donation) to the kids.
The adults told the children everything related to native seeds and farming. The team also invited the parents to observe the process when they started the gardens.
From sowing seeds to harvesting, school children actively take part in farming methods
With time, they implemented the model across several government schools.
The organisation’s team of experts on organic farming teach the children how to grow a vegetable by linking the procedure to chapters in their Math and Science textbooks. Teachers in the government schools quickly warmed up to the idea of outside classroom learning and came on board.
For example, children have to choose the area where the farming will be done. A chapter in sixth grade science textbook is about ‘Requirements to grow a plant’. A chapter in 8th grade is on soil requirements. The chapter on photosynthesis, usually taught in primary section, is now used for practical purposes.
We cover half portion of the leaf with a black cover and after a few days it is removed. The colour difference theory was only limited to textbooks but now students can actually see the change. The nutrition gardens act like an open science laboratory, says Sonu.
The mathematical concepts like measuring the land area, fence, data ratio of how much plantation is required to feed all school students and so on also get covered in the Farm2Food model.
Farm2Food links farming procedure to chapters in Math and Science textbooks.
Though the children earn barely Rs 5 from selling vegetables and manure, they are all required to open bank accounts, “Many children visit the banks along with their parents as it is their money. This, in a way, is helping them learn how the bank functions.”
The schools that have this organic model are now participating in science competitions at block levels. As per Sonu, one school, in an exhibition last year, had displayed 100 native varieties of vegetables, some of which were on the verge of extinction.
A school in Jorhat had displayed 100 native varieties of vegetables, some of which were on the verge of extinction.
Another impact that can visibly be seen is the involvement of mothers. Many children have gone back and started organic farming in their home backyard. Seeing this, the organisation is also providing free training and assistance to housewives.
As such, we work with Mothers’ groups to enable the setting up of Nutrition Gardens in homes. We provide training to homemakers in vermi-compost preparation. Whilst this is prepared initially for the Nutrition Gardens at home, women later make compost for commercial use, says Sonu.
In Sonu’s 8-year journey, among the success and positive impacts, numerous challenges, and financial crunches top the list.
We are currently relying on help from corporations and government. We want to increase the annual farming cycles from two to four to get more produce but for that we need a strong financial backup, says Sonu.
If this low-cost farming model, that introduces students to environment-friendly practices, changes the general negative perception of farming and, at the same time, teaches them a thing or two about business, gets replicated across all the schools in India, then it promises a brighter and healthier future.
You can reach out to Deepjyoti Sonu at: farm2food@gmail.com or visit the website here.
Sooraj CS remembers how his mother would pick tomatoes and chillies from their kitchen garden, wash off the soil and use them to make delicious curry. As a child, he took up small tasks to help her in the garden, and observing how she dug the ground, sowed seeds, tended to the plants and plucked the vegetables when the time came.
This home-garden inspired Sooraj, a BSc Agriculture student to take up organic farming and also help other farmers in Kerala give up chemicals used in agricultural practices.
“When I was in class eight, I planted some tomatoes and cowpea in our kitchen garden. I grew up watching my mother work in the garden and so, the techniques of cultivating it came naturally to me.
These first seeds that I had sown gave a wonderful yield and that really inspired me to continue,” he tells The Better India (TBI).
Organic tomatoes grown in Sooraj’s farm.
Soon, he turned this tiny kitchen garden into a venture campaigning for organic farming. Taking his knowledge beyond the observations he had made as a child, Sooraj, in his final year at the College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, researched various methods of farming. He also undertook training under Subash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF).
ZBNF is a technique of farming that requires no production cost. Relying on natural resources such as land and water available in a particular area, ZBNF technique helps grow organic crops.
By the age of 17, Sooraj had already studied the climatic and topographic conditions of his hometown in Wayanad, Kerala. In the past four years, he went from growing tomato and cowpea plants to organic bananas, beans, bitter gourds, cabbages, carrots, capsicum, eggplants, green chillies, potatoes, tomatoes and yams!
No wonder he was awarded with the Karshaka Jyothi Award for the best student farmer in Kerala. The award is a state government initiative to promote agriculture among young people.
Sooraj shares insights on his farming methods.
Speaking to TBI Sooraj says, “I started with ZBNF and updated my methods according to the climatic conditions here. I experimented with the use of modern technology in traditional farming so the yield is healthier and better. When some seeds were observed to be flourishing more than others, I started breeding and conserving them. Today, I grow over 50 types of vegetables and fruits in my 5.5-acre land and also help other farmers in my neighbourhood cultivate chemical-free crops through my methods.”
Sooraj formed “Project Earthworm”, a farmer’s group where he got together with organic farmers like him to conserve over 100 varieties of rice, tubers and other crops while also marketing the need to shift from chemical farming. “Many people think that using fertilisers is an easy solution to get a good yield. In fact, they’re conditioned to believe so. But that isn’t true. We have a lot of eco-friendly alternatives,” he tells Edex Live, further adding, “Plants mainly need micronutrients to grow.
Plants also need potassium and phosphorus, but these can be absorbed only in a soluble form. To facilitate this, we can introduce microorganisms to the soil, instead of using chemical fertilisers.”
He explains that there is a need to uplift the social status of farmers. With that aim in mind, he started giving technical training to organic farmers. Exchanging know-how and conserving various species of seeds, the farming community began working together.
“I used to give classes to farmers and school children, teaching them the advantages and methods of organic farming. In agriculture, the two best motivations are to show a successful farm and to help farmers sell their produce. That is exactly what we are trying to do here in the farmers’ group,” the 22-year-old says.
One of the major concerns of agricultural experts is that the younger generation perceives farming as an unprofitable occupation which demands months of hard work and investment with no guaranteed returns. Young farmers like Sooraj, who are developing their own techniques and promoting the much-sought-after organic produce can prove to be the leaders who show that farming can be a profitable and promising occupation, one that should be embraced if you have the will to do it.
Picture Courtesy: Sooraj CS
(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)
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When young Kaushlendra got an opportunity to study in a school in Nawada, Bihar, 50 kms away from his home in Mahammadpur, he did not know that his views of life were about to change. Though coming from a humble background himself, he could not help but observe that the financial condition of some of his peers was way worse than his.
One indicator of this was that a few students wouldn’t go home even during vacations because their parents could not afford to feed them two square meals every day. And so, even for the young ones, living away from their parents in a school where the government funded their education and accommodation, was a preferred option.
“I met people from a variety of backgrounds during my school and college days, and throughout these years, my belief only became stronger. I started speaking with more people, tried to understand their issues and the obstacles they overcame to get admissions in the school. With every interaction, I learnt a little more about the socio-economic situation in our country,” shares Kaushlendra, in a conversation with The Better India (TBI).
The determination to work for the upliftment of Bihar’s rural poor was strong in Kaushlendra right from his childhood.
Today, this IIM-A alumnus has impacted 35,000 farming households across six districts in the state. However, his journey from the school in Nawada to becoming an IIM topper is not without its own set of obstacles.
Being the youngest son of government-school teachers, the value of education reigned supreme Kaushlendra’s home. He pursued B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Junagadh and later, went to IIM-Ahmedabad for an MBA. Always a sharp student, he earned a gold medal in his final year at the IIM college.
Although he aimed to enter IIT, Kaushlendra could not clear the entrance exam. He believes this failure turned out to be in his favour and pushed him to pursue his passion for helping Bihar’s farmers.
Aligning scattered stars into constellations:
Source: Kaushalya Foundation/ Facebook.
Getting his BSc degree in 2003, Kaushlendra was placed as a trainee field officer in a firm that manufactured drip irrigation systems in Andhra Pradesh. Working closely with farmers there, he understood that the way to empower farmers would be education and the integration of many government initiatives.
“Several initiatives across the country are helping farmers through, say, solar energy provision or getting the farmers’ markets online. And I noticed that these are isolated programmes, though wonderful by themselves, do not make a farmer completely independent. I decided to integrate several initiatives instead of starting something unique myself,” he tells TBI.
From AC carts to tractors, what empowered Bihar’s farmers:
Along with his brother, Dhirendra Kumar, Kaushlendra set up the Kaushalya Foundation—a non-governmental organisation in a rented room. Starting in minimal space, the brothers began reaching out to needy farmers. Simultaneously, they also founded the Knids Green Private Limited (KGPL) to kickstart a programme that would enable farmers to receive their rightful income.
“Our agenda was to help farmers optimise their income through fair means while offering the end-customer with the choicest of fresh vegetables and fruits,” informs Kaushlendra. The farmers were reluctant to join, but soon the brothers got three farmers to attend their training workshops.
The duo knew that showing results were essential to the farmers and so they took a loan to buy 30 AC handcarts and partnered with vendors to sell the produce of those three farmers at cheaper rates.
“It wasn’t long before the farmers could see the advantages of our initiatives,” the 38-year-old tells us. “Although we were running in losses, success was just around the corner. We could see it. It doesn’t matter how many farmers we impacted. It mattered how sustainable our impact was.”
The IIM-topper explains that it is not the individual problems that they deal with. Every time a farmer or a villager comes to them with a problem, the team checks if there is a community or system that can resolve their issues.
Avinash Kumar, a manager with the Foundation, explains that while KGPL deals with marketing and getting vendors on board, the NGO works on the back-end logistics—right from organising farmers to training them to be entrepreneurs. “We have been raising an annual funding of Rs 5 crore for our work. KGPL partners with urban vendors, and restaurants who will purchase only our produce. Kaushalya ensures that the produce they receive is of optimum quality and that guarantees a fair income to our farmer partners.”
A few ways in which the Foundation is helping farmers:
A lady farmer, who also worked in a rural bank, approached the NGO, saying that many people in the village are claiming that she was using their money for her personal needs. No amount of pleading, or showing the proof of her bank statements convinced them otherwise.
Kaushlendra realised that the main culprit here was illiteracy. The Foundation started an adult education programme, but the village, where close to 90 per cent of the females were unlettered, did not welcome the idea. Not one to be disheartened at a small obstacle, Kaushlendra started a course to teach the women how to drive a tractor. “It seems very disconnected,” he shares. “But, once the women learnt how to drive a huge tractor, the confidence that they can also study and read books started building up in them.”
Kumar told us that they handpick 10th or 12th pass villagers who show a flair for entrepreneurship and train them to establish businesses in their respective villages. So far, about 250 people have been trained under this model.
“We have also formed Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) wherein farmers form a group before selling their harvest. We have also formed five Mandis across Bihar which are owned by local communities. Farmers can sell their produce directly in these Mandis, cutting the need for middle-men,” says Kumar.
This way, instead of a blanket initiative for all farmers in Bihar, the team looks at customised, long-lasting solutions. Along with community programmes and opening up the markets to farmers, they have undertaken solar energy projects and irrigation projects that help farmers optimise their incomes. What began as a workshop for three farmers 11 years ago, has snowballed today into an initiative that has impacted about 35,000 farming households in Bihar.
This article is part of a series by experts in support of the ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon – organised by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and The Better India. Read more about the marathon here.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention and if your family, struggling in the field every day, isn’t motivation enough, little else can be. Yogesh and Narayan are both farmers-cum-innovators who have resolved the problems in their respective fields—pun intended—with brilliant devices. The Better India (TBI) spoke to them about how their low-cost innovations have helped them in their farms and why it is crucial for more agro-centered innovations in the country.
Yogesh Nagar had been studying for his exam in Kota when his phone rang bringing bad news. His father was severely ill and had been prescribed strict bed rest by the doctor.
The dutiful son, a first year engineering student, knew what that meant. With no one to work on the family’s farm, his family’s income was in threat of drying up. Yogesh had no option but to quit his studies and rush to the family living in Baran, Rajasthan.
“After I returned home, I truly understood the difference between an informed advisor and an unlettered one. My father’s health was deteriorating and as is the norm back home, before he consulted doctors, he shared this condition with his friends. He told them that he is so ill, he can’t drive a tractor anymore.
“His good-intentioned yet less informed friends were quick to advise that if that is the case, it will be best if he hires a driver to carry out this task,” the 22-year-old tells TBI.
Accordingly, his father paid between Rs 1-1.5 lakh per annum to drivers to plough his 6-acre field.
To contribute to the work and cut costs, Yogesh started driving the tractor, which he soon found wasn’t an easy thing to do. He understood that a slight acceleration or sudden brake may result in the furrows being too deep or too shallow. Driving tractors to plough the fields took precision and experience, especially when one is looking at acres of farmland.
Yogesh wanted to do something to reduce the expense of hiring the drivers and also bring uniformity in the way the fields were ploughed without any glitches. The young man’s love for and knowledge of engineering came to his aid to resolve this problem. Several trial and errors and experiments later, Yogesh was able to invent a driverless tractor to meet his requirements! You can read about this in detail here.
What he learned through his experience is that technology might be bounding forward in India in many areas, but its intervention in agriculture is at a glacial pace.
“We are an agricultural country, and it is surprising how slow our technological advancements are in this sector. A majority of our farmers do traditional farming and for generations, we have seen little to no change in how we work. No wonder then that agriculture seems to be a lot of effort and yet we pocket only marginal profits.”
“If we are to develop innovations in this sector, it could aid the farmer tremendously. Take my case for example. Even the slightest of problems, such as uneven furrows, sowing of seeds in an irregular fashion and losing out on good days because the labourers had other commitments were instantly resolved with simple automation. Of course, it took me months of dedication and even failure, but I endured. If I can, there’s no reason why others cannot push for technological development too,” he adds.
Some 250 km from Yogesh’s hometown, in Chittorgarh, young Narayan Lal Dhaker had grown up watching his single mother struggle on the farming field. His mother had been pregnant with Narayan when her husband passed away, leaving the young woman to take care of their 2-year-old twin daughters and the still-to-be-born son.
Fortunately for the Dhaker family, they owned a 7.5-acre-farmland and Narayan’s mother could hire labourers to work on it.
The 21-year-old with one of his jugaad innovations. Courtesy: Narayan Lal Dhaker.
But when the human resources were sparse, she had no other option but to pick up the tools herself with her three young ones watching helplessly.
From a diya (lamp) in a large oil can to drive away wild Nilgai from the farm to using the technique of multi-cropping in his fields, Narayan has undertaken several jugaad to boost crop productivity.
He explains why it is in the hands of the farmers to not just pick up their farm equipment but also use innovation as a tool in their lands.
Who better to understand the issues of a farmer than a farmer himself, says the farmer who is currently in the third year of his graduate studies.
Narayan adds, “The farmer thinks about his profits for obvious reasons and so he can identify the obstacles that are keeping him away from his farm’s full potential. Through innovative ideas, he tries to resolve them and forms his own system on a micro-level. There are hardly any innovations in the market which is why a farmer is left to fend for himself. It is up to the NGOs and the governments to take these innovations further, connect farmer to farmer so everyone has to think of new ways to help himself.”
The app, Plantix, supports Narayan’s view that through innovative ideas farmers can resolve many problems.
(L) Devidas Lonkar and (R) Navnath Raghunath Yawale- two happy Plantix users. Source: TBI.
Though developed by a couple from Brazil, the app is showing tremendous potential in India. The mobile application has a large database of botanical information—everything from plant identification to the diseases they can be infected with. A farmer needs to simply click the image of the plant and upload it to access detailed explanation.
And this simple app, which can be downloaded for free, is proving to be a boon for lakhs of farmers. Take the case of Devidas Lonkar from the Chakan town of Pune. Tired of the infections ruining his farms and the money he had to invest in pesticides, Lonkar finally downloaded Plantix. Speaking to TBI, he said, “I would describe the symptoms of fungus or disease to the shopkeeper, to which he would then suggest various pesticides and add-ons. It took me a while before realising that these shopkeepers only suggested chemicals having short-lived efficiency that would inevitably bring farmers back to them within a couple of months. This app ended up saving me a lot of money as well as time. Sitting at home, I can now diagnose plant diseases and have already saved about Rs 1-1.5 lakh in a year that I would otherwise spend on fertilisers.”
Navnath Raghunath Yawale, another farmer who swears by the app shares, “I travelled from my village to Pune city to find out what fungus or diseases were plaguing my crops. I used to spend around Rs 35,000-40,000 just on fertilisers and pesticides but to no avail. Thanks to Plantix, I can check the health of my crops without leaving my home. In last one year, I’ve managed to save between Rs 5,000-10, 000 easily,”
Narayan and Yogesh would agree that their devices have certainly reduced labour costs and increased the yield of their farms. Farmers like Lonkar and Akash are not too far behind in this belief. If agricultural innovations are given the boost and exposure they deserve, perhaps the sector wouldn’t suffer as much as it does currently.
It is innovations like these that ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon aims to develop by giving young innovators a platform to take their ideas to products and help solve issues in different fields from agriculture and infrastructure, to environmental conservation and waste management.
Know more about the ATL Tinkering Innovation Marathon here.
(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Did you know that India produces more than 550 million tonnes of crop residue every year, and that the highest producers of this crop residue are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana?
Ever wonder what happens to most of this agricultural waste?
Planning to switch to an eco-friendly lifestyle? Here are some products that you can incorporate in your daily life to take the first step. Check them out on The Better India Shop, here.
Well, in the absence of space to hoard this residue or alternative methods to dispose of it, the average farmer takes the cheapest route—he sets this stubble on fire. The smoke from this straw burning is one of the leading reasons smog and heavy pollution in the national capital, Delhi.
But one man wants to change this.
Meet Sukhmeet Singh, the man who is solving the nation’s paddy straw burning problem with his national award-winning startup, A2P (Agri2Power) Energy Solution.
Sukhmeet Singh
Established in March 2018, A2P Energy Solution is working with farmers by buying off this crop residue from them and converting this waste to useful products for the energy sector.
In an exclusive interview with The Better India, Sukhmeet narrates his journey.
As a technology consultant, Singh worked for industry biggies like TCS, Satyam and Tech Mahendra and in countries like the US, UK and Dubai.
In 2011, he started working as an Associate Director with (his alma mater) Indian School of Business’ Entrepreneurship cell at the Hyderabad campus. He soon moved to Mohali and helped set up ISB’s Mohali campus and started working with the Government on areas of Public Policy, Agriculture and Cold Supply.
He played a key role in getting the Atal Incubator at the school’s Mohali Campus.
“I was working on a project with UK-based Aston University to understand the leading issues that plagued the agricultural sector in India, especially Punjab, and was shocked at the environmental issues caused by stubble burning every year,” he says.
Setting stubble on fire
These are some of the highlights of the research that Singh conducted to understand the impact of stubble burning in North India:
Every year 35 million tonnes of straw is produced in northern India in September and October alone and most of it is burned.
A direct consequence of this is visible in cities such as New Delhi which ranked as having the worst air quality in the world in 2018.
The air in Delhi consists of 20 times more polluting particles than the World Health Organization recommends.
The economic and health costs to tackle this are estimated to be $30 billion in a single season. This amount is 1.5 times the Indian budget for health and education.
“In Punjab itself, there is more than 20 million tonnes of paddy straw that needs to be managed before a new cropping season starts. This window is hardly three weeks and the farmers don’t have too many options. The government fines them for burning straw, they cannot push the residue back into the soil because it increases the chance of pest attacks and they also need new and bigger machinery for that. Additionally, most of them have restricted space on their farms, so hoarding isn’t an option. So, it is their helplessness that pushes them to burn the straw. What else can they do?”
And therefore Singh’s vision was to create a model that would:
1) Educate and convince farmers to not burn straw
2) Give them additional income by buying it off them
3) And use the paddy straw to produce high-value products for the energy industry.
When Singh quit his job at the Indian School of Business to establish A2P Energy Solution, his family was shocked.
Villagers at work
“I was at a senior position at ISB. It was one of the best jobs anyone could have. So my family was apprehensive at the beginning. But with the response we received from stakeholders, the market, farmers and the entire ecosystem in the last one year, they are more supportive than ever.”
The whole process of straw collection and processing is a challenging task at every stage right from convincing farmers to not burn to collecting the straw and processing it. Paddy straw is very abrasive on machines and there are no standard machines available for its processing. These challenges make it a daunting task for anybody who wants to enter this field.
At a time when nobody thought a startup company like A2P could create a dent in the system, Aston University and Oglesby Charitable Trust were instrumental in providing Singh the support he required.
Products
Some of the products
After extensive research on the issue, Singh and his team began working on the products that could be developed using paddy straw.
They processed this straw to develop pellets or bio-fuel that could be an alternative to coal and wood. The first stage of making the pellets is wholly commercialised, and they have supplied pellets to clients in food processing, pharmaceutical and dyeing industries including Pepsi and Hindustan Unilever.
Since the collection window for the straw was limited, they used several innovations to ensure they managed the collection of the straw.
They use advanced machine learning to optimise their operations and track farm fires.
Since the collected straw needs to be transported to their manufacturing plant within 20 days to be effectively converted to biomass fuel, A2P Energy Solution efficiently uses Google map API to extract the images of paddy fields which are close to the harvesting season. This helps them reach out to those farmers, buy that straw and prevent burning.
Similarly, they also use NASA satellite data to track open field paddy straw burning. This helps them single-out crop burning areas and train farmers for paddy straw collection instead of burning.
Leveraging tech to find solutions
“We were able to replace conventional fuel. The carbon emissions that we prevented from entering the atmosphere accounts for that emitted by 285 cars on the road every day. In the process of straw collection, we also created entrepreneurs in the village to help us with the straw collection by providing them with customised machines to facilitate the process and creating a system to buy back the straw. During one season of collection, we employ more than 30 people.”
The company did not stop at producing fuel. In a matter of months, they began using the straw to create boards that could be used to build furniture.
Now incubated at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (New Delhi), they are exploring the technology of producing biochar from straw.
They are also working with Punjab Agriculture University and Indian Institute of Petroleum to explore using pellets either as a soil conditioner or to extract oil out of pellets and use it as furnace oil.
The company could have easily opted to collect the paddy straw free of cost. But because they wanted to create a value chain where all stakeholders get paid, the farmers earn up to Rs 3000 per acre for straw. This means for an average farmer with 10 acres of land, just collection of straw can generate additional income to the tune of Rs 30,000.
They are currently working with more than 45 farmer families and preventing paddy straw burning on 450 acres of land.
Till date, A2P Energy Solution has saved 900 tonnes of straw from burning.
“There is a huge demand and market for the model that we are working on. Today, we get calls from farmers across India. We now aim to scale this model up and reach out to as many farmers as we can and create high-value products from straw.”
Awards and Recognition
One of the biggest recognitions for the company was winning the first prize at the Startup India challenge for using data and technology to solve social problems.
They competed with more than 522 companies across 34 industry verticals to clinch the honour and won a cash prize of 10 lakh
They also won the Global Prosperity Award at the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit in Russia. Besides winning a cash prize of 100,000 USD, they were declared the most innovative entry under the sustainable energy category.
Here, they competed with 1,180 companies across 83 countries and were shortlisted through multiple rounds where they presented the project in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, the University of Cambridge and Russia.
Challenges
The model that A2P Energy Solution has created is capital-intensive. So scaling up is one of the major challenges since they are grappling with funding. They haven’t received any funding from the state or the central Government yet.
“One A2P plant to process straw can cater to three villages. As of now, we do not have any funding support from the Government. One of the other challenges that we are grappling with is that the Government is planning to spend 250 crores on providing farmers with the machinery to put the crop residue back into the soil. Even if a part of this funding was given to us, we could help tackle the issue,” he signs off.
In April 2016, at the peak of his career in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco-based Vivek Shah decided to quit his job and return to India with his wife Brinda who holds a Masters in Printmaking.
“Living in San Francisco made us a lot more aware of our surroundings. Being full-time professionals ourselves, we started realising how our lifestyle was fluctuating toward becoming unhealthy due to our schedules,” says Vivek.
The couple’s first step to take charge of their health was to start learning to cook together.
“And yet, one of our biggest struggles was, we didn’t know where the food we were eating every single day was coming from,” shares Vivek.
The area the couple resided in was full of tall fruit-bearing trees. It reminded Vivek of his childhood when life was simpler. Climbing trees barefoot, scraping your knees and hands, and the joy of plucking fruit off and then devouring them.
He wanted to make that joy a part of his life again and growing their own food was how they thought they could savour it again. The couple set out on a journey to learn the principles of permaculture in a state not far away from California. It was this trip that strengthened their resolve to return to India and set up their farm.
“When we were travelling for the course, we came across a strawberry field. Just as we were enjoying the view, we saw a person dressed in a white protective jumpsuit spraying some liquid on to the crops. It sent a chill down our spines. Imagine if the workers had to wear a protective layer to prevent the side-effects of their spraying chemicals, we were consuming the food that was being grown like that. It not only affected the consumers, the growers but also the environment at large. This was our turning point.”
And so, in 2016, the duo quit their jobs and returned to their home state, Gujarat.
Fresh Organic Potatoes from Brindavan – 2300 kgs of Potatoes Harvested today from 1/2 acre.
Interestingly, there was no opposition. Their families were supportive of their choice and beyond elated that the couple had decided to come home.
“We had no background in agriculture. But the course we did helped us immensely in understanding the various techniques we could adopt to build a natural and sustainable farm. We decided to kickstart our journey by growing what we liked to eat first. Being Gujjus, it had to be mangoes,” he laughs.
In 2017, an hour and a half drive away from Ahmedabad, they bought a 10-acre land located on the outskirts of Nadiad, Central Gujarat, to create a farm which would not only fulfill the needs of their kitchen and make them independent of the market but also take up commercial operations.
And that’s how Brindavan came about. From ensuring soil fertility with techniques such as green manuring and controlled grazing to harvesting rainwater through pits and trenches, the duo practice techniques that help them utilise the farm resources to their maximum capacity.
The plot is divided into seven different subplots all of which receive different organic treatments to revive and promote the growth of crops.
The couple is conserving water by building 20,000 litres rainwater storage tanks. Once full, these will be able to provide drinking water for 3 years!
From pearl millet (bajra), wheat, potatoes, moringa, bananas, papaya, jamun to timber, the couple grows crops that range from commercial to semi-commercial.
A mix of commercial and experimental farming, some of their other techniques which include plug nurseries, no-till vegetable farming, planting windbreaks, bird-loving plants, butterfly and bee loving plants, are directed toward pest and soil management in some way or the other.
They have dug trenches and pits on 10 per cent of the overall land to capture every drop of rainwater that falls on the 10-acre farm. This ensures that every good monsoon cycle helps harvest five to ten lakh litres of water.
The duo has also built a natural home with soil, cow dung and stone. The soil to build the earth walls of this home was also sourced from the farm itself when they dug a pond. One of the reasons to dig this pond was also to tackle the issue of effluent water that a local contractor was letting into the field.
“We were shocked because we had been trying out best to not let any form of chemical enter our farm. We decided to tackle this by collecting this water in a pond. We lined the pond with water-purifying varieties of plants that could remove the impurities before it made it to the pond, which captures 1.5 to 2 lakh litres of water.”
Aiming to turn this pond into a wildlife pond, Brinda and Vivek are soon going to introduce fish and ducks in it. Vivek is also working on building a bigger water-treatment plant that could eventually expand into a secondary business.
Instead of using pesticides or concoctions to keep pests at bay, the couple uses integral natural pest management techniques on the farm like growing aromatic plants such as tulsi, lemongrass, etc. on the outer boundaries of the field. These help create a protective guard and keep fruit flies and pests at bay. Another method to ensure that pest attacks do not cause complete loss, is intercropping or multi-cropping which is the process of growing two or more crops on the same piece of land. To ensure that not a single leaf on the farm is burned, all the farm waste is processed to make compost.
Since the seven subplots grow different varieties, in the advent of any pest attack on any one crop, the couple can recover because of a diverse ecosystem they have created on their farm.
Fresh harvest
An example of this is, on the plot that they practice agro-forestry, the main fruit orchard not only grows fruits such as mangoes, guavas, papayas but also other trees such as sandalwood, cassava, and moringa. They also grow several grains and vegetables on the same land such as turmeric, fenugreek, wheat, lemon etc.
Every pest attack is a learning process. We do not believe in killing them. There have been times where termites have taken down many of our mango trees. But they are a part of our system and we appreciate their presence a lot more. They work with us, so we try to accommodate them too. This being said, it is important to say that farming is not the only source of our survival. So while we can afford to lose a few trees or plants to pests, an average farmer who farms for a living might not, says Vivek.
How else do they earn their living?
Training and workshops
The couple conducts workshops and does consultation work on kitchen gardening, natural landscaping for organic farms/agroforestry, composting, integrating fruit-bearing, native and drought resilient plants, etc.
They have about three farmhands to maintain the daily work at the farm. The ecosystem that they have created on the farm has attracted several bees, birds, and insects. The farm today boasts of seven beehives!
In a final message to those wanting to make the switch to organic farming, Vivek says, “Growing our food and creating our forests is the need of the hour. Global warming and climate change are not waiting for anyone. So don’t let any second thoughts let you step back. Go ahead and pursue natural farming and work for the environment.”
If this story inspired you, get in touch with Vivek and Brinda on their Facebook page here.
In the 1990s when Debal Deb was working with India’s largest conservation NGO in Kolkata, he recalled how the country boasted of more than 1,10,000 folk or native varieties of rice until the advent of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s. In the two decades that followed, this number dropped to less than 7,000.
Why? The Green Revolution witnessed policy makers, agri-scientists and Indian farmers abandon landraces and chase high yielding varieties so much so that at some point, more than 75 per cent of India’s rice production was coming from less than 10 varieties.
“Every time a tiger or a rhino or any charismatic big animal was killed, millions of dollars poured in to support conservation efforts. But nobody batted an eyelash witnessing a massive genocide of our traditional rice varieties,” Deb says in an interview with The Better India (TBI).
Deb, though no agriculturist by training, was bothered with the apathy of the then agri-scientists who found it of no consequence that the native rice varieties were dying and were, in fact, actively promoting high yielding and hybrid varieties instead.
Thus, in the early 1990s, Deb set out on the field to document the varieties that were left in Bengal. Though 5,500 native varieties were officially documented from West Bengal, over his journey spanning three years, he was able to collect only 350.
Sometimes on foot and mostly on the rooftops of buses, Deb travelled to remote, unirrigated villages, untouched by the perils of the Green revolution, and populated with marginal farmers.
Most of the farmers couldn’t afford chemical fertilisers, pesticides or pump sets for irrigation. So they cultivated the native varieties of rice that required none of these ‘inputs’.
Every time he reached a village and asked for a fistful of grains, he pleaded them to never stop cultivating the indigenous rice.
Over the past 25 years, this rice warrior has collected more than 1,420 native rice varieties from 12 states across India. He also collected a few varieties from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Korea, the Philippines and Italy.
Apart from starting a one-of-its-kind open-access seed bank—Vrihi, for farmers, he also cultivates each of the 1,420 rice varieties on a 1.7 acre model farm, Basudha, that he set up at the foothills of Niyamgiri in Odisha.
When he started his conservation journey, Deb distributed these varieties at the doorsteps of Bengali farmers hit by the drought in 1998, flash floods and later cyclone Aila in 2009 which swept 20,000 hectare of land out of production in the Sunderbans.
But he was shocked at what the farmers did when farming activities resumed.
“All modern hybrid varieties had perished and these native varieties were the only ones that not only survived but also furnished substantial grain yield. But what was heartbreaking was, once the drought or cyclone had passed, the same farmers who were saved from hunger by these native varieties abandoned them to go back to modern varieties. They had no value for the native seeds, because they were getting it for free.”
When Deb travelled to the Chinsurah Rice Research Station to donate some of these varieties, they rejected his offer. He then approached the Director of Agriculture at the station who ridiculed him,
“Being a scientist yourself, why are you trying to get the old seeds back? Do you want to push our farmers to the caveman’s age?”
Despite reiterating that these traditional varieties could yield in marginal land and climatic conditions, where no modern varieties could survive, the Director told him, they would work on transgenic varieties to tackle this.
This is one of the prime reasons that, till date, Deb has never reached out to any government or private institute to fund his work.
Jaded by the lack of support, Deb quit his extremely well paying senior position in Kolkata as a Senior Project Officer in 1996 with the World Wilde Fund for Nature (WWF) Eastern Region.
He then started Basudha, to conserve, grow, multiply and distribute these seeds himself. His work is mostly funded by good samaritans who believe in his vision.
While he initially spent almost two decades working in Bengal, he shifted base to Odisha a decade ago.
“There were only very few exceptions among farmers in Bengal who understood and accepted the intrinsic value of the native varieties. Majority of them were victims to the ‘develop-mentality’ where all they thought about was immediate gains and profits. After shifting to Odisha, we saw a good response. Apart from Odisha, farmers from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka also appreciated the intrinsic value of the native seeds and gave preference to its aroma, nutritional properties, heritage and flavour, over its yield and market price.”
Deb, who is an Indian Institute of Science alumnus and a former Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, US, adds how money was a big challenge in the beginning because he was new to the field and had no regular income flowing in. Yet he doesn’t charge the farmers a penny for the seeds.
“On principle, I do not charge anything for the seeds that I give to farmers, because those seeds are not my invention. I am only a custodian of the seeds. I share them freely because I want to reinstate the traditional system of sharing seeds as opposed to the market system of selling them at exorbitant prices.”
To ensure this, he created a living seed bank, Vrihi.
“At national and international gene banks, many varieties are dried to reduce their moisture content below 14 per cent and then stored at -20 degree Celsius, to increase their shelf life. Considering the period during which these gene banks were set up, most of these seeds have surpassed their shelf life. They are dead because they were never cultivated on a field and allowed to germinate. I have visited these gene banks and firsthand witnessed thousands of packets of these dead seeds. It is more of a gene morgue than a gene bank,” says Deb.
According to Deb, about 20 per cent of the varieties in these seed banks are still alive and even those are inaccessible to the ordinary farmers as big seed corporations have easy access to them.
Vrihi was a protest against this injustice to the ordinary farmer.
While these native varieties are distributed free of cost in half kg packets, the rules are very clear. Farmers who take these packets from Vrihi, have to cultivate them, return one kg next year as proof of cultivation, and later pass the seeds on to other farmers. The rice grown from these seeds can be a commercial product. But the seeds can never be sold. They have to be shared for free only with farmers, not with government institutions or seed corporations.
Most heirloom varieties if not cultivated, lose their germination ability after one year. So you have to plant them and ensure their growth is monitored. This not only helps keep the variety alive but also helps it evolve and develop resistance to the changing climate, strains of pests and pathogens.
And so, Deb cultivates each of them, every year at the Basudha farm.
After six years of field-testing he has devised a method that allows him to plant each of these varieties within the 1.7 acres of Basudha while ensuring that the genetic purity of each of these heirloom varieties is maintained and no cross-pollination occurs between two varieties, planted next to each other.
He spends 12 days and nights each year to merely design and map the manner in which the varieties would be planted. Deb published his methodology in the open-access Current Science journal in July 2006, and in his book to make the information accessible to farmers.
Basudha is the only farm in India which prides itself over the genetic purity it maintains in the seeds distributed to farmers.
We assess 56 morphological characters of the plant of each variety, from the leaf length and width, leaf colour, node colour, grain colour and weight, kernel colour and so on, to ensure it matches the original variety. We go the extra mile so that the farmer who takes these seeds from Basudha is taking home the same variety that I conserved 25 years ago. Basudha is the only place in India, that is maintaining this level of genetic purity.
When asked to shed light on some of the most iconic varieties he has preserved, Deb says, “To me, every single variety has a unique property. We are the last repository for many of these varieties.” For example, the Sateen that has three kernels in most of the spikelets.
“The farmer who gave this to me passed away after which, his son did not cultivate it. Monsanto, the seed corporation, tried to acquire the variety grown in my farm, but I refused to let them do so.”
Another example is Jugal, the double-grain rice variety. Ramigali from Chhattisgarh has sterile lemmas elongated as wing-like appendages. Kharah from Odisha is another unique landrace with purple stems and leaves.
Another variety includes grains which have natural silver content. Effective in killing gut microbes, it is considered to have properties to cure gastrointestinal diseases. There are 86 varieties which are very rich in iron. A single meal of any of these can be beneficial to pregnant women and new mothers who face iron-deficiency and may suffer from anemia.
Similarly, there are varieties rich in zinc, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids too.
Vrihi also has 16 native varieties that can out-yield modern hybrids without any agro-chemical inputs!
Hundreds of farmers visit Deb every year with the purpose of exchanging and borrowing seeds. Last year, Basudha saw more than 1,900 farmer footfalls. The year before, this number was 2,000. This year too, a group of 30 highly motivated farmers from Tamil Nadu will be visiting Deb to take 1,000 native varieties of rice.
Deb also imparts the training to grow these varieties to maintain their genetic purity. While success for the multiplication of each variety seems like an uphill task, he hopes this exchange will help carry forward the tradition of preserving at least 500 of these varieties.
Let’s hope Deb continues to create these little pockets of hope and inspire many more warriors to join in the battle to preserve our wealth of native crop varieties!
‘If you protect the nation, the nation will protect you’, is the philosophy that P K Hormis Tharakan has lived his life by.
Tharakan, a former Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has played many roles in his life. An Indian Police Service officer, Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Chief Advisor of Strategic Affairs and a guest lecturer for International Relations, and through it all, his mantra for life stayed true.
The same motto is now helping Tharakan in his quest to reconnect with his native village Olavaip in Kerala’s Alappuzha district by adopting aquaculture farming and working with the locals.
P K Hormis Tharakan
Back in those days, the harvest was nothing short of a festival where everyone would come together and help each other. After so many years I am getting an opportunity to be a part of the celebrations again, smiles the retired R&AW Chief.
After having served two years as R&AW chief, Tharakan retired in 2007 and took charge as Chief Advisor to Karnataka Governor in Bengaluru. Here, he continued his love for geopolitical relations as a visiting professor at Manipal University, Udupi.
The avid reader ultimately decided to exchange the chaotic city life for a quieter one and shifted to in his village Olavaip with his wife, Molly, with plans to read more books and write.
However, the death of a brother and the need to continue his father’s legacy compelled Tharakan to take up farming.
I hail from an agrarian family, and my father, Kochupappu Tharakan, used to cultivate paddy and coconut on his five-acre farm. After he passed away, there was no one to take care of the farm. At 23, I joined the Indian Police Services, and gradually, my eight brothers also moved out of the village in search of better opportunities.
Later, his younger brother, an international banker, returned to the village a couple of years ago to revive the farming practices. “Just when he started the revival process, he died in 2014. In a way, he inspired me to continue the process, and so I tried my hand at farming.”
Fortunately for him, farming was not an alien concept. All he had to do was polish his rusty knowledge of cultivation. “As a kid, I used to help my father in sowing, ploughing and watering, and now I had only to revise those methods.”
Tharakan monitoring the fish pond
With excitement, commitment and dedication as his motivators, the 74-year-old began re-learning the farming process. He reached out to experts, the local administration and farmers to acquire the right know-how.
While the experts enhanced my technical knowledge, the local administration introduced me to several government schemes that I could use for cost-effective farming. The best inputs came from the villagers as they understand the local weather, land and soil conditions better than anyone, shares the 1968 batch Kerala-cadre IPS officer.
It was the then Deputy Director of the Aquaculture Development Agency (ADA) of Kerala who encouraged Tharakan to use the ‘One Paddy, One Fish’ scheme. Started by the Kerala government, the schemed aimed at promoting shrimp and paddy cultivation.
For Tharakan, the learning has been a “by trial and error” process, and with aid from government agencies. The ADA extended a one-time subsidy to Tharakan in return for his commitment toward paddy cultivation for at least five years. The Marine Products Exports Development Authority came forward to supply tiger-shrimp seeds.
Traditionally, paddy cultivation is done during monsoons and then harvested four months later. For the rest of the year, the low-lying paddy field is kept fallow. Post rains, the prawns naturally come to the fields from the sea, and thus the government pushes the farmer to take up rotational cropping, explains Tharakan.
As per the scheme, this type of farming is a sustainable system that reduces the use of pesticides and fertilisers. However, Tharakan chose to ditch chemical fertilisers altogether as they corrupt the produce and opted for their organic counterparts.
Tharakan with his wife by the fish pond
Tharakan’s primary interest is to revive paddy cultivation on his farm. “The government is providing capital relief and seeds for paddy cultivation under the scheme that is funded by the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NABARD). This is a great initiative taken by the government to engage the youth in farming, who otherwise prefer city jobs. I urge people across India to identify similar schemes and start farming,” he says.
When asked about the revenue he is generating from the paddy and shrimp cultivation, Tharakan says, “I refuse to calculate profits as for me the employment generated is the biggest trophy.”
Tharakan has hired three youngsters from Assam who carry out most of the work, but the IPS Officer-turned-farmer visits the farm twice a day and supervises the farming activities. He also recruits 25 local women during the harvest season every year.
Ajit and Niranjan (left) and Bijoy (right) work at Tharakan’s field
Despite his age and insistence from his workers, he cannot stay away from his aquaculture farm, contributing in the daily activities like keeping the pests away, feeding the shrimp and checking the pH value of the water.
Though it has been three years since the ex-IPS officer began farming, he admits that there is still a lot of learning to do to achieve tangible results.
In the first year, just when the shrimp cultivation was ready to harvest, a virus attacked the fields and destroyed the fish overnight. While it was heartbreaking, it was a learning experience for us. The natural fertiliser we used was not strong enough to kill the insects. So the next time we used another organic fertiliser that produced satisfactory results, explains Tharakan.
The first paddy yield was of five tonnes of Pokkali rice, a variety which is saline-resistant and suitable for cultivation in the brackish water. In the second year, the Kerala floods delayed the process, and all the crops were lost to heavy rains.
This year, the farm harvested nearly 1,000 kilos of fish. As for paddy cultivation, the sowing process was started a couple of days ago, and Tharakan is hopeful that the production will not be disappointing this time.
Apart from making an environmental and social impact, farming is also helping Tharakan to reconnect with his village and fellow villagers, something that he always craved to do.
Farming has truly been a rewarding exercise in more ways than one. Agriculture feeds millions, and it is time I contribute in my own way. I will never stop serving my nation.
-Signs off the man who chose to work through his retirement years collaborating with farmers, learning their way of life and finding it more rewarding than a swanky lifestyle in a metropolis.
If I were to tell you that only one litre of water is needed to grow a tree, you would possibly react in three different ways—assume I have gone berserk, wonder if I am watering the tree secretly, and finally, call me a cheat.
These are the reactions that Sundaram Verma from the Danta tehsil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district still gets even after successfully growing 50,000 trees with a technique that requires only one litre of water per tree, that too in an arid region!
Verma accidentally developed this particular technique of ‘Dryland Agroforestry’ in 1985, which promotes water use efficiency and maximises production.
Sundaram Verma developed Dryland Agroforestry method that uses one litre of water to grow trees
Just a year before the innovation, at the onset of the monsoon, Verma had planted several saplings on the borders of his 17-acre family-owned farm. Despite giving sufficient water to the new plants regularly, they died during the summer season the next year.
With no other alternative, he again dug holes during the monsoons, and planted saplings of neem, chilli and coriander, among others. But this time, for convenience, Verma planted the saplings closer to his home situated right in the middle of his farm that grows rice, pulses, grains, fruits and vegetables.
Following this, he initiated the levelling process (that went on till September) on his farmland to cultivate crops. Soon the harvest season began and as he got busy with the process of harvesting the crops, he forgot to water the tree saplings.
To his unending surprise, the plants survived without a single drop of water!
For days I tried to figure out what went wrong that made the plant survive without water. Finally, I realised that the levelling process had broken the capillary movement of water, Verma tells The Better India (TBI).
For the next couple of months, he conducted experiments by digging, planting and levelling the ground. He came to a conclusion that the rainwater stored underground gets evaporated through weeds and upward movement of water leaving the sub-surface dry.
Thus, Verma started working on a method that could lock the water in the soil, thus providing water automatically to the plants in dry regions.
The method promotes water use efficiency and maximises production.
Meanwhile, he also got an opportunity to study dryland farming at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute in New Delhi through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), “Since I was working with KVK to help me increase my agricultural output, they suggested that I study the dryland farming system. That two-month course significantly enhanced my knowledge and helped me develop the one-litre water method,” says the 68-year-old.
Finally, after 10 years of rigorous trial and errors, Verma cracked the formula to grow all kinds of trees including the fruit-bearing ones.
“It was my grandfather who started farming first in the family and since then my entire family has been growing crops. While growing up, I used to help my father and uncles so I was sure of becoming a farmer. But it was my graduation course in Science that taught me to experiment and continuously invent new methods. These two reasons kept me motivated through all my failures and kept my dedication steady for a decade,” says Verma.
Following are the steps that Verma uses to grow trees with just a litre of water:
1. Level the farmland to prevent rainwater from draining away.
2. For 5-6 days after the first rain, plough the fields till one feet deep to remove the weeds and capillaries so that rainwater can seep into the ground and does not rise to the surface.
3. Deep plough for the second time immediately after the rains are over. This will turn the upper soil to a minimum of 10 inches deep in the field locking the water in the soil.
4. A few days after the second ploughing, dig pits of one-feet-deep and 4-5 inches wide.
5. Plant the saplings in the pits and ensure that the roots are at least 20 cm below the surface. Cover the plant with wet mud to keep the moisture for long.
6. Finally pour one litre of water in the pit and allow the plant to grow.
It helps to plant the saplings by September end as the temperatures in Rajasthan are low at this time of the year which allows roots to penetrate as deep as possible. As we enter summer, the top soil surface starts to dry up and the moisture content of the plant moves downwards.
This moisture content will push the roots further down toward the water. This way, the plants absorb water from deeper levels helping it grow without the need for extra water.
Tip: Verma strongly recommends weeding the field once every three months so that the water does not evaporate.
As for the survival rates of trees planted via this method, Verma says if they survive the first two weeks, they will live forever.
The biggest story lies in Verma’s own farm. Ten years ago, he planted 600 saplings of pomegranate in one hectare of the land using one litre of water. Today, he sprays water onto the fruits and the survival rate of the trees is 100 per cent.
Verma has planted all kinds of trees, including fruit trees, fodder plants and forest trees.
“Using the one-litre technique, I have also planted Eucalyptus, a tree that requires a lot of water, in a dry land of Rajasthan,” claims the farmer.
No wonder that for his unique method of growing trees, Verma received several national and international awards like Award for Innovative Farmer-At international Conference on social perspectives in agricultural research and development (2006), the International Award For Agro Biodiversity by (IDRC) International Development Research Center in Canada (2007), National innovation Foundation-India, Award for Scouting (2005 and 2015).
Verma also gets invited to international platforms to speak about his technique. In 2007, he delivered the opening speech at the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Rome.
Water-Saving Technique
For a while, Verma continued to fetch water from a nearby well and the lake like his father and grandfather had done for many years. However, after the well and lake went dry, Verma started purchasing water from tanker agencies. While his technique is cost-effective for trees, the crops require more water and this burns a hole in his pocket every year.
Every year we earn up to five lakhs from selling our produce and in today’s time it is not enough. My sons have their own shops. Since it is not profitable, they detest farming. Most of my savings are drained in buying water, he says.
To overcome the water problem, Verma dug a huge pit and covered it with a polythene sheet to collect rainwater, “The plan is to collect 2 million litres of water that can be used for one hectare of land. It rained for a couple of days recently and the pit has already collected seven lakh litres of water.
Verma uses traditional methods taught by his father that use less water, “My dad would also fetch the wet mud from the lake and mix cow dung in it. The wet mud would retain the moisture and the cow dung would prevent capillaries from growing.”
Using the scientific technique of one litre water and old tactics of my elders certainly gives satisfactory results, he adds.
As the number of water-stressed cities in India is increasing, Verma’s technique can provide a huge relief to the farmers.
We can survive the water crisis if we modify our traditional methods of farming and move toward water-saving techniques like the dryland agroforestry. If I, a farmer in Rajasthan, can save 7 lakh litres of rainwater in just a few days with a simple method, then farmers in states like Maharashtra and South India can definitely benefit significantly, he signs off.
If you wish to get more guidance on Sundaram Verma’s one-litre technique, you can write to him at: sundaramverma@yahoo.co.in or call him on: 9414901764
It’s safe to say that climate conditions in Ladakh, a cold desert, are not exactly suited for growing warm-weather crops like tomato, capsicum, muskmelon and watermelon. Characterised by a rugged topography at an average altitude of over 3,000 metres (approximately 10,000 feet) above sea level, the region endures long and harsh winters and receives a little over 100 mm of annual rainfall.
The cropping season lasts just four months, and remains cut-off for the rest of the year due to heavy snowfall. For locals, fresh fruits and vegetables are available only during the summer. Most fresh produce is imported, and self-sufficiency becomes a real concern.
Importing goods into Ladakh necessitates transport on diesel-run trucks across the Himalayas with passes as high as 5,300 metres, covering distances of 480 km from Manali, and 420 km from Srinagar. This means greater air pollution.
Addressing these concerns, a research team from the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), under Dr Tsering Stobdan, found unique ways of helping small and marginal farmers in Ladakh double their crop productivity.
Dr Tsering Stobdan
Moreover, these ways are helping them save water, without the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides, to grow cash crops like watermelons.
Their remarkable work also includes the identification of a native variety of apricots as the sweetest in the world and the commercialisation of Seabuckthorn-based products. For these achievements, Dr Stobdan’s team won the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award for Outstanding Research in Tribal Farming Systems by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) this year. The DIHAR is an arm of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).
The Better India spoke to Dr Stobdan about his work and its relevance to Ladakh.
With scarce water and small landholdings, crop productivity in the region is low. However, using black polythene mulching has proven to be highly beneficial.
How does it work?
Dr Stobdan answers, “We lay out a black plastic sheet just above the ground, make a 5 cm hole, and plant the sapling. Plastic mulching increases the soil temperature by 5-6° Celsius. With higher soil temperature, the crop can grow faster. Since we’re covering the ground with a black plastic sheet, it doesn’t allow the water to evaporate. It cuts the requirement for water by almost 60 per cent. Based on feedback from 100 farmers, the average yield of tomatoes has doubled to 80 metric tonnes per hectare, annually. For capsicum, it has tripled to 9.2 metric tonnes.”
Other advantages of this practice include increasing the number of intervening days before a farmer has to irrigate their land. Traditionally, farmers irrigate after every seven days for tomatoes, but thanks to plastic mulching, they can do this after 11-12 days.
Finally, farmers are also saving 75 per cent of the time they would have otherwise spent on weeding. Plastic mulching prevents sunlight from falling on unwanted seeds that grow into weeds. Thus, only those seeds that need to grow, germinate.
Besides tomato and capsicum, black plastic mulching is effective for other warm-weather crops like brinjal, chilli, pumpkin, and cucumber. The process is organic, without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. As a result, the yield is more than double the national average of 24 metric tonnes per hectare.
“This isn’t a new or novel technique. But its application and the spurt in yield has not been seen anywhere in the world. All our trials are around 11,500 feet above sea level, but we have much higher yields than in the plains. Also, these tomatoes can be grown at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet,” says another researcher on the team.
Crop diversification
Growing watermelons in the cold desert of Ladakh.
Using a low-input system, researchers at DIHAR have also found a way to grow warm-weather cash crops like watermelons and muskmelons. They began work in 2012, although trials on fields only started in 2016, with ten farmers from Phey village, 12 km from Leh town. The technical know-how behind growing watermelon in Ladakh was finally transferred to the State Agriculture Department in October 2017.
Dr Stobdan says, “These farmers have excellent annual yields of 30-40 metric tonnes per hectare. The national average is about 25 metric tonnes per hectare. Last year, farmers in Ladakh earned Rs 10-12 lakh per hectare, which is 4-5 times the return as compared to traditional crops like wheat and barley.”
He adds that 300 farmers are growing watermelons in the open field this year. “We can grow the crop during the off-season in August and September, a time when the rest of the country doesn’t get it!”
Interestingly, the watermelons grown in Ladakh are fully organic and very sweet. This additional sweetness, according to Dr Stobdan, can be attributed to the higher altitude.
Sumptuous apricots native to Ladakh.
Although they haven’t done trials to determine the effect of geographical elevation on higher sugar and acid content on the crop grown in the region, the same can’t be said of apricots.
“We have demonstrated that as the altitude increases, the apricot fruit becomes sweeter. Identified locally as Raktsey Karpo (apricots with white seed coats), this unique genetic resource is available only in Ladakh. We identified it as the world’s sweetest apricot (based on sugar and acid content). Normally, apricots have brown seed coats,” informs Dr Stobdan.
Once again, none of this would have been possible without the black polythene mulching technique. The crop is sown mid-May and harvested in August (at 10,000 feet) and the first week of September (at 11,500 feet).
Nonetheless, there remain concerns about alternatives to plastic that can survive the harsh weather in Ladakh.
“A major concern for large-scale adoption of plastic mulch for crop productivity enhancement in the trans-Himalayan region could be the resultant pollution hazards caused by residual plastic film. However, the adverse effect, in part, could be compensated by reducing vehicular pollution during long-distance transportation of fresh tomatoes from nearby towns… Future research is needed on the effect of low-cost biodegradable mulching materials on crop growth and yield,” says this January 2018 paper published in the Defence Life Science Journal.
Passive solar greenhouses
Watermelons: New source of income for the average Ladakhi farmer.
In 1964, the first greenhouse was introduced to Ladakh. This allowed the locals to grow a few crops, particularly leafy vegetables like spinach during the harsh winter, when temperatures drop to -20° Celsius.
However, with temperatures dropping to -7° inside these conventional greenhouses with walls made of mud brick from three sides and the fourth covered by a polythene sheet, even leafy vegetables find it hard to thrive. Also, these greenhouses would last only 5-10 years with the walls collapsing because of humidity.
DIHAR developed these passive solar greenhouses with walls made of stone and cement on three sides, which can store and absorb more heat. More importantly, the fourth side of the greenhouse is covered with a polycarbonate sheet, which has a better insulation capacity than the average polythene.
Work on this project began 5-6 years ago, but on-field trials began in the winter of 2017.
Passive solar greeenhouse covered in snow during the winter.
“In our greenhouses, the temperature inside does not reach sub-zero levels, but it is around 3° Celsius in the peak of winter from December-January. Tomato is a temperature-sensitive warm season crop. If temperatures hit zero or lower, then the crop dies the very same day. If we can grow them under these conditions, we can also grow other warm-weather crops. In the past two years, we have demonstrated that tomatoes can be grown even in December and January,” says Dr Stobdan.
Farmers can also grow crops like capsicum and cauliflower in these conditions!
“If the greenhouse is small but uses the same materials, it won’t be as effective. We have determined that the size of the greenhouse has to be at least 60×27 feet. The bigger the greenhouse, the greater its ability to absorb and store more heat. Meanwhile, the height we are recommending is 9 feet,” he adds.
Farmers go for transplanting in September, and from December, they can harvest crops until March. From a single plant, a farmer can get 2.5-3 kg tomatoes!
Inside the greenhouse.
It’s the only kind of greenhouse in Ladakh which can grow these crops under these conditions without additional heating or covering. If you use a conventional heating system or certain curtains, it complicates matters and raises costs for the average farmer.
“We want it to be farmer-friendly. The emphasis is on simplicity so that any farmer can use it,” says a fellow researcher, who worked with Dr Stobdan on the project.
Ravdeep Singh was raised on a farm in the village of Farwahi, a stone’s throw from Barnala in Punjab. Although his parents worked in different professions, they were always connected with the soil and practised agriculture on their six-acre family plot in the village.
Even after completing his post-graduation with an MA in Defence Studies, Ravdeep remained close to the soil and nature; he knew he wanted to pursue agriculture, despite his educational background.
Much like other farmers around him, when he began his journey, he was an aggressive chemical farmer.
“My focus was clear—profits, and immediate profits. In the process, I invested in heavy, newer, and bigger machinery. Despite knowing how chemicals could affect one’s health, I did not care. I was all about greater yield and financial gains because my input cost was very high, and my loan debt continued to increase. It was a crisis for survival,” he tells The Better India.
In August 2009, everything changed. His mother fell severely ill. It was only a matter of time until the doctors gave their diagnosis. Cancer, he was told.
“All the blood drained out of my face that day. I was thinking about what I would do with all the money when the pesticide I was adding to gain the profits was poisoning people, including my own family. I felt so guilty. I knew there was no other alternative, so I had to change. I no longer wanted to be the cause of cancer in others. It was a big switch, but I was ready for it.”
In 2011, after a long battle with the end-stage disease, Ravdeep’s mother passed away. But for those three years, he studied how he could move away from chemical farming. Until then, the farmer hadn’t even come across the term ‘natural farming’.
“If not chemical, what other forms of farming could I do? Chemical farming was so mainstream that I never put any thought into an alternative.”
His interactions with Pinglewara Trust, literature from Subhash Palekar, and a few workshops by Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) introduced him to the method.
“In 2011, I shifted to the organic farming model.”
The change was not limited to what he had to unlearn, but in a shift in his mindset. Since he genuinely enjoyed farming, the transition was not that difficult.
“Going organic was one of the best decisions I made. Not only was I able to make a shift and grow healthy, chemical-free, pesticide-free, and poison-free food on my farm, but also learn newer approaches and tackle new challenges every day. Unlike chemical farming, where I restricted myself to monoculture, in organic farming, I learned how crucial it was to have a diverse field. Organic farming teaches you new things every single day.”
On six acres, Ravdeep grows an array of crops from cereals, pulses, lentils, leafy greens, spices, 10-15 types of seasonal vegetables and more than 20 varieties of fruits!
While some of the grains include corn, wheat, sorghum (jowar); he also grows lentils and legumes such as lean yellow lentil (moong), split pigeon peas (tur dal), urad (black gram), chickpeas, split chickpeas (masoor dal), oilseeds, sesame (sarson), and flax seeds (arahar).
The fruits grown are guava, lemon, kinnow, sweet lime, grapefruit, sapota, banana, mango, grewia asiatica (falsa), grapes, karonda, and dates.
To reduce the risk of pest attack, he uses intercropping techniques where he mixes vegetable seeds and spreads them at random. This leads to confusion among pests, drastically dropping the probability of an attack. Ravdeep believes that the diversity on the farm and the strength of the soil play a role in tackling pests. That being said, he doesn’t believe in killing them because they are a part of nature.
He has also set aside an acre of land that looks like a forest. Thriving on its own, with no human intervention, it boasts of several fruit trees, herbs, and shrubs.
Green manuring is one of his techniques to nourish the soil. Here, manure is created by leaving uprooted or sown crop parts to wither on a field so that they serve as a mulch and soil amendment. The plants used for green manure are often cover crops, grown primarily for this purpose. After this, they are ploughed under and incorporated into the soil while green or shortly after flowering.
He also uses biomass from the field such as dry leaves, twigs, branches, and cow dung, to create compost. He practices mulching that helps increase the soil’s water retention capacity too.
“We use 60 per cent less water in natural farming. Plus, the growth and quality of the final crop is way higher.”
Since the effort behind ploughing the field due to these techniques has reduced, he has been able to cut the use of machinery by more than 50 per cent. Ravdeep shares that only a few years ago, he was planning to replace his 35 horsepower tractor with a bigger vehicle of 50 horsepower at a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh. But since he switched to organic farming, he no longer needs such heavy-duty machinery. He now uses only a few small pieces of equipment to maintain the farm.
He has zero fertiliser and pesticide costs because biomass and dung are both available on his field. This has reduced his input costs by a great deal. He adds that since weeds are more powerful than crops, they are mulched and turned into nutrients for the soil. Here’s a farmer who doesn’t have a problem with weeds on his farm!
Ravdeep sells most of his produce at a weekly farmers’ market, where he also displays by-products of milk, like ghee. The fruits fetch an especially high premium in the market.
When asked about the change in his income, he says that the impact of natural farming cannot be measured against monthly or gross income. It takes time to reach what a farmer once earned through chemical farming, but the long-term benefits are many.
“Eating healthy food has improved the health of my family to the extent that our medical bills are down to zero. In a year, we eat 20 different types of fruits. Would we be able to afford them from the market at exorbitant rates? We know where the food on our plates comes from and how it is grown. What more could I ask for? Natural farming is not profit-oriented, but lifestyle-oriented. I am content because I have learned to strike a balance between my needs and wants. That is what natural farming teaches you.”
In a final message to farmers across Punjab and India, he says, “If we continue to douse our fields with chemicals, in the next two decades, Punjab will turn into a desert, and that too, a poisonous one. If we want to save Punjab and keep our nation healthy, we have no other alternative than turning to natural farming. It is the need of the hour.”
If this story inspired you, get in touch with Ravdeep on 9888180780.
In the village of Kuttiyagoundanpudur, close to the arid region of Oddanchatram in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, lies Aadhiyagai Parameswaran’s six-acre farm.
The area lacks a perennial source of water to keep crops well-fed, but 29-year-old aeronautical engineer-turned-farmer, Parameswaran is confident his farm will thrive. His crops can withstand severe drought conditions because they are native to this arid region.
Born in a family of farmers, he grew up watching his parents toil on leased dryland. Although he was studying engineering, his love for the soil surpassed his will to graduate.
“Undoubtedly, a combination of genes, environment, and passion made me discontinue engineering in my fourth year to become a full-time organic farmer in my village.”
The family was upset at his decision. His parents asked why their son would want to quit the chance at a comfortable life to toil in the soil.
“They were disappointed in the beginning, as any other parent would be. But now, looking back at my journey, they are happy and proud of my decision. Apart from them, my wife Kayal has been a strong pillar of support in my farming journey.”
In 2014, he took to organic farming on a leased six-acre plot. He was inspired by G Nammalvar, green crusader, agricultural scientist, environmental activist, and organic farming expert. He had attended a workshop at Vanagam in Karur, where he learnt some ideals of the expert. Coincidentally, BT brinjal was making headlines at the time.
To kickstart his seed-saving journey, the young farmer travelled across villages in Tamil Nadu, interacting with experts and veteran farmers to document native vegetable varieties. These travails were an eye-opener.
Apart from growing chemical-free food, he also created a seed bank named Aadhiyagai (which means first blooming in Tamil), with more than 300 native vegetable and fruit seeds. Collected and documented over the past five years, he now distributes them to farmers in the neighbourhood and youngsters in cities and towns.
“I was surprised to know the names of more than 500 varieties of brinjal in Tamil Nadu. Likewise, there are as many varieties of okra/lady’s finger, which can give yields for as long as three years. We even have the rarest pink-coloured lady’s finger in the Kongu belt.”
Unfortunately, many of these varieties had dwindled into extinction because of lack of cultivation and multiplication. This furthered his resolve to conserve them.
Native produce
Presently, his seed bank has 13 varieties of okra/lady’s finger, 30 varieties of Brinjal, 30 varieties of bottle gourd, ten varieties of indigenous maize, rare varieties of vegetables like clove beans, winged beans, and sword beans.
Many varieties he collected were bring grown by farmers in their backyard for consumption and not commercial use, while others were sourced from seed savers and festivals from across the country.
He encourages local farmers to sow these native varieties in small patches of land for home consumption and multiplication.
Giving us a sneak peek into the workings of this farm, Parameswaran reveals that three acres out of the six-acre land are used to cultivate groundnuts. The remaining three acres are used to cultivate indigenous varieties of tomatoes, chillies, winged beans, clove beans, sword beans, ladies finger, bottle gourd, snake gourd and brinjal.
Growing native varieties does not require additional external input, so he doesn’t use manure.
Rare varieties of lady’s finger
“Our land comes under a dryland region. Native seeds are naturally potent, drought-resistant, and have higher immunity against pests and diseases. Manure is not required for them either. An occasional drizzle is enough to sustain them for a good yield.”
How then does he control pests?
“Instead of monocropping, we follow multi-cropping, so that there is a minimal chance of crops being affected by pests. This eliminates the need for pest control. The idea is to invest in diverse crops, indigenous to various regions.”
Apart from farming, another source of income is helping people set up terrace gardens and backyard farms. He has conducted gardening workshops in more than 200 locations.
“Even in congested cities like Chennai and Madurai, we help people set up green spaces. Our workshops are mostly experiential and focused on helping people set up backyard farms or terrace gardens. We given them seeds from our seed bank and once they use them, we collect some seeds from them to replenish our repository. It is a win-win situation all around!”
Why is conserving native varieties so crucial?
He answers, “Since the dawn of hybrid varieties, local farmers are left without seeds because they can’t afford them. An average farmer spends 20 per cent of his income on seeds alone. While the lifespan of hybrid variety okra is only 100-120 days, native varieties are longstanding and can yield from six months to three years. These can help our farmers, and since these seeds are location-specific, there is an urgent need to mobilise the youth to join forces in conserving them.”
Parameswaran emphasises the need for the youth to take up agriculture. He says, “Did you know more than 2,000 farmers give up farming every day? This phenomenon is called the Great Indian Agro Brain-drain. There is an inherent need for us to make our youth aware of the prevailing conditions.”
He suggests that we could begin by teaching them about soil health, rainfall patterns, cropping cultures, and empowering them about the severity of the water crisis and the ancient art of water harvesting.
“Only when we make agriculture a part of our mainstream education, will it be able to bring a little cheer to the farming community,” he concludes.
Corn, different kinds
“My parents didn’t own any land. I grew up watching them practice agriculture for 40 years on leased land in more than 20 locations across Tamil Nadu. My only dream is to own a farm on land I can call my own and set up a seed bank there,” he signs off.
If this story inspired you, get in touch with Parameswaran. Write to him at foodfirst.tn@gmail.com, check out his Facebook page or WhatsApp him on 085263 66796.
In a small village called Surera in Sikar District, almost 85 kilometres away from Jaipur, lives a simple farmer who found his calling in mechanical inventions.
A class 10 pass out, this 44-year-old has no degree in science or technology, and yet he went ahead to invent remarkable machines that have aided more than 100 farmers across the state and beyond.
Motivated by problems and bolstered by will-power for the urge to learn, Shrawan Kumar Bajya, is now a guiding light for several agriculturists. Employing his expertise in machines and the knowledge of farming passed down over generations, he has designed six successful working devices that make farming more efficient and less stressful for farmers.
Speaking to The Better India, he says, “Growing up, I saw my father tilling the land and struggling under the scorching heat that drained the life out of him. I wanted to help but didn’t know-how. I was helpless. So instead, I began to explore other avenues. For some time, I tried my hand at digging wells, and when that didn’t work out, I shifted to fixing bikes.”
As a child, Shrawan had always been fascinated by machines. “I remember how I used to wait for the mechanic to come whenever the engine of the tractor would malfunction. As he worked on it, I would bend down to observe him. It fascinated me, and when I began working with bikes, I realised that this job was for me.” he adds.
Slowly, he began to branch out and experiment with spare parts. All this while, at the back of his head, he nurtured the idea of helping his father in some possible way.
“I began to experiment with several spare parts to create something that can help till the land while acting as a weeder. After many failures, taunts from friends and doubts of family, I succeeded at last. It took two whole years of struggle to finally make my first machine, the weeder,” said Shrawan.
Priced between Rs 55,000-65,000, the weeder, he claims, is more efficient and comparatively cheaper than many of its counterparts available in the market at an average of Rs 1.5 lakh. He is currently working to update the device for multipurpose use.
Like the weeder, his other machines are also designed keeping in mind the finances of Indian farmers. Another widely-appreciated product is a motorcycle-operated salt-turning device. “In the process of making salt, women labourers have to step into saline water to break open sedimented layers of salt in hard water. It is not just physically straining, but is also very harmful for their health. This device, which can be easily fixed on a motorcycle, works perfectly to turn the layers with minimal human contact with water,” he adds.
Now a recipient of several accolades including the President’s Award in 2017, he dreams to see his son continue his legacy and push it to newer heights. “I could never manage a degree, but I want to help my son become an engineer so that he can give back to the farming community in a better way than I did,” says Shrawan
A true hero, here’s a video that captures his remarkable journey:
As per a study done by the Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, 16 per cent of India’s food produce (fruits and vegetables) gets wasted every year. Insufficient storage facilities, costly transportation and lack of marketing facilities are some of the reasons for the wastage, the report points out.
An example of this scenario can be Sameer Bagchi, a farmer from Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh. Sameer grows stevia, a herbal plant which works as a sugar substitute. For commercial purposes, the leaves of the plant are dried to make powder that is added to beverages.
In his late twenties, Sameer has been growing stevia for the last three years and while he has generated revenue from it, there have been instances where had to discard the leaves.
The input cost to grow stevia is very high and the stem-cutting process is very tedious. Once the leaves are ready to be cut, they are cleaned in water and kept for drying which takes at least 12 hours. If the dust particles settle on the leaves during the drying process, the leaf loses its sugary content by six per cent, Sameer tells The Better India (TBI).
There is always a constant threat of insects and dust to the leaves. But now, Sameer’s problems have been eliminated thanks to the Solar Tunnel Dryer he has been using.
“The dryer is waterproof, closed and the best part is that it retains the flavour and properties of the leaves. The quality of leaves has also improved,” Sameer smiles.
The low-cost and foldable solar dryer is the invention of Varun Raheja, an engineer from Indore. Ever since he learnt about ‘waste-to-wealth’ concept in school, Varun has worked on projects related to waste management.
Varun Raheja
The reason of spoilage of any fresh product is the moisture content present inside it. Dehydration removes the moisture which increases the shelf life of the product without adding any chemicals, preservatives or additives, says Varun, who launched Raheja Solar Food Processing (RSFP), a social enterprise in 2018.
It was during his first year in college when Varun started exploring concrete ways to reuse and recycle waste and to expand his knowledge, he did an internship at Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development, 25 km away from the city.
Shedding light on what inspired Varun to develop a solution to farmer’s woes, he tells TBI:
As an engineering student, it was a privilege for me to work under Padma Shri Janak Palta McGilligan who has championed the cause of sustainable living. I interned there for three years and yet it was not enough to gather all the knowledge about the technology that benefits the rural population. There I learnt about farmer’s problems on ground level and decided to do something about them.
He worked on three waste-to-wealth projects during his internship and one of them was the solar dryer, a technology developed by the German Scientists.
I chose to go ahead with developing a solar dryer as it is effective. Besides selling their dried produce, farmers can also keep the produce for their own consumption throughout the year. It is a win-win model. The one feeding us doesn’t have to sleep hungry, says the 22-year-old
Whether it is a small-time farmer or a family who wants nutritious food, the solar dryer is helping 52 people (mostly farmers) curb food wastage, earn a better income and keep all the minerals and proteins intact in the food.
Besides being a boon for Sameer, the solar dryer is also helping Nikky Sureka, a dairy farmer in Sanawadiya village close to Indore, produce high quality fodder for the cows.
Azola, a water-grown fern is a good feed for the cattle. The plant is available throughout the year except for summers. Through this solar dryer I am able to preserve the fern that grows during winters for six months and later use it in summer, Sureka tells TBI.
Meanwhile, Sureka, a former senior official at Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board in Indore, is using the dryer to increase her family’s nutrient-intake. She uses the dryer to dry leafy vegetables and fruits and then powders them.
I use the powder to make different gravy recipes for my family. Several of my friends have also taken the powder from me. It is an easier way to ensure that children are getting proper nutrition. I plan to make the exercise commercial and sell the powder, Sureka informs TBI.
The solar-powered driers increase the shelf life of perishable food products by dehydrating fruits, plants, flowers and vegetables. Post dehydration, the food’s age increases to a minimum of six months.
Low-cost and foldable Solar Tunnel Dryer
This invention is India’s first such dryer designed specially for small and marginal farmers who are forced to discard their excess produce every season.
How does the Solar Tunnel Dryer Work?
The Dryer works on the principle of the greenhouse effect in which solar radiation gets trapped inside a closed chamber.
The dryer has two sections: one is the collector area where heat is generated using a black base, and the second is the drying area where fresh products are dried.
The trapped radiation produces heated air in the collector which is then blown from a fan over the fresh produce which evaporates the moisture in them and then this moisture-laden air gets expelled from the other side of the tunnel.
The dried food can be sold in the form of powder, flakes and slices. It can also be rehydrated to its original form. All one has to do is put the dehydrated food in hot water, add masala (spices) and the dish will be ready, informs Varun.
The high temperature in the dryer coupled with the air movement and lower humidity decreases drying time and eliminates the risk of spoilage. For example, it takes 7-8 days to dry tomatoes in the open. The dryer completes the process in just two days.
Solar Dryer is a self sustainable model as it doesn’t require electricity or maintenance. Food is enclosed in the water-proof dryer and therefore protected from dust and insects. Varun has also taken care of eliminating harmful gases, “The food is dried on stainless steel mesh instead of plastic mesh that emits harmful gases at higher temperatures.”
The best part? The dryer retains taste, colour, aroma and nutrients of the food product.
The user can have 10 cycles of dehydration per month, “During low market rates, farmers have to sell their produce at the rate of Re 1 and Rs 2 per kilo of fresh produce. Now with solar dryer, a farmer can preserve the produce and sell it at the time of high market rates at four to five times the price.” Varun explains.
Priced at Rs 14,750, this 20 kg solar dryer comes at half the price of dryers available in the market. The dryer is foldable and thus can be transported anywhere in India without burning a hole the customer’s pocket.
Get in touch with Varun Raheja at: varun.raheja15@gmail.com
