natural farming

Once a plot of land with merely 40-50 mango trees and two huge tamarind trees, today, it boasts of more than 2,500 trees.

Get your hands dirty in the field, enjoy a delicious lunch made from organic produce or simply let go and relax in the lush farms! #LiveGreen #GrowOrganic

Apart from producing 100 per cent naturally-grown and ripened mangoes that have found patrons across Hyderabad, they have also been using Subash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming Method to grow an array of crops.

What’s more? The water usage has come down by 70%, and in case of heavy rains, the crops won’t be damaged. Instead, the excess water will now recharge the groundwater table!

Today, her 800 sq ft terrace boasts of more than 30+ varieties of homegrown fruits and veggies!

This garden is inspired not just by Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka’s method of natural farming but also puts to use principles of agroecology, permaculture strategies, and the Miyawaki Method of afforestation.

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.

Inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka’s principles of Natural Farming, Raghava decided to transform the coconut monoculture that he had inherited into a food forest without the use of any fertilisers, pesticides, cultivation or weeding.

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 was dying out. They, in fact, promoted high yielding and hybrid varieties instead.

“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."