Gnana Saravanan and Krishnasudha, IT professionals in Chennai, left their company jobs to return to their farming roots in Palakkad, Kerala. Over the previous eight years, they’ve used know-how to construct a self-sustaining built-in farm referred to as Deesan Farms.
‘What’s your objective in life?’ Couple Gnana Saravanan and Krishnasudha have been pondering over this quintessential query as they sipped their morning tea. Each IT professionals labored within the bustling metropolis of Chennai in personal corporations, removed from their roots.
Saravanan is an eighth-generation farmer and the primary in his household to graduate from faculty. When he moved to Chennai for greater schooling, he missed the plush greenery of his household farm in Palakkad, Kerala.
“Over time, I realised that my objective wasn’t to work for companies. As a farmer’s son, I felt a accountability to provide again to my roots and assist maintain our generational farm. In spite of everything, it was the earnings from farming that offered for my schooling and that of my siblings,” Saravanan tells The Higher India.
Krishnasudha too, who grew up on a farm, at all times wished to retain the plush greenery {that a} farm life supplied. This was a pact that they drew after they first met one another for marriage, she laughs. “We each wished to return to the farm after working for just a few years in company,” she says.
With this thought in thoughts, the couple stop their jobs and returned to Palakkad in 2016.
What they’ve achieved and the way they’ve remodeled their farm since is an inspiring lesson for a lot of. By leveraging know-how for good, they mechanised your entire farming course of, from creating pure fertilisers to establishing environment friendly irrigation techniques.
Moreover, they developed value-added merchandise like coconut oil and ghee, all produced at their farm, Deesan Farms.
Constructing a mannequin natural farm
Saravanan’s household owns 36 acres of land the place they primarily grew coconuts. Though they practised natural farming, the enter prices have been very excessive. Upon returning, the very first thing the 39-year-old did was to implement built-in farming.
An built-in farming system is a holistic method to crop-livestock farming that mixes agricultural manufacturing, animal administration, and useful resource administration. Its objective is to cut back exterior inputs and obtain self-sufficiency through the use of know-how to recycle all wastes into fertilisers. Key elements of this method embody intercropping, superior irrigation techniques, and environment friendly recycling processes.
The three main points in farming:
- Soil administration
- Waste administration
- Water administration
To construct an built-in farm, Saravanan first added a dairy farm with 20 cows. It’s primarily based on the output (dung) given by the cows that he designed your entire farm. The cow dung and urine are transformed into pure fertilisers, resembling panchagavya, jeevamruth, amirtha karaisal, and vermicompost.
“All of the solutions we’re in search of are current in conventional farming. I wished to make sure that the efforts of my forefathers and father in constructing this farm shouldn’t go to waste. Farmers have been practising soil conservation and balancing the ecosystem for ages. I take advantage of their data with a small twist of know-how,” says Saravanan.
Since making the fertilisers manually is a time-consuming course of, he put in a biodigester, which produces seven occasions the output that was being produced earlier. All of the waste generated within the cow shed is distributed to the fermentation chamber, producing virtually 7,000 litres of fertilisers day by day, as per the farmer.
These fertilisers are blended and utilized to the plantations each 15 days. The vermicompost unit generates virtually 1.5 tonnes of vermicompost each month. A biogas unit utilises the remainder of the cow dung.
After these machines, Saravanan targeted on making a microclimate whereas producing extra earnings by way of intercropping. Earlier, the farm had monocropping with 1,650 coconut bushes. Saravanan added banana, nutmeg, areca nut amidst the coconut bushes. Apart from this, he added guava and papaya on open land.
“This has created biodiversity, giving us monetary and organic advantages,” he shares.
After making a self-sustained farm, the subsequent step was to create a marketplace for the merchandise. For this, Krishnasudha stepped in and steered value-added merchandise like coconut oil and ghee. They arrange a manufacturing unit on their farm itself with a photo voltaic dryer.
“On daily basis has been a studying expertise right here. There’s lesser stress as in comparison with a company job with the additional advantage of serving good merchandise to clients,” she says.
In the present day, Deesan Farms makes a tonne of coconut oil and 250 kg of ghee per week, claims Saravanan.
Getting kids fascinated about farming
Whereas Saravanan had lots of data about farming due to his dad and mom and grandparents, he attended a pure farming course. He says that this helped him with higher methods of making manure.
His farm, named after his father, Jagadeeshan is right this moment a mannequin farm, visited by hundreds. He has additionally been recognised by the Kerala Authorities for his efforts in natural farming. He has been awarded the Kera Kesari Award in 2017, the Yuva Kesari Award in 2019, and the Akshayasree Award 2022-23 for Greatest Natural Farming within the state.
After his farm was arrange and began working easily, he was stuffed with the will to share his data with the subsequent era. “Merely one individual practising a sustainable mannequin of farming is of no good if that info is just not shared. I wished to coach different farmers and college students about wholesome methods to develop meals, eat meals and apply farming that’s useful to all,” he provides.
Saravanan conducts courses for the Kerala Authorities underneath the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhti (BPKP) and the Paramparagath Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) scheme. With not less than three courses per week, he claims to have educated over 15,000 farmers and college students to date.
Sreedhu P, agricultural officer, Perumatty, says that Saravanan’s farm is an ideal instance of how an natural farm needs to be.
“He launched complete modifications to the farm, together with the set up of a biodigester and enhancements to cow administration, culminating in worth addition. He additionally applied a photo voltaic dryer for post-harvest administration. College students and farmers from throughout South India go to his farm to attend his courses,” says Sreedhu, including that extra kids should take into account this path as a substitute of working to cities.
“We face a dietary disaster right this moment because of the meals that’s grown and consumed. The youthful era should get into farming and return to the best way issues have been achieved earlier than — natural and including know-how the place wanted,” says Saravanan.
We have to take into account that whereas we deal with growing our financial institution balances and securing our kids’s monetary future, we’re solely offering them with monetary safety. What about making certain their meals safety?
Edited by Pranita Bhat, Photos Courtesy Gnana Saravanan
