Gnana Saravanan and Krishnasudha, IT execs in Chennai, left their company jobs to go back to their farming roots in Palakkad, Kerala. Over the last 8 years, they’ve used generation to construct a self-sustaining built-in farm known as Deesan Farms.
‘What’s your function in existence?’ Couple Gnana Saravanan and Krishnasudha have been considering over this quintessential query as they sipped their morning tea. Each IT execs labored within the bustling town of Chennai in personal corporations, a long way from their roots.
Saravanan is an eighth-generation farmer and the primary in his circle of relatives to graduate from school. When he moved to Chennai for upper schooling, he overlooked the luxurious greenery of his circle of relatives farm in Palakkad, Kerala.
“Through the years, I realised that my function wasn’t to paintings for firms. As a farmer’s son, I felt a accountability to offer again to my roots and lend a hand maintain our generational farm. In any case, it used to be the source of revenue from farming that supplied for my schooling and that of my siblings,” Saravanan tells The Higher India.
Krishnasudha too, who grew up on a farm, at all times needed to retain the luxurious greenery {that a} farm existence presented. This used to be a pact that they drew after they first met each and every different for marriage, she laughs. “We each sought after to go back to the farm after running for a couple of years in company,” she says.
With this idea in thoughts, the couple hand over their jobs and returned to Palakkad in 2016.
What they’ve accomplished and the way they’ve reworked their farm since is an inspiring lesson for lots of. By way of leveraging generation for just right, they mechanised all the farming procedure, from developing herbal fertilisers to putting in place environment friendly irrigation methods.
Moreover, they evolved value-added merchandise like coconut oil and ghee, all produced at their farm, Deesan Farms.
Construction a fashion natural farm
Saravanan’s circle of relatives owns 36 acres of land the place they essentially grew coconuts. Even though they practised natural farming, the enter prices have been very prime. Upon returning, the very first thing the 39-year-old did used to be to enforce built-in farming.
An built-in farming gadget is a holistic way to crop-livestock farming that mixes agricultural manufacturing, animal control, and useful resource control. Its objective is to scale back exterior inputs and reach self-sufficiency via the usage of generation to recycle all wastes into fertilisers. Key parts of the program come with intercropping, complicated irrigation methods, and environment friendly recycling processes.
The 3 main problems in farming:
- Soil control
- Waste control
- Water control
To construct an built-in farm, Saravanan first added a dairy farm with 20 cows. It’s in response to the output (dung) given via the cows that he designed all the farm. The cow dung and urine are transformed into herbal fertilisers, reminiscent of panchagavya, jeevamruth, amirtha karaisal, and vermicompost.
“The entire solutions we’re in search of are found in conventional farming. I sought after to be sure that the efforts of my forefathers and father in construction this farm shouldn’t pass to waste. Farmers had been training soil conservation and balancing the ecosystem since ages. I take advantage of their wisdom with a small twist of generation,” says Saravanan.
Since making the fertilisers manually is a time-consuming procedure, he put in a biodigester, which produces seven instances the output that used to be being produced previous. The entire waste generated within the cow shed is shipped to the fermentation chamber, producing nearly 7,000 litres of fertilisers day-to-day, as consistent with the farmer.
Those fertilisers are blended and implemented to the plantations each 15 days. The vermicompost unit generates nearly 1.5 tonnes of vermicompost each month. A biogas unit utilises the remainder of the cow dung.
After those machines, Saravanan fascinated about making a microclimate whilst producing extra source of revenue thru intercropping. Previous, the farm had monocropping with 1,650 coconut bushes. Saravanan added banana, nutmeg, areca nut amidst the coconut bushes. But even so this, he added guava and papaya on open land.
“This has created biodiversity, giving us monetary and organic advantages,” he stocks.
After making a self-sustained farm, your next step used to be to create a marketplace for the goods. For this, Krishnasudha stepped in and prompt value-added merchandise like coconut oil and ghee. They arrange a manufacturing unit on their farm itself with a sun dryer.
“Each day has been a finding out revel in right here. There may be lesser rigidity as in comparison to a company process with the additional benefit of serving just right merchandise to shoppers,” she says.
Nowadays, Deesan Farms makes a tonne of coconut oil and 250 kg of ghee a week, claims Saravanan.
Getting children concerned with farming
Whilst Saravanan had numerous wisdom about farming because of his oldsters and grandparents, he attended a herbal farming direction. He says that this helped him with higher techniques of making manure.
His farm, named after his father, Jagadeeshan is nowadays a fashion farm, visited via 1000’s. He has additionally been recognised via the Kerala Executive 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 Easiest Natural Farming within the state.
After his farm used to be arrange and began working easily, he used to be stuffed with the need to proportion his wisdom with the following technology. “Simply one individual training a sustainable fashion of farming is of no just right if that data isn’t shared. I sought after to coach different farmers and scholars about wholesome techniques to develop meals, eat meals and observe farming this is really useful to all,” he provides.
Saravanan conducts categories for the Kerala Executive underneath the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhti (BPKP) and the Paramparagath Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) scheme. With no less than 3 categories a week, he claims to have skilled over 15,000 farmers and scholars thus far.
Sreedhu P, agricultural officer, Perumatty, says that Saravanan’s farm is an ideal instance of ways an natural farm must be.
“He presented complete adjustments to the farm, together with the set up of a biodigester and enhancements to cow control, culminating in cost addition. He additionally applied a sun dryer for post-harvest control. Scholars and farmers from throughout South India seek advice from his farm to wait his categories,” says Sreedhu, including that extra children should imagine this trail as an alternative of working to towns.
“We face a dietary disaster nowadays because of the meals this is grown and fed on. The more youthful technology should get into farming and return to the best way issues have been achieved earlier than — natural and including generation the place wanted,” says Saravanan.
We want to imagine that whilst we center of attention on expanding our financial institution balances and securing our kids’s monetary long term, we’re handiest offering them with monetary safety. What about making sure their meals safety?
Edited via Pranita Bhat, Pictures Courtesy Gnana Saravanan