Organic Farming

The Problem: The fertile lands of Thanjavur in the Cauvery delta region in Tamil Nadu is known as the granary of South India. Farmers in this region have been growing a variety of crops for time immemorial. Over the last two generations, the farmers slowly moved away from time tested and indigenous techniques, which were environmentally safe and economically sound and adopted new farming techniques which brought chemical fertilizers and pesticides to their lands. Over a period of time this has made the land less potent, food unhealthy, and farmers economically broke.

The land which was well known for its fertility and the people who are known for their farming expertise for thousands of years are moving away from farming. Today, a full time farmer is a rarity and an economically prosperous farmer is nearly extinct in this part of the world.

The Solution: Moving back to organic farming is the only real viable and suitable solution. In addition, farmers should be able to add value to their produce and have a direct access to the market.

What have we done so far? Our journey in this focus area is just beginning. When this section was written in July 2020, the team was finalizing the list of projects for the next 12 months.

What are we planning to do in the future? We intend to

• Make Ambalapattu village food surplus and free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers
• Work closely with farmers in adopting organic farming techniques that are environmentally and economically sound
• Actively advocate for practices and enable access to facilities that will add value to agricultural produce
• Enable a direct access to the market for farmers