GlobalSpa
21-Oct-2022
Food is the best medicine. But it’s actually the healthy food grown in healthy soil, fresh in the season that does wonders. As consumers, we all are aware of this. However it’s difficult to find authentic, local and seasonal, organically grown food in large urban cities.
Most farmers find regenerative farming to be cost intensive and commercially not viable. They feared getting into a debt trap with high input costs if the crops failed.
We often talk about energy conservation, recycling practices but a key part of the role the food and farming practices play is something we don’t hear often.
A Young School Student, Ananya Srivastav is spreading awareness about Climate change and the job the rural area plays in switching it. She is passionate about this cause and as she puts it herself “believe you can and you're halfway there.”
Her initiative Terraverse is a platform which educates both urban consumers and rural farmers about practices like regenerative farming and rainwater harvesting.
The Platform undertakes various projects on sustainable and regenerative farming as proof of concepts, which are developed into commercially viable solutions for farmers to adopt. It further educates end consumers through green challenges, blogs and talks to bring awareness as well.
It includes bringing end use food products, grown with care and no chemicals. Among other Sustainable practices, some are mentioned below.
The sustainable practices at the Model farm along with plant nursery
Under this Initiative, A Model Farm is located at Village Temburhli in rural Maharashtra . The essence of this farm lies in the productive collaboration between nature and people. On nature’s front, the farm uses solar energy, prohibits use of chemical pesticides, herbicides & fertilizers, and practices complex multi-cropping systems instead of degenerative mono-cropping and Water conservation systems and recycling systems which are deployed across the farms.
The farm runs multiple projects for the farmers to assist them convert to sustainable farming showcasing that such farming is both good for nature and commercially viable for a farmer.
Proof of concepts(POC) of specific crops
The Platform undertakes multiple projects which are developed as POC on their farm and shared with farmers across India to adopt.
Ananya developed small Proof of concepts of specific crops such as Turmeric , Roselle ( hibiscus), Vetiver and more. Turmeric is a natural wonder in the healing world and has been used as a powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, and antidepressant since ancient times. The main component in turmeric, curcumin, has phenomenal anti-cancer properties and has been known to help to inhibit prostate, skin, colon, mouth, esophageal, lung, stomach, pancreatic, liver, and breast cancer.
In this project, seeds of 4-5 varieties of Turmeric were procured and grew into saplings in their nursery and propagated them to other farmers who since then adopted this as a crop which is organic and commercially viable with low cost of input.
Carbon Sequestration – Vetiver to optimally utilize the space in your land
The Crops are then in turn shared with farmers to adopt such as developing saplings which save 2-3 months of crop time , identifying soil conditions to recommend carbon sequestering crops like vetiver & developing high curcumin content turmeric which can get more price for the same input costs to the farmers.
Vetiver is a species of grass used for a variety of purposes ranging from thatching roof, an absorbent in air conditioners and a source of aromatic oils has the potential to be a potent solution for global warming. Vetiver is a hardy plant that can adapt to a wide variety of soils and requires minimal nurturing. It has a robust root system which grows quickly and stores the sequestered carbon in its roots.
Asha Workers were recently recognized by WHO as key frontline workers during the pandemic. As part of larger community Initiatives, Ananya successfully raised funds to gather medicines for the ASHA workers who service nearly 13 villages & 3600 families (WHO recognized healthcare workers).
Terraverse was instrumental in starting a food kitchen for the Sahyadri School located in Village Temburhli to promote food security for over 150 marginalized students with 50 percent of them being girls.
Young women everywhere are calling for change. Regarding the future that lies ahead of us if we don’t stand up and change the situation, the situation looks quite hopeless. But seeing what a young girl with a goal, a wish to change the world, can start, gives back hope. It gives hope that their generation and the generation after us cares about climate change and is ready to explore Organic farming . That we and they are thinking further than their lives.
