Some films inspire us to go the distance. The Malayalam movie How Old Are You and it’s Tamil remake 36 Vayadhinile were liked by people not only because they were comeback films of Manju Warrier and Jyothika but also because it helped people to change the way they look at things. In the film, the protagonist finds her niche and respect in her family and society after she successfully meets a challenging order of supplying organic vegetables to a marriage party. When celebrities on or off screen boost an idea, they inspire people and often set off a transformation.
But for Dr.G.Natchiar, Director Emeritus at Aravind Eye Care Systems and Mrs.Premalatha Panneerselvam, the founder of Mahatma group of schools in Madurai, taking up farming was a dream long nurtured and they would certainly love more people to know and see their lush biodynamic farms – a result of sheer passion and labour of years. They are Madurai’s stars for whom life has come full circle because both belong to agricultural families.
“I am back to my roots, you will find me less in the hospital now,” laughs Dr.Natchiar, who after many debates with the family earmarked two acres for organic gardening within the Aurolab campus, a state-of-the-art products manufacturing facility of AECS at Veerapanchan. The year was 2005.
“I had no scientific training but followed my instincts and interest and started planting a variety of trees,” she says. Today, her family, staff, friends and visitors to Aurolab marvel at her “blossoming property” spread over 70 acres now and buzzing with butterflies and birds.
As we walk around the coconut, banana and mango orchards, the aroma garden with every type of jasmine, the organic garden of champa in 30 different colours and endless fields of vegetables, fruits and grains, Dr.Natchiar shares how creating, running and maintaining a farm is a lifestyle.
Unless she is travelling, Dr.Natchiar, is at the Aurofarm everyday at 8.30 a.m. to oversee the requirements of her plants – fondly she calls them babies – and the dozen permanent farmers whom she has hired and the other daily wagers who come depending on the load of work. “After taking a round, I assign them the day’s task,” she says with pride reflecting her intense love for what she enjoys doing the most -- gardening and farming.
She zips around on her battery-operated two-wheeler and inspects every field personally. “Everything produced here is 100 per cent organic and the yield caters to about 40 per cent requirement of our hospital and staff canteens,” she informs, and asserts, “I am into this not for selling the produce and making money. I want more people to learn about growing strategies and eat organic.”
It was only after attending series of workshops, interacting with local farmers and researching on eco-friendly farming techniques that Dr.Natchiar could initiate a system that is regenerative to the soil, flora and fauna that are part of the farm ecosystem and the benefactors of the food grown here. “I have learnt from mistakes and now I understand every plant’s requirements and how and why business models should not be compared to farming models,” she says of organic farming still not becoming a financially viable option.
For Dr.Natchiar it is purely a heart warming relationship between her and nature. Farming makes my heart sing and I am focussing all my energy on it now, she says. “All you need is planning and hard work,” she says.
Likewise, no matter howsoever much tired she is after the day’s or week’s work, Premalatha Panneerselvam finds farming cool and spends all her evenings and Sundays in her organic farm adjoining her school’s residential campus at Alagar Koil. “I find my inner peace here, she says, taking me to her favourite spot under a banyan tree, one of the seven trees that stood tall among the shrubs and bushes on the 50-odd acres she bought a quarter Century ago in Ayathampatti village.
We had to accommodate our growing number of students and planned a residential school for them here at the foothills. The land was strewn with rocks, stones and pebbles tand we had to clear the area to raise our buildings. About 15 acres was set aside for farming and for the past eight years Premalatha has been growing a variety of plants using only organic practices. The monthly yield of fruits and vegetables from the farm not only meets the demand of all the school canteens but also saves her an expense of nearly Rs.One lakh every month. Some produce is also in excess which we sell at a discount to our teachers and other staff or in the market at a nominal rate,” she says.
There is an indescribable happiness in seeing your plants grow and flower. To feel the texture of the fruits and vegetables is a different kind of joy, says Premalatha as we walk through her multiple gardens looking at the bounty. Rows of leafy plants growing in orderly abundance reveal the wealth that can only be measured by physical labour of clearing, planting and harvesting and the physical growth of the fauna. Her zero-budget farming with home-grown vermicomposting and bio-pesticides is seductive.
Premalatha has been regularly reading about and practicing G.Nammazhvar’s agro-techniques. “With professionals like us having the wisdom and knowledge base, passion is good enough to turn around such zero-budget farming,” she says. She also understands farming, leave alone organic, many not be an easy choice for many. But hopes and advocates that more people get motivated and start doing it within their home compounds, in their small balconies or terraces, kitchen gardens or backyards, sufficient for their family’s needs.
Both Dr.Natchiar and Premalatha share a vision for a sustainable food system. That is, the food we eat should be fresh, nutritious and taste delicious and should be grown in harmony with nature. It is this thinking that makes them the true ‘FarmHers’ belonging to a period when organic farming was hardly considered an option and even less talked about.
Farm facts:
“I proved myself as an ophthalmologist but never felt proud as one. But now at my Aurofarm I feel very proud each time my plants produce something. I can show off as a farmer now.” Dr.G.Natchiar
At Aurofarm you will find over 10,000 trees including 450 mango trees, 300 coconut trees, tamarind, coriander, curry leaves, timber and almond trees; Vegetables such as lady’s finger, brinjal, cluster beans, bitter, bottle and snake gourd, pumpkin, spinach; Fruits such as black and goose berries, sapota, banana; Flowers including jasmine, manoranjitam, mullai, parijatam, bougainvillea, oleander; Paddy fields that yield 200 bags of rice every year. The farm is fenced by mehndi trees about 20 acres are fed by the Dewatts system that is 51,000 litres of waste water from the kitchen, staff quarters and washrooms are treated for use in the fields, water from the Aurolab is also recycled besides the usage of ground water. Another highlight at the Aurofarm is the 20 feet deep rain water fed quarry used for fish breeding.
“If I had not started a school, I would have surely done farming. I want to turn green ideas into meaningful action for the larger benefit of all”. Premalatha Panneerselvam.
The Mahatma-Azhagar campus farm is fenced with teak wood trees all around and has over 200 mango trees, 400 coconut trees besides several other flowering and locally grown trees, banana, papaya, gooseberry, jackfruit, sapota, custard apple, lemon and neem trees. Spinach, tomatoes, brinjal, carrot, drumstick, cluster beans, lady’s finger, groundnut, guava, custard apple are grown in abundance. Seed dispersal, multiple-cropping, drip irrigation practiced at the farm that also boasts of a small poultry and six milching cows. Apart from the two-dozen farmers working here, ten labourers are exclusively deployed to clear the land of stones regularly. Given the location of the site at the foothills, every spell of rain leads to soil erosion.
