India: City farmer promotes organic farming, grows rare herbs in city
Sawhney says, "It took me four long years to prove myself to other farmers in the village who prefer conventional chemical farming over organic farming. I don't use pesticides or fertilizers, yet the yield of my crops is far better than that of traditional farmers. Now, a few other farmers, after seeing good results have decided to go with organic farming as well."
He says that while conventional farming practices promote soil erosion, increased salinization, danger to food quality, reduced socio economic values and other problems, organic farming increases productivity and leads to growth of healthy plants.
Today in his farm stretches over an area of 40 acres. Some of the herbs that can be found here include, Passion fruit (passiflora edulis), red sandalwood (pterocarpus santolinus), Black turmeric (curcuma caesia), Kausanda(cassia sophera), Salparni (desmodium gangeticum), Putranjiva (putranjiva roxburghii), Nirgundi (vitex negunda), Sahadevi (vernonia cinereum), Sarpgandha (withania somnifera), Citronella grass - an oil yielding herb, Jal Neem (bacopa monnieri), Punarnava (boerhavia diffusa). These and many others herbs, irrespective of their climatic conditions, are grown successfully at his farm, much to the surprise of other farmers.
Seed banks are the answer to the humans' increasing penetration of various ecosystem, he says, claiming that the seeds of herbs grown organically can be preserved for much longer as compared to genetically engineered seeds or ones with pesticide. "Genetically modified seeds can be used only during specific period and duration, falling which no yield is obtained," says Sawhney.
Organic farming is a time taking process and drying seeds naturally is science as well as an art, the scientist and farmer says. He adds, "Majority of herbs are in good health and their seeds are collected and then naturally dried for further use."
Experimentation comes naturally to him. Following the recent development of 'Lemon Tulsi' by the Lucknow based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Sawhney also developed a variety of the plant which has the fragrance of lemons and the medicinal properties of Tulsi. He also discovered another plant called 'Lemon Pudina' i.e. lemon mint (Monarda citriodora).
Source: indiatimes.com