India has predominantly been an agriculture based economy. We believe in” each one plant one”, but the rapid urbanization has a lot of negative impact on our agricultural land. It has put undue pressure on our land, squeezed the land from the farmers and has transformed the cropping pattern.
The government is taking various initiatives to spruce up this sector. It has recently announced Agriculture Infrastructure Fund through which it plans to release Rs 1 lakh crore to the farming sector. The PM has also released sixth installment amounting Rs 17,000 crore under PM Kisan scheme.
But do you know with the little steps we can provide a boost to this sector. Let’s dive into details
Seed Saving
Do you know our ancestors used to collect seeds from fruits, vegetables, flowers for future use? Yes, this activity can help you become atam nirbhar when it comes to food production and can prove sustainable practice for healthy living.
How to do it?
Here’s a simple guide on how to save the seed for future use
- Recognize the best plants that you want to grow in the kitchen garden.
- Save the seeds of fully ripe fruits or vegetables.
- Let the seeds dry for some-days.
- Collect and label different seeds in the container.
- Sow them in your land.
- Let the plant grow.
The easiest plants that you can cultivate in your plant garden are curry leaves, green moong, coriander, oregano and basil leaves. To encourage this practice, you can exchange and share the seeds with your friends and relatives. This traditional way of saving the seed has proven very productive. Amid this pandemic, it is a fruitful, and cost-effective way.
2 Growing food with garbage
Most of our food wastage ends up becoming landfill, but we can put it to better use, like for growing crops. It may sound overwhelming, but growing plants from garbage are easy and fun. You can even involve your children with these experiments. Through these experiments, they will come to know where our food comes and how to do organic farming.
Here’s how you can grow crops with trash.
How to do it?
Search for a potato that has been outgrown and gently poke on its eyes for several times. Place it in a glass of water, where water touches 1/3 mark of potato and leave it in the shade. See how potato seeds sprout from it. You can try this method for other vegetables, also like garlic, onion, etc.
Do you know the top of the carrot that we throw can also be used to grow crops? Fill the container with water and place the carrot base on top. Watch it grow.
Final Thoughts
All these activities are a step towards sustainable living and help you grow crops at the comfort of your home.
I hope, we were able to help you to acquaint you with the new era of organic farming.
