Urban farmers meet, decide to exchange seeds, ideas

A small but spirited group of urban farmers came together with an aim to form a platform where they could exchange seeds, knowledge and other resources

Wednesday saw a small but spirited group of urban farmers come together with an aim to form a platform where they could exchange seeds, knowledge and other resources. The event was organised to celebrate the first anniversary of the Eco Park Information Centre (EPIC) at Padur off Rajiv Gandhi Salai.  

Retired IAS officer Santa Sheela Nair, who founded EPIC, said that in the past one year, around 3,000 people had visited the Centre that has a Miyawaki forest, 27 trees that pertain to the Nakshatras, beehives, herbal plants patch, rainwater-fed paddy, millet and vegetable patches and even a fish pond on a 30-cent plot.  

 “We didn’t want an ordinary event to celebrate our anniversary, so we instead chose to have a meet of local urban farmers. I think the profile of the farmer is going to change. Farming is going to be a profession of choice. We need to definitely encourage agricultural activities in urban and peri urban areas. This is the only sustainable way forward, since during the pandemic, we learnt the difficulty of transporting food. We need to grow food for our own consumption,” she said. 

Ananthoo, of the Organic Farmers Market, said that most of these farmers were on a common WhatsApp group and had begun to exchange knowledge. Some of them had been farming for quite some time and had learnt to deal with pests and animal diseases. They also wanted to have more interaction and consolidate products so that they can be marketed. “As far as exchange of seeds and saplings is concerned, we organise regular seed fests. On Sunday, one such festival will take place at Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya in T. Nagar,” he said.  

Karthikeyan, a farmer from Thiruporur, said he wanted to connect consumers with farmers and educate them about the difficulties faced by farmers. “During the lockdown, I took mangoes and watermelons from farmers and found buyers for them,” he said.  

David and Ann, who run Idlers Café at Thirukazhukundram, explained how they worked with the local community and had employed women, both at their café as cooks and in their three-acre farm. Apart from their own produce, they buy vegetables from the Organic Farmers Market.  

Shammy Jacob and Charlotte, who were recently awarded a silver prize for Responsible Tourism, have a 100% solar-powered farm, small-sized plots where people can grow their own vegetables, refurbished shipping containers for tourists to stay and a shop to sell vegetables in Thazhambur.