Organic gardening and organic farming finds its roots deep in the soil of human agricultural history. We have depended on natural resources and ecological processes for 99% of the time since our ancestors moved from hunting and gathering to a sedentary habitation and organized production of plants and animals some 10,000 years ago. So when did we move from a healthy way of farming to a non-healthy one engaging pesticides and chemicals? While that's a tricky question, here's another fact to ponder: our synthetic methods of farming has not only affected our health over centuries spread out, but also slowly contributed to climate change, and certainly not in a good way. Several research in the last 20 years indicate that urban gardening helps minimize the effects of climate change and at the same time improve the quality of life in urban areas. So there's a start. It is imperative to start at a small scale in the urban setting to curb the deteriorating soil culture and thereby the environment.
Poornima Savargaonkar, a Gurgaon-based, ex-ISRO Scientist, broke all stereotypes of gardening to hit the problem at its roots; literally. Having helped the masses to realize the true treasure in `soil', she has been an active torch bearer of `organic urban gardening' in India.
The exponential growth of population has plagued urban cities with a plethora of environmental challenges. All of which constitute a complex set of future challenges such as excessive carbon emissions, high levels of air pollution and lack of biodiversity. Poornima, through her firm, Enriched Soil, and Soul, practices a business model that is wholly localized, which avoids most of the carbon emissions. She collects agricultural & horticultural wastes from the nearby localities within Gurgaon, which includes stubble waste which is rampantly burnt massively in Haryana and Punjab, as well as dry leaves which are burnt in urban cities across the country. Wastes including wooden pallets from the nearby shipping industry and automotive industries also form a part of raw materials for the soil products. She converts them into manure for her ready to pot organic soils. "The main motto of Enriched Soil is to convert such wastes into resources in the organic field," says Poornima.
"Grow What You Eat, And Eat What You Grow"
People have a misconception that such practices are only applicable to farm lands and that they do not apply to small urban spaces. This is where Poornima has been educating the masses on creating a small sustainable cycle of farming using homegrown wastes within each household. Poornima takes active initiatives to promote home composting as a practice. She reaches out to 1000s of urbanites via various media whom she has transformed from waste throwers to home composters and eventually to food growers. This practice has been instrumental in preventing the home or kitchen waste (wet waste), to be dumped around in the environment causing unpleasant and ugly landfills. At many levels, Poornima's home composting initiatives has favoured the local environment for the urbanites.
Besides producing ready to pot organic soil that contribute toward a `greener' city, Poornima works with Non-profits, Schools, and local institutions to spread awareness on the direct correlation between urban gardening and the environment. Understanding the `mindset' challenge that largely exists in society today, she pioneers the effort to educate the urban dwellers about the massive untapped potential that our nation has for the betterment of the environment.
With these two sentences, "Grow what you eat, and eat what you grow" Poornima realized that there is a lot of unspoken knowledge that needs to be imparted. According to Poornima, everything from a dried leaf lying on the house to home waste is the secret of any thriving urban garden. To ensure that people connect to the soil, she has even named each of the products at Enriched Soil and Soul. The names define the purpose, "People often ask why the soil names are so difficult. It is because I want them to put an effort and remember them and understand that every plant needs its own soil," she adds. Understanding the importance of institutional support for the growth of urban gardening, Poornima through Enriched Soil and Soul is working to fill the void of institutionalizing urban gardening, which is still at its nascent stages.
Little Steps That Led To Enriched Soil And Soul
Poornima's transitional journey from being an ISRO scientist to an Urban farmer an inspiration for many. She served the organization for 10 more years after her marriage, brought two beautiful kids to this world, before venturing into Enriched Soil & Soul's journey.
When she came to North India from Ahmedabad, Poornima had brought with her 80 potted plants. To her disbelief, half of them died in summer, and the rest died during the winter. This event had a profound impact on her. When Poornima started researching the reasons behind the death of her plants, she found out that the climate of North India is different from the places she had stayed before. This event prompted her to conduct extensive research about the failure of her plants, and Poornima enrolled with the All-India Kitchen Garden Association. Eventually, she was discouraged by the fact that chemical inputs such as insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and weedicides were generally being prescribed. "Something in my heart shook because I believe that gardening should not be done at the cost of killing something, "says Poornima. Poornima, then, started training in Urban Gardening in Bangalore with Late. Dr. Vishwanath Kudur a man revered as the father of Terrace Gardening in India, seeking a more sustainable answer to her problems. After attending his workshops in Bangalore, it occurred to Poornima that she could compensate for unfavourable air & water for the pants by changing the soil, then the possibility to maintain free of cost organic urban gardening, which she had been doing throughout her life as a passionate hobby could be achieved.
Seeking further clarity in her quest to find the ideal organic soil, Poornima Savargaonkar came across her second mentor in the form of Late. Shri Deepak Suchde one of the pioneers in organic soil formulation in India. He, in turn, was a follower of NATUECO, the practises laid by Late. Dr. S.A. Dabholkar (a mathematician turned precision farming mentor). This encounter proved to be the final piece of the puzzle for her. It was at his juncture when Poornima used her extensive first-hand knowledge gained from some of the pioneering experts in India to come up with seven unique varieties of organically produced soil made from home/kitchen, agriculture and Horti wastes following the principles of Amrit Mitti. Today, her range of soils known as Amrit Mitti is used for all plant families including fruit trees, indoor plants such as Cacti, Bonsai, or outdoor gardening plants such as Rose.
To create Amrit Mitti, Poornima initially used almost 9000 cubic feet of dried leaves lying on the road from her surrounding localities in Gurgaon. She began experimenting on a tiny rooftop space of around 400 to 500 sq feet to create Amrit Mitti in different batches. The process of Amrit Mitti takes approximately 25 to 45 days, depending on the weather conditions, ideal temperature, as well as moisture conditions. "The nutrition of the soil is ensured by the ingredients, their proportions, and the process. When it comes to water drainage, I played with the proportions of the constituents of the soil and then I tested each one of them," mentions Poornima. And, as requests for specific plants kept on coming from all over India, inspired Poornima to formulate her range of seven soils.
“Something in my heart shook because I believe that gardening should not be done at the cost of killing something”
From that point onwards, Poornima's rooftop garden started receiving a lot of attention, culminating in Doordarshan Channel covering her gardening practices, spread across 25 episodes. Seeing her unique range of seven soil varieties generating huge popularity and demand, Poornima eventually decided to commercially sell her organically produced soil in 2017, which led to the foundation of Enriched Soil and Soul an Agri-based startup that converts organic home & agricultural wastes into resources for urban gardening and organic farming needs.
Within three months of operations, her venture reached across 29 states in India. It gave Poornima a deeper insight into the plight of thousands of urban gardeners from all over the nation struggling to find an essential component of a rich nutritious organic soil. And, along with her range of soils, through her venture, Poornima decided to offer training to gardening enthusiasts from all over India and across the globe about the therapeutic, spiritual, and environment-friendly benefits of organic urban farming.
Enriching The Local Community With Sustainability
In today's day and age, where chemical farming is prevalent all across India, Poornima via Enriched Soil and Soul is brining the use of cow dung and local wood to mainstream, which are often ignored as resources. "We are very conscious about carbon emissions, about the local economy, and we are very conscious about enhancing and supporting skill development of the local network" Poornima Savargaonkar.
Even when it comes to packaging, Enriched Soil products are organic and sustainable in nature. There is a lot of microbial content present in Amrit Mitti. Hence, Poornima uses a multilayered packaging with Geo-fabrics, which ensures that the soil does not lose its microbial content and moisture. In addition to that, users can use the outer layer of the packaging as a grow bag!
"At Enriched Soil and Soul, we ensure that nothing goes to waste," she adds. Interestingly, Poornima's unique range of soil can be re-charged or rejuvenated after two years of use using everyday organic kitchen wastes. Along with the product, users also receive a literature manual on maintaining the soil for lifelong use.
Be The Change You Want To See
Over the years, Poornima has undertaken diversified roles to impart the wealth of knowledge she has accumulated. She has been featured on `Tejaswani', one of the most prestigious National TV series on Women achievers. She has also shared her insights at length in Tedx Talks. The Ministry of Agriculture also recognized her work and invited her to give multiple lectures to its staff members on composting. Clearly, Poornima has become a national phenomenon earning several such titles and recognition. She was awarded the title of 'innovative farmer' by IARI. She was also invite by the Govt of India to showcase NATUECO farming ways in 'Krushi Unnati Mela' (a National level mega agri event in India) in Feb 2018'.
In the near future, Poornima is set to play a leading role in India's highly fragmented urban organic gardening segment. With her zeal to bring the change, Enriched Soil and Soul presents immense potential to become the one-stop-shop for young children to learn about organic urban gardening. The journey that started with a terrace garden has now become a revolution helping India fight climate change. "One Enriched Soil and Soul will not be enough, and therefore, we are creating leaders, who give equal importance to economy and ecology" concludes Poornima.
