April 19, 2018; Thursday
Organic farming and education
program at Navdanya, Dehradun is one of the most liked programs among the
students of TCV school, Selakui. This year, sixteen students of tenth grade
participated in the program from August 16 to 18, 2018. The selection of students
was based on an interview with environmental awareness, student passion, and
participation in co-scholastic as assessment criteria. The selected students
were escorted by school teacher Mrs. Tsewang Dolma and Mr. Tenzin Jamyang for
the entire session.
The purpose of the workshop is
to instill in our students with value based education particularly in the
development of environmental awareness and ethics. The program was also organized to familiarize
students with farming processes so as to realize school based gardening and
vegetation activities.
On August 16, the program manager of Navdanya organization, Mr. J.P. Khali gave a brief introduction on leading a healthy organic life, the relevance and importance of traditional methods of growing crops as opposed to chemical and genetically modified crops. This was followed by an activity session with Ms. Anugrah, Program coordinator at Navdanya. The students were allowed to form food chains leading to formation of a food web, and ultimately into an ecosystem where every species play an important role in maintaining the balance of existence of life on earth. The students were then guided around the field by Mr. Pablo, a researcher cum intern at the institute, who briefly described the main activities including cultivation of crops and collection of seeds for future use, composting program and use of biogas, and advantages of planting diverse crops on field. The day was also accompanied by students taking part in the chamomile harvest, the seeds of which is also used in the preparation of hot herbal tea served in the morning.
On the second day, after an hour of chamomile harvesting in the morning, the session was conducted by Mr. C.S. Bhatt, program coordinator, Navdanya. The students learned ways to prepare the soil for plantation which included removing the weeds out and ploughing the soil for the growth of a budding sapling. They were then introduced on composting, in particular vermi-composting, and steps to prepare vermi-wash and the traditionalJeevamrit. The group also prepared one vermi-compost section.
On the third and final day, the students planted saplings of tomato and green chilly in the soil prepared by them. They learned some intricate plantation techniques and maintenance of a growing plant, irrigation, and protection from animal attack. They were then let inside the special seed preservation room, also called the seed bank. The students had an interactive session with Mr. Pramod Kimothi, farm coordinator, who described the students on the threats posed by heavy use of chemical pesticides on the soil and the need to preserve and protect healthy seeds for use by farmers in the years to come. The traditional methods of preserving the seeds and its advantages were also discussed in the session.
The students expressed a great sense of joy in learning something new and relevant at a time, where there is growing fast food companies and an urgent need of people to get fast and quick foods. Tenzin Seldon, one of the participants expressed that she felt healthy without the usual junk snacks for three days at Navdanya eating only organic foods. She wished the school also had a similar system for the students. For Tenzin Yarphel, it was his first time touching the cow dungs, and was amazed at the wonders of nature especially making a compost of it and using it for proper growth of plants. All the participants expressed that it was the one of the best experiences they had over the times and thanked the school administration for organizing exciting programs like the one at Navdanya.
On the eve of earth day, April 21, 2018, the participants and one of the escort teacher Mrs. Tsewang Dolma presented and shared their experience at Navdanya with the rest of students and staffs of TCV School, Selakui.
This report was complied by Mr. Tenzin Jamyang , Teacher escort
of the workshop
