FARMING TAKES NATURAL ROOT IN PONDY

Farmers in Bahour and nearby villages are embracing agro-homeopathy, an eco-friendly alternative to chemical farming developed by the Sri Aurobindo Society, showing promising results in improving soil fertility, enhancing crop strength, and ensuring sustainable agricultural growth

- DEBJANI DUTTA @ Puducherry

WHEN you pick a bag of rice from your local market, it's easy to forget the long, complex journey that brought it there. Behind every bite lies a story and one of it is, in the serene farmlands of Bahour and its surrounding villages, a quiet revolution in sustainable agriculture is under way. Led by the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS), farmers are replacing chemical fertilisers and pesticides with homeopathic formulations-a novel approach known as AgroHomeopathy for Sustainable Agriculture (AHAR).

The initiative, which began as a small experiment, is now inspiring a growing number of farmers across Puducherry to embrace this low-cost, ecofriendly alternative to conventional farming.

The AHAR project, which started in 2018 under the guidance of Dr Uttareshwar Pachegaonkar, a homeopath, and in collaboration with SAS, explored the potential of homeopathy in agriculture. Supported initially by NABARD and later by the Tata Trusts, the research commenced at the Society's experimental farm near Ousteri.