30 vegetable varieties grown organically: Meet the Hyd couple running Govardhan farm

Growing over 30 varieties of vegetables, Pradeep and Raita even have an eco-friendly home built without any steel and concrete.
30 vegetable varieties grown organically: Meet the Hyd couple running Govardhan farm
30 vegetable varieties grown organically: Meet the Hyd couple running Govardhan farm
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A drive to Pradeep Mocherla and Raita’s farm at Girmapur is the closest that one can get to nature while living in a city like Hyderabad. From locally grown brinjals, gongura to exotic broccoli and apple trees, the Govardhan farm is a vegetable haven. The farm also boasts of a wide range of livestock, and even rescue horses which were once used for races and were later abandoned due to injuries and old age. Living in the lap of nature, the couple not just owns a vegetable farm that produces almost 30 varieties, but also lives in an eco-friendly home built without steel and concrete.

So, what explains Pradeep and Raita’s love for nature? The couple doesn't exactly have an answer for that, but says that it’s their common passion to lead a sustainable life that brought them together in the first place. Pradeep, in fact, credits Raita, a Finland native, for being instrumental in starting the Govardhan farm in 2009.

“Finland is a sparsely populated country where people live in forests to beat the summer. Raita also grew up in a similar environment and both of us knew we would eventually want to start our own farm and grow our own food,” Pradeep, a native of Hyderabad, tells TNM, adding, “When we first shifted to the Girmapur village from Hyderabad, a lot of villagers were curious to know the motive behind such a shift. The switch came with its own set of difficulties but eventually, we were able to distribute our produce from the farms among the same villagers.”

The Govardhan farm

A walk through the Govardhan farm is a delight to the eyes. As Pradeep takes us through the lush green paddy fields on one side of the farm, and then to locally grown varieties of vegetables like brinjal, lady’s finger and tomatoes on the other end, he explains that up to 30 varieties of vegetables can be grown in a single acre of land.

“We practice multi-cropping and inter-cropping. This ensures that the soil is replenished over time. At no point do we cultivate more than three acres of land and the produce grown here is enough to feed 300 families,” Pradeep says.

The couple practices two kinds of farming - summer farming and winter farming. The former begins after Ugadi whereas the latter set of crops is sown by the beginning of October. Every vegetable is grown according to the seasonal cycle, the farm looking its attractive best from the beginning of Dasara.

“This is when most of the vegetables are sown on land which is till then left to rest, with regular replenishment of dung and water. We have around 15 workers who prepare the lands with their hands rather than relying on chemicals which would save them the effort. A lot of our seeds are brought from ICRISAT, especially our brown and white rice varieties and certain seedless tomato varieties straight from farmers in Andhra Pradesh,” Pradeep shares.

What makes the farm truly special is its organic way of growing the crops. The crops thrive only on manure and water, which again is sourced from the livestock grown in the farm.

“We do not believe in using organic concoctions like Jeevamrutham or garlic sprays, but do believe in not being greedy for quick yield harvests from the crops,” Pradeep says, pointing at a patch of land where brinjals are grown.

“For example, broccoli is always grown next to the brinjal plants. The pest that attacks broccoli is fodder for brinjal. In this way, the natural balance is restored without the use of any kind of chemicals,” he adds.

The farm in a year produces several varieties of rice, wheat, millet and different kinds of dal, potatoes, radish, spinach, leafy vegetables, snake gourd, mint, coriander, green peas, cabbage and onions. The farm also has an apple tree, several citrus trees, guava, jackfruit, rudraksh trees and even the burflower tree. A bunch of dried ridge gourds is tied at one of the entrances of the house to collect the seeds so as to sow them at the onset of October.

The couple also practises apiculture, which they say has increased pollination and productivity, not to mention the herds of cows, buffaloes and sheep that graze around the farm through the day.

Developing a zero-electricity sewage system

What began as a venture to produce enough food for their kitchen today has takers from around the Girmapur village and even parts of Hyderabad. Pradeep and Raita initially had tried selling their produce to aggregators but later realised it often ended up in vegetables getting mixed up and even non-organic vegetables being sold under the tag of organic ones.

This forced the couple to open their own website, Girmapur Organics, and they also have a WhatsApp group now through which orders are placed.

“The vegetables are cut in the morning, carefully packed and transported in the morning itself. We have to be careful in retaining the freshness of the vegetables, especially in this dry and humid climate,” Pradeep says, adding, “Initially, I used to supply the produce to houses as far as Hi-Tech city. But now we have a driver to do the same."

What makes Girmapur Organics famous today is its sustainable methods of farming, which Pradeep and Raita were able to achieve with the help of Aquatron, a Swedish machine that segregates sewage waste without the use of electricity.

“It’s a Swedish technology which helps to segregate liquid and solid waste the minute a Western toilet is flushed. 100% of the water is recovered and 90% of the solid is again used as safe manure for plants. In this way, our homes are able to discharge wastes without polluting the surroundings and every drop of water spent is used twice,” Raita explains.

The Aquatron is set up in a small shed outside the house. The mechanism even separates the dangerous gases from human waste, thus reducing any kind of noxious emissions from inside the machine. It took the couple six months of research to find the system online and they installed it at their home in 2012.

As mentioned, the Mocherla home has no steel or concrete in its making. Pradeep calls it a risky decision as the structure was built on an experimental basis, with even the pillars were transported from abandoned temples in Thanjavur.

The house looks like an ancient fort, made of bricks, stones, terracotta tiles and woods. Built by a veteran architect, with huge courtyards and high roofs, the house also cuts down the need for an air-conditioner.

Living in this quaint village for the past decade, Pradeep and Raita say they are quite happy with their decision and with the switch in their lifestyles.

“Today, climate change is in front of everyone. Raita and I met because of our ideals of conserving nature and being selfish for nature. In India, we have abundant rains and the climate is such that we can grow three cycles of crops. We started out as a farm where we produced just to meet our daily requirements but later on, through our friends, we were able to increase our produce and even call it a commercial farm,” Pradeep says. He also adds, “The villagers have helped us tremendously, including my friend Shareef, who taught me my basics in farming. And most importantly, our family’s health has improved. I don’t think there is a better reward than this for the kind of work we do.”

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