Faridabad woman brings green revolution through chemical-free farming

Garg’s garden is packed with greenery. Several expensive herbs, such as rosemary and rocket leaves, are being grown on her land. Besides this, cherry-sized tomatoes shine in red and purple, and plants like brinjal, strawberries, and turmeric grow together under one leafy roof.

Sarla’s journey got underway in 2004 when she ventured into the Art of Living Ashram and learned to make bio-enzymes. After returning from there, she studied natural farming. She started a community of 11. “We even got five-kilo radishes from dry, cracked land,” she remembers. Soon, farmers from nearby villages came to see the magic. “I didn’t give advice,” she laughs. “I just gave them a bottle of Jeevamrut.”

Visitors always visit her land and see the grown vegetables and fruits. Some of them ask about the use of chemicals and pesticides. She replies, ‘No chemicals, fully organic.’ This surprises a lot of people. She never reacts; rather, she smiles and gives them plant saplings to take home. Her farming method has encouraged others to adopt the same techniques.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar runs the ‘Art of Living Natural Farming’ programme. He has already trained more than 3 million farmers in 23 states. It is expected that over 15,000 people have already received this kind of knowledge at the Bangalore Ashram, doing farming successfully.