Webinar on ‘Setting up Organic Farm and Benefits of Organic Farming’ by Soorja Purushothaman, Kerala’s youngest organic farmer
27-Apr-2020
The Honeybee Network Innovation Club Sahyadri (HNIC) and Centre for Social Innovation at Sahyadri (CSIS) organized a Webinar on “Setting up an Organic Farm and the benefits of Organic Farming” facilitated by Mr. Sooraj Purushothaman, Kerala’s youngest organic farmer on 23rd April’2020. Mr. Sooraj Purushothaman addressed the need for organic farming at a time when farmers are adopting modern chemical methods to produce larger yield. While educating on the scope and importance of organic farming, Mr. Sooraj shared ideas on how students could also set up an organic farm and addressed suitable ways of starting and expanding the reach of the farm as it progresses.
He also discussed about the emerging trends in agriculture like Hydroponics and Aquaponics and encouraged use of these techniques that have eased the lives of farmers. He also gave inputs on organic manure, the advantages of compost over chemical fertilizers and also the right ways to implement technology into the sector.
A millennial himself, Mr. Sooraj also plans on implementing technology in farms to reduce intervention of middlemen reducing profits. Addressing the marketing problems faced by farmers and the dependency on agents to reach customers, he highlighted the need for a better supply chain and uncovered an opportunity for collaborative engineering ideas that could aid farmers create more impact.
