The reaon we came to Orissa was to visit an NGO called Sambhav, which consists of 8 full-time members living in an Ashram. An Ashram is a society that exists for a religious and social purpose, The original purpose of this Ashram is to take care of the land by natural methods, and they have since taken on tasks like gender violence and sanitation. They have several paddies being farmed under SRI and run seminars to teach it to other organizations. We are here to see what they have done to spread SRI successfully, and bring those lessons back to Chattisgargh.
We found this description in a booklet about SRI in Orissa which explains their history:
This NGO is the brainchild of Prof. Rashamohan who undertook the ardent task of planning out cultivation of trees and crops in its campus which was considered to be absolutely unfit and infertile. So much so that the agriculture scientists and foresters told him that his plan is Asambhav (impossible). Today the sprawling diversity all over the palce of flora and fauna is the result of the determination to turn the Asambhav into Sambhav (possible).
Today the place is very, very green, pretty much jungle. It feels a lot like a forest, but they have monkeys, palm trees, lizards and even elephant visits, which upgrade the status to "jungle". Our host is Sabarmatee, who has been here since the early 90's. She is the most knowledgeable about the day to day operations. There are plants and flowers and lizards and insects everywhere, though Sabarmatee says that there are not many flowers around now. I started taking pictures of individual varieties and captured 29, and I know I missed a few.
The atmosphere here is amazing. Our time here is spent talking and learning about their activities, resting and reading, walking through the properties fields and forests and jungles, and eating delicious organic meals. My stomach has been settled by an Ayurvedic cure of nutmeg and rest, and my subsequent gas was alleviated by another Ayurvedic remedy, chewing on ginger. Our room is simple and aqdequate - beds, mosquito nets, and a table, with the bathroom facilities in an enclosed back yard. There is a meeting room, near the kitchen, a library, a cattle pen, and a dormotory which can host 60 or so people overnight. Most of all, it is the caring nature of the people of Sambhav who make it special.
The journey here was certainly worth the effort.
We found this description in a booklet about SRI in Orissa which explains their history:
This NGO is the brainchild of Prof. Rashamohan who undertook the ardent task of planning out cultivation of trees and crops in its campus which was considered to be absolutely unfit and infertile. So much so that the agriculture scientists and foresters told him that his plan is Asambhav (impossible). Today the sprawling diversity all over the palce of flora and fauna is the result of the determination to turn the Asambhav into Sambhav (possible).
Today the place is very, very green, pretty much jungle. It feels a lot like a forest, but they have monkeys, palm trees, lizards and even elephant visits, which upgrade the status to "jungle". Our host is Sabarmatee, who has been here since the early 90's. She is the most knowledgeable about the day to day operations. There are plants and flowers and lizards and insects everywhere, though Sabarmatee says that there are not many flowers around now. I started taking pictures of individual varieties and captured 29, and I know I missed a few.
The atmosphere here is amazing. Our time here is spent talking and learning about their activities, resting and reading, walking through the properties fields and forests and jungles, and eating delicious organic meals. My stomach has been settled by an Ayurvedic cure of nutmeg and rest, and my subsequent gas was alleviated by another Ayurvedic remedy, chewing on ginger. Our room is simple and aqdequate - beds, mosquito nets, and a table, with the bathroom facilities in an enclosed back yard. There is a meeting room, near the kitchen, a library, a cattle pen, and a dormotory which can host 60 or so people overnight. Most of all, it is the caring nature of the people of Sambhav who make it special.
The journey here was certainly worth the effort.
