IDUKKI: Is heaven on earth too utopian to be true? Farming without employing chemical fertilisers, pesticides, machinery or plastic membrane may indeed seem anachronistic, even unenlightened in some eyes, at a time when so-called modern agriculture has spread to nearly every corner of the country.
Amid concerns over food safety and ecological devastation, a couple in Idukki is advocating a healthier choice of living, that is more environmental friendly.
In 2009, when Eldho Pachilakkadan and his wife Bincy bought 20 acres of land on a hilltop at Swargam Medu, they decided to discard modern farming methods that harm the earth and their produce.
Initially, local residents, who had begun giving up on farming due to water scarcity and low harvest to move closer to urban areas, thought the couple, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, were out of their minds.
On their part, the two decided to allow the existing cardamom plants to grow wild while they grew fruit trees and vegetables to achieve their dream of making a sustainable food forest.
“The idea was to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that will supply enough food in the form of fruits and vegetables for a family to survive, without having to indulge in daily labour. We are calling it Utopia because it is the concept of a village that is almost too good to be true,” Bincy told TNIE.
Their first few harvests were not high yielding. But fortunes changed as their methods helped the soil regain its vitality. In 2023, they received the INDOCERT organic certification, and their organic produce began fetching triple the price of average cardamom.
“With pesticides, crops may survive insects. But after the insects are eliminated, they start to kill the soil too,” Bincy points out. Their farm has more than 100 varieties of fruit trees, in addition to cows, horses, dogs, hens and cats. An artificial pond created with water flowing from the surrounding hill irrigates the farm and meets the family’s needs throughout the year.
The Utopia Sustainable Society, which has been registered as an NGO working to create sustainable ecosystems, has come to include four other families who live as a community in Swargam Medu.
Many people come and live with the couple for lengths of time. Some arrive to experience pastoral living, some to flee the pressures of urban life. Whatever the purpose, the sustainable living, crafted by Eldho and his team, leaves them experiencing life in all its raw tranquillity.