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Designed and developed on symbiotic recycling model on the outskirts of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Cow barn and organic farming are the central activities
Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV), a model farm community blends traditional and modern practices that showcase unique way of living life in harmony with nature. Spread across 90 acres the village has thriving organic farm in 12 acres and well-maintained cow barn. It is located 108km north of Mumbai at the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. Prabhu Nimai Lila Das, Chief Sustainability Officer talks about significance of symbiotic development and the different activities of GEV. Excerpts:
In the year 2003 his holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj laid the foundation of GEV. Back then the community population was just 5 people and 8 cows & bulls. Initial focus was organic farming, animal husbandry, rural development and orphanage. Later in 2008-2009 when many people expressed the desire to experience our distinctive village life we added many other activities based on the strong principles of sustainability ensuring the safety of the environment, land, animals, trees and human beings.
Symbiotic Development
Symbiotic Development implies to have a nature friendly system to utilize waste material from one particular process as a raw material for another process. In simple words, what comes from nature in one form goes back to its proper place in nature in a different form after being processed and used. It is in contrast with modern technologies and ideologies!
The modern systems are based on the methodology to take resources from the nature, process it in a convenient form and transform into a useful product. The problem with this procedure is that throughout the life-cycle only waste is generated and in the end waste cannot be settled in alliance with nature! While in symbiotic development waste of one process is raw material for other activity like after fruit is consumed the left back seed is again input for growing more fruits. At Govardhan Ecovillage all our systems and operations are based around Symbiotic Development that enables us to live in harmony with nature.
Organic Farming
We use organic matter produced in-house through natural recycling process in our fields to grow food. Entire organic waste generated within our premises is processed using hot and worm composting methods. The compost is then used as fertilizer along with cow dung slurry from our biogas plant. Cow urine, neem oil, neem leaf extracts, chilli–garlic extract and Dasaparni (fermented mix of 10 different tree leaves) are used as pesticides. We use yellow sticky traps, light traps and Pheromone traps to control the pest.
We practice raised bed farming technology as it is cost effective and proffers higher yield. We use jute bags, natural grasses and leaves for mulching. Vedic rainfall prediction techniques are practiced for estimating monsoon according to which cultivation is done. 54 varieties of rare rice varieties have been cultivated and seed bank is created at GEV. We grow three exclusive medicinal herbs namely Mahadi (speedy recovery from fractures), Rajgudiya (cures physical weakness) and Govinda Bhog (scented rice variety good source of vitamins and hemoglobin).
Cow Barn
In our cow barn we have only indigenous breeds. We want to revive the matchless qualities and features of our native cows that are wrongly believed to be less-healthy or less milk yielding. In our village cow barn is the integral part of our existence because cow dung is used as manure in farming, plastering material of our green buildings, raw material to produce bio-gas and patties for cooking. In addition it is used in our cottage industry to produce some lifestyle products. We have 45 cows and 30 bulls. Cows are source for milk while bull power is used for transportation, water pumping for irrigation, grass cutting and land ploughing. Nutrient rich green fodder and paddy waste are fed to the cattle.
Water Conservation
We have built rain-water harvesting ponds based on hydro-geological survey of the entire village to re-charge the underground water aquifers naturally. We also measure static water levels to ascertain the groundwater movement direction. In this way we ensure to uphold the natural water cycle by letting the water penetrate in the ground. Our rainwater collection pond has the capacity of 1.3 crore liter.
Waste Management
It is one of our key areas of attention. The waste generated is managed inside the village itself. We have installed the Soil Biotechnology (SBT) plant for sewage treatment. Patented by IIT Bombay, the SBT integrates with the natural bio-geochemical cycles of nature. The treated water recovered from SBT is used for watering the landscaping, flower garden and farming. Annually we save around 1 crore liter water through SBT.
Green Building
All the sheltered areas in GEV are mud based construction. We use compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) instead of baked red bricks as CSEB retains the natural property of soil to be warm during winters while cold in summers. We produce these blocks in-house. We have centralized solar power station that produces 30 kVA power. Across the village there are solar powered street lights.
We have left 20-30 acres untouched because we want to preserve the existing natural vegetation. Rest entire premises is developed in the systematic manner connecting different activities to one other based on output of one system easily reachable to other system for input. GEV today organizes various short term and lord term training workshops in organic farming, green buildings, ecosystems, yoga & meditation and ayurveda.
All our activities at Govardhan Ecovillage are linked to harmony. We believe if we are able to revive it then all the existing alarming problems will be solved. We want to re-establish the harmony between human and nature that ultimately will rekindle harmony between human and human!
Prabhu Nimai Lila Das graduated from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 2007. After working with Tata Motors and L&T, he joined the Govardhan Ecovillage(GEV) to enhance its sustainability initiatives.
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details:
Govardhan Ecovillage
Galtare, Hamrapur (P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra, India
Phone: (+91) 916-720-4666
Email: contactus@ecovillage.org.in
Web: http://www.ecovillage.org.in/
Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV), a model farm community blends traditional and modern practices that showcase unique way of living life in harmony with nature. Spread across 90 acres the village has thriving organic farm in 12 acres and well-maintained cow barn. It is located 108km north of Mumbai at the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. Prabhu Nimai Lila Das, Chief Sustainability Officer talks about significance of symbiotic development and the different activities of GEV. Excerpts:
In the year 2003 his holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj laid the foundation of GEV. Back then the community population was just 5 people and 8 cows & bulls. Initial focus was organic farming, animal husbandry, rural development and orphanage. Later in 2008-2009 when many people expressed the desire to experience our distinctive village life we added many other activities based on the strong principles of sustainability ensuring the safety of the environment, land, animals, trees and human beings.
Symbiotic Development
Symbiotic Development implies to have a nature friendly system to utilize waste material from one particular process as a raw material for another process. In simple words, what comes from nature in one form goes back to its proper place in nature in a different form after being processed and used. It is in contrast with modern technologies and ideologies!
The modern systems are based on the methodology to take resources from the nature, process it in a convenient form and transform into a useful product. The problem with this procedure is that throughout the life-cycle only waste is generated and in the end waste cannot be settled in alliance with nature! While in symbiotic development waste of one process is raw material for other activity like after fruit is consumed the left back seed is again input for growing more fruits. At Govardhan Ecovillage all our systems and operations are based around Symbiotic Development that enables us to live in harmony with nature.
Organic Farming
We use organic matter produced in-house through natural recycling process in our fields to grow food. Entire organic waste generated within our premises is processed using hot and worm composting methods. The compost is then used as fertilizer along with cow dung slurry from our biogas plant. Cow urine, neem oil, neem leaf extracts, chilli–garlic extract and Dasaparni (fermented mix of 10 different tree leaves) are used as pesticides. We use yellow sticky traps, light traps and Pheromone traps to control the pest.
We practice raised bed farming technology as it is cost effective and proffers higher yield. We use jute bags, natural grasses and leaves for mulching. Vedic rainfall prediction techniques are practiced for estimating monsoon according to which cultivation is done. 54 varieties of rare rice varieties have been cultivated and seed bank is created at GEV. We grow three exclusive medicinal herbs namely Mahadi (speedy recovery from fractures), Rajgudiya (cures physical weakness) and Govinda Bhog (scented rice variety good source of vitamins and hemoglobin).
Cow Barn
In our cow barn we have only indigenous breeds. We want to revive the matchless qualities and features of our native cows that are wrongly believed to be less-healthy or less milk yielding. In our village cow barn is the integral part of our existence because cow dung is used as manure in farming, plastering material of our green buildings, raw material to produce bio-gas and patties for cooking. In addition it is used in our cottage industry to produce some lifestyle products. We have 45 cows and 30 bulls. Cows are source for milk while bull power is used for transportation, water pumping for irrigation, grass cutting and land ploughing. Nutrient rich green fodder and paddy waste are fed to the cattle.
Water Conservation
We have built rain-water harvesting ponds based on hydro-geological survey of the entire village to re-charge the underground water aquifers naturally. We also measure static water levels to ascertain the groundwater movement direction. In this way we ensure to uphold the natural water cycle by letting the water penetrate in the ground. Our rainwater collection pond has the capacity of 1.3 crore liter.
Waste Management
It is one of our key areas of attention. The waste generated is managed inside the village itself. We have installed the Soil Biotechnology (SBT) plant for sewage treatment. Patented by IIT Bombay, the SBT integrates with the natural bio-geochemical cycles of nature. The treated water recovered from SBT is used for watering the landscaping, flower garden and farming. Annually we save around 1 crore liter water through SBT.
Green Building
All the sheltered areas in GEV are mud based construction. We use compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) instead of baked red bricks as CSEB retains the natural property of soil to be warm during winters while cold in summers. We produce these blocks in-house. We have centralized solar power station that produces 30 kVA power. Across the village there are solar powered street lights.
We have left 20-30 acres untouched because we want to preserve the existing natural vegetation. Rest entire premises is developed in the systematic manner connecting different activities to one other based on output of one system easily reachable to other system for input. GEV today organizes various short term and lord term training workshops in organic farming, green buildings, ecosystems, yoga & meditation and ayurveda.
All our activities at Govardhan Ecovillage are linked to harmony. We believe if we are able to revive it then all the existing alarming problems will be solved. We want to re-establish the harmony between human and nature that ultimately will rekindle harmony between human and human!
Prabhu Nimai Lila Das graduated from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 2007. After working with Tata Motors and L&T, he joined the Govardhan Ecovillage(GEV) to enhance its sustainability initiatives.
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details:
Govardhan Ecovillage
Galtare, Hamrapur (P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra, India
Phone: (+91) 916-720-4666
Email: contactus@ecovillage.org.in
Web: http://www.ecovillage.org.in/
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