How a Woman Turned This Barren Land Into Lush Sustainable Farm With 5000 Saplings

Around five years ago, the five-acre plot at Chamarajanagar, Karnataka, was a barren land.

The overgrazed and deforested land is what encouraged Malvikaa Solanki and her NGO SwaYYam to start farming on it. Today, the place is lush green with 20 varieties of food crops and 5,000 saplings of 400 species of flowers, fruits, bushes and timber.

Malvikaa founded the NGO in 2011 to help marginalised farmers own the land they farm.

She initiated the 1,000 tree project where four farmers are grouped to conduct farming activities in at least 10 acres of land. To date, the project has 20 farming families on the wing.

The team spots barren land and begins cultivation step-by-step. Their first move is to prevent overgrazing of cattles by properly fencing the land. The most challenging action is to find a water source. Once it is sorted, they make pits and start water harvesting which supports irrigation as well as prevents soil erosion.

Malavikaa was always worried about exploitation of resources for ever-increasing human demands. Through her NGO, she attempts to resolve at least a portion of these issues and make this planet a better place to live.

Watch her work passionately for the environment here:

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