Aarohi Bal Sansar - School Farm Project

The students of Aarohi Bal Sansar (‘ABS’), before breaking for their summer holidays, participated in a fun activity. The students from classes 5-8 were introduced to the concept of ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Natural Farming’. On the first day, kids were shown a movie ’The story of stuff’. It was a short-animated documentary about the lifecycle of material goods. The documentary is critical of excessive consumerism and promotes sustainability. The challenges faced by community about weather, such as forest fires, scarcity of water, untimely rains in this season were also talked about, eventually leading the children to understand the importance of tree plantation/re-building our forests. Students were introduced to a Japanese farmer- Masanobu Fukuoka’s model of natural farming using ‘Seed Bombs’. The native seeds of Kumaon that have a possibility to germinate during monsoons were shortlisted. The list was shared with the students and they were asked to bring whichever seeds were available in or around their home.

On the second day, the kids came together to create seed balls using soil and water. These native organic seeds were embedded in a ball of moist mud and put to dry. Students from four classes managed to create more than 500 seed balls!

On the final day, students were guided on bombing the seed balls in school premises and in the Van panchayat area adjoining school. Students were asked to make a small cup-shaped hole in the ground and gently place the ball so that it was partly in the ground and partly above. With rain, the plants will start germinating and growing into trees.

 The children sowed the seeds of hope of a better future!