RID POVERTY & HUNGER IN 50 INDIAN TRIBAL VILLAGES

JANUARY 2026

Farming

January was cold, but then this was good for the tea plantations. But for the vegetable farmer, it meant frost over the crops! Ah Well! If the Nilgiris soil has to be detoxed, the vast acreage under tea and coffee, should also embrace Organic Natural Farming. We are aware that we are just a small percentage of what needs to happen. But then , in Tamil there is a saying- “Siru Thuli, Peru Vellam”—small drops – big flood literally. In Earth Trust we have been trying very hard to manage with minimal funds available, with a dedicated skeletal staff. We know that the work we do is important.

There have been animal incursions at our top boundary. We have to repair the fence. The animals push them down. So we had a proper survey done of our whole farm. This will help us get a proper estimate of the work to be done, and the finances involved. Then we will incorporate it in our proposal and send it to kind hearted donors and keep our fingers and toes crossed. There are two water storage tanks which will be used for rain water collection. From there we can irrigate our small patches of vegetables by gravity.

Pursuant to The Earth Trust being given the Scope -1 certificate by the Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department , a State Government body, we were invited for a follow up work shop by the Horticulture Department/TNOCD on seed germination techniques and soil enrichment. We sent our staff. They came back happy, because, the teachers kept referring to them for examples!!

Women’s programme

The two teachers have been carrying on our classes for women, interspersed by holidays due to festivals and to women going to their homes in the plains with their children. There is always a tremendous effort by Kamala and Deepa – the teachers to keep the classes going so that the momentum is not lost. There are always women who wish to catch up too. On the whole a kind of creative chaos. In the midst of this is Kamala whose patience has a zen quality!! The content of the classes ais the same, crochet, tailoring, knitting and making traditional medicines.

February 2026

Farming

Work on the farm carries on in its usual rhythms. We are trying to make the people involved to understand the symbiotic relationship between the soil, earthworms and the various crops.

The highlight of February was sending Jaya and Hari our staff, to participate in the ASHA kisan Swaraj Sammelan 2026, held in Mysore, mid- March. This 3-day event brings together farmers, scientists, and activists for sustainable agriculture, focusing on farm livelihoods, seed diversity, and agroecology. The idea was to  understand saving Desi, Traditional seeds, seed sovereignty and share information. Both of them came back with renewed enthusiasm.

Womens’ programme.

As part of widening their information base 15 women were taken by Nimmi who oversees the Women’s Programme on an exposure visit to The Nilgiris Woollen Cluster. It is an industrial size outfit run by women for knitted garments. A lot of the process was automated. The women were impressed and submitted a report.

We are including a picture of one of them, only the Title page, submitted by one of them. It is in Tamil, a commendable effort!!  

They later visited a waste management unit run by another NGO- Clean Coonoor. They realized the importance of waste segregation. Nilgiris has strict laws about plastic usage. We hope they carry all these into their daily lives.  

March 2026

Farming

We got a very distressed message from Jaya, early March, about not being able to meet the Astitva deadline for delivery of Organic dry stores which they source through us. They -ASTITVA- work with Tribal women and adoloscents and young children, focusing on Health through proper nutrition. It was sorted out!

It was that time of the year when we had to get a Fitness Certificate for the one vehicle that Earth Trust owns, called an FC certificate. It meant having it serviced, painted and looking spic and span and working smoothly. Read – a lot of money spent. The travails of a small NGO, big on vision and dreams and small on Resources!!

A guardian angel sent by one of our supporters came through and we were able to cover all costs. It is always a balancing act!!

We harvested a decent amount of the hill garlic associated with the Nilgiris. We are planning to apply for a GI tag for the same. Devi our staunch supporter, a seed activist herself, has suggested we grow a lot of herbs. The staff is learning to use them as companion plants. Reminds one of the “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme “song.

The third week of March brought an “interesting visitor” – a leopard mum and her cub, just above our Poly houses. Mukund a very staunch ET supporter remarked that the leopard looked more frightened! That’s because we set off fire- works to scare them away.   I worry about the workers and freak out a bit, sitting in Coonoor. But then we too have small patches of forest around us and our neighbour’s dachshund was carried away by a leopard.

We still have a balance of intermediate fencing to finish, around 70 metres. We have put it on hold due to lack of funds.

Women’s Programme

As always, the ladies learnt to make traditional home remedies using locally available ingredients. In tailoring they are always in a rush to learn how to stitch blouses for themselves. The courses are completed. We are waiting to hold a ‘Certificate Day’. Many participants have gone to their mother’s or in-law’s homes in the plains.

After many years there were no rains in March. Usually, we have some showers. One always worries about forest fires! But mercifully -no fires!

A TIMELESS RHYTHM

October 2025

According to the South Indian Almanac, October is the month when two major festivals happen, celebrating three faces of Feminine energy and the victory of Righteousness over Negative Forces. It is a time when the monsoon shifts from the South West to North East in our part of the Indian Peninsula - The Nilgiri Hills. It brings rains, landslides, electrical outages. It brings lush vegetation and happy bison herds. Our farmers though look up anxiously at the heavens. Heavy rains equal crop damages. We as an organization are busy trying to work out farm/agricultural insurance based on crops. It is still seminal. The Government does have some schemes which work partially.

We cleared the green houses and went ahead with planting various kinds of beans, carrots Chinese cabbages etc as per schedule. Spraying the growing seedlings with Panchgavya helped with growth and protection from insects. It is made from cow dung, cow urine, Ghee-clarified butter, milk and yoghurt and jaggery.

Meanwhile in the women’s programme, a new batch of women joined our programme. These are largely house wives who find the flexible nature of our classes convenient. They have started to learn basic tailoring, knitting and crochet. Nimmi our Project coordinator for the programme meanwhile has started one on one counselling for the women. She is a Nutritionist with 35 years of experience. One of our teachers, Kamala, comes every day from nearly 45 kilometres away. Dedicated to her work she is a very patient teacher.

  November saw us going ahead with fence work, putting up a small fence across one section of our Resource Farm at “Holabettu”. This was to keep out the wild goats, dogs, porcupines and wild boar as well.

We had initiated the process for Organic Certification for our field two years ago. We have been following up with TNOCD- Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department, a State Government body. The Officers from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Organic Certification Department have come for inspecting our Resource Farm at Holabettu end October. We have been organic since 1^st January 2005. We have been spearheading the whole Organic movements in these hills. We finally made it “official”.

We received our certification from TNOCD. So, we can even export produce from our fields!! Though, this is not what we are here for. We are in the process of redefining ourselves Earth Trust 2.0 no less. The women’s programme keeps chugging along as we have good teachers who are able to motivate the students.

December comes with the world developing even greater fissures, some natural and many man-made. Once again, we are on the brink. Our sense of urgency grows as we realize that people need to eat, even after a nuclear holocaust. So, it is even more imperative that we spread awareness of resorting to Organic farming practices and help heal the earth.

December brought with it more sporadic rains, and sharp cold. There was frost in Ooty for a few days continuously. Farmers turn anxious as the rains cause waterlogging in the fields and the extreme cold tend to burn crops. The vegetables in the polyhouse are all very happy though. The spring in the field has a small tank built around it. This keeps getting full and overflowing because of the rains.

We are planting Agapanthus lilies on some small slopes to prevent the mud sliding off. They have tremendously intertwined root systems when fully grown. When they bloom, they will add colour in about 10 months’ time!!

In the meanwhile, we are going ahead for the renewal of all other mandatory compliances. It is not easy being a small NGO in every sense. Limited Resources. The Women’s programme teachers keep track of the students. We keep getting requests for students to intern with us, which is good. We will sign off for now. The truth is, there is a sameness in all farm activities. They follow a rhythm as old as Nature itself.  We had an excited discussion about, whether finding earthworms inside lettuce plants would count as a marker for Organic authenticity!!! But sadly, worms evolve too for survival. Sometimes a seed sprouts slowly. Our report too is belated. Forgive us!!