Regenerative Practices at Taradha

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, 90% of the earth’s topsoil could be degraded by 2050. Intensive farming practices that are low in organic matter are unable to support water retention leading to degradation. Increasing climate change can lower the yield of wheat by 9% and irrigated rice by 12% by 2040, leading to mass shortages in grains*. Increased chemical exposure from pesticides has resulted in adverse health conditions such as alzheimers**. Declining soil health has led to depleting nutrition in the food that we eat today, resulting in much lower nutrition for the same quantity of food that one would have eaten years ago***. Grim, right?

At Taradha Farms, we understand our responsibility towards the environment, our health and that of the generations to come. This is how we’re helping repair and regenerate the ecosystem in our corner of the world:

1. Vermicomposting: Also known as vermicast, this is prepared by mixing cowdung with organic matter(leaves, hay, etc) and kitchen waste, which is then layered with earthworms. In roughly 60 days, these farmers' friends compost the organic matter and fertilizer is produced for our fields!

2. Dhaincha: The plant, sesbania bispinosa, is grown after the harvest of the rabi crop(season) and is tilled back into the land after 45-50 days to increase biomass, nitrogen and make the soil nutritionally richer.

3. No stubble is burnt after harvest. The stubble remaining after both rabi and kharif seasons are tilled back into the soil to increase biomass.

4. Crop rotation and diversity is practiced to ease the pressure off the land by cultivating a variety of produce such as pulses, oil seeds and various types of grains such as barley.

5. Jeevamrit: Similar to herbal kunapajala, this is a traditional concoction of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, organic soil (soil without any trace of chemicals), chickpea flour (besan) and water. This mixture is allowed to ferment for 10 days, being stirred daily to avoid fungal buildup. After this period, the water, now rich in microbes, is used as a fertilizer and natural pest control agent in our fields. 

6. We use drip irrigation and sprinkler systems that help with water conservation, avoiding flooding.

7. Bio-pesticides: Neem leaves are boiled and mixed with garlic, onion, dhatura, green chilly and some other weeds. In 2-3 days the organic concoction is ready to be used.

*Agrawal, P., Roy, J., Pathak, H., Kumar, S. N., Venkateswarlu, B., Ghosh, A., & Ghosh, D. (n.d.). NATIONAL DIALOGUE INDIAN AGRICULTURE TOWARDS 2030 Pathways for Enhancing Farmers’ Income, Nutritional Security and Sustainable Food Systems Thematic Session: CLIMATE CHANGE AND RISK MANAGEMENT Discussion Paper: Managing Climatic Risks in Agriculture .

**Wei Zhou, Mengmeng Li, Varenyam Achal,
A comprehensive review on environmental and human health impacts of chemical pesticide usage,
Emerging Contaminants,Volume 11, Issue 1,2025. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665024001112

*** Scientific American. (2024, February 20). Dirt poor: Have fruits and vegetables become less nutritious?. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/