It is said that age is just a number. And this saying is absolutely true, if you do not believe this, then believe me, after reading this story of ours today, your outlook will also change. Mumbai-based 50-year-old who wrote her success story through Terrace Farming Aarti Chauhan Has proved that nothing is difficult in this world if it wants to do something.
Aarti hails from Mulund area of Mumbai. There are a total of 46 families living in this society called Mulund Shangrila. Five years ago today, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sent a notice to this society, under which the process of separating wet and dry waste and making organic manure from wet waste (also known as green waste). Be adopted. This campaign of BMC was started to reduce waste heap and reduce pollution in the Mumbai dump yard.
Significantly, the people of this society were already conscious about the cleanliness of the environment, so after the notice of BMC, they collectively started working towards waste management. You will be surprised to know that this society collects 6000 kg of wet waste annually which is converted into 500-600 kg of fertilizer.
Initially, the people of the Society started using fertilizer for their balcony gardening. However, not all fertilizers were in use. Aarti began to research in order to make the right use of the abundant available organic fertilizers. His interest in farming attracted his attention towards organic terraced farming. And then did he sow the first seeds cultivated on the terrace two years ago.
In an interview with Business Khabar, Aarti stated that “I have always been interested in doing various things. Wherever I try my hand, I succeed.
Aarti, a M.Com degree in Economics, was a teacher by profession and in 2007 she quit her job. However, today she stands before us as a successful housewife.
Aarti cultivates vegetables that are easy to grow and demand less maintenance. The people of the society started appreciating Aarti when they would get organic vegetables to eat. Soon he started seeing the fruits of his hard work in organic farming and now he started growing spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, cluster beans, tomatoes, peppers, lemons, bitter gourd, broccoli etc.
“The roof of the building is 6000 square feet and I grow organic vegetables in 3000 square feet. I produce more than two kilograms of vegetables every day and distribute them to the people of the society.
Aarti gives three hours time every day to take care of crops. After waking up at 5 o’clock she spends her time in the farming operations from 6:00 to 7:30 in the morning and from 5:30 to 7:00 in the evening. He has also invested a total of 48 thousand rupees in these works in the last two years, in which the people of the society have also contributed at will.
Terrace farming was very helpful to me in lockdown. Many people were falling vacant in lockdown, while for me this time was spent in farming activity.
Due to the initiative to convert the roof of the building into an organic farm, ‘Hariyali’, a Mumbai-based non-profit organization, has appointed him as Joint Secretary. Not only this, the society has also got the tag of ‘zero garbage society’ by the Mumbai Municipality and the society is also getting 10% tax rebate.
With the changing times, terraced farming is emerging as an excellent farming option. Especially in big metros, where many times more money is being collected from people in the name of organic fruits and vegetables, this method of farming is available as a better option. On the one hand, while there will be the meaningful utility of wet waste, people will also get clean and organic vegetables.
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