Sustainable Urban Biodynamic Horticulture and Agriculture Movement

 

A green movement for Chennai

 

A community organization led by professionals in agriculture and other areas has been formed, to take the city’s urban horticulture activities to the next dimension.

 

Sustainable Urban Biodynamic Horticulture and Agriculture Movement (SUBHAM) a registered Trust has made a new beginning in encouraging citizens’ efforts to explore horticulture floriculture and greening for a better quality of life. It follows organic practices all the way.

 

SUBHAM is completely based on sustainability concepts and therefore requires very little financial investment to be made by those who get interested in the activity.

 

Training of school and college students in eco-friendly practices is one of the major objectives of the Trust. Programmes are being chalked out in collaboration with educational authorities for this group.

 

 

Some of the initial activities planned by this newly formed organization are:

 

v    Encouraging households to turn their kitchen waste into wealth - in the form of compost.

v    Adopt vermicomposting – using earthworms to enhance the value of their compost.

v    Build roof gardens including vegetable gardens that can generate income for individuals and residents welfare associations besides acting as landscaping tools.

v    Highlight the beneficial impacts of herbs plants and trees to people’s health and community welfare.

v    Work to integrate rainwater harvesting and gardening as complementary activities.

 

 

All these programmes of SUBHAM will be carried out using organic gardening practices with very common inputs and expert advice. Inputs required (see below) will be supplied to the participants regularly.

 

MEMBERSHIP: The best practices in organic gardening, training and resources will be available to residents of the city and suburbs. They will be invited to become member associates to avail the services. The annual membership fee is Rs.100 per individual.

 

Members will be able to source organic inputs such as vermicompost, vermiwash, neem cake, biological pest control agents nitrogen fixing bio-inputs besides seeds, seedlings and saplings at a discount.

 

TRAINING: SUBHAM is formulating training schemes for member groups such as Residents’ Welfare Associations in apartment complexes and individual house owners, on how to make the best use of the sunny skies in Chennai to develop rooftop or terrestrial garden for ornamental or food purposes.

 

The first such training programme is scheduled for

October 16,2004.

 

"SUBHAM will actively work with other pioneering NGOs such as the Ecoscience Foundation and the Rain Centre. Our mission is to bring about synergy among the agencies working on sustainable soil, waste and water management in urban areas. Our vision is to create a cleaner and greener urban environment for the generations to come," says Mr. J. Raghavendra Rao, Managing Trustee, SUBHAM.

 

 

The people behind SUBHAM:

 

Mr.J.Raghavendra Rao, eco-horticulturist, Chennai

 

Mr.S.A. Venkataraman, Eco-farming specialist

 

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail, Chairman, Ecoscience Foundation

 

Dr. Sekhar Raghavan, Director, Rain Center

 

Dr. Bama Rengan, Organic farming specialist

 

Mr. G. Thiyagarajan, Eco-farming expert