Schoolchildren, academics study fundamentals of farming at a sanctuary

Children and academics from 5 faculties lately realized to transplant paddy saplings in an effort to grasp the place their meals comes from, throughout an experiential workshop hosted by GREENS Biodiversity Sanctuary at Kolarpatti, Manikandam Alampatti this week.

Organised in collaboration with the Department of School Education, Chennai, the workshop was preceded by an orientation programme for 45 biology academics from authorities and personal faculties a couple of days earlier.

“This would be the final technology that is aware of the way to domesticate its meals. Though fashionable agriculture is transferring in the direction of genetically modified crops and fortified grains, it’s unhappy that our youngsters don’t even know the fundamentals of meals manufacturing. It is necessary for them to expertise farming as a way to perceive the method,” Alexander Amirtham, founder and govt director of the sanctuary, instructed The Hindu.

At the workshop, kids had enjoyable planting the paddy saplings in plots crammed ankle-deep with water.

Mr. Amirtham, a botanist with diplomas in plant conservation methods and in botanic gardens administration from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, was impressed to develop the sanctuary in 2014 by Mother Lea Provo, the Belgian-origin Gandhian who established the mannequin villages of Sevapur and Vinobajipuram in Tamil Nadu.

“I volunteered at Sevapur beneath Mother Lea for 5 years, and realized about her conservation initiatives. Saving our indigenous seeds for the longer term is a key part of meals safety. However, India has nonetheless to take it up critically,” he mentioned.

The sanctuary, which sits on a 2.5-acre leased plot in Kolarpatti, has separate zones for meals cultivation, forest vegetation, and medicinal vegetation. GREENS is a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and hosts over 400 indigenous plant varieties, together with bushes, climbers, creepers, tubers, meals vegetation, and medicinal vegetation.

“We have intentionally averted labels as a result of we wish guests, particularly college students, to visually study the distinction between indigenous and invasive species. This sort of studying is just not doable in a closed classroom setting,” mentioned Mr. Amirtham.