Turmeric the powerful anti-inflammatory drug fits into our everyday life and helps in the treatment of many different ailments. Editor, Agriculture World Dr Lakshmi Unnithan was in conversation with Meena Krishnamurthy an MBA from IIM-Bangalore and a Vedanta student who inspires to lead a simple life and contribute endlessly to Sustainability aligned with Mother Nature. Meena is on her sharing journey of Grow Turmeric Joyfully across the Globe.
In our talks Meena shares about her OTG experience which started in 2013. She has a 1200 sq. foot area in the terrace and a Mini composting Factory setup of 200 sq. feet. She also has Aerobic/Bokashi/Vermi Composting being done at her home. She also does Leaf Composting and claims to be Self Sufficient in Plant Manure requirements. All Manure and Liquid Fertilizers are made at home like Ghana Jeevamrhutha, Panchagavya and Jeevamrutha. She also makes all concoctions like CocoButtermilk Solution, 3G, Extract, Fermented Fruit Juice, Egg Lime Extract etcfor her plants and also shares the information within her extended friends circle.
She is involved in Community Contribution by conducting workshops on Composting & Gardening in platforms like OFYT, Composting Santhes, Women’s club meetings, Lions Club, Companies etc. Being active in Social Media, having published documents on different types of Composting, she mentors many individuals towards cultivation on Turmeric. The main reason for selecting Turmeric as a crop is being the widespread use of good potent turmeric in pandemic times and the easiness of cultivating it at home so that we know they are devoid of chemicals since we grow them at home. She will soon extend the training to other crops too says Meena.
Her experience in growing Turmeric, started with 2 rhizomes, 5 years back. She harvested 51 kg in 2019 .The Potting Mix was made with home made compost only. Realizing the importance of being involved in an activity to help your stress levels down during the pandemic times she made a Whatsapp group for Grow Turmeric Joyfully in the starting of 2020, Jan – Feb. The WhatsApp interactions were on Sundays. There were 66 members and they travelled the journey together from collecting Rhizomes to Preserving them, buying Oil cakes, Neem Powder, Soil/Compost/Cocopeat or Leaf Mold .These were all planned through the whatsapp regular interactions. The Rhizomes were planted and the swords emerged and then regular care recipes were shared. Planning of Harvesting, Harvesting and Post Harvest Processing were also shared through WhatsApp.
After the successful journey of 2020 Grow Turmeric Joyfully – 2021 is on its way now with an Admin team of 6 members. Gigsy Platform for centralized knowledge, Telegram for Chat and artifacts in different formats with Videos, Podcasts, Documents, Images. They have 180 members registered and will follow the same pattern that they followed for cultivation in 2020.
The above created platforms are an Invaluable asset created to capture some of the key points and lessons Meena Krishnamurthy has learned over a decade in Sustainability. It is the subtotal of an exclusive journey she took to herself and now is a shared services implementation. The Importance of oneself being in service to mankind or others for your own mental good emphasizes the importance of your self being more human. Hope more Humans are created for the service to others in whatever way fits ones lifestyle.
