Athachi Farms wins Akshaysree Award for the Best Organic Farmer – a recognition for Athachi Trust Nature® initiative.
Sarojini Damodaran Foundation, which honours the best organic farmers in Kerala every year with the Akshayasree Award, conferred it on Athachi Farms, Palakkad. Malayalam actor Anoop Chandran presented the award to Dr. Vishwanath N Subramanian, Managing Director of the Group at a ceremony held in Alappuzha on 9th March, which was attended by the Patron, and Managing Trustee of Sarojini-Damodaran Foundation Shri S.D. Shibulal and Smt. Kumari Shibulal.
A result of 8 years arduous journey undertaken by the leadership team with traditional farmers, botanists, and agricultural scientists, who co-evolved Athachi Trust Nature® initiative – a long-term vision rooted in ancient Indian wisdom and modern eco-friendly technologies, aimed at restoring nature’s regenerative power and addressing the pressing challenges of climate change.
Said Dr. Vishwanath, “In 2017, when we took over the 20-acre land at Pattathalachi, Elappulli, it was arid and barren due to wrong practices, with no external water sources. Our immediate focus was on water and soil management. We implemented an efficient rainwater harvesting system that replenishes our 5 water bodies and 2 surface level tanks in the farm, and evolved a More Than Organic method of farming that combines Vedic Farming, Rishi Krishi, Vrikshayurveda, Dhabolkar, Miyawaki, Biodiverse & Biodynamic, along with many innovative practices of our own. This ensured that the soil not only regained its vitality over the years, but also got back its regenerative power.”
Today, Athachi Farms is a thriving sustainable biodiverse agroforest farm that is home to over 3,000 trees; a Herbal Garden with 100 herbal plants; Nakshatra Vanam, Navagraha Vanam; Goshala with over 60 native breed cows including Kangayam, Kasargod Kullan, Nadan, Vechur, Gir, Sindhi; Livestock of Malabar goats; Poultry Farm with Flying Ducks, White Ducks, Geese, Turkeys, Black Country Chickens; Canines (both country and exotic breeds); Schools of Fish; Peacocks, Peahens, besides a range of native avian friends who keep visiting the farm. The fish and the poultry reared in the farm are not used for meat, but only to nourish the soil, along with the wastes of cow and other cattle.
The farm has successfully cultivated over 37 heirloom varieties of rice seeds, including Aghoni bora which is ready to eat if soaked in cold water for 45 minutes, and Ramli rice a specialty of Punjab. The rice museum in the farm has over 60 varieties of rice seeds, and it plans to take the count to 365. The pure botanical extracts from the farm are used as ingredients for Kerala’s first ultra-luxury global skincare brand, MOREGANICS, while the farm-produce are marketed as DEERA luxury wellness and farm products.
Dr. Vishwanath expressed confidence that Athachi Trust Nature® initiative could be replicated successfully anywhere in the world, and that the Farm is a testimony that the model sustains both the ecology and the economy.
