Organic Farming: The Future of Healthy Living

Year and Month	October 2013
Number of Days	One Day Trip
Crew	2 (Prince and Me)
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	By Motor Bike
Activities	Talking to an Organic Farmer, Visiting an Organic Farm, etc.
Weather	Excellent
Route	Nugegoda -> Gampaha via Kaduwela and Miriswatte -> Minuwangoda -> Nilpanagoda -> Dunagaha Green Garden and return on the same route.
Tips, Notes and Special remark	You can contact the owner Mr. Palitha Edirisuriya on 0719-357535. He’ll happily give you any details you need and arrange a tour if you wish. The Farm is located on Nilpanagoda-Dunagaha about 3-4km from the Main Road in front of Rathnaloka Bakers.
Author	SriAbey
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Organic Farming: The Future of Healthy Living

Going Green, Organic Farming, Eco Living, Environmentally Friendly, etc. are few of the major topics in the modern day world. Every man and his dog are concerned about living a healthy life and consuming organic foods. Media along with environmental organizations are out in full force trying to promote these kinds of things whenever possible. Vendors are too busy advertising chemicals-free vegetables, fruits and green leaves and selling them at higher prices (few times the usual price).

The million dollar question is, are they really organic? 100% free of chemicals? Sadly the answer to this question, however, is very gloomy as we have no solid proof to check if they are genuinely 100% organic. The chances are the farmers and vendors taking us innocent consumers for a ride claiming their products are organic very high. How do we check the authenticity of their claims and products? Can those certificates shown by those organizations alone prove their products are 100% organic and natural? If those organizations are genuine, why do they hesitate to show their farms to the public?

Those are questions kept coming to me when I too was looking for organic foods. I got very curious when it comes to things like these and thought of looking for an opportunity to visit one of the organic farms to get a feel of organic farming. I was fortunate enough to read an article on “Mawbima” paper which gave some details about an organic farm in Dunagaha area. Most surprisingly, it had given a contact number and claimed any interested parties are welcome to visit the farm.

What’s more a crazy adventurer like me could ask for? I jumped with both my feet and jotted down the contact number but it took me sometime before I could actually visit the place. I called Mr. Palitha Edirisuriya, who’s the mastermind behind this scheme and the owner of the farm, and he greeted me in a friendly manner and asked to visit the place at any time I wanted to. He even gave me an overview of the project over the phone and his enthusiasm in showing his handy work to outsiders who are curious about organic farming and products made me wanna pay a visit soon.

So I decided to do it on Mon 21st Oct as I was free (actually got back from a waterfall hunt with Lakdasun members on the 19th) and called him in the morning. He said he’d be there and my long lost friend Prince too was free and he gladly joined me with his bike which was a relief in finding the place. We left Nugegoda around 9.30am and reached the place around 11.00am (the bike started giving trouble about half hour into our journey).

Palitha was there and welcomed us warmly. The land is 1.5 acres in size and it used to belong to his father and after him; Palitha inherited the land and the house. The house is now acting like a lab for his research work and storage for his crops. Already we saw a pile of freshly plucked papayas resting on a table and he asked us to take a seat and we started our conversation. He is vastly knowledgeable about the farming and agriculture and told us the history and how he became interested in organic farming.

He’d listened to a lecture in 1993 about organic farming and realized it was the way forward and joined a few projects with many others in different areas all around Sri Lanka, mainly in Nawalapitiya. Then early 2000, he started his farm in Dunagaha and decided to find a fertilizer free of chemicals. He researches were successful when he found a liquid fertilizer around 2009 which was very effective and free of harmful chemicals. He named it “Dharma Jeewa” and now selling it commercially 1 liter for Rs. 350/-.

When asked he said the demand is more that he can hardly keep up with the production but in an attempt to ramp up the production, he’d started making 800 liters at a time which is 4 times more than he used to produce. I managed to record most of the conversation and you can find it along with another short one which I did in the garden here.

After that it was time to venture into the garden itself and every inch of it is planted with something or the other. Mainly grown things are papaya, pineapple, varieties of chilies, beetle leaves, okra, banana, coconut along with many others are also available. He’d introduced new ways of planting such as differently-sized pits and “Salt Lines”.

They have also found a way of curing the plants attacked by “Piti Makuna”. There was a papaya tree which had been attacked by the Piti Makuna but now showing signs of recovering. According to him, there are 5 insects that harm the paddy in 6 different stages. There are also 30+ friendly species that come to the paddy fields for helping remove the harmful ones. When we use chemicals, the friendly insects and animals are killed faster than the harmful ones and at the end, we have to keep using the chemicals coz friendly ones have become extinct.

He also talked about financial gains of the organic farming. It takes a lot of money and effort to set up an organic farm but overtime, the outcome is more profitable than the chemicals-used one in the long run. He boasts many secrets when it comes to farming along with his secret recipe of the fertilizer. He’s ready to share it but the fear of it being misused has held him back.

I asked him the million dollar question:

“Do you at any stage, use any chemical in your farm?” asked me.
“Not even a drop.” He proudly answered in return.

When I asked if he’s obtained any certificates to prove his products are organic, his asked me back “Where do I get one?” It shows that they need help with things like that and some proper guidance to improve their knowledge along with the skills. He said the people at agricultural department have a strong will to develop the organic farming but they’re most of the time underfunded and the money spent is not used properly. Then I asked how he manages to generate revenue. Sadly he doesn’t have a proper method of selling his products and it’d also be grand if someone can help him set up something more efficient.

It was such a great experience listening to this wonderful person talking about his experience. If only we can help him in any way we can to promote his farming and use his skills with others, it would definitely pay dividends in the long run for our economy and health.

Well, that’s about it. I didn’t mean to write a report on this but felt obliged to do so coz I too strongly believe in organic products and farming. Hopefully this will open some paths to him spread his work and share it with others. Do visit the place if you can and have a chat with him. That person is like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to farming.

Take care and do help promote genuine organic farmers and their products.

Sri