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Soil Conservation: Konkan is a high rainfall zone. Every year, million tones of soil get deposited into the sea. Formation of 1 inch layer of soil takes thousand years. We always give major importance to preventing soil erosion. During orchard plantation we did not level the land or disturb it in any way. Instead, at every out going water channel, we prepared catch pit to catch eroded soil. Intercrops are carried out in a layout considering minimum soil disturbance.
Water Conservation: Day by day, ground water levels are becoming a major cause of concern through out the world. We have placed drip system in major areas. To prevent flooding, we have provided points in each field. For open plots - sprinkler irrigation is used. Even water from the fish pond and over flowing drains is being used for cultivation of vegetables.
Plants Conservation: Many local useful plants like Mango, Cashew, Aamti (Canthium parviflorum), Toran (Ziziphuz rugosa), Ficus glomarata, Hasol (Grewia microcos), Charoli/ Chironji (Buchanania lanzan) etc. existed on our plot before development. We retained them and collected many more plants from the jungle near by. Wild fruits, wild flowers, medicinal plants, wild vegetables are studied and collected by us as and when available. We are dedicated towards the conservation of such useful plants. Many fruits, flowers and medicinal plants are collected from all over india and abroad. Kitchen garden plants like Curry Pepper (Murraya koenigii), Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon martini), Mint (Mentha arvensis) etc. are also grown.
Power Conservation: We have designed our irrigation system keeping in mind that minimum direct pumping should be required. While the plot is surveyed for levels that give us the right idea of head difference in different areas of irrigation, major areas are covered under gravity water. For Street lighting, we use solar lamps.
Ecological Conservation: While planning the orchard, we kept all the big trees and the rare plants in the field. During crop introductions, we are very careful about hazardous and weed plants. Also, we avoid heavy water lifting cops like Eucalyptus spp., Acacia Auriculaeformis and so on. We promote plantation of grasses on bunds to reduce soil erosion. Also live fencing using Kokam and Gliricidia plantation is done. We have year round fruit availability at our farm which attracts abundant fauna. It is a pleasure to watch varied kinds of bird living in our farm.
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