The green revolution

The dry and sandy region of Shekhawatiin Rajasthan was once synonymous with large crumbling havelis. But, todayit’s shot into global prominence for a totally different reason —making headway in organic farming. The credit for this largely goesto industrialist-turned-politician-turned philanthropist, Kamal Morarka. Tenyears ago, while travelling abroad, Morarka entered a departmental store and wasamazed to find organically grown food products costing three times more thanother food items. That was when the idea of getting organic farmingto India occurred to him. And so, the Morarka Rural Research Foundation wasborn. "You can only gain a farmer’s confidence if you tell him you aregoing to help him increase his yeild," says Morarka, who put in a stint asminister of state during prime minister Chandrashekhar’sregime.While most people may be repulsed by the sight of wrigglyworms, one can see that this fiesty maverick is sold on them. He has encouragedthe Shekhawati farmers to start practising vermiculture, which basically meansrearing earthworms for manure. And he claims that this practice has transformedthe lives of over three lakh farmers in this area."Our foundation,perhaps, has the largest volume of worms in the world, but jokes aside, thiscompost possesses the ability to retain water. This helps the crops to survivewith less water, and that’s a blessing in a drought-prone area likeRajasthan," says Morarka, adding, "Not only have farmers increased their incomeafter using this compost, but the shelf-life of vegetables and fruits have alsogot enhanced."But why did he choose Shekhawati for his dreamproject? "It must have something to do with the soil," Morarka saysphilosophically, as his father, like the scion of several famous Marwarifamilies, hailed from this region. And like most other Marwari families, whenMorarka’s father hit big time after migrating to Mumbai, he built a hugehaveli in Nawalgarh.Spending time in Shekhawati to promote hisvermiculture project, it dawned on Morarka that he should also start arenovation project for the restoration of the 5,000 havelis in Shekhawati. So,he hired a team of archaeologists and restorers, and started by getting his ownhaveli restored.Morarka was recently deputed with the task of"re-greening" the more arid areas of Rajasthan. "But, this can only be done byfollowing better soil and water management methods. And to do this, we’llhave to work more closely with the farmers," he adds. Morarka isalso interested in wildlife photography. He’s mainly interested in rhinos,tigers and Siberian cranes. All these pictures are being put together in asoon-to-be published book. Now, it remains to be seen whether he will ever comeup with a book on his favourite wriggly worms!