Nalgonda Farmer Works In Harmony With Nature To Transform Farmland Into A Self Sustaining Food Park

Nalgonda: A farmer in Nalgonda has demonstrated that farming can be made sustainable through diversification. Yedulla Anji Reddy from Anneparthi in Nalgonda district has shown that all one needs to do is to go beyond conventional crops. By combining fruit orchards, vegetables, flowers and livestock with natural farming practices, he has transformed his farmland into a thriving ‘food forest’.

His model becomes all the more important at a time when the farmers are struggling with unpredictable rainfall, declining groundwater levels and rising input costs, Anji Reddy has chosen a different path while trusting nature and working in harmony with it.

After retiring from the Excise Department, he decided to take up farming and has been practising natural farming for the last 14 years. His experience has given him confidence that farming can remain sustainable and profitable even when rainfall is inadequate or nature throws unexpected challenges at the farmers.

He believes that farmers need not constantly worry about changing climatic conditions and phenomena such as El Niño if their farming systems are designed to work with nature.

He owns 20 acres of ancestral farmland of which 15 acres have been converted into a food forest. The farm, located alongside the Addanki-Narketpally highway on the outskirts of Nalgonda has remarkable diversity. As many as 24 varieties of mangoes are grown alongside native papaya, jackfruit, sweet lime (battai), seedless oranges, custard apple, guava, bullock's heart (Ramphal), soursop (Lakshmanphal) and drumstick. Vegetables such as tomato, brinjal, broad beans and ridge gourd are also cultivated along with several varieties of flowering plants. The remaining five acres are used to grow low-water-consuming paddy varieties including Black, Red and Bahuroopi.

This land could have been developed commercially to fetch crores of rupees because of its location along the highway. However, Anji Reddy chose to use it for a purpose he considers more valuable, creating a living, self-sustaining food forest.

He follows an integrated farming system where different crops and activities complement one another. Once one crop cycle ends, another begins ensuring that the land remains productive throughout the year.

“The produce is divided according to the needs of the farm and family. A portion is consumed at home, while some is sold in the market. The remaining produce is deliberately left for birds, wildlife, beneficial insects, earthworms and soil microorganisms,” he disclosed.

“This approach helps maintain biodiversity while naturally improving soil fertility. Instead of viewing every living organism on the farm as a threat to cultivation, I consider many of them essential partners in maintaining the ecosystem,” he added.

Anji Reddy has been avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides. He uses farmyard resources such as waste from cows, goats, sheep and poultry to enrich the soil. He also prepares and uses natural inputs such as Jeevamrutham made from ingredients like sour buttermilk, jaggery and termite-mound soil along with other natural preparations.

He has been following a model of self sustenance where everything required for the farm is produced within the farm itself. From livestock fodder to poultry feed, he grows or prepares as much as possible locally, reducing dependence on outside inputs and keeping cultivation costs under control.

Water management is another important aspect of his model. Anji Reddy depends on water from only two borewells and resorts to drip irrigation and sprinkler systems to distribute water efficiently to ensure that every available drop is used carefully. This approach is particularly significant at a time when groundwater levels are depleting and farmers are increasingly forced to invest in new borewells.

His farming journey offers a different perspective on agricultural profitability. He believes that farming does not necessarily have to mean choosing a single crop, depending heavily on external inputs and constantly fighting against natural conditions.

He has instead created a system in which crops, livestock, soil organisms, birds and insects form part of a larger agricultural ecosystem. He has demonstrated that even amid rising cultivation costs, uncertain rainfall, falling groundwater levels and changing climatic conditions, farmers can explore integrated and sustainable methods of agriculture.

His message is simple - Nature should not be conquered; it should be understood and worked with.

Anji Reddy's 20-acre food forest stands out as an example of how farming can become not merely a means of cultivation, but a way of creating a diverse, resilient and sustainable ecosystem that provides food for the farmer while leaving something behind for nature as well.

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