The results are good. It is clearly reflected in the activities of the farmers and the fertility of the land they hold. Each farm illustrates a different story and gives a new vision. When you visit these non-chemical farms, a world of experiments and exchanges gets revealed.

Kusuma - Dharmalingam couple, associate of the group, has made a dense organic farm, 'Vijayashree Estate' in Alur Taluk near Hassan. The then chemical farmers have shifted completely to organic farming after coming in contact with the group. The 13 acres of land has coconut - arecanut -8 varieties of mango - sapota - jackfruit trees and banana - coffee - papaya plants. Silver oak and Coral tree trees, planted uniformly in the entire farm produce manure and act as shading plants for coffee. Pepper vines lean on most of the trees in the farm. Here one variety helps the survival of the other. 1000 Teak trees surrounding the farm act as a live fence for the Estate. An excellent example for intercropping.

Coconut trees (300) are planted at a distance of 30 ft. x 36 ft., while arecanut plants have a gap of 15x15 ft between them. Coffee (4 year old) has been planted as intercrop throughout the farm. They have stopped tilling the land. It is more than three years that the Dharmalingam couple purchased manure from outside. They collect silt from the backwaters of River Hemavathi and the lake nearby. Ms. Kusuma says, "The waste produced in the farm is not taken home. Instead it is used as manure for the plants. Thus compost gets prepared at the farm itself. Stopping the outside input has helped us financially." Everything in their farm is of some use for them.

In Vijayashree Estate weeds that make the ground cover are used as compost. The recent development in the farm is that weeds don't come up. The leaves shed from the trees in the farm cover the whole farm leaving no space for weeds! Interestingly, Kusuma and Dharmalingam have a nursery of a certain variety of weed plant.

This farm situated in the backwaters of River Hemavathi, which otherwise doesn't have any water problem, had to face water scarcity during last summer. Ms. Kusuma feels that organic method of cultivation has saved their farm from water scarcity. The difference is clear between the neighbour's non-organic farm and that of Vijayashree Estate. The nine-year-old coconut plants here yield 500 tender coconuts per week. The overall yield of the farm might be less, says Mr. Dharmalingam, but we don't have any loss as the input is not even low-cost but no-cost. More than anything else the farm is fertile, healthy and non-chemical.

They have formulated an organic decoction as alternate to pesticides and insecticides. Parthenium, coriander leaves, turmeric, neem and buttermilk are mixed with water and cow urine (Ganjala). The proportion of water to cow urine is 10:1. It is ideal to prepare the solution a day before spraying. Ganjala is sprayed even on mulberry leaves to control pests. They also have a sericulture unit.

Natural fence - 1000 teak trees planted bordering the Vijayashree farm.

For market, this couple has to depend on Hassan. Since this young farm is yet to start yielding at its full strength, marketing has not disturbed them much. But definitely, the downfall of the sericulture in Karnataka worries them.

Kusuma and Dharmalingam's vision for life and nature is beyond their farm. Both of them are well educated and have clear thoughts on organic farming. Mr. Dharmalingam says, "Neighbour's laugh at my farms poor yield saying that I'm mad to follow this method. But no matter what they say about me and my farm, I've understood the nature's laws and I'm going to follow them." Ms. Kusuma adds, "Only natural farming can help in sustaining the life on this planet. Ours is self-reliant farming. The estate is like our child, we love spending most of our time here talking with the plants and observing their behaviour." Not only plants, animals like rabbit and snake have made this 'farm forest' their home.