IT employees return to roots, take to farming on weekends

This weekend, a group of people plan to take a train to Tirunindravur and then take a share-auto to Alathoor village, where they will help farmers in their fields. 

“There are many youngsters who have started showing interest in farming and make regular visits to nearby farms. I have been doing this for three years,” says Tamil Selvan, an IT employee. “Farming has always been an important part of our culture. With urbanisation, we have forgotten farming, which is the backbone of the country. Three years ago, some of us decided to try farming in free time and created a Facebook page called The Weekend Agriculturist. Now the group has over 13,000 members,” he says. 

For some, it is an opportunity to spend quality time amid the nature as they get to learn the essentials of farming. There are many who come from agricultural background and helping in farms takes them back to the childhood.

They approach marginal farmers and offer help. “The farmers call us when they need people to do physical labour, especially during harvest season and weed management. A farmer, who earns just enough to make ends meet has to pay nearly Rs 200 to each labourer to clear weed. We step in and offer free help,” says Sathish Kumar J, another weekend volunteer, adding, “We also encourage them to take up organic farming. It is impractical for these farmers to immediately switch to organic farming. We also meet successful organic farmers to learn the techniques from them and then work on it with the smaller farmers. Last weekend, we volunteered at a village near Avadi.”

There are also IT companies who as part of their CSR initiative, have tied-up with local villages where the employees can work during the weekends. 

S Sudharshan, an HR with an IT firm says, “There has been so much talk about people leaving behind their land in villages to go to the city. It bothered me because I come from an agricultural family. I can’t go to my home every weekend. So I joined my colleague, who owns a farm nearby. We spend two days there, away from the city madness and learn a thing or two about growing veggies. This also inspired me to start terrace gardening back home.”