VASANTH Futane had left a course in agriculture to join Jayaprakash Narayan's Sarvodaya movement. Karuna Futane spent 20 years at Vinoba Bhave's ashram. The couple are now channelising their energies towards organic farming at their farm in Rawala village in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra. They also established a non-governmental organisation, Samwada, in 1990, to disseminate knowledge about organic farming. The soil at Rawala is fertile black cotton. On their 2.2 ha plot, the Futane's cultivate jowar, redgram, greengram and wheat with minimum tilling. Vasanth says this maintains the earthworm population, which do the job of ploughing.

Intercropping is also practiced on 0.4 ha plot where sweet lime, ber, teak, papaya, drumstick, spinach, brinjal, lime guava, custard, apple, tapioca and coconuts are raised. On smaller plots, paddy is cultivated in the kharif season and wheat in winter. According to Karuna, the produce is sufficient for a 4-member family.

The Futanes believe that market-oriented commercial farming deteriorates the soil. Vasanth says that the Agricultural Price Commission should account for soil depletion and ecological destruction before announcing the minimum support prices.

Karuna, who teaches environment science in colleges at Warud and Shendurjana Ghat, has convinced many of her students to persuade their parents to switch over to organic farming. She is also deeply concerned about the indiscriminate felling of trees in the area.

The couple also conduct a Live with Nature programme during holidays for a nominal fee of Rs 30. Under the programme, organic farming techniques are taught. In summer, as many as 400 farmers from nearby villages converge to discuss mulching, water management, pricing and forestry management.