The Centre for Experiential Living at Kundapura, is endeavoring day after day, to develop new techniques of sustainable agriculture and adapt the other existing methods, which are now given up by the rapidly growing tech-savvy society. The aim of the project is the exposure of these methods of utilising the resources available naturally, without jeopardising the interests of future generations, to the world at large, to ensure the longevity of natural resources.

In the campus area, with the help of volunteers and FSL staff, we have nurtured a medicinal garden, a kitchen garden and a nursery for widespread, effective afforestation. This would fulfill the basic requirements of food and medicines once the plants are ready to be harvested in form of fruits, vegetables, stems, roots, leaves, and flowers accordingly. The plantation has been extended to ornamental plants and trees to embrace the beauty that nature provides in different ways.

In order to reduce the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, we are making organic compost- vermin (by using kitchen waste and other biodegradable waste) and biomass (by tree stems and leaves combined with slurry). This provides an adequate amount of nutrition to the plants and ensures healthy growth. Moreover, the nutrition for cattle and chickens, which have become more like a part of the CEL family, is provided by the structuring of tanks, which helps to grow Azolla – a typical water fern suitable for organic animal feed.

Apart from this, water-harvesting techniques like the making of trenches of different sizes are adopted to increase the ground water level in the surrounding area. An artificial pond has been created which adds to the beauty of the campus and, also, helps in water harvesting, which can later be used for different purposes, and also as a fishery for long-term use.

We hope to promote and expand these practices step-by-step, starting from the nearby communities, and help farmers adopt these rituals to conserve their resources and also look after their living requirements.