SAUMYA TANDON TURNS FARMER

The actor will be growing vegetables for herself and friends on her land in Lavasa to avoid adulterated produce available in Mumbai

Vegetables in smaller cities like Nashik and Surat were better and fresher. I feel that vegetables in Mumbai look too ripe and seem adulterated. SAUMYA TANDON, ACTOR

Saumya Tandon has decided to take up a new challenge: she intends to farm a piece of land she owns in Lavasa, Maharashtra. “I have been thinking about farming, but never really got the time due to my exhaustive daily soap schedule,” says the actor, adding that she got her land tested to check the quality of the soil and was thrilled with the results. She says, “We grew vegetables on a patch of our land and got good quality produce. So, we decided to grow vegetables for ourselves and our friends. We plan to grow all kinds of vegetables and plants that we consume regularly. We’ll go all the way.” Saumya’s plans are already underway — she has had a fence erected around the land intended for farming, and will soon have a well dug too.

It isn’t just her desire to farm that’s driving Saumya to do this. The actor says she wants to grow her own vegetables as she is not happy with the quality of produce she finds in malls and super markets in Mumbai. “In fact, vegetables in smaller cities like Nashik and Surat, which I visited recently, were better and fresher. I feel that vegetables in Mumbai look too ripe and seem adulterated. One hears of all kinds of allergies these days, but when I was a kid, I had never heard of gluten allergy or lactose intolerance. It might be due to the hybrid vegetables we consume. I’ve heard and read that we don’t have the original vegetable seeds that our parents or grandparents did, as we have ruined them with hybrid produce. Thanks to the green revolution, we are in a race to produce more food and want it quickly too, which lowers the quality of our produce. They ultimately affect our health and lead to many illnesses and diseases,” says the Jab We Met (2007) actor.

The actor intends to explore organic farming as well, but wants to prepare before jumping in. She says, “I am into organic cosmetics and makeup, but I want to research organic farming before I get into it. It’s not just farming without pesticides; there is much more to it, like how one can take care of their crop and safeguard it without using pesticides. I would love to use natural manure instead of fertilisers to ensure a healthy crop.”