Pix courtesy: Abali Organic Tea Estate, Arunachal Pradesh

If your idea of a holiday involves de-stressing in a tranquil place, then how about visiting an organic farm? It’s far from the madding crowd and it isn’t your regular beach or mountain holiday. What can you do there? Well, you can laze about and if that isn’t enough, you could check out the activities on offer.

You may not, strictly, be interested in agriculture. Nevertheless, you can always learn something new. Some touri-sts visit these farms to get hands-on experience in organic farming techniques.

Most importantly, you get a different world view here. Besides practising sustainable agriculture, these farms also promote the green cause by saying yes to solar electricity. You can also go for farm tours and village tours. If you are a foodie, you can also enjoy culinary delights prepared with fresh farm products.

Here are some of the farms in India which are promoting the organic cause — and also taking guests.

Saharia Organic Farm, Jaipur

Pix courtesy: Abali Organic Tea Estate, Arunachal Pradesh

Binod Saharia, who has gone the organic way more out of passion than driven by business opportunity, owns this farm. In 1992, he pooled all his resources and acquired 18 hectares of barren wasteland 25km from Jaipur (on the Jaipur-Chomu road). He had planted thousands of amla trees to create a mini-forest.

Today, he has turned it into a full-fledged organic farm with nine mud and clay houses (yes, minus air-conditioners) with attached bathrooms and powered by solar electricity. The food is purely organic obtained from the farm. Even the swimming pool is cleaned organically with the help of potlis containing neem leaves to kill the germs. You not only get to sample the local produce which are organically grown (amla, wheat, barley) but get hands-on training in organic farming from the farmers.

Hot ticket!

The tariff for a night in a mud and clay cottage is Rs 800 per couple. This excludes meals, air/rail fares and all surface transfers to and from the farm. Activities include farm tour, bird-watching tours, yoga classes on demand and volunteer work on the farm. No extra charges for these activities.

Abali Organic Tea Estate, Arunachal Pradesh

Pix courtesy: Saharia organic farm, Jaipur

If you want to get a taste of organic tea, head straight to this tea estate located in the Lower Dibang Valley, 18km from Roing in Arunachal Pradesh. Nature lovers will be charmed by this place as it’s swathed in green for as far as the eye can see. This farm is also owned by Binod Saharia and he has turned it into a paying enterprise.

He has built two wooden cottages here with thatched roofs where tourists can go to get a firsthand experience of sustainable farming. A plantation tour with a local guide is something else to be done. The nearest airport is Dibrugarh in Assam from where one has to cross the Brahmaputra to get to Sadiya town in Arunachal Pradesh. This is a journey of about 90 minutes. From there it takes another 90 minutes to reach the estate.

Hot ticket!

Accommodation in the tea estate’s wooden cottages costs Rs 1,000 per night per couple. Plantation tours are included in the price. However food is not and rail/airfares are also excluded. Valid from September 1 to April 2010. The estate is closed during the monsoon.

Rainforest Retreat, Coorg

Pix courtesy: Sawe Farm

This is a naturalist’s paradise amidst lush organic coffee and spice plantations. It combines eco-tourism and sustainable agriculture. The resort is owned by Sujata and Anurag Goel who chose Karnataka’s Coorg district to set up their organic retreat. They have three kinds of accommodation — two fully furnished deluxe cottages powered by solar lighting and surrounded by bamboo and banana plants, one plantation cottage 200m inside the coffee plantation and two tents.

Hot ticket!

Accommodation in the deluxe cottage for two is priced at Rs 4,000 per night based on double occupancy, Rs 3,000 for the plantation cottage and Rs 2,000 for the tents. This includes all vegetarian meals, plantation tours and local treks. It excludes air/rail fares and transfers.

Sawe Farm, Mumbai

Pix courtesy: Sawe Farm, Mumbai

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life is Sawe Farm (150km from Mumbai). The farm is owned by Prabhakar Sawe who took it up as a challenge to turn this stretch of barren land into an organic farm. Today, the farm is following organic practices like rainwater harvesting, vermiculture (cultivation of earthworms), soil management without the use of chemicals and fish-farming.

Hot ticket!

Accommodation in a deluxe cottage here is priced at Rs 900 per person. This includes three vegetarian meals and farm tours.

Philipkutty’s Farm, Kerala

This farm too promotes organic farming. It’s located on a reclaimed island in the backwaters of Vembanad Lake in Kerala’s Kottayam district. And owners Anu and Vinod Matthew take utmost care that tourists are well looked after at their place. You can sample their organic products like coconut, nutmeg, cocoa, banana, pepper and spices. There are five well-furnished villas overlooking the waterfront.

Hot ticket!

Expect to pay Rs 7,000 per night per couple, which is valid till September 30. However, the rate will be Rs 9,900 from October 1 to May 31, 2010. This includes all meals, a sunset cruise on a country boat and a farm tour.