A Farming Model to Sustain the World
Community Projects, Eco-Villages, Economics, Food Shortages, News, People Systems, Village Development — by Devinder Sharma January 31, 2010
Ten years from now, in 2020, when we try to look back, Indian agriculture can be transformed into a healthy and vibrant system where farmer suicides have been relegated to history, where distress and despondency has been replaced by the lost pride in farming, where agriculture becomes sustainable in the long run, and does not add on to global warming.
As we enter 2010, the script for a futuristic agriculture, which brings back the smile on the face of farmers, without leaving any scar on the environment, is being rewritten.
What began as a small initiative some six years back in a non-descript village in Khamam district, has now spread to over 2 million acres in 21 districts of Andhra Pradesh. I remember when I first talked about the miracle brought about in village Pannukula in Andhra Pradesh, many thought I was simply trying to romanticise agriculture. How farming can be done without the use of chemical pesticides, I was repeatedly asked.
Pannukula dug out a lonely furrow, but eventually blazed a trail. In the next four years, more than 318,000 farmers in 21 out of the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh have discarded the intensive chemical farming systems, and shifted to a more sustainable, economically viable and ecologically friendly agriculture. A silent revolution is in the offing. In Kharif 2009 (the monsoon season), some 1.4 million acres was covered with what is now known as Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA).
Comments (3)Permaculture Examined by SBS
General, News — by Craig Mackintosh January 11, 2010
Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) recently visited the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia to check out the work of Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm.
Those who watched Greening the Desert II will recognise some of my footage from Jordan as well.
Having the mainstream media peek at our work is getting to be a habit. Now we just need to move them from looking at this as a ‘novel idea’ to regarding it as an urgent necessity.
Comments (3)Yeomans’ Pioneer Demonstration Site to Be Turned into Housing Estate
Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Irrigation, Land, News, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Structure, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh December 19, 2009
One of the most influential people in sustainable agricultural systems development is the late P.A. Yeomans. Yeomans went against the contemporary fertility-in-a-bottle school of thought to develop ‘keyline’ concepts of land management that work in harmony with natural land features (working with contours), to maximise water harvesting in the landscape, minimise soil erosion and build lasting soil fertility. His observations and practice led him to design and develop the keyline plow, a deep chisel plow that maximises water infiltration and soil aeration – setting up conditions that soil macro and microorganisms can flourish in – but that doesn’t overturn the soil, with its associated destruction of soil structure and life, as other plows do.
The ABC just ran an interesting spotlight (video – or transcript here if you prefer) where we learn that one of Yeomans’ properties, ‘Yobarnie’, in Richmond, north of Sydney, is facing ‘development’ that would turn this important historical demonstration site into a housing estate. In the 1950s and ’60s the site attracted busloads of people on weekend tours where observers could see the transformation his methods effected and learn about their implementation.
Comments (1)How to Repair the World
Aid Projects, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, News, Plant Systems, Project Positions, Rehabilitation, Trees, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh December 9, 2009
The video embedded in this page spotlights the excellent work of Willie Smits I profiled a little while ago, where rainforest restoration in Borneo not only restored biodiversity and gave increased livelihood opportunities to local people, but it also increased cloud cover and rainfall as well. It’s well worth a watch:
We’re pleased to announce that we’re partnering with the makers of the video above, WeForest, to help establish self-replicating permaculture reforestation demonstration sites in accordance with our Permaculture Master Plan, in several worldwide locations – starting in Zambia in the first instance. Our Geoff Lawton has just agreed to be on their advisory board, and we’ll be working to supply guidance, knowhow and staff to pioneer these projects.
This is just one example of the many encouraging collaborative results we get as people boil current events down to their only logical conclusion – discovering we need to quit battling nature and get busy harnessing biological synergies to repair the earth and rebuild sustainable community interactions.
Comments (4)The Localization of Agriculture
Consumerism, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, News, Society, Village Development — by Earth Policy Institute December 2, 2009
by Lester R. Brown, Earth Policy Institute
In the United States, there has been a surge of interest in eating fresh local foods, corresponding with mounting concerns about the climate effects of consuming food from distant places and about the obesity and other health problems associated with junk food diets. This is reflected in the rise in urban gardening, school gardening, and farmers’ markets.
With the fast-growing local foods movement, diets are becoming more locally shaped and more seasonal. In a typical supermarket in an industrial country today it is often difficult to tell what season it is because the store tries to make everything available on a year-round basis. As oil prices rise, this will become less common. In essence, a reduction in the use of oil to transport food over long distances—whether by plane, truck, or ship—will also localize the food economy.
Comments (3)Exploring Dryland Strategies for Resilience – Atacama, Northern Chile
Community Projects, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Grifen Hope November 27, 2009
Desert Flowers
Recently we had a whirlwind tour of Atacama in the north of Chile, the driest place on earth. This was a learning experience rather than teaching – in this hostile and vulnerable landscape that has been occupied for thousands of years we find strategies for building resilience.
Comments (1)Permaculture Seeds Sprouting on St. Croix
Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Ethan Roland November 18, 2009
Birds eye view of the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute
St. Croix, a 6 x 20 mile island in the Caribbean, is exploding with positive action. Led by the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute, locally grown food and ecological agriculture are seeding in with island people and travelers across the island. Now, in collaboration with AppleSeed Permaculture and Gaia University, the US Virgin Islands are being innoculated with the empowering principles and processes of permaculture design.
Comments (1)Permablitz Gold Coast – Saturday 21 November
Community Projects, Developments, News, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects — by Leah Galvin November 17, 2009
We are having a Permablitz this weekend here on the Gold Coast, below are the details.
Event: Permablitz Gold Coast
Date: Saturday 21st November
Time: 9am onwards
Venue: Ingleside State School, 893 Tallebudgera Creek Road, Tallebudgera Valley QLD (15 minutes drive from Burleigh Heads Beach).
Details: Come along for a morning of gardening. We will be revamping the school’s existing garden beds and replanting. The school is super keen to get their veggie garden going! If you have any manure, compost, tools, and a plate of food to share… bring them along! There will be morning tea provided!
If you need more details, please contact me on leg30 (at) hotmail.com
Comments (0)Letters from Jordan – a PDC at the Bottom of the World
Aid Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Craig Mackintosh October 15, 2009
Profuse apologies for being remiss on the posting front of late. I have more than a dozen posts queued in my head, but finding a minute to breathe and get ‘em down onto the keyboard has proven difficult. A few people have been pressing me for Part III of the Sarvodaya series, but never fear, it’ll come as soon as I can. In the meantime I have a little video mission in Jordan to fulfil.
For now, here’s a teeny glimpse at the latest:
Geoff, Nadia and I are currently stationed a stone’s throw from the Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley. At 400 metres below sea level, this is the lowest place on earth. Geoff and Nadia are teaching a Permaculture Design Certificate course (PDC) to 35 students from many different countries. With this course, and other previous Permaculture Research Institute efforts in the region, we have a really good wedge of influence in what is effectively the hub of the middle east – the very open-bordered country of Jordan. Although we have a few ‘westerners’ here, the bulk of the students are from either Jordan or surrounding nations – like Palestine, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Qatar, Afghanistan, Turkey and even a couple of slightly further afield train passengers from Bulgaria. Other students come from Australia, Italy, UK, USA, Singapore and China. It’s been great getting to know them. A story could be told about many of these people alone. (Aah, so many blog post ideas, so little time….)
Comments (1)A Virtual Geoff Lawton Urges You to Cross the Line
Developments, News, Society — by Craig Mackintosh
We’ve just happened upon a rather unusual way of sharing the Permaculture ‘get out there and do it’ message. Someone has taken an interview Geoff did in California last year, and turned it into a rather impressive animation. Although it was a bit strange for Geoff to see himself portrayed in such a way, if it helps get the message across, then we figure so be it.
The end of the clip even appears to have cameo appearances from Bill Mollison and David Holmgren:
Or, put another way, courtesy of the 1970s UK sitcom favourites Tom and Barbara Good in ‘The Good Life’:
Comments (7)
CNN Takes a Look at Permaculture
News — by Craig Mackintosh October 13, 2009
A team from CNN recently came to Zaytuna Farm to get up close and personal with Permaculture. What a great idea.
Comments (7)
Introduction to Permaculture Design DVD to Ship!
Courses/Workshops, DVDs/Books, News — by Craig Mackintosh September 25, 2009
The Introduction to Permaculture Design DVD has finally been pressed and printed and will be dispatched to all pre-orders from Zaytuna Farm (base camp for PRI headquarters here in Australia) on Wednesday September 30. We said we’d do a September release and we meant it, and even made it – just!! A big thank you to all the many people who had faith in us but were wondering what happened to their pre-order. It is on its way!
We spoke with Frank Gapinski, the producer – who recorded and spent countless hours fine tuning and preparing this release – to find out a little more about this important DVD:
Comments (10)Permaculture Design Course at Pine Ridge Reservation
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Land, News — by Warren Brush September 24, 2009
by Warren Brush, co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture & True Nature Design
We are eight days into a 13-day Permaculture Design Course here at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the home of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The Permaculture Guild has organized this exciting course in collaboration with the Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI) and will be offering other courses here in the coming year. Students from as far away as Florida and California have joined local tribal members in learning about how to integrate permaculture into their lives, livelihoods and cultural regeneration processes.
Comments (0)You May Be Eligible for a $1500 Reimbursement on Your Next PDC – Part II
Courses/Workshops, Developments, News — by Craig Mackintosh September 18, 2009
Last week we mentioned that students, if you’re a primary producer (farmer, fisher, forester), of Geoff Lawton’s PDCs run at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms (near Canberra) are now eligible for an AU$1,500 reimbursement through the Department of Agriculture and Foresty’s FarmReady program.
Now I can inform you that the same applies to PDC and Earthworks courses here at Zaytuna Farm as well.
It’s nice to see the Australian Government getting behind sustainability!! ("Supporting primary producers in a changing climate").
Our full course list is here. Courses approved for the FarmReady reimbursement program will have the image above displayed in their respective course description pages.
Comments (3)You May Be Eligible for a $1500 Reimbursement on Your PDC
Courses/Workshops, News — by Craig Mackintosh September 8, 2009
As you will know, Geoff recently began teaching regular courses at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms (MCNF), near Canberra. This means Zaytuna Farm in northern NSW is no longer your only option – thus saving a lot of travel time and carbon for many students.
Well, now Mulloon Creek Natural Farms has secured FarmReady approval by the Australian Government for its PDC courses, so if you’re a primary producer (a farmer, fisher or forester) in Australia you may well be eligible for an AU$1,500 reimbursement on your course costs.
The next PDC Geoff will teach at MCNF begins November 30.
By the way, applications are in for Zaytuna to get FarmReady status as well.
Comments (7)
