India’s rice warrior

posted in: India, Rice | 0

Debal Deb maintains rare rice seeds and makes them freely available to farmers provided they grow them and return twice the quantity of seeds. He prefers a living seed bank where varieties are grown every year, and accuses large seed companies of trying to steal the varieties he keeps.

Have you cottoned on yet?

posted in: Cotton, Health, India | 0

The Soil Association writes that:- Cotton is killing the farmers who grow it Cotton is increasingly controlled by GM companies (up to 95% of all the cotton grown in India) Our clothes don’t have to have hazardous synthetic pesticides Most … Continued

India’s rice revolution

posted in: Growing vegetables, India | 0

In a village in India’s poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice – with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages? Guardian article System of rice intensification  

Extract from Fukuoka’s ‘The One-Straw Revolution’

Fukuoka’s book on natural farming without digging or adding manure. “Leaning against the long handle of my scythe, …I wonder how it is that people’s philosophies have come to spin faster than the changing seasons.”
“To the extent that people separate themselves from nature, they spin out further and further from the centre.”

Composting Amma’s way

posted in: Composting, India | 0

Integrated waste management at AIMS hospital, Cochin, Kerala:- Video This film shows how waste from the AIMS hospital (Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences)  is being dealt with; and how all the food waste is turned into rich compost.  Something to … Continued