India Suicides: I Want My Father Back

India Suicides: I Want My Father Back

Posted using ShareThis

Getting ready...

Over the last few weeks, I've been hunched over the laptop getting ready for our upcoming workshops in Mohadi. We've set the dates now. We'll be covering an introduction to permaculture on Tuesday the 16th, followed by an intro to Zone 0-2 (or kitchen gardening) on the Wednesday. This will be the first time the farmers are introduced to permaculture (apart from brief mentions in past workshops), so it's pretty exciting.

 

My 'desktop' (aka the dining room table)

I must admit that it's a bit daunting too! My permaculture design course was set on the Isle of Man (UK), which right now seems a billion miles away from the type of permaculture we'll be designing here. Yes, of course the principles apply everywhere, but it's hard switching from temperate (and pretty wet and windy!) to dry tropical (very hot and very dry most of the year). But the potential here is so fantastic and each day I learn so much more about different crop potentials... my brain is overflowing with ideas! Here's the rough content for the first day that I've scrawled out...

Rose Morrow's "Earth User's Guide to Permaculture" has been indispensible! I find it so accessible.

I'm now trying to think creatively about how to do some practical demonstrations. Maybe we'll follow Bill Mollison's lead and create a banana circle! Or maybe we'll try out some things from Chris Evans' new online book . I'm particularly tempted to try out the sweepings pit as it's so simple and should work here. It's an example of making a small change for a big effect, so it should make an impression, as it did on me.

If anyone reading this has ever worked in the dry tropics with kitchen gardens, especially if they have designed using permaculture, I would love to share ideas with you. Please leave any comments here!

Spending time in Mohadi

A week or so after the training at Chetana Vikas, I decided it was time we visited Mohadi again. We live around 250km from the village, so it's quite a trek to get there, but always worth it. This time, I had my friend Sue with me as she wanted to see what it's like in an Indian village (and also wanted to meet with the local wildlife!). My thanks are due to her again for all the great pictures (all copyright Susan loose).

We spent 5 days at the village, living with my brother in law and his wife in their small house on the outskirts of the village. My 85 year old mother-in-law was also staying with us, but we all managed to squeeze in (just about!). Apart from the loud festival music starting at 5am and finishing at 12pm, it was restful! It was so nice waking up with the sun and being greeted by the buffaloes and cows outside, heating our bath water on the wood fire and chatting with the local families and schoolchildren over chai before school began. Leela was in her element, dashing around in the dirt and following the cows and chickens.

 

My family in Mohadi. From left, Shakuntula, my mother-in-law, 

Lalita, my sister-in-law, Leela, and Prabhakar, my brother-in-law

We were very well looked after by all of the villagers. Each day we were invited for food at another person's home and the food was wonderful and much appreciated. Sue would often go for a morning walk to capture the beautiful sunrise colours. Here's one of my favorite shots.

 

Dogs at sunrise, Mohadi

We spent a whole day with the CNVF farmers. We started with a short workshop, where we talked about what they had learnt at Chetana Vikas. Prabhakar Kadam, our good friend and person driving the CNVF in Mohadi, described the methods to those farmers who could not attend. It was good to touch base after the training and see that it had been very useful for them.

 

Prabhakar talking about the training at Chetana Vikas

After a short discussion, we headed out to visit some farms. Despite the midday heat, we managed to cover quite a bit of ground. We had a rest under a Neem tree to talk again about the methods we are trying to adopt. We also checked the wells in the fields. It was a poor monsoon last year. Even in January the water was around 30 feet below ground level, far lower than it should have been. Prabhakar told us that every year they must blast the wells even deeper, removing more and more stone, just to get at more water. This is a worrying trend. 

 

Helloooooo... any water down there?.......

                                     

  Samantha with rubble from recent well blast

I asked why there were so few trees out on the field boundaries and the answer was clear. "Trees cast shadows, which lowers a farmer's productivity". We talked about the effects of removing trees on lowering water tables, which means more energy must be put into bringing up water, again eating into a farmer's budget. They agreed that they usually tend to look at short term impacts, such as shading, and don't know about or consider long term impacts. I intend to talk more about this in another workshop sometime soon to see if a compromise can be reached. What about planting trees that also give a yield on the boundaries ? Fruit? Timber? Something to explore....

Another highlight was being invited to Sarkinnhi, a nearby village. The deputy sarpanch (village head) of Mohadi, Mr Indal, took me to meet the Sarkinnhi villagers one afternoon to talk to them about our CNVF work in Mohadi. We were welcomed with flowers and then I asked questions about their village. At Sarkinnhi, there is a very active homeopathic doctor who has been improving the environmental health of the village for the last few years. Together with a committee, he has been encouraging villagers to install latrines in their homes, as well as educating people about personal hygiene. They have also been planting trees along the village streets and keeping it more clean and tidy. It was really inspiring. I then followed this by asking about their farming, and just like all local villages, people are suffering at the hands of chemical farming. This being a health conscious village, I asked about whether they have been suffering any ill effects due to the chemicals they use. Every farmer agreed that after spraying, they feel very unwell and their skin burns and itches. After a tour of the village, they all agreed that when possible, they too would like to join our project. So soon, we hope to have a Centre for Non-Violent Farming in Sarkinnhi too!

We left the village after five days of enjoyment and I miss it already. We'll be going back in the second week of March to deliver a two day workshop. On the first day, we will look at the basics of permaculture, followed by an introduction to zone 1 / kitchen gardening on the second day. At the moment, I'm buy writing a progress report and preparing the materials for teaching. It's all go.

And one more VERY exciting development has been unearthed this last week. I was emailed about the new Farmers' Handbook developed by Chris Evans and Jakob Jespersen in Nepal. This book will be perfect as an introduction to permaculture and sustainable agriculture here, so we're in the process of working out how to get it translated into Marathi. I will certainly be referring to it a LOT during my workshops!

Some scenes from our visit to Mohadi

Training Success at Chetana Vikas!

On Saturday (the 16th), 13 farmers from Mohadi joined us at the Chetana Vikas self-reliant farming training centre in Wardha. As they arrived, I knew that it was going to be a great day. Everyone was in a cheery mood, the sun was warm and we were greeted by sunbirds, a sort of humming bird, feeding on the bougainvillea as we entered the gates.

Sunbird at Chetana Vikas

We had a GREAT lunch, before the farmers headed off for their sessions, wherein they learnt about dryland farming, how to conserve water and how to develop and maintain their own seeds, rather than having to rely on expensive imported seeds. The sessions were largely led by local farmers who had already used these methods, which helped to give confidence to our farmers too.

Eager to get started! The farmers arrive at Chetana Vikas

There was a tour of the farm to see the bountiful crops and look at it all in action. We were fortunate enough to meet with the founder and director of the movement, Mr Ashok Bang and I spent a long time chatting with him about the place and how we might work together. Niranjana Maru was also present, and she was kind enough to give a full introduction of the work they have been doing to my friends Sue and Mike, who are currently visiting from the UK (and as keen and brilliant photographers, I owe the photo credits to them!).

Niranjana Maru, one of the founders of Chetana Vikas

These people have created a very impressive and effective model for farmers to use here. The farm is literally humming with life in every direction, from the sunbirds to lizards, beautiful insects, so many species of birds... and snakes of course, which is no bad thing - they need a haven here. The people are also so full of life and energy and this came across in their words and actions.

Traditional ploughing in use on the farm

At the end of the day, most of the farmers ordered seeds to try out in their next crop growing season. Using this method, it's possible to grow as many as maybe 32 species of crop per acre, rather than monocultures, which gives a much-needed backup in today's uncertain climate conditions. First and foremost, farmers are growing FOOD in their fields and homes. This is so important. It reminds them that the most important thing is to first feed your family healthy, nutritious and tasty food, before selling a few cash crops and excess vegetables for any other money that is needed. It turns 'modern' farming on it's head, and it's about time too.

Exploring the farm

My husband was amongst the farmers receiving training, and at the end of the day, he excitedly asked me whether we should buy some seeds too. So now, we are eagerly awaiting the next growing season as we too will join the farmers by growing 2 acres of crops using this method. Next, we will head to the farm to start our permaculture design...

This week, I'm off to Mohadi with my friend Sue. We'll spend time going over things with the farmers and visiting the farms. We're also hoping to set up a garden there soon, so we'll keep you posted!

Progress slow but moving!

Over the last few days, I've been trying to find more library books for the project. I made contact with Navdanya in Delhi. They sent a list of their publications, and once they clarify some questions, I'll be sending an order in to them. That will really give the library a kick start!

I've also been trying to contact Chetana Vikas to find out their training dates for the next 6 months. Things can work slowly here, which makes forward planning a bit tricky, but I aim to get some dates, at least from my side, ready in the next week or so. I'm going to deliver the following elements of their training myself:

• Introductory Ecology
• Introduction to Permaculture Design
• Introduction to Natural Farming (Fukuoka's method)

I hope that we'll learn the following at Chetana Vikas' farm:

• Self-reliant (sufficient) farming
• Kitchen gardening
• Irrigation
• Fruit tree grafting
• Nurseries and tree plantations
• Creating water bunds

When I visited the farmers in September, we talked a lot about the need for ensuring basic food is provided for before considering cash crops. When going on a tour of some farms, we crossed through the village and found evidence of 'kitchen gardening', or Zone 1 gardening in permaculture terms, around a few of the dwellings (I'll add photos later - they're on my husband's laptop at the moment!). Later that day, another farmer told me that he was inspired to try this out himself after last year's workshop (before I headed to the UK to have Leela, my little girl) and it's working really well. This idea is really starting to appeal to the farmers who can see a direct benefit to them that won't cost much and will be easy to set up and manage. I think it's a bit harder for them to believe in larger scale methods, such as no-dig cotton farming, so this is a good place to start.

In fact, last night I had an idea. There is an area of land just outside my brother-in-law's house in the village, that at the moment is not being used for anything. I might put it to the farmers that we work together on a training event to create a community food garden in this spot, that my brother's family can use and will give ideas for the others to re-create around their own homes. For this, I'll try to bring in the ladies of the village as it's likely that tending of such gardens would be something they would do.... more thought needed, but a big possibility.

So... we're moving slowly now. The mountain is still large on the horizon, but we're into the foothills!

What is the CNVF?

Last year, when I first moved to live in India from the UK, I was so shocked to find out that hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide here over the last 10 years or so. Even today, we see reports of suicides in the local press. In fact, we're in a bit of a crisis zone, in the so-called 'suicide belt' in Yavatmal District, Maharashtra. Here, as in the rest of India, farmers have been getting into crippling debts, caused by trying to convert from traditional farming methods to more 'hi-tech', western approaches, started during India's Green Revolution. These days, farmers are bombarded with advertising that tells them all their problems will be solved if they simply grow the newest cash crops, such as BT Cotton, a genetically modified (GM) species.

BT Cotton Flower (SamB)

However, these crops are very expensive to grow - the seeds are expensive, the plants do not set seed so more has to be bought each year, the chemicals needed to grow them successfully are expensive - and to top it all, the price of these cash crop products is falling on the world market. Advertised as being 'pest resistant', the cash crops tend to be very badly hit by no end of pests, which leads to new plant varieties entering the market, more cash being demanded for seeds and chemicals... the cycle continues and continues, until the farmer, who already has very little, is so steeped in debt that he feels he has no other option but to end his life... and during this time, it's highly likely that he has caused extensive damage to his land too through the extensive use of dangerous and highly toxic pesticides. All in all, it's a very Violent farming revolution... violent for the farming community as people, and violent to the environment as soil impoverishment and 'death' often results.

I started the Centre for Non-Violent Farming along with my husband and a group of farmers within a village called Mohadi. This is where my husband grew up and where our family has farm land. Nearly every family in the village are farming families. It's their sole income in most cases. We wanted to help them out of their difficulties, as farming here is not easy.

The Centre's aims are as follows:

• Allow farmers to help themselves create a sustainable future for their families through farming in a non-violent manner.

• Facilitate networking of farmers with resources that will allow them to become informed and self-sufficient.

• Help farmers become more self-reliant and less dependent on external inputs for their farming.

• Restore and protect the natural environment surrounding farms to allow regeneration of ecosystem health and stability.

• Show farmers and villagers the benefits of caring for their environment and farming in a non-violent way.

• Spread what we have learnt to other villages so that they can also use these methods.

We hope to meet these aims by doing the following:

• Create a library of resources relating to sustainable, non-violent farming and land management methods, including organic methods, permaculture design and natural farming (Masanobu Fukuoka’s method).

• Translate and publish key texts in local languages, namely Marathi for the Mohadi farmers.

• Train farmers in research and observation skills.

• Provide workshops for farmers on non-violent farming methodologies.

• Facilitate travel to, and attendance of, workshops and training led by other sustainable farming organisations.

• Arrange visits to other projects and farms using non-violent farming methods.

• Convert 15 acres of agricultural land near to Yavatmal to a ‘non-violent farm’, which will act as a training resource for farmers, as well as a research centre for the CNVF.

• Provide opportunities for international exchange of knowledge and ideas through conferences and travel to other countries, including bringing farmers using non-violent farming methods to visit and work in Mohadi and other villages.

• Through publicity and articles, raise awareness, locally, nationally and internationally, of the Indian farming situation and the solutions non-violent farming can offer.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to the blog of the Centre for Non-Violent Farming, or CNVF as you may see it mentioned on this page. On this blog, I'll be posting news about our activities, as well as regular updates on what we're working on and towards.

So... a good place to start would be to tell you where we've been, where we are right now and where we'd like to be heading.

A few weeks ago, we visited a farm called Chetana Vikas, near a town called Wardha (famous, amongst other things, as somewhere Gandhi set up an ashram). My husband, daughter and I met a group of 10 farmers from Mohadi at Chetana Vikas. This was to be their first direct experience of being on an established organic farm. Of course, I've been singing resplendant praises of these methods, but until now the farmers had wanted proof that these marvellous stories could be true... and lo and behold! Here it was... (photos to follow!). It was great to see them relaxing as the possibilities were laid out before their eyes and gave them something tangible to work with. Here were a group of local farmers who hadn't used chemicals for many years, barely even ploughed their land, used no GM varieties and instead used local ones grown from seed they had collected... and their farm was absolutely flourishing. A group of us will be returning in due course for Chetana Vikas's training programme, as it will give us an insight into how we could do things in Mohadi. We'll keep you posted.

These last few days, I've been trying to get moving on buying in some books for the Centre's sustainable farming library, as the last time I visited the village it was highlighted as a priority. Today, I called Other India Press in Goa, to see if they print any organic farming books in Hindi or Marathi, and unfortunately they don't, so the search will continue... I'll be getting hold of someone at Navdanya, tomorrow hopefully, to see about ordering from their catalogue. If you haven't seen it, take a look here: http://www.navdanya.org/publications. Pretty good! Let's hope they accept foreign credit cards... If anyone knows of other publishers in India who might have organic farming publications, especially ones that have been translated into Hindi or Marathi, please do let me know! We're also happy to order in from over-seas if the publications are really good. Recommendations would be welcomed. We're especially seeking books about organic farming, permaculture, arid land farming (including soil management, water harvesting...) and tropical forestry relating to the Indian climate.

My other major responsibility is to find funding for the Centre. So far we've raised over £450 (including Gift Aid) through our Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/cnvf/. A friend also told me the other day that she has also raised another £100 for us, which was a really nice surprise. My next task will be to find other funding bodies who may fund social projects in India. As we're not technically an NGO, it may be tricky, but I'll think of something...

Soon I'm hoping to get a newsletter up and running, so let me know if you would like to subscribe to that. It will be in electronic format, so can be emailed to you.

We're also trying to find out about a dam that may go ahead in the area near to Mohadi, which will dramatically alter the village's landscape and farming. More news when it comes...

And finally, we're hoping to get some teachers and volunteers out here soon to help deliver workshops, meet the farmers and help on the farms. We're hoping to run some permaculture training in the new year and may even have some teachers coming along, which would be fantastic. If there's anyone out there who's interested in getting involved, please get in touch.