The Knowledge Hub: Exploring chemical-free agriculture with farmers

A group of 12 farmers joined us at Shikha Eco-Learning-Village to talk about soil enrichment and the effects of environmental degradation on biodiversity and agricultural practices. This workshop was part of the Knowledge Hub project, a collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire in the UK.

Working in groups to create posters, we discussed how things have changed within the last 30 years. From butterflies to frogs, snails, insects, snakes, and birds, there has been a general decline. As one of the farmers said: “Except for harmful insects, everything we used to see on our farms is so much less in number now.” People also discussed the “unstable weather” that has become more and more common in the area. Because of high spending on seeds and chemical inputs, it has become difficult to turn a profit with farming. One of the participants talked about making a loss of 60,000 Rupees in the last growing season.

In the second part of the workshop, we watched videos about Zero Budget Natural Farming (in Hindi). This alternative to the use of chemicals has been developed in India. We learned how to make “Jivamrut”, a microbial starter to enrich the soil, as well as an alternative pesticide from medicinal leaves. After the meeting, we chose a couple of plots to try out ZBNF in real life – the experiment continues!

Biodiversity 25 years ago (left) and now (right)