When GREEN Foundation initially started its work, we became aware that much of the indigenous knowledge and oral tradition had been lost within a few short decades. Moreover, farmers had lost a sense of pride in their own culture. This knowledge provided invaluable understanding to sustainable practices that could greatly benefit the agricultural sector.

Our efforts have been focused on verifying, documenting and disseminating the centuries old indigenous knowledge of farmers. GREEN has used the Participatory Rural Appraisal method to document much of this oral tradition.

“Once, when I wanted to sow dodda jowar, a local variety of millet, I treated the seeds with a mixture of gandaka and tutte (local medicinal plants) soaked in water. After the seeds were completely dried, I decided to sow them. After sowing more than three fourths of the land, I ran short of treated seeds. Hence I sowed the remaining land with the untreated seeds that I had brought along. When the crop was 3 feet high, it was attacked by smut disease and I realized that the portion of the crop with treated seeds was free from this disease. That is when I realized the importance of seed treatment,” says Shri Chouti of Chinnikatte village.

“We realized there was something wrong with this method of agriculture when the fertility of the soil began diminishing,” says Vijayamma, a farmer in Tamil Nadu, of the chemical farming methods her family used to practise until they were introduced to GREEN. For small scale andmarginal farmers like Vijayamma, this was particularly worrying, because land is their lifeline to food security.

“In spite of getting reduced yields the costs of cultivation had remained the same. But we did not know where to turn for help,” she adds.

With a large part of India’s land (nearly 49%) utilized in agriculture, unsustainable agricultural practices can lead to untold consequences for the country’s ecology. For example, it has been shown that a single acre of chemically grown sugarcane requires as much water as would suffice for 25 acres of indigenous variety maize (a crop which also enriches a farming household’s nutrient intake).

In light of facts such as these, it becomes clear the extensive change that can be brought about for India’s ecology through correct agricultural

One of the first steps to preserving India’s ecology is the conservation of its agrobiodiversity. This begins, first and foremost with the conservation of indigenous variety seeds. By conserving the biodiversity of a region and encouraging the use of indigenous seed varieties that require low inputs, we aim to reduce the strain being felt on the region’s natural resources.

‘The loss of these indigenous varieties would mean…the possible loss of a means to sustainable agriculture and its role in the conservation of the ecosystem as a whole’**.

This importance of agrobiodiversity and its role in food security was well demonstrated in the early days of GREEN’s work. When drought hit some of the farmers in our operation area, they were surprised to note that the indigenous crop varieties we had encouraged them to grow were resilient and drought resistant. The exotic varieties on the other hand, introduced as high-yielding crops with the promise of a larger incomes, had been destroyed.

Over the years, GREEN has worked extensively to conserve the rich agrobiodiversity of the country, spurred on by the steadfast belief that it is this biodiversity which holds the key to the future food security and ecological well being of India. We have always sought to recognize the role of farmers as scientists whose experience can provide important clues to ecological conservation. Using participatory techniques (such as Participatory Crop Improvement) we have worked with them side by side experimenting, testing and implementing successful conservation practices.

For its efforts in this area, GREEN received the prestigious Equator Initiative Prize by UNDP in 2004.

The relationship between soil and plant is a complex one. It is through the soil that a plant derives much of its nutrition. Therefore, rich soil, full of plant nutrients will give high yields of good quality. This, in turn, will result in a greater income for the farmer. Poor soil fertility, on the other hand, can have a great negative effect on crop yields.

GREEN recognizes this important relationship with the soil and has, for this reason, extensively promoted the use of sustainable practices aimed at increasing soil fertility. We train farmers on the use and production of biopesticides and biofertilizers (such as vermicompost) which are soil friendly and do not destroy beneficial micro-organisms. We also educate farmers on natural pest management systems, crop rotation methods and multicropping patterns that are beneficial to the soil. As part of our core philosophy, we also advocate the use of indigenous seed varieties that are suited to local agro-climatic conditions and require low inputs. This further helps to reduce the strain on the soil.

Economic reason

One of GREEN Foundation’s driving forces is to empower farmers to achieve economic security. We help farming households do this through various initiatives such as kitchen gardens, alternate income generating programs, community seed banks etc. We provide farmers training in sustainable practices which reduce their dependency on expensive inputs. We help organic farmers gain certification through the PGS system so that their produce is more marketable. To achieve this aim, we have also initiated the formation of Janadhanya, a society which aims to strengthen farmers’ economic security through the collective efforts of the community.

When farmers switched from the cultivation of traditional food crops like ragi to cash crops such as cotton, their daily diet also changed significantly. Many food crops used for personal consumption were not available to them after this shift in their cropping patterns, depriving their households of much-needed nutrition. Sadly, this shift in agricultural practices also resulted in a large scale loss of biodiversity in many areas because farmers simply stopped cultivating local seed varieties. As the Great Famine of Ireland has historically shown, biodiversity is crucial to the food security of farmers and, indeed, the entire nation. GREEN’s efforts at strengthening this security include extensively promoting the use and conservation of indigenous seed varieties through various initiatives.

These varieties are most often food crops that the farmer can then use for personal consumption. They have a natural resilience to local conditions and this means that farmers are less likely to lose their harvests to unexpected, extreme weather changes. This is essential, particularly in the state of Karnatka (where much of GREEN’s work is based), as it is the 2nd most drought prone area in India**. In fact, studies show 68% of the country is vulnerable to drought**. There is another advantage to the use of these indigenous seed varieties: they have lead to a revival of traditional Indian agricultural practices that are inherently sustainable.

Political reasons

Challenging accepted norms

The research and development initiatives of the Green Revolution brought to the world, and particularly to India, a new, hybrid variety of seeds with the aim of increasing yields and reducing the food deficit of the country. They also introduced a chemical intensive form of agriculture highly dependant on external inputs that many farmers in India could ill afford. ‘Two decades of subsidizing agriculture with chemicals has impoverished the farmer and degraded the natural resources and diversity of food without reaching the goal of feeding the hungry.’

— Hidden Harvests, GREEN Foundation

Lasting change can only be brought about through legislation that supports and protects the rights of individual farmers and strengthens their livelihoods. Such legislation must also aim to conserve the biodiversity and natural ecology that is essential to Indian agriculture. Yet over the years, Govt. policies have promoted the use of high yielding exotic seed varieties and the chemical inputs they require. Unfortunately, this has lead farmers to adopt unsustainable practices.

Through dialogue with key stakeholders, including the Government, GREEN has been lobbying for policy changes that encourage small scale and marginal farmers to pursue sustainable agriculture. GREEN has worked along with farmers to bring their concerns to the forefront of political dialogue. We have also appealed to the Government to highlight the role of women in Indian agriculture  conservation.

through projects that address their needs. They are in many ways the backbone of the sector, and sustainability is not possible without their contributions, particularly in the case of biodiversity. Such progress owes as much to the perseverance of individual farmers themselves as to the collective efforts of a community of people within the non-profit sector. Strengthening the movement for sustainability, GREEN initiated the formation of Janadhayna, a farmers’ society which empowers farming communities to work collectively to avail the benefits of sustainable agriculture. Janadhanya has proved to be a means through which the movement has rapidly progressed, allowing community members themselves to take the core philosophy of organic practices to those who need it most: their fellow farmers.

GREEN owes much of its early efforts to the initiative and dedication of a handful of women. It was with their help that we began our first efforts to empower the small scale and marginal farmers of India. In many ways, women have been the corner stone of GREEN and the driving impetus behind all of its work.

Recent studies in the gender division of labour in agriculture show that women do 37% of sowing, 59% of threshing and 69% of work related to animal tending*. Though they form a significant component of the workforce, the role of women in Indian agriculture has been unacknowledged. One of the biggest motivations behind GREEN’s work has been to bridge this gender gap. Therefore, in all of our work, we place great emphasis on the role of women in Indian agriculture.

Responsible, traditionally, for seed selection and storage, they are the custodians of biodiversity. Community Seed Banks initiated by GREEN in its efforts at biodiversity conservation, are managed mostly by women. GREEN has also empowered