Biodiversity is Life: More about Navdanya

There were two key movements that helped to spur the birth of the Navdanya farm and greater network. 

First, the Chipko movement.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is from this region where the farm is located. She completed her PhD in Quantum Physics in Canada and was always connected to this region as her original roots. In the 1940s, a movement was started by three indigenous Chipko women to preserve the forests here and protect them from massive deforestation. These women, with limited power and resources, gathered and used what they knew to protect the forests that were so dear to them – by hugging the trees and sacrificing their bodies as protection. The original “tree huggers,” these women were able to preserve about 200 hectares (500 acres) of forest land from being destroyed. Dr. Shiva joined in this movement at the time and often mentions the inspiration she has for these women and the courage they helped to instill in her for fighting to preserve the health of their region.

Second, the Green Revlution.

In the 1960s the Green Revolution swept across India, converting their carefully curated and ecologically sound methods of agriculture preserved for over five thousand years, into a modern industrial system with chemical fertilizers, hybridized seeds, and mechanized farm equipment – causing massive destruction in the local social, economic, and cultural food infrastructures of the region. The propaganda claimed to introduce high-yielding varieties of grains that would alleviate India from poverty and provide self-sufficiency. It actually did produce food in the short-term (thus claims of success are still present when you Google “Green Revolution India” today), but the ramifications of such chemically-intensive practices are still being dealt with today. In essence, the Green Revolution is where everything went wrong for the life and breath of India’s agriculture, leading to ecological destruction and widespread devastating health outcomes. Through this, Dr. Shiva realized that if farming traditions were lost and farmers were no longer saving seeds, there would nothing remaining for future generations.                        

The farmland was acquired in 1991 and was completely barren at first. At that time it was a space for conventionally grown sugar cane and eucalyptus trees that were initially brought in by the British as a commodity.

Now, it is a thriving ecosystem. There are 72 species of birds that migrate to the farm every year – in comparison to often only 3 species that would be found on a conventional farm.

All crops are grown through of companion planting or inter-planting – radishes, beets and mustard planted in between wheat, black chickpea with oats, turmeric and ginger beneath mango trees – as well as the consistent use of naturally pest repellent plants along the borders of plots (such as marigold, chiles, neem, garlic, papaya, camphor trees and leaves, and many more). This utilizes the wisdom of nature with planting crops that naturally support the growth of one another. Once those crops are harvested, the ones that follow will give back to the soil what the previous ones used – giving back to the health of the soil and allowing for the next succession of crops to have nutrition they need from soil to grow.

These methods allow for greater resiliency on a farm – healthy soil provides for healthy plants. In comparison to a monoculture or farm that grows one variety of one crop repeatedly, this also offers greater resiliency for the farmer in case one of the crop fails for one reason or another, they are not at a complete loss.

 Navdanya maintains the title of a “biodiversity conservation farm” utilizing methods from all different types of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices in order to practice in the most ecologically friendly ways possible – enhancing biodiversity through all types of practice.