Permaculture : Changing the Way We Farm

-SURAJ CHATHLINGATH (Correspondent)

The impact of agriculture has been profound on humanity, it is what has made humans settle down. It has changed humanity from a nomadic lifestyle to a civilised one. The agrarian societies that we have shaped into, have been the backbone of our civilization from the very beginning. However, the conventional way of agriculture that has been passed down through generations has some serious flaws in terms of environmental sustainability; still these flaws are largely neglected, considering the efficiency at which conventional farming has met with the supply to demand, and it has been no simple task to cater for the whole population using any new experimental method. Excessive use of synthetic chemicals and gene manipulation techniques coupled with the ever-increasing agricultural production and the related exploitation of natural resources however is the main reason for the degradation of the natural environment. 

In the 1950s, a new idea of ‘sustainable agriculture’ entered the spotlight. Since then many sustainable practices emerged, planting cover crops during the off-season, reducing or eliminating tillage, crop rotation, embracing diversity, using renewable energy, managing landscapes, integrated pest control and waste management, etc. Today, multiple farming methods can be classified under this ‘sustainable’ tag. Although they vary from one another, their core intentions remain the same, which is to protect the environment, expand and recharge the earth’s natural resource base, and to maintain and improve the soil fertility, thereby increasing the productivity and profit in a sustainable and eco-friendly way. These sustainable farming methods include permaculture, biodynamic farming, hydroponics and aquaponics, polyculture and crop rotation, agroforestry, urban agriculture, grass farming etc. Among these, what distinguishes permaculture from other methods is its meticulous design system, which places great emphasis on ecosystem health and encompasses unique sets of elements and designs for each site within an agrarian system, like a garden, farm, reservoir, etc. 

In short, permaculture or permanent agriculture is an innovative method that can be a viable food production system for an unpredictable future. According to Bill Mollison, an Australian biologist who coined the idea, “Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.” It is designed for accessing natural resources in ways that will benefit both humans and the environment. There are twelve design principles in permaculture. These include – catching and storing energy, applying self-regulation and accepting feedback, obtaining a yield, producing no waste, using and valuing diversity, using and valuing renewable resources, designs from patterns to details, using small and slow solutions, integrating rather than segregating, observing and interacting, using edges and valuing the marginal, creatively using and responding to change, which can be incorporated with our farming to obtain great results. In other words, permaculture is a cyclic process, where a set of designs are articulated to suit the local ecosystem, then renewable energy is created and made use, to produce a high yield along with reusable waste and zero pollution. The carbon emissions can be brought down to sustainable levels by minimizing and eventually eliminating fossil fuel-based energy. Altogether, this is a win-win condition for both humans and nature.

Today there are many independent farmers and NGOs in India who are using this idea to ensure great efficiency, like the “Paani Foundation” by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao. Their volunteers along with a large group of native villagers have achieved the miracle of chasing away drought,a curse for many rural villages in Maharashtra. They implemented a permaculture technique of recharging groundwater which gave a very promising future for these rural areas. As of 2018, the Paani Foundation has covered almost 4,032 villages spread over 75 drought-hit talukas of Maharashtra. Another Indian NGO, Deccan Development Society was the first to establish a permaculture demonstration farm in Andhra Pradesh. There are also reports of farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, etc. using permaculture techniques to attain sustainability. However, these isolated reports cannot be considered as a substantial change considering India has the second-largest irrigated land area in the world, and ranks second worldwide in farm outputs with a 17-18% contribution to the country’s GDP. Meanwhile, the government of India too tried implementing policies for sustainable practices since its first five-year plan, emphasizing on natural resource management, groundwater recharging, watershed development, etc. India’s National Agricultural Policy (NAP) (Gol 2000) clearly stated the importance of management and conservation of natural resources but the measures taken were widely criticised as inadequate. An example as per TNAU Agritech Portal argues, ‘the government’s efforts have only been able to regenerate 17.28 percent of the total degraded area (173.6 million hectares; Gol 2001a).’ 

For permaculture and other sustainable methods to bring any substantial change in our daily life, we need to first implement them on a large scale. Currently they are not being practiced at a level at which  we can confidently let them take center stage as the key to our future. Sustainability-friendly policies should be made, and this time they should be properly implemented, so that our future generations shall have an earth greener and healthier than what we have today.

You may ask, does permaculture even work? 

Yes it does! There are examples of large scale permaculture adoption and urban agriculture in Cuba, which made them not only healthy but self-sustainable in food security as well. There are thousands of examples of successful permaculture worldwide, mostly in poor countries including villages in India where situations demanded change. One thing is undeniable, various crises plaguing the present world will demand this change even to the developed and rich as well, it’s just a matter of time.

While rotting grapes in India, smashed eggs in Nigeria, and dumped milk in Wisconsin are becoming the tableau for the wastage of food during these COVID times, it won’t be surprising to hear that we are facing an uncertain future through the lens of food security. The mismanagement of farming output and increasing demands as population boom, depleting resources are all contributing to a worsening crisis. Considering this uncertainty, it is high time we change, reorganize and find new ways to live alongside nature so we find an equilibrium where we give back as we take from her. If permaculture and other sustainable practices can truly achieve this, then it is indeed the answer to all. 

“Agriculture is not just agriculture – it’s a social responsibility,” says Narsanna Koppula, Permaculture Practitioner.  

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