there are some interesting articles on sustainable farming on the sustainet website.you will find them on the publications page on their website.
www.sustainet.org

Here you can find publications and publications which have been commissioned by Sustainet. You can order printed versions or CD-Roms of these publications at the Project Secretariat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sustainet publications "Sustainable Agriculture: A pathway out of poverty for India's rural poor" and "Sustainable Agriculture: A pathway out of poverty for East Africa's rural poor. Examples from Kenya and Tanzania" are available for download here. The publications document good agricultural practices from our partners and their potential for scaling-up.

India publication includes 14 examples of successful sustainable agriculture approaches, plus how to realize the potential of sustainable agriculture in the areas of organic farming, land and water management, and tapping new products and new markets:
sustainet_publication_india_part1.pdf
sustainet_publication_india_part2.pdf

East Africa publication shows nine examples of successful projects, plus lessons on policy changes and approaches to scaling up sustainable agriculture approaches.
sustainet_publication_eafrica_part1.pdf
sustainet_publication_eafrica_part2.pdf
sustainet_publication_eafrica_photosection.pdf

Dear Sujatha,
Thanks a lot for your information.
Is there any other supports from www.sustainet.org ?
Please visit our village page and go on helping us.
We always welcome your valuable informations and suggestions.
We the villagers of KHAPARAPADA welcome other neighbours to visit our village.
Regards
Santanu

dear santanu,
i will try to look for more information and let you know.meanwhile for some tips,maybe you could read up on the model village ,kuthambakkam in south india,created by one mr.elango.you will find lot of articles on it if you type" kuthambakkam "and
"elango" on google search.

maybe you could also get some information about crop rotation from Dr.dalip gosain who is also a neighbour of khunti village.http://www.greatestcities.com/users/gosaindk/ DALIP K. GOSAIN,Ph.D. Head KVK, Farm Science and Dairy Training Centre National dairy Research Institute(Deemed University),
Karnal,India.
gosaindk@yahoo.com

regards,
sujatha

please also have a look at the barefoot college which trains even illiterate people in different fields which can benefit the community.
http://www.barefootcollege.org/enroll1.htm

they have a branch at "agragramee" in orissa

Santanu,

I will mail you the farming dvd as soon as I have a postal address.

Meanwhile, I suggest that someone in the village build a demonstration bed as follows to prove this works. Will double the yield and reduce the labor by 50%.

As to the crops to raise, what is there a market for? I will give you seed for new crops if this interest you. I do not mail them anymore due to cost but I can mail them to an America visiting India to mail to you.
GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK
USA: TX, MS, FL, CA, AR, NM, WA; Mexico, Rep. Dominicana, Côté d’Ivoire, Nigeria,
Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Haiti, England, India, Uzbekistan
minifarms@gmail.com
Workshops in organic, no-till, permanent-bed gardening, mini-farming, mini-ranching using bucket drip irrigation,
worldwide in English & Español

Build a Demonstration Bed

Healthy soil produces healthy plants, with high yields, to have healthy people and prevents most disease, pest, weed and erosion problems.

This bed will demonstrate to people that this really works.
1. Mark off a bed 2 meters wide and 5 meters long. Can be any width or length.
2. Do not dig or till the bed. Cut down any weeds, etc and leave on top of the soil.
3. Plant a green manure/cover crop [seed are available in every country] in the bed. Irrigate using a drip line[s] if it is the dry season. I will tell you how to make the dripline out of poly tubing and a plastic pail. Dripline is 100 feet and irrigates one row of vegetables using 40 liters of water every other day. Cost in Nicaragua was US$3. Can be moved to another row of vegetables.
4. Let the gm/cc grow until time to plant a food crop. Cut the gm/cc down level with the soil, so it dies, and leave it on top of the soil.
5. Open up rows [4?] in which to plant a crop [maize?] or clear small areas [6 inches round] to plant agusi or squash, etc.
6. Harvest. Leave plants on top of the soil.
7. Do not dig or till.

Another way is to plant maize and when it is 300 to 400 cm tall, plant Mucuna [or other gm/cc such as Lablab, etc] between the maize plants. When the maize is harvested, leave the stalks standing. The Mucuna will grow and climb up the maize stalks and cover the ground. When it is time to plant the next crop, cut the Mucuna off at the ground and leave on the soil. Plant the next crop in the Mucuna.

This demonstration bed will prove to everybody that this works. No hoeing, no digging, no tilling!

I will help every step of the way. All you have to do is email me. Send me a postal address and I will mail you a DVD [English & French] on no-till.

On land that is sloping, it is much more involved. I have visited a farm on land with a 73º slope. That is steep. No erosion. Beds were six years old.

When you have done this, I will send seeds for new crops to you such as spaghetti squash, sweet maize, popping maize, endamame soybeans, etc.

Dear Ken,
I will follow you and inform you the happenings here as per your advice.
My postal address :-
Santanu Kumar Patra
Place-Block Bazar
Post Office-Jaleswar
District-Balasore
State-Orissa
Pin-756032
Country-India
Mobile- +919437066720
+919238501990
With best regards,
Santanu

Dear Ken,
Thank you.
We have already received the DVD.
I am confused as it is having a lot of topics.
I request you to sellect some for us.
With regards,
Santanu

There is a solution to the problem of low crop yields. It is true worldwide. It is so simple. INCREASE THE ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOIL. OM is anything that has ever lived. It solves pest problems, it solves low yield problem, it solves rainwater runoff problem, it solves plant health problems, etc.

The gardener/farmer can bring into the farm using plant waste or can plant green manure/cover crops to do it. I have taught many workshops and still I do not understand why it is so difficult to get them to understand that.

Here is a source of free seed but be prepared to manage them properly and save seed for the future.

http://www.echotech.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=...

On the dvd go to organic and no-till. Someone will have to take the time to read.

To Ken-
Thank you a lot.
I apologise for my delayed reply.
I am busy in conducting some workshops on organic farming and spices at different places.
Will you please attend our next workshops at different places in Orissa?Then,it might be more easier on our part to understand and implement your methods propperly.
For Organic matters we are following different methods like-
1.Compost
2.FYM
3.Green Manure
Please advise us some more one by one which are easy and can be made from locally available resources.
Regarding seeds;we will try first and then multiply.
To Bob- I have collected some good images and reports on our harvest,yield and marketing.Sales of the produces are going on.I can give you a clear picture within next 15 days.
To Evaristo-We are negotiating with the State Government Cooperative Department and some existing Cooperatives to start our Marketing Cooperative.Please help us now with some more guidance and finalising our objectives.
To all- I suggest to make 3 different sections on above 3 topics.

Thanks for the reply; "I have collected some good images and reports on our harvest,yield and marketing.Sales of the produces are going on.I can give you a clear picture within next 15 days." This is good news.

It seems that have been a bit of progress! :lol: Can you give us a brief of your findings with the government, Santanu? I would like also to know about the progress of the training that Ken is offering. Keep me updated, Santanu, Bob.

Thanks Ken for your participation.

E

To increase crop yields, I suggest green manure/cover crops. Plant it and let it grow; just cut the plant at ground level and open up a place to plant the next crop.

New crops: What is there a market for? Email [minifarms@gmail.com] me an address to send seed for new crops. I know an American going to India in Sept/Oct? I think he will take seed and mail them to you.

Ken Hargesheimer

Build a Demonstration Bed

Healthy soil produces healthy plants, with high yields, to have healthy people and prevents most disease, pest, weed and erosion problems.

This bed will demonstrate to people that this really works.
1. Mark off a bed 2 meters wide and 5 meters long. Can be any width or length.
2. Do not dig or till the bed. Cut down any weeds, etc and leave on top of the soil.
3. Plant a green manure/cover crop [seed are available in every country] in the bed. Irrigate using a drip line[s] if it is the dry season. I will tell you how to make the dripline out of poly tubing and a plastic pail. Dripline is 100 feet and irrigates one row of vegetables using 40 liters of water every other day. Cost in Nicaragua was US$3. Can be moved to another row of vegetables.
4. Let the gm/cc grow until time to plant a food crop. Cut the gm/cc down level with the soil, so it dies, and leave it on top of the soil.
5. Open up rows [4?] in which to plant a crop [maize?] or clear small areas [6 inches round] to plant agusi or squash, etc.
6. Harvest. Leave plants on top of the soil.
7. Do not dig or till.

Another way is to plant maize and when it is 300 to 400 cm tall, plant Mucuna [or other gm/cc such as Lablab, etc] between the maize plants. When the maize is harvested, leave the stalks standing. The Mucuna will grow and climb up the maize stalks and cover the ground. When it is time to plant the next crop, cut the Mucuna off at the ground and leave on the soil. Plant the next crop in the Mucuna.

Another way is plant an area to gm/cc and when they begin to mature, cut off the plants at ground level leaving them on top of the soil and open up places to plant the next crop.

This demonstration bed will prove to everybody that this works. No hoeing, no digging, no tilling!

I will help every step of the way. All you have to do is email me. Send me a postal address and I will mail you a DVD [English & French] on no-till.