Indigenous farming practices follow agroecological principles and use natural resources wisely and sustainably. Check out inspiring stories from indigenous communities in the Philippines, India, and Benin.
Conventional agriculture has relied heavily on chemical inputs that have negatively impacted the environment and increased production costs. Transition to agricultural sustainability is a major challenge and requires that alternative agricultural practices are scientifically analyzed to provide a sufficiently informative knowledge base in favor of alternative farming practices. Agricultural research in the past century made significant strides toward developing improved germplasm, devising integrated pest management, and defining cultivation practices. This has led to increased crop production and contained losses caused by pests. Thus, conventional agriculture used knowledge-based technologies to produce food crops that were safe, high yielding, and cost effective. Conventional agriculture depends on synthetic nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous fertilizer, pesticides, and heavy machinery driven by fossil fuels. Heavy reliance on chemical inputs has, unfortunately, resulted in increased production costs and has detrimentally impacted ecosystems by introduction of agrochemicals, raising serious concerns for human and animal health. There has been a continuing reliance on the use of pesticides, particularly for fruits and vegetables, as a means of preserving yield and quality. Concerns about the environment and ecosystem have catalyzed efforts to seek alternative agricultural practices for long-term sustainability of agriculture. The alternative systems approach based on enhancing biological interactions to sustain and enhance production agriculture has had some success. This approach has innovatively reduced off-farm chemical inputs, and put emphasis on improved farm management and conservation of soil, water, energy, and biological resources.
Indigenous farming practices follow agroecological principles and use natural resources wisely and sustainably. Check out inspiring stories from indigenous communities in the Philippines, India, and Benin.
Public policies that support the transition from pesticide dependence to agroecology offer the opportunity to transform our food systems. However, experience from several countries show that these policies need a commitment to democratic participation and a long-term vision in order to succeed. Here are lessons learned from Sri Lanka, Spain, Argentina, and Mexico.
In this video, Nasira Habib shares her experience of making vermicompost in her garden. Vermicompost is a super compost. Worms turn your kitchen and other green waste into soil rich in nutrients and loaded with microorganisms that create and maintain healthy soil for us. Vermicomposting also helps us keep our environment clean. It is easy […]
SHISUK stands for Shikkha Shastha Unnayan Karzakram. SHISUK’s Education, Health, and Development Program have emerged with distinct mandates since its inception in 1996. The lifelines of the Bangladesh economy and peoples’ livelihoods are agriculture, agriculture-based entrepreneurship, and overseas migration.
This short video, In Our Hands, captures various activities of a hands-on workshop for school children on the basics of gardening on the 5th of June 2022. This workshop, to mark the International Environment Day, was organized by Khoj – Society for People’s Education, in collaboration with Organica Pakistan. The activities included a tour of […]
Spider mites can play havoc with plants. In this video, Nasira Habib shares her experience of spider mite infestation in her garden and how she protects her summer vegetables from them, including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, sponge gourd and cucumber.
Do you have a sweet tooth? But are conscious of your health? Here is a solution! Stevia is a natural sweetener. You can easily grow stevia at home in pots or in ground and be self reliant in a natural substitute to sugar.
Saving Malabar spinach seeds is easy, says Nasira Habib. In this video, she explains step by step how to do that.
Sarson ka saag is a winter speciality of Punjab. Mustard, spinach, fenugreek and lamb’s quarters leaves are the essential ingredients for this preparation. In this video, Nasira Habib explains the importance of growing greens at home organically and protecting ourselves from pesticides which are poisons.
