Parvatibai’s farm is in an excellent location along a busy village road to be a functional demonstration model to the surrounding area.  The land had once been teak forest.  Stripped of all the trees and planted with a monoculture which is grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the topsoil of the land was eroded away, leaving rocky subsoil.

Parvatibai is a widow with 3 children under 17 years old.  Her husband died 4 years ago due to chickenpox.  Since then things have been a real struggle financially.  She has been renting her 4 acres since her husband’s death to a richer upper caste man for $20 US/acre a year, a ridiculously low rate.  When we asked her if she would like to be a part of transforming her land into a permaculture farm, she was excited about it and gave the largest piece of all the projects, 3 acres, to try out what permaculture could do for her family and land.  [continued reading at permacultureindia.org ]

India Dryland Permaculture Project

Parvatibai’s biodiverse field growing. This photo is taken 3 months after it was planted.