ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE IN INDIA: SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE ON POSITIVE IMPACTS & SUCCESSES For Private Circulation Only Compiled by: Kavitha Kuruganti With help from: Ananthasayanan, Parthasarathy VM, Prakash Selvaraj, Shamika Mone and Regional Institute for Organic Farming, GKVK ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture) is a nation-wide informal network of more than 400 organizations connected with several lakh people from 23 states of India. The network got created in 2010 through a Kisan Swaraj Yatra, a nation-wide mobilization through a 71-day bus journey around 20 states, to draw attention to issues pertaining to our food, farmers, freedom. The network consists of farmers’ organizations, consumer groups, women’s organizations, environmental organizations, organic farming groups, individual citizens and experts who are committed to the cause of sustainable and viable farm livelihoods. Soft copy of this book is available at : www.kisanswaraj.in Printed by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) (with support from INSAF, Save Our Rice Campaign, Living Farms & Jatan Trust) For more information: Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), A-124/6, First Floor, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi 110 016 Phone/Fax: 011-26517814 Website: www.kisanswaraj.in Email:
[email protected] PREFACE Very often, when ecological agriculture (whether it goes by the name of organic farming or natural farming or bio-dynamic farming) approaches are advocated for large scale replication in the country - especially in response