A-Z OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE 2012 BRIEFING A-Z OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE is a month-long course addressing Living Seed, Living Soil, and Living Food through a practical, intellectual, and holistic understanding of organic farming at Earth University (Bija Vidyapeeth) on the biodiverse Navdanya farm in Dehradun, India. The curriculum includes the basics of organic farming, Navdanya specialization, soil science, seed science, and global food and farming politics. Students will complete the course certified in the Navdanya method of organic farming, and with a deep understanding of ecological biodiversity and Earth Democracy. THE BLOGS - A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Posted to Facebook and Navdanya website A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Inaugural blog This week is the inauguration of our first annual Navdanya A-Z of Organic Agriculture course! We are thrilled to have an international class of students join us as we embark on a month long education around organic food and farming from some the best teaching minds from around the world. Congratulations to all our participants for coming to Navdanya's Earth University and committing to the living soil, living seed, and living food in the name of biodiversity. A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Week One, Living Seed As we complete our first of four weeks at the Navdanya A-Z of Organic Agriculture course, let us say how grateful we are to Dr. Salvatore Ceccarelli for honoring us with his expertise in Participatory Plant Breeding. A true seed guru, Dr. Ceccarelli explained how this method, left in the hands of the small farmer, can uplift livelihoods and save indigenous knowledge inherent to the seed. Dr. Vandana Shiva and Dr. Salvatore Ceccarelli were a dynamic team that delivered an inspiring message of seed freedom for our week dedicated to the Living Seed. More course activities included a class in the Navdanya Seed Bank where we learned about the 680 precious rice varieties saved here at the farm, along with hands on learning around seed saving and preservation. We also had a wonderful field lecture by R.S. Rawat on medicinal herb identification, and a visit with local Navdanya member farmers, whose crops were a true testament of the benefits of organic farming. With week two upon us, everyone is excited to dig in to the Living Soil! A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Week Two Living Soil Living soil week was an education in the magnificence of our Earth’s precious soil. Dr. Hari Raj Singh kicked off the week with a soil lesson that left everyone with a genuine reverence for the complex elements of the soil, the foundation of our food.Dr. Vandana Shiva walked the class through the biodiverse Navdanya fields and gave an inspiring lecture explaining how plants and soil interact to give us all the nutrition we need. Navdanya specialization workshops were informative hands-on classes in amending and caring for the soil that embraces our crops- including compost pits, dung slurry's, liquid composts, vermi-composts, and more. Chris Kennedy and Marilyn McHugh gave a two-day course on the soil food web, bringing our students from all over the world and every background to a common understanding of the diverse microbiology of the soil we share. Students walked away with compost recipes, as well as a well grounded understanding in the use of the microscope to identify the health of the soil and the organisms that live and thrive in the earth- from ameba to fungi! Plant pathologist, Dr. Y.P. Singh presented on the science of nitrogen fixing plants and the beneficial nutrients they share with the soil. Living soil week closed with seed patent and human rights lawyer, Blanche Magarinos- Rey’s hopeful lecture on the battles she fights for Kokopelli, the Frecnh seed saving organization who fights for freedom of the seed and therefore, the soil. With Bhoomi week upon us, we look forward to many days of lectures around Women in Defense of the Earth. 1 A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Week Three, Bhoomi Bhoomi week was an incredible celebration of women in Defense of the Earth at the Navdanya farm in the third week of the A-Z of Organic Agriculture course. The class is so grateful to the brilliant minds of Dr. Vandana Shiva, Frances Moore Lappe, Jean Grossholtz, Winona La duke, Nalini Gite, Farida Akthar, Maya Goburdhun, Anna Powar, and Debbie Barker- all champions and pioneers of just food and farming. Their brilliance and compassion inspired hope for a sustainable, viable, and biodiverse future. Our minds are stretched and lives enriched by their participation. October 2nd, day one of Bhoomi week, launched the Fortnight of Action for Seed Freedom being campaigned all over the world (www.seedfreedom.in). One hundred local school children marched to our campus chanting for the rights of the seed and delivered signed declarations from their classmates in solidarity. Bhoomi week, filled with insight surrounding indigenous knowledge, living democracy, social justice, globalization, just food, and seed freedom created a deeper foundation as we move in the our final week, Living Food. A-Z of Organic Agriculture, 2012 Week Four, Living Food Our final week at the month-long A-Z of Organic Agriculture course on the Navdanya Farm outside Dehradun, India, concluded with an incredible education in Living Food. Once again we are grateful to all our guest speakers including, Dr Vandana Shiva, Anna Powar, Dr. Philip L. Bereano, Dr. Ashok Panigrahi, Kusum Mishra, Dr. Vaibhav Singh, Alison Caldwell, Dr. V.P. Uniyal, and Kiran Badhwar for their contribution and teachings on the science, politics, ethics and delicious cooking of true living food. The week began with a great field trip to the diverse and local Sylvan Heights Biodynamic and Vedic Farm, followed by a generous meal provided by the Sikh community in Poanta Sahib. Back on the Navdanya farm participants celebrated Living Food with lectures on GMO’s and biosafety, food ethics, Navdanya fair trade, open pollinators, and climate resilience in an era of climate change. We also had wonderful cooking demonstrations on everything form herbal compounds to delicious forgotten traditional Indian dishes. Additionally, with so much heart and talent, meals were prepared by our participants, from Nepal to Italy, for a “zero-mile cooking” practical. In the field, the class thrashed rice, harvested turmeric, worked with seeds, mixed natural pest control recipes, worked with various compost techniques, and completed the A-Z of Organic Agriculture design project- a new campus garden built from the ground up. With incredible knowledge (and friendships) sown, we concluded our month-long journey of the Living Seed, Living Soil, and Living Food. As we closed, we planted a tree to honor the students unwavering dedication and contribution, and commemorate the first A-Z of Organic Agriculture course. Concepts were challenged and personal commitments to biodiversity and Earth Democracy were enlightened and redefined. Ultimately, students walked away with a life- changing experience and deep education in organic farming to take back to their own communities around the world. PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS: "The A-Z Organic Agriculture course, for me, has been a journey that has opened my mind to the possibilities of a greener and better tomorrow. It has taught me the worth of the land and our farmers, and has educated me on the importance of preserving tradition, especially in food and agriculture. Also, I met lovely people during the course, who have become very dear friends of mine." -Tejal, India "Navdanya renewed my passion for activism. It gave me intellectual, social and practical tools to equip me better to lead change in my community. It made me connect with my own truth, which was the most valuable of all." -Anna, Canada "I found this course Most Effective and Important as we learnt both practically and theoretically about the organic farming A-Z knowledge.Also, it was the Global Platform 2 to know and share about the Sustainable Agriculture through world re-known resource persons and participants form more than 20 countries to care and save the Mother Nature and hence Mother Earth to create and maintain the Earth Democracy to feed the Hungry world." - Surya, Nepal “I have so much to say about my positive experience I'd be able to write a book! But for the sake of brevity, I can say that this class was a life changing, once in a lifetime gift to me. The lectures, the practicals, and above all, being around the farm staff and my fellow BigAg- criticizing comrades stimulated my thoughts, provoked my heart and energized my soul!...particularly being from the States where so many people are unaware or uninterested in the reality of our dire situation, it is the BEST feeling to know that I am not alone in this battle and that there are brilliant, kind and proactive people all around the world who are actively working to promote justice and equity. That's a gift no traditional course can give you.” -Saba, U.S "The navdanya a-z of agriculture course provided a truly participatory and holistic approach to food sovereignty. Upon completion of the course I feel empowered and prepared to be the change I want to see in the world." -Natalie, Canada FACULTY: Dr. Vandana Shiva, Dr. Salvatore Ceccarelli, Frances Moore Lappe, Dr. Vinod Kumar Bhatt, Dr. Ashok Panigrahi, Prof. Philip L. Bereano, Dr. V.P. Uniyal, Marilyn McHugh, Chris Kennedy, Maya Goburdhun, Dr. Mira Shiva, Debbie Barker, Alison Caldwell, Blanche Magarinos, Winona LaDuke, Hari Raj Singh, Jean Grossholtz, Dr. Nalini Gite, Alan Imai, Shobha Khilari, Dr. Anna Powar, Dr. Y.P. Singh, Dr. M.P.