LOOK TO THE FUTURE NOW, IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN...
REUNITE TO REEMPOWER – A report to serve as an example of a working blueprint for sustainable development using diverse tree-plantings of multi-purpose tree species and the use of other key plants and agroforestry techniques as a guiding principle…
I acknowledge my many heroes and heroines who continue to inspire me throughout this report, and I will start with one of the greatest, Richard Saint Barbe Baker…
FRIENDS OF THE TREES A speech delivered by Richard Saint Barbe Baker at a public reception in Bombay, on 20 August 1980. http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/saintbaker.pdf
I believe in the extension of love by all the white races to other races and for that matter by each race to every other race and to all races.
I believe that one catalyst, which can control and effect such cosmic unification, is the woman.
There would be no threat of war as there is today, if women have their proper place in the government.
I believe that the blossoming of deserts foretold by the prophets of the past is now being fulfilled by the steady reclamation of the Sahara by tree planting. This could be the scientific answer to the world's dilemma and with God's blessings, provide ONE WORLD purpose uniting the East and the West.
I believe that the Lord's prayer has been answered and that it is in the process of being fulfilled and that we are entering a new cycle of human power with all the horizons becoming luminous.
As the Persian Seer of the Bahai said: ‘This is the hour for the coming together, the Sons of Men. That the Earth will become indeed a Garden of Paradise.’
I believe that this generation will either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilized world or it will be the first to have a vision, a daring and a greatness to say: "I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life. I will play no part in this devastation of this land. I am destined to live and work for peaceful construction for I am morally responsible for the world of today and of the generations of tomorrow.”
Let TWAHAMWE - pull together - be our motto and I pray that we may give our active support to all efforts of desert reclamation by tree planting and I pray that I may be just to the Earth below my feet, to my neighbour by my side and to the light which comes from above and within, and this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy for my having lived in it.
This ‘working blueprint’ is designed to whet the collective appetite and to fire the imagination as to what it is possible to achieve in regenerating our earth and our communities through agroforestry SOULUTIONS… no spelling mistake – we must approach this from our hearts and souls!
I understand the stakes are high: If we get this right, it does have the potential to transform the rural landscape and benefit rural communities in a profound manner. The fertility of the earth defines everything around it. Thus the bedrock of any functioning culture or society is its relationship with its earth.
In this regard I am offering up these links to EMRO Japan:
http://www.emrojapan.com/emnews/content/8.html
http://www.emrojapan.com/application/environment/water-purification.html
Why? Well the man responsible for putting together and packaging this eco-technology Teruo Higa, much like Paul Stamets, (http://www.fungi.com/ ), has ‘returned to source’ to find some of the real soulutions for our most prescient dilemmas. They are both 'living the dream' and encouraging us to use such resources, readily available to us all, to solve our own problems and fulfill our basic needs.
We all know about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe; yet how many of us are aware of the amazing efforts of Teruo Higa in regards to clearing up this mess and the resounding successes this natural technology keeps bringing? It does rectify even radioactive pollution so therefore it pays to be informed: Hundreds of thousands of savvy folk are queuing up to use these sublime creatures worldwide to heal themselves and their lands from the negative effects of even these, the very worst forms of pollution, such as chemical-damage through oil spills, industrial, pesticide and radioactive pollution! The EMRO links above instruct on how savvy folk gather by the thousands to make EM mud-balls and sling them into polluted waters to give nature a fighting chance to recover.
So many soils worldwide are degraded through heavy chemical abuse and other inappropriate farming methodologies. Coupled with frequent adverse weather; so are our waters … and for the same reasons: harmful chemical run-off and soil losses into rivers and ultimately oceans. Just one example from the Caribbean: “In 1983, the dominant urchin of Caribbean coral reefs (Diadema antillarum) experienced massive disease-induced mortality and its functional extinction persists to this day. Concurrently, reports of coral disease, coral bleaching and nutrification began to appear and many Caribbean reefs have deteriorated in the last two decades.” http://www.marinespatialecologylab.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Revisiting-Diadema-die-off.pdf
Thus this link to Higa’s technology as slinging EM impregnated mud-balls into polluted seas, rivers, lakes and other waterways has made pollution vanish. Heavy applications of EM have even seen radioactive soils transmuted and remedied within an astoundingly short period of time.
But this is only a temporary solution if bad industrial and agricultural practices based on the chemical lie are not stopped and the chemical and other poisons are allowed to keep saturating our lands and washing into our waters and into our bodies. As long as this madness continues, any efforts at remediation are an uphill struggle. That does not mean I will ever give up trying though!
I really admire the likes of completely dedicated folk such as the thousands above and such inspired human beings as Juliette of the Herbs, whose life and books are an inspiration to me, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_VRj1RMTXU); likewise Anna Edey, (http://www.solviva.com/); and more recently Mark Purdey for bringing this crucial issue into focus again and for their dedication and sacrifices. They do not just do the all-important work of bringing people's attention onto evil, they also offer the real solutions.
Mark Purdey was risking his life in order to achieve this; yet few people have even heard of him – such is the insidious power of corporate-owned media, and their bedfellows the war-mongering chemical giants and the petrochemical industries who have proven time and again the murderous tactics they will employ, including in this instance, to ensure their strangle hold on our world does not loosen its grip: He pinpoints this at the very start of this excellent video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MheeiX2w8JU
http://www.cultureshop.org/details.php?code=PURDEY “More sinister is the attention Purdey, and those who have taken up his theory, has received. His house mysteriously burnt down, and a barn collapsed onto his science library. He's been shot at, and following the publication of a 1993 Independent article, he awoke to find his telephone lines cut - preventing him receiving follow up media calls. Strangers, with in depth knowledge of his movements appear on his farm, freak his wife out and tail him when he travels. The solicitor who defended Purdey's High Court action died when his car went inexplicably out of control. Purdey's vet (who said this theory should be taken seriously) was killed in what the local rag described as: 'Mystery vet death riddle,' when his car was 'magnetised' into the front of an oncoming lorry on a clear straight road.
"I'm easier to marginalise as a crank," says Purdey. "But these people were professionals."
Anyone familiar with the start of the anti-nuclear movement may recall the discrediting of Alice Stewart, who discovered the link between radiation and cancer. Scientists who aligned themselves with her had their cars rammed off the road. In 1978 four children belonging to anti-herbicide activist Carol Van Strum were killed in a house fire in Five Rivers, USA…”
"If Phosmet is proven to have caused BSE, the worldwide use of organophosphates (OPs) could be put into jeopardy, costing the chemical industry billions. The government know more than they're letting on."
"If the government are found liable for BSE - by enforcing organophosphate treatment - the payout could break the economy." Tom King (Purdey's MP)
“Zeneca sold the phosmet patent to a PO Box company in the Arizona desert. As Ray said: ‘Zeneca are not keen to be sued’.”
Now Georgina Downs has taken up the cudgel against massive, global chemical pollution and she is bravely exposing the intimate connections between government and those causing and financially profiting from this worldwide pollution. In their essence and action they are one and the same body, acting as a united force for evil…
http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2344079/pesticides_can_cause_cancer_so_why_does_cruk_ignore_them.html Pesticides and cancer – such chronic diseases are considered as the major disorders affecting public health in the 21st century and … it is time to find a preventive approach and find efficient alternatives to using pesticides.
Yet, despite the fact that pesticides are one of the known causes of cancer, the UK Government, as well as some of the leading cancer charities - in particular Cancer Research UK CRUK - continue to largely dismiss pesticides as a cause of cancer.
CRUK's position is not particularly surprising considering that its Chairman Michael Pragnell, has a long-term employment history in the multi-billion dollar global pesticides industry.
But those thinking of donating to CRUK or who have already donated should be aware of the truly astonishing amount of money that is spent on CRUK's employees every year… This includes around 35 employees all receiving in excess of £100,000 in 2013 with the top earner in the £220,001 - £230,000 band.
This type of blatant greed and corruption is endemic throughout Western societies; indeed it is a key component of the all-pervading sickness and dysfunction of the Western model of Capitalist ‘civilization’ and ‘government’ which is so aggressively foisted onto an unsuspecting world. 'We' are the bad guys and there is no escaping this fact; we have to deal with it; or rather deal with them, the ones getting the kick-backs from evil and our 'planned and enforced' ignorance of this evil.
The aggression serves as the ‘kick’ or the ‘high’, precisely because the people who are doing the foisting are drunk on greed and power. It is a self-feeding and self-perverting labyrinth which actively seeks to negatively pervert and influence all that surrounds it: When we finally ‘wake-up’ to this fact and unite to rid ourselves of these negative energies is when the world will breathe a big sigh of relief.
You do not have to enter life ‘looking for trouble’ in this world. There is trouble enough and plenty of evil and ignorant people making sure it will find you! If you cannot accept this then Christopher Bollyn, (http://bollyn.com/); John Pilger, (http://johnpilger.com/); David Icke, (http://www.davidicke.com/); Greg Caton, (http://www.meditopia.org/index_ing.htm) and plenty of others are ready to serve up the truth; steaming hot...
To put this into context we only need to look into our own current and recent history of wickedness. I find it appropriate to listen to wise people in this regard: A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny… Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence… For us in Russia, communism is a dead dog, while, for many people in the West, it is still a living lion… The next war... may well bury Western civilization forever…
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aleksandr_solzhenitsyn.html
This is undoubtedly the dark side, yet “Love would never leave us alone A-yin the darkness there must come out to light” http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4670 “Marley uses the song to convey an urgent message to himself and others: at all cost, stay mentally and spirituality fit inside Babylon's system…” This is an all-important message from one of our modern prophets – it is all important to love and respect oneself in the face of this torment and onslaught.
Solzhenitsyn also encourages us to see beyond this toil into timeless Universal truth: Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words… Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag… The battle-line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man… Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing… A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy and nothing can stop him… www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aleksandr_solzhenitsyn.html
So choose to be happy and do not object to sharing this happiness widely!
It is how we act and react to protect ourselves, our friends and families and communities from this evil that distinguishes us in our lives – ‘they’ certainly are being proactive in propagating evil, and we should be equally proactive in protecting ourselves: Standing up for our birth-right to live as free, conscientious and sentient beings on an abundantly caring and sentient planet, free from pollution and other associated evil and negative energies.
There are many welcome signals that the dysfunctions created by Western greed and capitalism are imploding; indeed all parasitic dogmas are ultimately untenable and I am here to offer solutions rather than to admonish!
So there is a real need to replace such self-destructive, mechanistic systems with humane and sustainable solutions. Essentially, neither can we carry on like this, nor can we continue to avoid implementing the real solutions. We need proactive leadership and not merely react by lamely plastering up the cracks which are just going to become gaping holes if we don’t provide leadership!
I can do just that - providing leadership of a high order; a set of specific ‘skills, techniques and tools’ to offer the real solutions to help develop a sustainable agriculture. But, I need the help and support of willing and enthusiastic people backing me up. There are important techniques to impart and share, which is the essence of this summation, but to able to do this I need to network and teamwork: To be able to source the most basic and vital of resources such as seeds and plant parts, I am going to need the help of the people who can point me in the right direction!
So here are a few ideas of how I would approach farming for myself or go about demonstrating it to farmers; it is proactive in character.
From the get-go, you’re talking about a simplistic, hands-on, grass-roots approach: Tools and expenses are basic and cheap – hand tools and the right seeds and plant species; it is fundamentally important to immediately start networking with farmers and with other interest groups in the wider community such as schools, colleges and churches. We need to do this, in order to enlist community help and to create wider networks; to listen and learn and benefit from what folk already know and have to teach and to offer.
Practically speaking, I am able to identify useful crops and tree species, which are widely present, but are probably being underutilized. I will highlight and elaborate upon just two of such species initially in order to impress upon you the importance of utilizing key plants and key agroforestry techniques which play fundamental roles in the long-term success of any sustainable agroforestry implementation.
Vetiver and velvet bean provide multiple and key services... the reason for bringing people’s focus and attention onto such key plants becomes obvious when you fully understand just how systemically useful they are.
In order to achieve the desired goal of long-term success in sustainable farming, you need to initiate and encourage demonstration trials of beneficial agroforestry systems using such key plants, which interested parties can be actively involved in creating and managing for themselves from the beginning.
It’s not about being a ‘one man band’ or working in isolated groups, but rather many groups and individuals who may be separated geographically but who are prepared to unite and share knowledge and resources and give feedback. You achieve more in this manner as the sum of the whole is greater than its individual parts!
For example, this is an informative video, which is useful as a great initial educational tool to inspire and re-educate the community on how quickly and successfully you can render infertile and degraded soils fertile again through the use and application of a common bean crop! Soils are so enhanced by the velvet bean that within the space of several months, with the bean still covering the field, the grower can broadcast a major food crop such as rice or corn straight into the field… The video demonstrates quite sublimely how ‘bumper harvests’ can result from letting nature do what she does best; restore and enhance fertility and provide abundance through diversity.
MAN DOES NOT HAVE SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE, NOR TECHNOLOGY; NATURE DOES. When we understand this is when we finally start to grow up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0xmEDq3NIs (from Solitude farm on the Auroville ecovillage in India)...
After the implementation of such a simple but effective agroforestry technique; once demonstrated through field trials, there is no looking back! As, once people get the basics and realize that simple is best and that they have all they need right there in front of their own noses and in their own hands, then why on earth would anybody want to start complicating their lives again with unnecessary burdens like tractors and artificial chemicals?! That era is over and I want to see it dead and buried within my lifetime.
And these are good articles about the velvet bean, which is also an excellent fodder and food crop; especially after preparing and fermenting the beans in a similar way to soya beans, which renders them even more nutritious: http://viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/mucuna.pruriens.pdf and http://www.rain-tree.com/velvetbean.htm#.VQHWqI6sV8E Velvet bean has a long history of traditional use in Brazil and India as an aphrodisiac. Clinical studies in India have validated that the plant does indeed have aphrodisiac activity. It also has reported with anabolic and growth hormone stimulant properties. The anabolic effect of the seed is due to its ability to increase testosterone. In 2002, a U.S. patent was filed on the use of velvet bean to stimulate the release of growth hormone in humans. Research cited in the patent indicated that the high levels of L-dopa in mucuna seed were converted to dopamine which stimulated the release of growth hormone by the pituitary gland. L-dopa and dopamine are also effective inhibitors of prolactin. Prolactin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland; increased levels are considered to cause erection failure in males. In one study, oral intake of the seeds in 56 human males was able to improve erection, duration of coitus, and post-coital satisfaction after only four weeks of treatment. The seed also has documented fertility promoting and sperm producing effects in human males (being able to improve sperm count and motility).
Great sites like raintree are an important resource for the tropics and the spirituality and story of the author of this site, Leslie Taylor is an inspiration – http://www.leslietaylor.net/herbal/herbal.htm
This is what I mean when I talk about ‘ethnobotanical appreciation and knowledge’: When you can understand and embrace the multiple uses of just one highly useful species of a plant like Mucuna pruriens, then you realise just what an incredibly powerful tool and aide you have. When you further understand that there are literally dozens, and hundreds and indeed tens of thousands of such plants, well, that’s when it starts to blow your mind! Nature is created perfect, and we’ve just forgotten that and got lost. That doesn’t mean we can’t find our way out and the answers are in front of our noses; “hidden in plain sight”!
Leslie Taylor also has a very important message about the deliberate suppression of herbal medicines by quango-corporate bodies such as the American FDA. Undoubtedly, so many more of us today have heightened awareness of how governments and their bodies and bureaucracies are merely a part of the corporate octopus trying to degrade and strangle the life out of us all: http://www.rain-tree.com/author.htm#.VQKP_Y6sV8E Regulations enforced by the FDA have progressively prohibited free speech about the value and benefits of herbal supplements…
I once worked at one of the best permaculture sites in the UK, which is justly famous internationally for its database tool www.pfaf.org but not so well known for another brilliant information tool, its sister site dedicated to herbal-nutritional medicine, which they were forced to close down after being harassed and threatened with legal action by the equivalent quango governmental body here in the UK. Such is the current sad state of affairs here in the UK and in Europe. And it is costing people their lives – by the millions: Real cures are deliberately suppressed whereas the multi-billion pound pharma racket is thrust onto us with fanfare and gleeful abandon! Eugenics is in its prime!
The best information site, rich in fact and detail, which I have ever come across to expose such global shenanigans is fortunately a very current one by an American herbalist-healer called Greg Caton. It is Caton’s own very personal, readable and detailed account of the real and sordid history of Western ‘medicine’: http://www.meditopia.org/index_ing.htm
The story of his false imprisonment; then release from prison; then emigration to Ecuador; then kidnapping by the FDA/FBI; then further imprisonment; then final release from prison again is a story in itself and was well covered by certain media – just not the mainstream media of course! http://www.naturalnews.com/033573_FDA_abduction.html
Thanks to gifted, dedicated and principled folk like Taylor and Caton, (and plenty of others whom I mention here), the truth is coming out that ‘all is not well in Paradise’! I am really grateful for truth-tellers like these and my heartfelt hope is that change will come when collective consciousness awakens to the point where we’ll finally shake this giant monkey off our backs... I see the signs everywhere – not least through the rise of grassroots movements; as it is all part and parcel of the same battle.
We each possess our own innate authority and the right to exercise and extend this authority to govern all of the most fundamental and important aspects of our lives, including growing our own food-medicines and managing our own lands as we see fit. It is our birth-right not to allow any other person to foist their version of ‘authority’ onto our own – especially not people who would see us as slaves to their own perverse agendas of enslavement and impoverishment through the corporatization of our world.
I have started to digress a bit here, but never mind as it is important to sometimes make a point! Indeed, I reckon grassroots movements represent the basics of returning to reassert our birth-right and not allowing ourselves to be fooled and overawed by powerful propaganda and bad politics.
So, to return to the meat and bones of sustainable farming: In the video Krishna highlights the gentle way of Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural farming, (whose followers number in the tens of millions globally and especially in India: http://onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/One-Straw_Revolution.html ); and this is essentially what agroforestry techniques are all about – about us intuitively allowing nature to do what she does best and that is to grow and provide abundance; as long as we are prepared to listen to her wisdom and work with her and not against her…
Krishna later in the video emphasizes the lack of ‘weeds’ in what is now a month-old rice ‘paddy’ and correctly adds that allowing some ‘weeds’ to grow with the rice crop benefits the rice. This is old wisdom, which we have forgotten to our detriment. Abundant and successful ‘polycultures’ incorporating beneficial ‘weeds’ are millennia-old agricultural practices as this article so poignantly emphasizes: http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/weeds/Weeds6.html In answer to my question as to whether he had really meant that the weeds were not harmful to the corn and pumpkins, John came back even more decisively. The corn and pumpkins were not harmed by the weeds that the Indians grew as food weeds, which, as I recall, generally meant two strains of pigweeds, lamb's quarter, sunflowers (for their seed), a variety of wild lettuce, purslane, and milkweeds. John had all his life seen the harvests from clean fields such as white men always had near the agency, and he had been brought up near weedy fields. When the weeds grew the Indian way the weeds never reduced the production of the planted crop. Indeed, Indian John said he had come to the conclusion that the weeds helped to produce more corn and pumpkins in some of the fields with which he was familiar... Weeds -- Guardians of the Soil, by Joseph A. Cocannouer
So the Auroville folk demonstrate so sublimely this bean-rice growing method! From a critical standpoint it’s obviously something which works for them, yet I would have liked to see them sow some of the ‘weed’ seeds mentioned above at the same time as the rice in order to be companions in the fields with the rice. This would provide further nutritious food sources and increasing biodiversity is one of the most important goals in the garden. The benefits are many, including:
· Decrease in disease and insect predators
· Increase in beneficial insects and other organisms
· Decrease in ‘real’ weeds! (I am not certain if there’s any such thing!)
· Improved soil fertility
· Healthier plants
· Higher overall yields from the vegetable garden
This is a proven advantage of polycultures. I am also reminded of a huge study which happened around thirteen years ago on many thousands of acres in China. They increased rice yield by 89% and decreased rice blast disease by 94%, simply by planting more than one species of rice together in the fields. This is fully workable with all the heirloom/landrace and improved accessions freely available for trial through R&D groups, which I will highlight just below, (Genesys), and it should be trialed.
I would like to trial this method using the ‘Auroville technique’ of freely broadcasting into the velvet bean both with rice and corn, and with other grains such as sorghum and pearl millet, (https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2866568).
I have some seeds of highly nutritious, heirloom purple corn from the highlands of Peru, which I know is suitable for tropical growing, especially within a highland context. I fully understand the wisdom of the old Indian in Joseph Cocannouer’s article above as I have grown this corn successfully in a four sisters’ combination with sunflowers, beans and squash in Peru and elsewhere. I would like to trial this as a broadcast polyculture, but I would also like to trial far larger and more diverse broadcasts of beneficial polycultures…
As an example, to the ‘standard four’ I would add: Okra; Malabar spinach; cucumbers; sweet peppers; Joseph’s coat; cockscomb; eggplant; chayote; marigolds; melon; purslane; scarlet milkweed; jurubeba; Jamaican cherry; crab’s eye; cocona; mullaca; ashwagandha; shatavari; ayapana; amor seco; chirchita; Egyptian cucumber and even papaya as it keeps away corn-borer and allows other climbing crops a prop, as do several of the other plants such as corn, jurubeba and Jamaican cherries.
That equates to around a ‘30 species polyculture’: This may well appear to be excessive, but intuitively I believe it has the potential to work synergistically and to produce great results and diverse harvests! I have visited polycultures, home forest gardens, on the Island of Sumatra on the shores of Lake Maninjau, which are far richer and more complex and such polycultures can contain hundreds of species providing uncounted harvests and services. Such is their potential and we should tap it: I provide a free and uncomplicated educational guide to creating forest gardens and a wider range of other agroforestry systems from ‘Trees for a Future’ below.
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_7/b_fdi_57-58/010024150.pdf
The agroforestry garden system in Maninjau in West Sumatra is characterized by an intensive integration of forest species and commercial crops, forming a forest-like system. The intimate association of different species provides both subsistence and commercial products which supplement rice production. This complex agroforest is managed by the combination between cultural practices and respect of natural processes of vegetation production and reproduction. It represents a profitable production system and constitutes an efficient buffer between villages and protected forest. It is a good model of association between integration of forest resources and cultivation of cash crops in the form of a sustainable and flexible system.
This particular mix I have selected for this greater diversity of harvests: Medicinal and utilitarian; as well as food crops. Then there are the ‘unseen harvests’ such as the pollen and nectar for honey producing bees and the attraction to beneficial insects to predate crop pests and to maintain balance; and in general the beneficial synergistic relationships that such ‘micro-ecosystem’ combinations have the potential to create. Perhaps this appears overly idealised but again I judge, intuitively, that it is worth trialling.
Indeed, this is the beauty of choice in creating beneficial ‘micro-ecosystems’; you can experiment according to your personal needs and choices and there are no shortages of either!
Yet the golden rule of the incremental benefits of polycultures remains steadfast and indeed polycultures represent a growing, yet still vastly underdeveloped and underutilized agroforestry reinvention and revitalization. They should be prioritized if we are to advance our capabilities in a meaningful fashion.
So engaging with the wider community is key, as I have no doubt that there are interested parties and gardeners already out there who are already doing this and who already know a great deal about polycultures… just like the folk in Maninjau; and likewise in Nigeria and in the Amazon – it is a worldwide practice which has kept sensitive, ecologically aware people well-nourished for millennia while not compromising their integrity with their intrinsic relationships with their wider environment. It is detailed in many books, not the least of which is http://www.penwithpress.co.uk/earth-mystery-books/miller-brailsford-in-search-of-the-southern-serpent-hardback-detail ... this superb book details the complexities of such ancient systems, which extend out into sea gardens, based in this instance in the beautiful lands of New Zealand. We are all destined to rediscover our old truths and these rediscoveries are coming in thick and fast! If we are open to receive the message and walk the extra mile…
These are the people we need to find in order to tap their intuitive local knowledge and ask for their help and guidance… and if they are not to be found, we do it anyway; intuitively. We must experiment and refine and learn intuitively as we grow.
In terms of a rice crop, I would suggest sourcing heirloom/landrace accessions like Blue Bonnet rice http://www.organicseed.co.za/310-blue-bonnet-rice.html This is an 'upland' or 'dryland' rice variety, it does not need to be flooded and can be grown in regular garden soil. This is a traditional rice grown by native Mayan people who call it "Blue Bonnet"… such an accession should well be suitable for many climates under a non-irrigated agroforestry system when grown seasonally. To save privately purchasing rice seeds from commercial suppliers such as the above, (which I only provide to highlight the variety), various dedicated R&D bodies such as the IRRI are available - http://irri.org/our-work/seeds and you can source Blue Bonnet rice freely through Genesys https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/610770
Another landrace ‘upland type’: https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2481024 - this is an upland variety of rice from Burma! There are literally tens of thousands to choose from; multiple species of useful crops, not just rice. They are provided free under the auspices of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Here is the ‘welcome page’ to whet the appetite! https://www.genesys-pgr.org/welcome Genesys is a global portal to information about Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It is a gateway from which germplasm accessions from genebanks around the world can be easily found and ordered…
Fields of Mucuna can be sown out with many different types of grain crops of course and heirloom/landrace accessions such as the drought-proof and nutritious Hopi Blue corn are also readily available, https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/335470 ... Again, when sowing out, choose more than one accession, perhaps several of the same grain to reap the benefits of the Chinese trial which we should learn from.
I know for certain Mucuna, and so many other useful, multipurpose species are widespread throughout the world; humans have been carrying and spreading useful species with them for millennia. Such plants are often in use and thus likely to be relatively easy to source, but there are improved accessions available to trial through Genesys - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/114071 to also add diversity and strengthen the gene pool.
This brings up a very important point about all the often erroneous and misleading propaganda that is so often hyped up about the “dangers of non-native species”… racism also extends to useful plants, which are often the ones targeted; the truth is far less palatable to the ignorant who seek to continue to force us from our lands, depriving us of our birth-right!
The next key agroforestry tool I will briefly focus on is vetiver: https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/345887 / https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2874108 - it is difficult to exaggerate the usefulness of vetiver grass: http://www.vetiver.org/ is packed full of info on vetivers’ multiple uses. One outstanding quality is the unrivalled strength in its root zone, which has been tested and proven to be stronger than steel. Through the most torrential floods, which even undermine and destroy artificially constructed earthworks of stone-filled, steel cages, vetiver embankments and terraces perform admirably. They are able to cope with all sorts of adverse weather from drought to flood to hurricane. They will hold steep slopes and soils together far better than ANY artificial intervention and planted along contour will reliably create natural terraces suitable for agriculture through natural sediment deposition and collection. Vetiver has been used with great success in many countries throughout the world http://www.thechikukwaproject.com/ and http://permaculturenews.org/2010/04/19/vetiver-one-grass-revolution/ ...
In mountainous countries, with steeply-sloping lands and torrential rains the implications of vetiver terracing are obvious. It is also a fodder grass and a craft resource for weaving carpet mats or door and window screens which repel cockroaches, mosquitoes and other unwelcome creepy-crawlies. The essential oil distilled from its roots is known as ‘the oil of tranquillity’ in India and is very healing. http://www.vetiver.org/UP_Vetiver.htm
This would be another important agroforestry technique to trial, and is one of many systems of alley-cropping: http://www.rainforestsaver.org/step-step-guide-inga-alley-cropping ... it has been used with great success by small-scale farmers in Central American countries on tough and sloping lands for some years already. I first learned of this method while attending a permaculture gathering in Portugal.
It was here that I met Mim Elkan, the sister of the environmental journalist Daniel Elkan, when I was asked to give a brief talk on the benefits of Forest Gardens. Daniel was following the pioneering work of a British environmental scientist Mike Hands. Hands first trialed Inga sp. alley-cropping and his results were excellent. Elkans’ excellent articles explain this success in some detail and they appear in various journals including The Ecologist… http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/climate_change_and_energy/980578/the_rainforest_saver.html Hand’s diligence has paid off; he is vastly improving the quality of these farmers lives and livelihoods and saving the irreplaceable Rainforest from the destructive madness of slash and burn ‘agriculture’…
I was demonstrating a version of this in Paraguay recently when I was asked by a Christian Evangelical Church to visit their newly-acquired lands in the Ybyturuzu National Park. What I saw in their fields was disheartening: Another scarred mess of a burnt landscape. So I got to work immediately with seeds and mattock creating terraces on contour in an attempt to explain and demonstrate how to plant fast-growing, multi-purpose species in the troughs to create permanent terracing. Leucaena, their local Inga, Casuarina, Grevillea and Enterolobium were all growing locally and it was simple to collect seed from healthy trees. Species diversity seemed to be high in Ybyturuzu and there were many other useful and leguminous-looking species to choose from, but as I could not identify them precisely, I stuck with what I knew. I also had my own seeds previously collected from various international sites: Tagasaste and Tephrosia. My Spanish is good enough to explain the benefits and long-term stability of such alley-cropping systems and we also planted a four-sisters combination of corn, pumpkin, sunflowers and beans, (to which I also added papaya as it stops corn-borer and golden-berry for its beneficial roots), on the levels above the troughs and mulched both heavily with the debris they had not burned yet to mitigate against soil erosion from the hot sun and heavy rains. I could see that some of the brothers of the church understood what I was attempting to explain and achieve, and why, and I felt glad to be able to contribute in a positive way.
Internet technology is not widespread in this more remote part, but I did share useful links with other church members using it elsewhere.
It is crystal clear how such trees and plants are in themselves key agroforestry tools, which we absolutely must adopt as integral to our agriculture: Once trials are shown to work and benefit the land and farmers by producing good yields there is usually no going back as a knock-on effect is produced as word gets out. It just needs to be done in the first place. You just need a handful of sites or even one site demonstrating such techniques. Then it snowballs. Eden in Niger proves that as does Mike Hands!
This free download from this site outlines the basics of what agroforestry is all about in clear and simple terms: http://www.treesforthefuture.org/resource-center/?did=3 It is an excellent educational tool.
I can say with some certainty that many of the trees highlighted in this, ‘Trees for the Future’ agroforestry training manual will already be present in many locations worldwide; so it is just a question of being able to find them and again, you can often do that by enlisting the help of the community: farmers; healers; herbalists; botanists; the elderly; the academic community…
Through my previous work in the Tropics such as at SABGI botanical gardens in the Philippines, I am used to networking locally and internationally in order to seek out such folk and thus source reliable suppliers of free seeds or plant materials of proven provenance; including from botanic gardens themselves - http://www.bgci.org/plant_request.php?plantID=193252 and from research organisations such as the International Centre for Research into the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from whom we obtained Pigeon Pea seeds suitable for our climate and location; (in order to keep costs down and not have to resort to private seed dealers).
With this in mind, I agree with this summation from winrock: http://factnet.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/FACTPUB/AIS_web/AIS13.html Community-based forestry and agroforestry programs around the world reforest denuded lands, protect valuable watersheds and produce indispensable tree products for local needs. These programs begin planting operations with a commodity of small size but great importance - seed! Adequate supplies of high-quality tree seed are necessary to grow high quality seedlings. Unfortunately, shortages of seeds are common and limit the success of many community-based tree planting programs… Many of these community-based programs are operated by non-profit organizations or farmer groups on shoestring budgets. They are not able to purchase premium priced seed from regional or international producers… Even if funds for seed purchase are available, other problems arise. Shipment through international and local mail may be time consuming and irregular. Seed viability often suffers and sometimes shipments never arrive. Information on the provenance (geographic origin) may be lacking, incomplete or inaccurate. When received, seed may be of inferior quality or inappropriate for local environmental conditions… Organizations and individual farmers can overcome the 'seed problem' by 'growing' their own seed. Seed production serves organizations and individuals in several ways… Less time is spent searching for seed sources and less money is spent on seed purchases. The time and money saved can be allocated to other activities. Locally produced seed has a proven genetic quality for local environmental conditions. Organizations and farmers also realize a financial benefit when seed is sold. Seed sales increase income and decrease economic risk by diversifying farm production and targeting new markets…
Having highlighted this fact, which I agree with, it is also important to identify and source for increased diversity: For diverse ranges of beneficial species which could well serve farmers better by increasing diversity, harvests and commodities. If sourced from within the region all the better, but if they prove elusive through some avenues, then we should go down others and use all the options available.
For example; diverse tree and plant species which are good for honey; depending on the climate zone. For example in drier regions of the (sub)tropics: Vitex Doniana; Tamarindus indica; Prosopis juliflora; Parkia biglobosa; Nauclea latifolia; Moringa oleifera; Mitragyna inermis; Mangifera indica; Leucaena leucocephala; Guirea senegalensis; Gardenia ternifolia; Eucalyptus sp.; Butyrospermum parkii; Anacardium occidentale; Alibizzia lebbeck; Acacias sieberiana, pennata, gourmaensis, albida… from Trees And Multi-storey Agriculture in Africa, Hugues Dupriez, Philippe de Leener.
The beauty about agroforestry is how it can create environmental stability and economic resilience through diversity. It is common sense to state how creating more biodiversity in farms and ecosystems provides superb nutritional and financial stability to farmers who do not have to rely on just a handful of crops and thus can expand their activities into areas such as honey and crafts, essential oils and medicines.
For hungry farmers the world over, diversity is key to survival and the tragedy is that it is being lost through globalisation and destructive economic policies; this is a brilliant study on the subject giving some positive interventions we can use to counteract this trend – http://www.fao.org/docrep/u2440e/u2440e04.htm The contributions of wild fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables and other classes of edible products to the local diet in developing countries and their potential in overcoming or ameliorating prevailing food problems are enormous (Getahun, 1974; Okafor, 1975a, 1980a, 1980b, 1981a; Okigbo, 1977; Roche, 1975a).
Edible forest products include edible nuts and seeds used as staple foods or main dishes; those used as minor food supplements; condiments, thickening agents and flavours; leafy vegetables; edible flowers; fresh fruits; fresh seeds; edible oil; spices; fruit drinks and nonalcoholic beverages; alcoholic drinks (plus flavouring barks); mushrooms; honey; and bush meat (game, snails, insects, etc.).
Forest plants are important and cheap sources of vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and fats; moreover, their dietary contribution is increased because they are available during most seasons, including strategic periods in the year when the conventional staples and vegetables are scarce. For example, the African pear (Dacryodes edulis) matures during the "hungry season" when staples such as yam, cocoyam and rice have been planted but are not yet ready for harvest. Similarly, flushes from trees such as Pterocarpus spp. and Vitex doniana, which are used as vegetables, are available during dry seasons when cultivated vegetables are scarce or obtainable only where there are irrigation facilities.
I know full well how many countries like are fighting their own battles against enforced and engineered poverty; my friend Gilly recently sent me this trailer/article ‘Life and debt’ in Jamaica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjrFHzwx5AU …
Which reminds me of the state of so many countries I have worked and travelled in, including Argentina, and I think President Kirchner is spot on in her recent condemnation of Western capitalism and I am heartened to see increasing numbers of influential folk standing up to this terrorism - http://www.globalresearch.ca/economic-genocide-in-latin-america-the-unspoken-legacy-of-wall-street-and-the-imf/5409932 “Dazzling and supremely erudite, Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner denounced as terrorism the economic policies that have been strangling the developing world during the past century, and are continuing these criminal actions today, the legacy of Milton Friedman’s Chicago Boys’ gangster economic policies. These policies, implemented by the infliction of “shock therapy,” institutionalizing torture, murder and disappearances of individuals, groups, and often heads of state who defy these barbaric economic models, are policies which are more accurately described as global economic theft, sanctioned by the theory that “might makes right.”
From my travels I also understand how folk from ‘poorer’ countries seem to think that Europeans and Americans are living in the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’ and of course fail to see the very dark aspects of the class warfare which is also being waged here with equal ferocity by the same people – my parents ‘lost’ over a third of their pension, through the recent wave of banks stealing and lying and they have no means of redress… I had thousands of pounds worth of money I had worked hard for stolen by a British financial company, which led to me losing my mobile home, 'The Happy Bus'… and if people believe we have a functioning ‘justice’ system within the British Isles, they are living in ‘cloud-cuckoo land’! Justice does not exist here or is the exception to the rule. I was put through hell both through the experience and the courts. This was not the first instance either.
This is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of corrupt practice in Europe, which extends into all areas of our lives.
I still count myself lucky though, and I know I am well-blessed. Travelling and working in numerous other countries and cultures gives you a broader and more rounded perspective on life and makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you may or may not have lost along the way! I have always been able to get by and keep my wits about me and these are things nobody can take away.
To get back to the matter in hand anyway! Diversity in farming: For example the Parkia tree; (which is widespread in the Tropics, including the just-mentioned Caribbean, probably spread there since plantation times or before, and is also available by accession [for possibly strengthening genetics and diversity] - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2856374 ).
Parkia biglobosa is an incredibly useful, all-round tree for the home-forest garden, producing highly nutritious and reliable food stuffs/medicines for man and animal alike - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:AGFO.0000029000.22293.d1 and http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Parkia_biglobosa.pdf ...
This is a good article about the real-importance of plant diversity and plant-based medicines in our world which mentions another very useful honey and multi-purpose agroforestry tree Vitex doniana: http://www.getview.org/download_pdf/Vol2_No9_september_2012/GETview_Vol2_no9_pg1_5.pdf
Vitex doniana is called “deap” by Pan speaking tribe in Plateau state, Nigeria. The plant is a widespread deciduous forest tree in the savannah. It is a small to medium sized tree up to 25 m tall, bole branches for up to 11 m and up to 90 to 160 cm in diameter. In traditional medicine, leaf sap is used as an eye drop to treat conjunctivitis and other eye complaints. The bark extract is used to treat stomach complaints and kidney troubles (Agunu et al., 2005). Locally dried and fresh fruits are eaten against diarrhea and as a remedy against lack of vitamin A and B. The fresh leaves are also used as vegetables and for soup. This study is designed to find out the antibacterial potentials of the plants against gastro intestinal diseases caused specifically by E.coli and Salmonella sp and to substantiate their acclaimed uses in the traditional medicine.
There has been gradual shift of recent, from the use of synthetic drugs in treatment of some diseases to plant products due to emergence of multi drug resistant phenomena. Higher plants are sources of drugs, which have made important contribution in the health sector in urban as well as rural communities especially in tropics and sub-tropics (Sofowora, 1993). It has been proven scientifically that some plants have many compounds that exhibit prominent effects on the animal system while some possess important therapeutic properties, which can be utilized in the treatment and cure of human and other animal diseases (Ogundare, 2007). Medicinal plants are cheap starting materials for the synthesis of new drugs and the chances of the body accepting preparations from plants are more than from a substance synthesized from laboratory (Sofowora, 1988). Also, Fansworth (2001) has reported that aqueous decoctions of drug have a greater bioavailability to the body than synthetic formulation today in the market. This is due to the fact that presentation of the active constituent of the plant material in the solubilized form brings about increase absorption of the extract by the body. It has been documented that the plant kingdom is a wider natural and better medicinal agents than what is provided by the chemist (Sofowora, 2003). Gatstron (1993) estimated that about 14 % of known antibiotics are produced by plants. It has been reported also that 95 % of traditional drugs in Africa come from plants. A World Health Organisation (WHO) survey in 1983 has also showed that developing countries are more interested than ever in making use of traditional indigeneous resources in implementing the primary health care (Ntiejumokwu, 1990).
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Vitex_doniana.pdf Vitex is possibly available through accession - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/search?q=vitex+doniana …
Then there are livestock: We may now be in the wind down stage of bigger is better animal selection trend and it has certainly been a wild ride. . . . the lesson now being learned is that the bigger breeding animals . . . cost more to maintain, are often slower to reproduce, and may even have a shorter lifespan… Microlivestock are important because the developing world's animal production is only a fraction of what it should be. http://www.appropedia.org/Micro-livestock:_Little-known_Small_Animals_with_a_Promising_Economic_Future_2
Throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the poor eat almost no meat, milk, or eggs—the most nutritious foods. It is estimated, for example, that in Mexico 25 million campesinos cannot afford meat. In poor countries, even the middle class eats less meat in a year than the populations of North America and Europe eat in a month. Malnutrition is common and its effects, especially on children, can be debilitating. It is one of mankind's most serious imbalances—and most pressing problems. Rural families in the Third World usually subsist mainly on the products from their homes or farms. Thus, if we are to help their livestock production, more attention must be given to animals that are sized for their situations. Kelly Klober Small Farmer's Journal… Microlivestock: Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future…
The local villagers near to the farm I was at in the Peruvian highlands kept Guinea pigs in small pens. They are naturally sociable animals needing little space and they are very undemanding as to food requirements. They breed rapidly and stay healthy with good care, and they provide an abundant and delicious food source and are also comforting animals to have around. It is also a simple matter to easily cultivate a variety of cut-and-come-again fodder crops for guinea pigs and microlivestock in general: Medicago sativa, (alfalfa); Trigonella foenum-graecum, (fenugreek); Trifolium resupinatum, (Persian clover); Cytisus proliferus, (tagasaste); Hedysarum coronarium, (sulla) – the latter being significant due to its high concentration of condensed tannins which are a long-term, completely non-toxic and natural solution to the most serious problem facing ruminant and non-ruminant animals, their gut parasites. (This in juxtaposition to the proven-to-be-non-effective – [precisely because of the multi-drug-resistant-phenomena mentioned in the getview.org article above] – and equally very poisonous pharmaceutical anthelmintic drugs). http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000411.htm - In grazing trials, better lamb performance was achieved from sulla than from grass/white clover, a result attributed to a very high readily fermentable to structural carbohydrate ratio (Terrill et al., l992). Better performance of lambs grazing sulla compared with lucerne was attributed to the protective effects of condensed tannins on nematode infection and protein protection in the rumen (Niezen et al., l995).
The range of fodder crops available is vast. (Good article by ECHO on Multi-purpose trees - http://members.echocommunity.org/resource/resmgr/a_to_z/azch4mul.htm )
http://www.petcherseeds.com/about-sunn-hemp/sunn-hemp-a-forage-for-goats/ - good article about Sunn hemp as a forage for goats…
I worked on a farm in New Zealand with Kune-kune pigs, which are an awesome ‘micro-pig’ needing little care and very friendly; (delicious too)… http://www.kunekune.info/en/care/care.php#1 http://www.britishkunekunesociety.org.uk/
And I worked on another farm raising Indian runner ducks - http://www.runnerduck.net/ … http://www.backyardchickens.com/products/indian-runner
http://www.treecrops.org.nz/crops/shelter/tagasaste/ - tagasaste as a great all-rounder… “High protein feedstock for fish food from worm farms and freshwater crustacean”
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Chamaecytisus_prolifer_var._palmensis.htm / http://factnet.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/chamacyt.htm - again...
So, to reiterate, there are a few ideas of how I would approach farming for myself or go about demonstrating it to farmers. Tools and expenses are basic and cheap. You need the basic hand tools, the right seeds and plant species, and the right knowledge and willingness to demonstrate the right techniques!
http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/keith-mikkelson/sustainable-agriculture/ebook/product-17560992.html - the free download of this book is another excellent guide-blueprint to sustainable farming, (I wrote the review). I have my own copy from the Philippines.
His basic premise is to feed the soil not the plant and Mikkelson relies heavily on the EM technology of Teruo Higa I mention at the beginning of this report. It is easy and cheap to build simple ‘vortex devices’ to breed EM’s in high numbers which can then be sprayed or drenched or used in other ways as appropriate… he upends one of the big plastic water bottles used in offices with various amendments attached and uses a fish tank pump to create the vortex and oxygenate. He achieves outstanding results. If such implementations as this and all of the above were to be adopted throughout farmlands, the ideal situation of course, then what will wash into our waters and seas will not be nasty chemicals killing everything in their wake, but beneficial microorganisms which do completely the opposite – provide life and vitality to everything they come into contact with. The ideal situation is when nothing gets washed away and stable soils are the rule and the agroforestry techniques I’ve outlined above will help to create such stable soils.
http://www.agrowingculture.org/2011/04/the-aloha-natural-farm-puerto-princesa-city-palawan-philippines/ This detailed article about Mikkelsons’ farming demonstrates it’s very hands-on and diverse techniques. These require application and effort, especially in the beginning stages, but they are very worthy of investigation and implementation.
I am more of the ‘school of do-nothing farming’ as Masanobu Fukuoka was famous for saying, which is more about listening intuitively to nature and minimum intervention in this regard, but everyone has their own style and there is validity found in a wide range of implementations.
Janine Benyus says it equally well in her presentation ‘The Biomimicry Effect’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx2hvVIFN_U 2014 biomimicry…
At other NGO’s who have employed me I was living in basic conditions, such as mud-straw or block huts, either near to the agricultural centre or on the land itself.
I do not expect luxury accommodation, but I do expect sanitary and relatively comfortable living conditions. There is an important reason why I stress sanitary and a brief story behind my reason for doing so.
In ‘another life’ I worked as a translator in various countries including for a medical equipment manufacturing company in Yaroslavl, Russia. I rarely undertake translation work nowadays but I am able to translate from three European languages into English.
I mention this, as one of my projects, when working for ‘Yartek medical’ in Yaroslavl, was to translate the technical schematics and uses of an ingenious device called a ‘nasal catheter’; from Russian into English in order to facilitate sales on the International market.
Most of the interest generated by this device; which is an effective aide in helping to cure the debilitating condition called sinusitis, comes from tropical countries with big, polluted cities. This is because the disease is prevalent there, as sinusitis is caused by two main factors: One is air pollution from motor vehicles and other vectors, and the other is from concrete buildings.
Pure concrete is an entirely inappropriate and unhealthy material to use to build living quarters. It traps air and moisture and allows neither to freely circulate and thus, especially in hot and humid, tropical conditions, many harmful, indeed deadly fungal growths overrun concrete dwellings and condemn their occupants to the ill health caused by incessantly breathing in unhealthy, stagnant and compromised airs.
Sinusitis a disease when the sinuses become severely compromised by thick, pus-like infections leading to severe health complications. The nasal catheter acts to remove pus-like infections by a simple (but ingenious) vacuum effect, wherein the sinuses are cleared of pus and left intact and thus given the opportunity to heal again. The patient is then placed upon a more appropriate and detoxifying dietary regimen so the problem does not reoccur… and the patient may be asked to inspect where they live and move to a healthier home.
This was actually one of the first times I was stimulated to ponder more deeply into the vast differences between Western and Eastern philosophies of life, especially as they relate to our health and ‘medical’ systems. The Russian system is poised between the West and the East but much more biased to the East – Western doctors are more inclined to use surgery to cut body parts out, often unnecessarily, but Eastern medicine is more about prevention and gentler interventions. Hence a nasal catheter to help heal and leave in place rather than a knife to cut out!
This is why I stress the need for sanitary living conditions. I dislike concrete very much and I value my health; especially after having been seriously ill and in an Intensive Care Unit before now with a lung-related condition!
In the Philippines I was very happy to be living in a bamboo hut, which breathes naturally. I have even built my own accommodation from mud and straw and there is tremendous satisfaction in doing that! Recently at SABGI students of a Marine Biology institute have been building some more bamboo accommodations.
In the PI we also had access to a motorbike for running around on, and a small van for pick-up and deliveries. There was also an office for the inevitable administration duties and both of these factors make the very important task of networking much easier of course…
This is the ‘ideal scenario’ but I understand how such facilities are not always available there are always other solutions.
Organisations working proactively with farmers can benefit from their networks created with farmers groups and community groups in order to encourage such groups to unite and to see the benefits of uniting and pooling knowledge and resources to improve their individual and collective situations. Such groups will often be willing to either lease land at low cost or offer land up freely, to committed agroforestry organisations as they become aware of the benefits which will accrue to the whole community through such a partnership.
Farmers and community groups should establish various HQs or field centres after identifying appropriate sites to conduct demonstration trials of suitable agroforestry techniques.
Ideally, there need not be any considerable initial expenditure, so that the costs can be spread out and you can get straight down to business.
END OF REPORT!
SOME MORE PEARLS OF WISDOM...
http://www.geomantica.com/articles/whats-the-connection-between-dowsing-and-nature-spirits/
Animistic traditions around the planet recognized and honoured the intelligences/consciousnesses in nature and strongly protected the deva’s homes. But growing human population levels started to demanded much more from Country. Exploiters of the Earth were intent on wiping out deva traditions, so they could mine/farm/develop land. Monotheistic religion backed them up. And indigenous traditions of Earth and deva reverence were denigrated as inferior and an impediment to progress...
http://agni-culture.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/2/4/22247118/patrick-flanagan-pyramid-power-the-millennium-science.pdf
Inscription above the doorway at the Temple of Delphi: "Man know thyself, and you will know the gods and their energies."
A Brief Introduction to the Natural Eco-Technological Theories of Viktor Schauberger http://free-energy.xf.cz/SCHAUBERGER/The_water_wizard.pdf
Viktor Schauberger (30 June 1885 - 25 September 1958) was born in Austria of a long line of foresters stretching back some four hundred years. He developed a gift for accurate and intuitive observation so great that he was able to perceive the natural energies and other phenomena occurring in Nature, which are still unrecognised by orthodox science. Refusing to attend University at the age of 18, to the fury of his father, Viktor Schauberger left home and spent a long period alone in the high, remote forest, contemplating, pondering and observing any subtle energetic processes taking place in Nature's laboratory, where they were still undisturbed by human hand. During this period he developed very profound and radical theories, later to be confirmed practically, concerning water, the energies inherent in it and its desired natural form of motion. These eventually earned him the name of 'The Water Wizard'. For the whole of his life he fought a running and often acrimonious battle with academia and its institutions, since his theories in the main were diametrically opposed to the so-called established facts of science. His practical demonstration of them always functioned as he had theorised, however, for he had come to understand the true inner workings of Nature and was able to emulate them. Viktor Schauberger's theories afford new insights into the naturally correct or 'naturalesque' management of water. This encompasses its proper handling, storage, and conduction by means that promote its self-purification, the retention and enhancement of its natural energies and health. In this book, the close interrelationship between water and the forest (as a water-producer - not a water consumer) is examined. The problem of soil salinity and how this comes about through over-exposure of the soil to the radiance of the Sun through deforestation and faulty agricultural practices, are also addressed. Indications are given as to how these may be avoided and overcome, due to Viktor Schauberger's radical and fundamentally new understanding of the coming into being and functioning of the groundwater table in relation to soil temperature. As a natural organism, water is formed and functions according to Nature's laws and geometry, the latter exhibiting none of the elements of the straight line, circle and point, the basis of modern mechanical and technological artefacts. Reflecting Nature's principal constant, namely that of continuous change and transformation, the vortex epitomises this form of open, fluid and flexible motion. Through his study of the vortices occurring naturally in flowing water and in the air in the form of cyclones and tornadoes, Viktor Schauberger developed his theories of implosion. It was through the research and development of these theories that he was able to produce spring-quality water and generate considerable energies in and with water and air. In listing some of his accomplishments one could not do better than to quote from his book, Our Senseless Toil, written in 1933: "It is possible to regulate watercourses over any given distance without embankment works; to transport timber and other materials, even when heavier than water, for example ore, stones, etc., down the centre of such water-courses; to raise the height of the water table in the surrounding countryside and to endow the water with all those elements necessary for the prevailing vegetation." "Furthermore it is possible in this way to render timber and other such materials non-inflammable and rot resistant; to produce drinking and spa-water for man, beast and soil of any desired composition and performance artificially, but in the way that it occurs in Nature; to raise water in a vertical pipe without pumping devices; to produce any amount of electricity and radiant energy almost without cost; to raise soil quality and to heal cancer, tuberculosis and a variety of nervous disorders." "... the practical implementation of this ... would without doubt signify a complete reorientation in all areas of science and technology. By application of these new found laws, I have already constructed fairly large installations in the spheres of log-rafting and river regulation, which as is known, have functioned faultlessly for a decade, and which today still present insoluble enigmas to the various scientific disciplines concerned." Water and its vital interaction with the forest was Viktor's principal preoccupation. He viewed water as a living entity, the 'Blood of Mother-Earth', which is born in the womb of the forest. Our mechanistic, materialistic and extremely superficial way of looking at things, however, prevents us from considering water to be anything other than inorganic, i.e. supposedly without life but, while apparently having no life itself, can nevertheless miraculously create life in all its forms. Life is movement and is epitomised by water, which is in a constant state of motion and transformation, both externally and internally. In confirmation of this fact, water is able to combine with more substances than any other molecule and, flowing as water, sap and blood, is the creator of the myriad life-forms on this planet. How then could it ever be construed as life-less in accordance with the chemist's clinical view of water, defined as the inorganic substance H2O? This short description is a gros misrepresentation, As the fundamental basis of all life, water is itself a living entity and should be treated as such. Failure to do so quickly transforms it into an enemy, rather than the nurturer and furtherer of all life that it should be "This civilisation is the work of man, who high-handedly and ignorant of the true workings of Nature, has created a world without meaning or foundation, which now threatens to destroy him, for through his behaviour and his activities, he, who should be her master, has disturbed Nature's inherent unity." Apart from the more familiar categories of water, there are, according to Viktor Schauberger, as many varieties of water as there are animals and plants. Were water merely the sterile, distilled H20 as claimed by science, it would be poisonous to all living things. H2O or 'juvenile water' is sterile, distilled water and devoid of any so-called 'impurities'. It has no developed character and qualities. As a young, immature, growing entity, it grasps like a baby at everything within reach. It absorbs the characteristics and properties of whatever it comes into contact with or has attracted to itself in order to grow to maturity. This 'everything' - the so-called 'impurities'- takes the form of trace elements, minerals, salts and even smells! Were we to drink pure H2O constantly, it would quickly leach out all our store of minerals and trace elements, debilitating and ultimately killing us. Like a growing child, juvenile water takes and does not give. Only when mature, i.e. when suitably enriched with raw materials, is it in a position to give, to dispense itself freely and willingly, thus enabling the rest of life to develop. Before the birth of water, there was no life. But what is this marvellous, colourless, tasteless and odourless substance, which quenches our thirst like no other liquid? Did we but truly understand the essential nature of water - a living substance - we would not treat it so churlishly, but would care for it as if our lives depended on it, which undoubtedly they do. "The Upholder of the Cycles which supports the whole of Life, is water. In every drop of water dwells the Godhead, whom we all serve; there also dwells Life, the Soul of the 'First' substance - Water - whose boundaries and banks are the capillaries that guide it and in which it circulates." “More energy is encapsulated in every drop of good spring water than an average-sized powerstation is presently able to produce.”
http://www.salvaleforeste.it/documentazione/lies.pdf Planting trees can be very good, but it can also be very bad. It all depends what you’re planting them for, the scale and site of the plantations and the costs or benefits they bring to local populations. Large-scale plantations of rapid-growth species such as eucalyptus and pines generate most negative impacts, both in social and environmental terms. Because of the kind of impacts caused by this type of plantation, resistance struggles against them have become generalized. The response of the firms responsible for these plantations and of the people who have promoted this model of plantation has been to deny such impacts and to elaborate and disseminate campaigns of disinformation designed to win them support amongst sectors of the population who are not well-informed. Below are ten of the most common misleading statements being disseminated about large-scale monoculture tree plantations… the need for wood is not the only cause of deforestation. Large areas of native forest are often eliminated and then replaced by cash crops for export or by extensive cattle-ranching; other areas disappear beneath giant hydroelectric dams; mangroves are eliminated and replaced by industrial shrimp farming; drilling for oil and mining destroy vast areas of native forest, etc. Monoculture plantations cannot lessen the forces behind these types of destruction.
REUNITE TO REEMPOWER – A report to serve as an example of a working blueprint for sustainable development using diverse tree-plantings of multi-purpose tree species and the use of other key plants and agroforestry techniques as a guiding principle…
I acknowledge my many heroes and heroines who continue to inspire me throughout this report, and I will start with one of the greatest, Richard Saint Barbe Baker…
FRIENDS OF THE TREES A speech delivered by Richard Saint Barbe Baker at a public reception in Bombay, on 20 August 1980. http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/saintbaker.pdf
I believe in the extension of love by all the white races to other races and for that matter by each race to every other race and to all races.
I believe that one catalyst, which can control and effect such cosmic unification, is the woman.
There would be no threat of war as there is today, if women have their proper place in the government.
I believe that the blossoming of deserts foretold by the prophets of the past is now being fulfilled by the steady reclamation of the Sahara by tree planting. This could be the scientific answer to the world's dilemma and with God's blessings, provide ONE WORLD purpose uniting the East and the West.
I believe that the Lord's prayer has been answered and that it is in the process of being fulfilled and that we are entering a new cycle of human power with all the horizons becoming luminous.
As the Persian Seer of the Bahai said: ‘This is the hour for the coming together, the Sons of Men. That the Earth will become indeed a Garden of Paradise.’
I believe that this generation will either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilized world or it will be the first to have a vision, a daring and a greatness to say: "I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life. I will play no part in this devastation of this land. I am destined to live and work for peaceful construction for I am morally responsible for the world of today and of the generations of tomorrow.”
Let TWAHAMWE - pull together - be our motto and I pray that we may give our active support to all efforts of desert reclamation by tree planting and I pray that I may be just to the Earth below my feet, to my neighbour by my side and to the light which comes from above and within, and this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy for my having lived in it.
This ‘working blueprint’ is designed to whet the collective appetite and to fire the imagination as to what it is possible to achieve in regenerating our earth and our communities through agroforestry SOULUTIONS… no spelling mistake – we must approach this from our hearts and souls!
I understand the stakes are high: If we get this right, it does have the potential to transform the rural landscape and benefit rural communities in a profound manner. The fertility of the earth defines everything around it. Thus the bedrock of any functioning culture or society is its relationship with its earth.
In this regard I am offering up these links to EMRO Japan:
http://www.emrojapan.com/emnews/content/8.html
http://www.emrojapan.com/application/environment/water-purification.html
Why? Well the man responsible for putting together and packaging this eco-technology Teruo Higa, much like Paul Stamets, (http://www.fungi.com/ ), has ‘returned to source’ to find some of the real soulutions for our most prescient dilemmas. They are both 'living the dream' and encouraging us to use such resources, readily available to us all, to solve our own problems and fulfill our basic needs.
We all know about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe; yet how many of us are aware of the amazing efforts of Teruo Higa in regards to clearing up this mess and the resounding successes this natural technology keeps bringing? It does rectify even radioactive pollution so therefore it pays to be informed: Hundreds of thousands of savvy folk are queuing up to use these sublime creatures worldwide to heal themselves and their lands from the negative effects of even these, the very worst forms of pollution, such as chemical-damage through oil spills, industrial, pesticide and radioactive pollution! The EMRO links above instruct on how savvy folk gather by the thousands to make EM mud-balls and sling them into polluted waters to give nature a fighting chance to recover.
So many soils worldwide are degraded through heavy chemical abuse and other inappropriate farming methodologies. Coupled with frequent adverse weather; so are our waters … and for the same reasons: harmful chemical run-off and soil losses into rivers and ultimately oceans. Just one example from the Caribbean: “In 1983, the dominant urchin of Caribbean coral reefs (Diadema antillarum) experienced massive disease-induced mortality and its functional extinction persists to this day. Concurrently, reports of coral disease, coral bleaching and nutrification began to appear and many Caribbean reefs have deteriorated in the last two decades.” http://www.marinespatialecologylab.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Revisiting-Diadema-die-off.pdf
Thus this link to Higa’s technology as slinging EM impregnated mud-balls into polluted seas, rivers, lakes and other waterways has made pollution vanish. Heavy applications of EM have even seen radioactive soils transmuted and remedied within an astoundingly short period of time.
But this is only a temporary solution if bad industrial and agricultural practices based on the chemical lie are not stopped and the chemical and other poisons are allowed to keep saturating our lands and washing into our waters and into our bodies. As long as this madness continues, any efforts at remediation are an uphill struggle. That does not mean I will ever give up trying though!
I really admire the likes of completely dedicated folk such as the thousands above and such inspired human beings as Juliette of the Herbs, whose life and books are an inspiration to me, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_VRj1RMTXU); likewise Anna Edey, (http://www.solviva.com/); and more recently Mark Purdey for bringing this crucial issue into focus again and for their dedication and sacrifices. They do not just do the all-important work of bringing people's attention onto evil, they also offer the real solutions.
Mark Purdey was risking his life in order to achieve this; yet few people have even heard of him – such is the insidious power of corporate-owned media, and their bedfellows the war-mongering chemical giants and the petrochemical industries who have proven time and again the murderous tactics they will employ, including in this instance, to ensure their strangle hold on our world does not loosen its grip: He pinpoints this at the very start of this excellent video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MheeiX2w8JU
http://www.cultureshop.org/details.php?code=PURDEY “More sinister is the attention Purdey, and those who have taken up his theory, has received. His house mysteriously burnt down, and a barn collapsed onto his science library. He's been shot at, and following the publication of a 1993 Independent article, he awoke to find his telephone lines cut - preventing him receiving follow up media calls. Strangers, with in depth knowledge of his movements appear on his farm, freak his wife out and tail him when he travels. The solicitor who defended Purdey's High Court action died when his car went inexplicably out of control. Purdey's vet (who said this theory should be taken seriously) was killed in what the local rag described as: 'Mystery vet death riddle,' when his car was 'magnetised' into the front of an oncoming lorry on a clear straight road.
"I'm easier to marginalise as a crank," says Purdey. "But these people were professionals."
Anyone familiar with the start of the anti-nuclear movement may recall the discrediting of Alice Stewart, who discovered the link between radiation and cancer. Scientists who aligned themselves with her had their cars rammed off the road. In 1978 four children belonging to anti-herbicide activist Carol Van Strum were killed in a house fire in Five Rivers, USA…”
"If Phosmet is proven to have caused BSE, the worldwide use of organophosphates (OPs) could be put into jeopardy, costing the chemical industry billions. The government know more than they're letting on."
"If the government are found liable for BSE - by enforcing organophosphate treatment - the payout could break the economy." Tom King (Purdey's MP)
“Zeneca sold the phosmet patent to a PO Box company in the Arizona desert. As Ray said: ‘Zeneca are not keen to be sued’.”
Now Georgina Downs has taken up the cudgel against massive, global chemical pollution and she is bravely exposing the intimate connections between government and those causing and financially profiting from this worldwide pollution. In their essence and action they are one and the same body, acting as a united force for evil…
http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2344079/pesticides_can_cause_cancer_so_why_does_cruk_ignore_them.html Pesticides and cancer – such chronic diseases are considered as the major disorders affecting public health in the 21st century and … it is time to find a preventive approach and find efficient alternatives to using pesticides.
Yet, despite the fact that pesticides are one of the known causes of cancer, the UK Government, as well as some of the leading cancer charities - in particular Cancer Research UK CRUK - continue to largely dismiss pesticides as a cause of cancer.
CRUK's position is not particularly surprising considering that its Chairman Michael Pragnell, has a long-term employment history in the multi-billion dollar global pesticides industry.
But those thinking of donating to CRUK or who have already donated should be aware of the truly astonishing amount of money that is spent on CRUK's employees every year… This includes around 35 employees all receiving in excess of £100,000 in 2013 with the top earner in the £220,001 - £230,000 band.
This type of blatant greed and corruption is endemic throughout Western societies; indeed it is a key component of the all-pervading sickness and dysfunction of the Western model of Capitalist ‘civilization’ and ‘government’ which is so aggressively foisted onto an unsuspecting world. 'We' are the bad guys and there is no escaping this fact; we have to deal with it; or rather deal with them, the ones getting the kick-backs from evil and our 'planned and enforced' ignorance of this evil.
The aggression serves as the ‘kick’ or the ‘high’, precisely because the people who are doing the foisting are drunk on greed and power. It is a self-feeding and self-perverting labyrinth which actively seeks to negatively pervert and influence all that surrounds it: When we finally ‘wake-up’ to this fact and unite to rid ourselves of these negative energies is when the world will breathe a big sigh of relief.
You do not have to enter life ‘looking for trouble’ in this world. There is trouble enough and plenty of evil and ignorant people making sure it will find you! If you cannot accept this then Christopher Bollyn, (http://bollyn.com/); John Pilger, (http://johnpilger.com/); David Icke, (http://www.davidicke.com/); Greg Caton, (http://www.meditopia.org/index_ing.htm) and plenty of others are ready to serve up the truth; steaming hot...
To put this into context we only need to look into our own current and recent history of wickedness. I find it appropriate to listen to wise people in this regard: A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny… Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence… For us in Russia, communism is a dead dog, while, for many people in the West, it is still a living lion… The next war... may well bury Western civilization forever…
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aleksandr_solzhenitsyn.html
This is undoubtedly the dark side, yet “Love would never leave us alone A-yin the darkness there must come out to light” http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4670 “Marley uses the song to convey an urgent message to himself and others: at all cost, stay mentally and spirituality fit inside Babylon's system…” This is an all-important message from one of our modern prophets – it is all important to love and respect oneself in the face of this torment and onslaught.
Solzhenitsyn also encourages us to see beyond this toil into timeless Universal truth: Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words… Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag… The battle-line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man… Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing… A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy and nothing can stop him… www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aleksandr_solzhenitsyn.html
So choose to be happy and do not object to sharing this happiness widely!
It is how we act and react to protect ourselves, our friends and families and communities from this evil that distinguishes us in our lives – ‘they’ certainly are being proactive in propagating evil, and we should be equally proactive in protecting ourselves: Standing up for our birth-right to live as free, conscientious and sentient beings on an abundantly caring and sentient planet, free from pollution and other associated evil and negative energies.
There are many welcome signals that the dysfunctions created by Western greed and capitalism are imploding; indeed all parasitic dogmas are ultimately untenable and I am here to offer solutions rather than to admonish!
So there is a real need to replace such self-destructive, mechanistic systems with humane and sustainable solutions. Essentially, neither can we carry on like this, nor can we continue to avoid implementing the real solutions. We need proactive leadership and not merely react by lamely plastering up the cracks which are just going to become gaping holes if we don’t provide leadership!
I can do just that - providing leadership of a high order; a set of specific ‘skills, techniques and tools’ to offer the real solutions to help develop a sustainable agriculture. But, I need the help and support of willing and enthusiastic people backing me up. There are important techniques to impart and share, which is the essence of this summation, but to able to do this I need to network and teamwork: To be able to source the most basic and vital of resources such as seeds and plant parts, I am going to need the help of the people who can point me in the right direction!
So here are a few ideas of how I would approach farming for myself or go about demonstrating it to farmers; it is proactive in character.
From the get-go, you’re talking about a simplistic, hands-on, grass-roots approach: Tools and expenses are basic and cheap – hand tools and the right seeds and plant species; it is fundamentally important to immediately start networking with farmers and with other interest groups in the wider community such as schools, colleges and churches. We need to do this, in order to enlist community help and to create wider networks; to listen and learn and benefit from what folk already know and have to teach and to offer.
Practically speaking, I am able to identify useful crops and tree species, which are widely present, but are probably being underutilized. I will highlight and elaborate upon just two of such species initially in order to impress upon you the importance of utilizing key plants and key agroforestry techniques which play fundamental roles in the long-term success of any sustainable agroforestry implementation.
Vetiver and velvet bean provide multiple and key services... the reason for bringing people’s focus and attention onto such key plants becomes obvious when you fully understand just how systemically useful they are.
In order to achieve the desired goal of long-term success in sustainable farming, you need to initiate and encourage demonstration trials of beneficial agroforestry systems using such key plants, which interested parties can be actively involved in creating and managing for themselves from the beginning.
It’s not about being a ‘one man band’ or working in isolated groups, but rather many groups and individuals who may be separated geographically but who are prepared to unite and share knowledge and resources and give feedback. You achieve more in this manner as the sum of the whole is greater than its individual parts!
For example, this is an informative video, which is useful as a great initial educational tool to inspire and re-educate the community on how quickly and successfully you can render infertile and degraded soils fertile again through the use and application of a common bean crop! Soils are so enhanced by the velvet bean that within the space of several months, with the bean still covering the field, the grower can broadcast a major food crop such as rice or corn straight into the field… The video demonstrates quite sublimely how ‘bumper harvests’ can result from letting nature do what she does best; restore and enhance fertility and provide abundance through diversity.
MAN DOES NOT HAVE SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE, NOR TECHNOLOGY; NATURE DOES. When we understand this is when we finally start to grow up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0xmEDq3NIs (from Solitude farm on the Auroville ecovillage in India)...
After the implementation of such a simple but effective agroforestry technique; once demonstrated through field trials, there is no looking back! As, once people get the basics and realize that simple is best and that they have all they need right there in front of their own noses and in their own hands, then why on earth would anybody want to start complicating their lives again with unnecessary burdens like tractors and artificial chemicals?! That era is over and I want to see it dead and buried within my lifetime.
And these are good articles about the velvet bean, which is also an excellent fodder and food crop; especially after preparing and fermenting the beans in a similar way to soya beans, which renders them even more nutritious: http://viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/mucuna.pruriens.pdf and http://www.rain-tree.com/velvetbean.htm#.VQHWqI6sV8E Velvet bean has a long history of traditional use in Brazil and India as an aphrodisiac. Clinical studies in India have validated that the plant does indeed have aphrodisiac activity. It also has reported with anabolic and growth hormone stimulant properties. The anabolic effect of the seed is due to its ability to increase testosterone. In 2002, a U.S. patent was filed on the use of velvet bean to stimulate the release of growth hormone in humans. Research cited in the patent indicated that the high levels of L-dopa in mucuna seed were converted to dopamine which stimulated the release of growth hormone by the pituitary gland. L-dopa and dopamine are also effective inhibitors of prolactin. Prolactin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland; increased levels are considered to cause erection failure in males. In one study, oral intake of the seeds in 56 human males was able to improve erection, duration of coitus, and post-coital satisfaction after only four weeks of treatment. The seed also has documented fertility promoting and sperm producing effects in human males (being able to improve sperm count and motility).
Great sites like raintree are an important resource for the tropics and the spirituality and story of the author of this site, Leslie Taylor is an inspiration – http://www.leslietaylor.net/herbal/herbal.htm
This is what I mean when I talk about ‘ethnobotanical appreciation and knowledge’: When you can understand and embrace the multiple uses of just one highly useful species of a plant like Mucuna pruriens, then you realise just what an incredibly powerful tool and aide you have. When you further understand that there are literally dozens, and hundreds and indeed tens of thousands of such plants, well, that’s when it starts to blow your mind! Nature is created perfect, and we’ve just forgotten that and got lost. That doesn’t mean we can’t find our way out and the answers are in front of our noses; “hidden in plain sight”!
Leslie Taylor also has a very important message about the deliberate suppression of herbal medicines by quango-corporate bodies such as the American FDA. Undoubtedly, so many more of us today have heightened awareness of how governments and their bodies and bureaucracies are merely a part of the corporate octopus trying to degrade and strangle the life out of us all: http://www.rain-tree.com/author.htm#.VQKP_Y6sV8E Regulations enforced by the FDA have progressively prohibited free speech about the value and benefits of herbal supplements…
I once worked at one of the best permaculture sites in the UK, which is justly famous internationally for its database tool www.pfaf.org but not so well known for another brilliant information tool, its sister site dedicated to herbal-nutritional medicine, which they were forced to close down after being harassed and threatened with legal action by the equivalent quango governmental body here in the UK. Such is the current sad state of affairs here in the UK and in Europe. And it is costing people their lives – by the millions: Real cures are deliberately suppressed whereas the multi-billion pound pharma racket is thrust onto us with fanfare and gleeful abandon! Eugenics is in its prime!
The best information site, rich in fact and detail, which I have ever come across to expose such global shenanigans is fortunately a very current one by an American herbalist-healer called Greg Caton. It is Caton’s own very personal, readable and detailed account of the real and sordid history of Western ‘medicine’: http://www.meditopia.org/index_ing.htm
The story of his false imprisonment; then release from prison; then emigration to Ecuador; then kidnapping by the FDA/FBI; then further imprisonment; then final release from prison again is a story in itself and was well covered by certain media – just not the mainstream media of course! http://www.naturalnews.com/033573_FDA_abduction.html
Thanks to gifted, dedicated and principled folk like Taylor and Caton, (and plenty of others whom I mention here), the truth is coming out that ‘all is not well in Paradise’! I am really grateful for truth-tellers like these and my heartfelt hope is that change will come when collective consciousness awakens to the point where we’ll finally shake this giant monkey off our backs... I see the signs everywhere – not least through the rise of grassroots movements; as it is all part and parcel of the same battle.
We each possess our own innate authority and the right to exercise and extend this authority to govern all of the most fundamental and important aspects of our lives, including growing our own food-medicines and managing our own lands as we see fit. It is our birth-right not to allow any other person to foist their version of ‘authority’ onto our own – especially not people who would see us as slaves to their own perverse agendas of enslavement and impoverishment through the corporatization of our world.
I have started to digress a bit here, but never mind as it is important to sometimes make a point! Indeed, I reckon grassroots movements represent the basics of returning to reassert our birth-right and not allowing ourselves to be fooled and overawed by powerful propaganda and bad politics.
So, to return to the meat and bones of sustainable farming: In the video Krishna highlights the gentle way of Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural farming, (whose followers number in the tens of millions globally and especially in India: http://onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/One-Straw_Revolution.html ); and this is essentially what agroforestry techniques are all about – about us intuitively allowing nature to do what she does best and that is to grow and provide abundance; as long as we are prepared to listen to her wisdom and work with her and not against her…
Krishna later in the video emphasizes the lack of ‘weeds’ in what is now a month-old rice ‘paddy’ and correctly adds that allowing some ‘weeds’ to grow with the rice crop benefits the rice. This is old wisdom, which we have forgotten to our detriment. Abundant and successful ‘polycultures’ incorporating beneficial ‘weeds’ are millennia-old agricultural practices as this article so poignantly emphasizes: http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/weeds/Weeds6.html In answer to my question as to whether he had really meant that the weeds were not harmful to the corn and pumpkins, John came back even more decisively. The corn and pumpkins were not harmed by the weeds that the Indians grew as food weeds, which, as I recall, generally meant two strains of pigweeds, lamb's quarter, sunflowers (for their seed), a variety of wild lettuce, purslane, and milkweeds. John had all his life seen the harvests from clean fields such as white men always had near the agency, and he had been brought up near weedy fields. When the weeds grew the Indian way the weeds never reduced the production of the planted crop. Indeed, Indian John said he had come to the conclusion that the weeds helped to produce more corn and pumpkins in some of the fields with which he was familiar... Weeds -- Guardians of the Soil, by Joseph A. Cocannouer
So the Auroville folk demonstrate so sublimely this bean-rice growing method! From a critical standpoint it’s obviously something which works for them, yet I would have liked to see them sow some of the ‘weed’ seeds mentioned above at the same time as the rice in order to be companions in the fields with the rice. This would provide further nutritious food sources and increasing biodiversity is one of the most important goals in the garden. The benefits are many, including:
· Decrease in disease and insect predators
· Increase in beneficial insects and other organisms
· Decrease in ‘real’ weeds! (I am not certain if there’s any such thing!)
· Improved soil fertility
· Healthier plants
· Higher overall yields from the vegetable garden
This is a proven advantage of polycultures. I am also reminded of a huge study which happened around thirteen years ago on many thousands of acres in China. They increased rice yield by 89% and decreased rice blast disease by 94%, simply by planting more than one species of rice together in the fields. This is fully workable with all the heirloom/landrace and improved accessions freely available for trial through R&D groups, which I will highlight just below, (Genesys), and it should be trialed.
I would like to trial this method using the ‘Auroville technique’ of freely broadcasting into the velvet bean both with rice and corn, and with other grains such as sorghum and pearl millet, (https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2866568).
I have some seeds of highly nutritious, heirloom purple corn from the highlands of Peru, which I know is suitable for tropical growing, especially within a highland context. I fully understand the wisdom of the old Indian in Joseph Cocannouer’s article above as I have grown this corn successfully in a four sisters’ combination with sunflowers, beans and squash in Peru and elsewhere. I would like to trial this as a broadcast polyculture, but I would also like to trial far larger and more diverse broadcasts of beneficial polycultures…
As an example, to the ‘standard four’ I would add: Okra; Malabar spinach; cucumbers; sweet peppers; Joseph’s coat; cockscomb; eggplant; chayote; marigolds; melon; purslane; scarlet milkweed; jurubeba; Jamaican cherry; crab’s eye; cocona; mullaca; ashwagandha; shatavari; ayapana; amor seco; chirchita; Egyptian cucumber and even papaya as it keeps away corn-borer and allows other climbing crops a prop, as do several of the other plants such as corn, jurubeba and Jamaican cherries.
That equates to around a ‘30 species polyculture’: This may well appear to be excessive, but intuitively I believe it has the potential to work synergistically and to produce great results and diverse harvests! I have visited polycultures, home forest gardens, on the Island of Sumatra on the shores of Lake Maninjau, which are far richer and more complex and such polycultures can contain hundreds of species providing uncounted harvests and services. Such is their potential and we should tap it: I provide a free and uncomplicated educational guide to creating forest gardens and a wider range of other agroforestry systems from ‘Trees for a Future’ below.
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_7/b_fdi_57-58/010024150.pdf
The agroforestry garden system in Maninjau in West Sumatra is characterized by an intensive integration of forest species and commercial crops, forming a forest-like system. The intimate association of different species provides both subsistence and commercial products which supplement rice production. This complex agroforest is managed by the combination between cultural practices and respect of natural processes of vegetation production and reproduction. It represents a profitable production system and constitutes an efficient buffer between villages and protected forest. It is a good model of association between integration of forest resources and cultivation of cash crops in the form of a sustainable and flexible system.
This particular mix I have selected for this greater diversity of harvests: Medicinal and utilitarian; as well as food crops. Then there are the ‘unseen harvests’ such as the pollen and nectar for honey producing bees and the attraction to beneficial insects to predate crop pests and to maintain balance; and in general the beneficial synergistic relationships that such ‘micro-ecosystem’ combinations have the potential to create. Perhaps this appears overly idealised but again I judge, intuitively, that it is worth trialling.
Indeed, this is the beauty of choice in creating beneficial ‘micro-ecosystems’; you can experiment according to your personal needs and choices and there are no shortages of either!
Yet the golden rule of the incremental benefits of polycultures remains steadfast and indeed polycultures represent a growing, yet still vastly underdeveloped and underutilized agroforestry reinvention and revitalization. They should be prioritized if we are to advance our capabilities in a meaningful fashion.
So engaging with the wider community is key, as I have no doubt that there are interested parties and gardeners already out there who are already doing this and who already know a great deal about polycultures… just like the folk in Maninjau; and likewise in Nigeria and in the Amazon – it is a worldwide practice which has kept sensitive, ecologically aware people well-nourished for millennia while not compromising their integrity with their intrinsic relationships with their wider environment. It is detailed in many books, not the least of which is http://www.penwithpress.co.uk/earth-mystery-books/miller-brailsford-in-search-of-the-southern-serpent-hardback-detail ... this superb book details the complexities of such ancient systems, which extend out into sea gardens, based in this instance in the beautiful lands of New Zealand. We are all destined to rediscover our old truths and these rediscoveries are coming in thick and fast! If we are open to receive the message and walk the extra mile…
These are the people we need to find in order to tap their intuitive local knowledge and ask for their help and guidance… and if they are not to be found, we do it anyway; intuitively. We must experiment and refine and learn intuitively as we grow.
In terms of a rice crop, I would suggest sourcing heirloom/landrace accessions like Blue Bonnet rice http://www.organicseed.co.za/310-blue-bonnet-rice.html This is an 'upland' or 'dryland' rice variety, it does not need to be flooded and can be grown in regular garden soil. This is a traditional rice grown by native Mayan people who call it "Blue Bonnet"… such an accession should well be suitable for many climates under a non-irrigated agroforestry system when grown seasonally. To save privately purchasing rice seeds from commercial suppliers such as the above, (which I only provide to highlight the variety), various dedicated R&D bodies such as the IRRI are available - http://irri.org/our-work/seeds and you can source Blue Bonnet rice freely through Genesys https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/610770
Another landrace ‘upland type’: https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2481024 - this is an upland variety of rice from Burma! There are literally tens of thousands to choose from; multiple species of useful crops, not just rice. They are provided free under the auspices of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Here is the ‘welcome page’ to whet the appetite! https://www.genesys-pgr.org/welcome Genesys is a global portal to information about Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It is a gateway from which germplasm accessions from genebanks around the world can be easily found and ordered…
Fields of Mucuna can be sown out with many different types of grain crops of course and heirloom/landrace accessions such as the drought-proof and nutritious Hopi Blue corn are also readily available, https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/335470 ... Again, when sowing out, choose more than one accession, perhaps several of the same grain to reap the benefits of the Chinese trial which we should learn from.
I know for certain Mucuna, and so many other useful, multipurpose species are widespread throughout the world; humans have been carrying and spreading useful species with them for millennia. Such plants are often in use and thus likely to be relatively easy to source, but there are improved accessions available to trial through Genesys - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/114071 to also add diversity and strengthen the gene pool.
This brings up a very important point about all the often erroneous and misleading propaganda that is so often hyped up about the “dangers of non-native species”… racism also extends to useful plants, which are often the ones targeted; the truth is far less palatable to the ignorant who seek to continue to force us from our lands, depriving us of our birth-right!
The next key agroforestry tool I will briefly focus on is vetiver: https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/345887 / https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2874108 - it is difficult to exaggerate the usefulness of vetiver grass: http://www.vetiver.org/ is packed full of info on vetivers’ multiple uses. One outstanding quality is the unrivalled strength in its root zone, which has been tested and proven to be stronger than steel. Through the most torrential floods, which even undermine and destroy artificially constructed earthworks of stone-filled, steel cages, vetiver embankments and terraces perform admirably. They are able to cope with all sorts of adverse weather from drought to flood to hurricane. They will hold steep slopes and soils together far better than ANY artificial intervention and planted along contour will reliably create natural terraces suitable for agriculture through natural sediment deposition and collection. Vetiver has been used with great success in many countries throughout the world http://www.thechikukwaproject.com/ and http://permaculturenews.org/2010/04/19/vetiver-one-grass-revolution/ ...
In mountainous countries, with steeply-sloping lands and torrential rains the implications of vetiver terracing are obvious. It is also a fodder grass and a craft resource for weaving carpet mats or door and window screens which repel cockroaches, mosquitoes and other unwelcome creepy-crawlies. The essential oil distilled from its roots is known as ‘the oil of tranquillity’ in India and is very healing. http://www.vetiver.org/UP_Vetiver.htm
This would be another important agroforestry technique to trial, and is one of many systems of alley-cropping: http://www.rainforestsaver.org/step-step-guide-inga-alley-cropping ... it has been used with great success by small-scale farmers in Central American countries on tough and sloping lands for some years already. I first learned of this method while attending a permaculture gathering in Portugal.
It was here that I met Mim Elkan, the sister of the environmental journalist Daniel Elkan, when I was asked to give a brief talk on the benefits of Forest Gardens. Daniel was following the pioneering work of a British environmental scientist Mike Hands. Hands first trialed Inga sp. alley-cropping and his results were excellent. Elkans’ excellent articles explain this success in some detail and they appear in various journals including The Ecologist… http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/climate_change_and_energy/980578/the_rainforest_saver.html Hand’s diligence has paid off; he is vastly improving the quality of these farmers lives and livelihoods and saving the irreplaceable Rainforest from the destructive madness of slash and burn ‘agriculture’…
I was demonstrating a version of this in Paraguay recently when I was asked by a Christian Evangelical Church to visit their newly-acquired lands in the Ybyturuzu National Park. What I saw in their fields was disheartening: Another scarred mess of a burnt landscape. So I got to work immediately with seeds and mattock creating terraces on contour in an attempt to explain and demonstrate how to plant fast-growing, multi-purpose species in the troughs to create permanent terracing. Leucaena, their local Inga, Casuarina, Grevillea and Enterolobium were all growing locally and it was simple to collect seed from healthy trees. Species diversity seemed to be high in Ybyturuzu and there were many other useful and leguminous-looking species to choose from, but as I could not identify them precisely, I stuck with what I knew. I also had my own seeds previously collected from various international sites: Tagasaste and Tephrosia. My Spanish is good enough to explain the benefits and long-term stability of such alley-cropping systems and we also planted a four-sisters combination of corn, pumpkin, sunflowers and beans, (to which I also added papaya as it stops corn-borer and golden-berry for its beneficial roots), on the levels above the troughs and mulched both heavily with the debris they had not burned yet to mitigate against soil erosion from the hot sun and heavy rains. I could see that some of the brothers of the church understood what I was attempting to explain and achieve, and why, and I felt glad to be able to contribute in a positive way.
Internet technology is not widespread in this more remote part, but I did share useful links with other church members using it elsewhere.
It is crystal clear how such trees and plants are in themselves key agroforestry tools, which we absolutely must adopt as integral to our agriculture: Once trials are shown to work and benefit the land and farmers by producing good yields there is usually no going back as a knock-on effect is produced as word gets out. It just needs to be done in the first place. You just need a handful of sites or even one site demonstrating such techniques. Then it snowballs. Eden in Niger proves that as does Mike Hands!
This free download from this site outlines the basics of what agroforestry is all about in clear and simple terms: http://www.treesforthefuture.org/resource-center/?did=3 It is an excellent educational tool.
I can say with some certainty that many of the trees highlighted in this, ‘Trees for the Future’ agroforestry training manual will already be present in many locations worldwide; so it is just a question of being able to find them and again, you can often do that by enlisting the help of the community: farmers; healers; herbalists; botanists; the elderly; the academic community…
Through my previous work in the Tropics such as at SABGI botanical gardens in the Philippines, I am used to networking locally and internationally in order to seek out such folk and thus source reliable suppliers of free seeds or plant materials of proven provenance; including from botanic gardens themselves - http://www.bgci.org/plant_request.php?plantID=193252 and from research organisations such as the International Centre for Research into the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from whom we obtained Pigeon Pea seeds suitable for our climate and location; (in order to keep costs down and not have to resort to private seed dealers).
With this in mind, I agree with this summation from winrock: http://factnet.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/FACTPUB/AIS_web/AIS13.html Community-based forestry and agroforestry programs around the world reforest denuded lands, protect valuable watersheds and produce indispensable tree products for local needs. These programs begin planting operations with a commodity of small size but great importance - seed! Adequate supplies of high-quality tree seed are necessary to grow high quality seedlings. Unfortunately, shortages of seeds are common and limit the success of many community-based tree planting programs… Many of these community-based programs are operated by non-profit organizations or farmer groups on shoestring budgets. They are not able to purchase premium priced seed from regional or international producers… Even if funds for seed purchase are available, other problems arise. Shipment through international and local mail may be time consuming and irregular. Seed viability often suffers and sometimes shipments never arrive. Information on the provenance (geographic origin) may be lacking, incomplete or inaccurate. When received, seed may be of inferior quality or inappropriate for local environmental conditions… Organizations and individual farmers can overcome the 'seed problem' by 'growing' their own seed. Seed production serves organizations and individuals in several ways… Less time is spent searching for seed sources and less money is spent on seed purchases. The time and money saved can be allocated to other activities. Locally produced seed has a proven genetic quality for local environmental conditions. Organizations and farmers also realize a financial benefit when seed is sold. Seed sales increase income and decrease economic risk by diversifying farm production and targeting new markets…
Having highlighted this fact, which I agree with, it is also important to identify and source for increased diversity: For diverse ranges of beneficial species which could well serve farmers better by increasing diversity, harvests and commodities. If sourced from within the region all the better, but if they prove elusive through some avenues, then we should go down others and use all the options available.
For example; diverse tree and plant species which are good for honey; depending on the climate zone. For example in drier regions of the (sub)tropics: Vitex Doniana; Tamarindus indica; Prosopis juliflora; Parkia biglobosa; Nauclea latifolia; Moringa oleifera; Mitragyna inermis; Mangifera indica; Leucaena leucocephala; Guirea senegalensis; Gardenia ternifolia; Eucalyptus sp.; Butyrospermum parkii; Anacardium occidentale; Alibizzia lebbeck; Acacias sieberiana, pennata, gourmaensis, albida… from Trees And Multi-storey Agriculture in Africa, Hugues Dupriez, Philippe de Leener.
The beauty about agroforestry is how it can create environmental stability and economic resilience through diversity. It is common sense to state how creating more biodiversity in farms and ecosystems provides superb nutritional and financial stability to farmers who do not have to rely on just a handful of crops and thus can expand their activities into areas such as honey and crafts, essential oils and medicines.
For hungry farmers the world over, diversity is key to survival and the tragedy is that it is being lost through globalisation and destructive economic policies; this is a brilliant study on the subject giving some positive interventions we can use to counteract this trend – http://www.fao.org/docrep/u2440e/u2440e04.htm The contributions of wild fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables and other classes of edible products to the local diet in developing countries and their potential in overcoming or ameliorating prevailing food problems are enormous (Getahun, 1974; Okafor, 1975a, 1980a, 1980b, 1981a; Okigbo, 1977; Roche, 1975a).
Edible forest products include edible nuts and seeds used as staple foods or main dishes; those used as minor food supplements; condiments, thickening agents and flavours; leafy vegetables; edible flowers; fresh fruits; fresh seeds; edible oil; spices; fruit drinks and nonalcoholic beverages; alcoholic drinks (plus flavouring barks); mushrooms; honey; and bush meat (game, snails, insects, etc.).
Forest plants are important and cheap sources of vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and fats; moreover, their dietary contribution is increased because they are available during most seasons, including strategic periods in the year when the conventional staples and vegetables are scarce. For example, the African pear (Dacryodes edulis) matures during the "hungry season" when staples such as yam, cocoyam and rice have been planted but are not yet ready for harvest. Similarly, flushes from trees such as Pterocarpus spp. and Vitex doniana, which are used as vegetables, are available during dry seasons when cultivated vegetables are scarce or obtainable only where there are irrigation facilities.
I know full well how many countries like are fighting their own battles against enforced and engineered poverty; my friend Gilly recently sent me this trailer/article ‘Life and debt’ in Jamaica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjrFHzwx5AU …
Which reminds me of the state of so many countries I have worked and travelled in, including Argentina, and I think President Kirchner is spot on in her recent condemnation of Western capitalism and I am heartened to see increasing numbers of influential folk standing up to this terrorism - http://www.globalresearch.ca/economic-genocide-in-latin-america-the-unspoken-legacy-of-wall-street-and-the-imf/5409932 “Dazzling and supremely erudite, Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner denounced as terrorism the economic policies that have been strangling the developing world during the past century, and are continuing these criminal actions today, the legacy of Milton Friedman’s Chicago Boys’ gangster economic policies. These policies, implemented by the infliction of “shock therapy,” institutionalizing torture, murder and disappearances of individuals, groups, and often heads of state who defy these barbaric economic models, are policies which are more accurately described as global economic theft, sanctioned by the theory that “might makes right.”
From my travels I also understand how folk from ‘poorer’ countries seem to think that Europeans and Americans are living in the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’ and of course fail to see the very dark aspects of the class warfare which is also being waged here with equal ferocity by the same people – my parents ‘lost’ over a third of their pension, through the recent wave of banks stealing and lying and they have no means of redress… I had thousands of pounds worth of money I had worked hard for stolen by a British financial company, which led to me losing my mobile home, 'The Happy Bus'… and if people believe we have a functioning ‘justice’ system within the British Isles, they are living in ‘cloud-cuckoo land’! Justice does not exist here or is the exception to the rule. I was put through hell both through the experience and the courts. This was not the first instance either.
This is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of corrupt practice in Europe, which extends into all areas of our lives.
I still count myself lucky though, and I know I am well-blessed. Travelling and working in numerous other countries and cultures gives you a broader and more rounded perspective on life and makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you may or may not have lost along the way! I have always been able to get by and keep my wits about me and these are things nobody can take away.
To get back to the matter in hand anyway! Diversity in farming: For example the Parkia tree; (which is widespread in the Tropics, including the just-mentioned Caribbean, probably spread there since plantation times or before, and is also available by accession [for possibly strengthening genetics and diversity] - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/id/2856374 ).
Parkia biglobosa is an incredibly useful, all-round tree for the home-forest garden, producing highly nutritious and reliable food stuffs/medicines for man and animal alike - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:AGFO.0000029000.22293.d1 and http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Parkia_biglobosa.pdf ...
This is a good article about the real-importance of plant diversity and plant-based medicines in our world which mentions another very useful honey and multi-purpose agroforestry tree Vitex doniana: http://www.getview.org/download_pdf/Vol2_No9_september_2012/GETview_Vol2_no9_pg1_5.pdf
Vitex doniana is called “deap” by Pan speaking tribe in Plateau state, Nigeria. The plant is a widespread deciduous forest tree in the savannah. It is a small to medium sized tree up to 25 m tall, bole branches for up to 11 m and up to 90 to 160 cm in diameter. In traditional medicine, leaf sap is used as an eye drop to treat conjunctivitis and other eye complaints. The bark extract is used to treat stomach complaints and kidney troubles (Agunu et al., 2005). Locally dried and fresh fruits are eaten against diarrhea and as a remedy against lack of vitamin A and B. The fresh leaves are also used as vegetables and for soup. This study is designed to find out the antibacterial potentials of the plants against gastro intestinal diseases caused specifically by E.coli and Salmonella sp and to substantiate their acclaimed uses in the traditional medicine.
There has been gradual shift of recent, from the use of synthetic drugs in treatment of some diseases to plant products due to emergence of multi drug resistant phenomena. Higher plants are sources of drugs, which have made important contribution in the health sector in urban as well as rural communities especially in tropics and sub-tropics (Sofowora, 1993). It has been proven scientifically that some plants have many compounds that exhibit prominent effects on the animal system while some possess important therapeutic properties, which can be utilized in the treatment and cure of human and other animal diseases (Ogundare, 2007). Medicinal plants are cheap starting materials for the synthesis of new drugs and the chances of the body accepting preparations from plants are more than from a substance synthesized from laboratory (Sofowora, 1988). Also, Fansworth (2001) has reported that aqueous decoctions of drug have a greater bioavailability to the body than synthetic formulation today in the market. This is due to the fact that presentation of the active constituent of the plant material in the solubilized form brings about increase absorption of the extract by the body. It has been documented that the plant kingdom is a wider natural and better medicinal agents than what is provided by the chemist (Sofowora, 2003). Gatstron (1993) estimated that about 14 % of known antibiotics are produced by plants. It has been reported also that 95 % of traditional drugs in Africa come from plants. A World Health Organisation (WHO) survey in 1983 has also showed that developing countries are more interested than ever in making use of traditional indigeneous resources in implementing the primary health care (Ntiejumokwu, 1990).
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Vitex_doniana.pdf Vitex is possibly available through accession - https://www.genesys-pgr.org/acn/search?q=vitex+doniana …
Then there are livestock: We may now be in the wind down stage of bigger is better animal selection trend and it has certainly been a wild ride. . . . the lesson now being learned is that the bigger breeding animals . . . cost more to maintain, are often slower to reproduce, and may even have a shorter lifespan… Microlivestock are important because the developing world's animal production is only a fraction of what it should be. http://www.appropedia.org/Micro-livestock:_Little-known_Small_Animals_with_a_Promising_Economic_Future_2
Throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the poor eat almost no meat, milk, or eggs—the most nutritious foods. It is estimated, for example, that in Mexico 25 million campesinos cannot afford meat. In poor countries, even the middle class eats less meat in a year than the populations of North America and Europe eat in a month. Malnutrition is common and its effects, especially on children, can be debilitating. It is one of mankind's most serious imbalances—and most pressing problems. Rural families in the Third World usually subsist mainly on the products from their homes or farms. Thus, if we are to help their livestock production, more attention must be given to animals that are sized for their situations. Kelly Klober Small Farmer's Journal… Microlivestock: Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future…
The local villagers near to the farm I was at in the Peruvian highlands kept Guinea pigs in small pens. They are naturally sociable animals needing little space and they are very undemanding as to food requirements. They breed rapidly and stay healthy with good care, and they provide an abundant and delicious food source and are also comforting animals to have around. It is also a simple matter to easily cultivate a variety of cut-and-come-again fodder crops for guinea pigs and microlivestock in general: Medicago sativa, (alfalfa); Trigonella foenum-graecum, (fenugreek); Trifolium resupinatum, (Persian clover); Cytisus proliferus, (tagasaste); Hedysarum coronarium, (sulla) – the latter being significant due to its high concentration of condensed tannins which are a long-term, completely non-toxic and natural solution to the most serious problem facing ruminant and non-ruminant animals, their gut parasites. (This in juxtaposition to the proven-to-be-non-effective – [precisely because of the multi-drug-resistant-phenomena mentioned in the getview.org article above] – and equally very poisonous pharmaceutical anthelmintic drugs). http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000411.htm - In grazing trials, better lamb performance was achieved from sulla than from grass/white clover, a result attributed to a very high readily fermentable to structural carbohydrate ratio (Terrill et al., l992). Better performance of lambs grazing sulla compared with lucerne was attributed to the protective effects of condensed tannins on nematode infection and protein protection in the rumen (Niezen et al., l995).
The range of fodder crops available is vast. (Good article by ECHO on Multi-purpose trees - http://members.echocommunity.org/resource/resmgr/a_to_z/azch4mul.htm )
http://www.petcherseeds.com/about-sunn-hemp/sunn-hemp-a-forage-for-goats/ - good article about Sunn hemp as a forage for goats…
I worked on a farm in New Zealand with Kune-kune pigs, which are an awesome ‘micro-pig’ needing little care and very friendly; (delicious too)… http://www.kunekune.info/en/care/care.php#1 http://www.britishkunekunesociety.org.uk/
And I worked on another farm raising Indian runner ducks - http://www.runnerduck.net/ … http://www.backyardchickens.com/products/indian-runner
http://www.treecrops.org.nz/crops/shelter/tagasaste/ - tagasaste as a great all-rounder… “High protein feedstock for fish food from worm farms and freshwater crustacean”
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Chamaecytisus_prolifer_var._palmensis.htm / http://factnet.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/chamacyt.htm - again...
So, to reiterate, there are a few ideas of how I would approach farming for myself or go about demonstrating it to farmers. Tools and expenses are basic and cheap. You need the basic hand tools, the right seeds and plant species, and the right knowledge and willingness to demonstrate the right techniques!
http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/keith-mikkelson/sustainable-agriculture/ebook/product-17560992.html - the free download of this book is another excellent guide-blueprint to sustainable farming, (I wrote the review). I have my own copy from the Philippines.
His basic premise is to feed the soil not the plant and Mikkelson relies heavily on the EM technology of Teruo Higa I mention at the beginning of this report. It is easy and cheap to build simple ‘vortex devices’ to breed EM’s in high numbers which can then be sprayed or drenched or used in other ways as appropriate… he upends one of the big plastic water bottles used in offices with various amendments attached and uses a fish tank pump to create the vortex and oxygenate. He achieves outstanding results. If such implementations as this and all of the above were to be adopted throughout farmlands, the ideal situation of course, then what will wash into our waters and seas will not be nasty chemicals killing everything in their wake, but beneficial microorganisms which do completely the opposite – provide life and vitality to everything they come into contact with. The ideal situation is when nothing gets washed away and stable soils are the rule and the agroforestry techniques I’ve outlined above will help to create such stable soils.
http://www.agrowingculture.org/2011/04/the-aloha-natural-farm-puerto-princesa-city-palawan-philippines/ This detailed article about Mikkelsons’ farming demonstrates it’s very hands-on and diverse techniques. These require application and effort, especially in the beginning stages, but they are very worthy of investigation and implementation.
I am more of the ‘school of do-nothing farming’ as Masanobu Fukuoka was famous for saying, which is more about listening intuitively to nature and minimum intervention in this regard, but everyone has their own style and there is validity found in a wide range of implementations.
Janine Benyus says it equally well in her presentation ‘The Biomimicry Effect’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx2hvVIFN_U 2014 biomimicry…
At other NGO’s who have employed me I was living in basic conditions, such as mud-straw or block huts, either near to the agricultural centre or on the land itself.
I do not expect luxury accommodation, but I do expect sanitary and relatively comfortable living conditions. There is an important reason why I stress sanitary and a brief story behind my reason for doing so.
In ‘another life’ I worked as a translator in various countries including for a medical equipment manufacturing company in Yaroslavl, Russia. I rarely undertake translation work nowadays but I am able to translate from three European languages into English.
I mention this, as one of my projects, when working for ‘Yartek medical’ in Yaroslavl, was to translate the technical schematics and uses of an ingenious device called a ‘nasal catheter’; from Russian into English in order to facilitate sales on the International market.
Most of the interest generated by this device; which is an effective aide in helping to cure the debilitating condition called sinusitis, comes from tropical countries with big, polluted cities. This is because the disease is prevalent there, as sinusitis is caused by two main factors: One is air pollution from motor vehicles and other vectors, and the other is from concrete buildings.
Pure concrete is an entirely inappropriate and unhealthy material to use to build living quarters. It traps air and moisture and allows neither to freely circulate and thus, especially in hot and humid, tropical conditions, many harmful, indeed deadly fungal growths overrun concrete dwellings and condemn their occupants to the ill health caused by incessantly breathing in unhealthy, stagnant and compromised airs.
Sinusitis a disease when the sinuses become severely compromised by thick, pus-like infections leading to severe health complications. The nasal catheter acts to remove pus-like infections by a simple (but ingenious) vacuum effect, wherein the sinuses are cleared of pus and left intact and thus given the opportunity to heal again. The patient is then placed upon a more appropriate and detoxifying dietary regimen so the problem does not reoccur… and the patient may be asked to inspect where they live and move to a healthier home.
This was actually one of the first times I was stimulated to ponder more deeply into the vast differences between Western and Eastern philosophies of life, especially as they relate to our health and ‘medical’ systems. The Russian system is poised between the West and the East but much more biased to the East – Western doctors are more inclined to use surgery to cut body parts out, often unnecessarily, but Eastern medicine is more about prevention and gentler interventions. Hence a nasal catheter to help heal and leave in place rather than a knife to cut out!
This is why I stress the need for sanitary living conditions. I dislike concrete very much and I value my health; especially after having been seriously ill and in an Intensive Care Unit before now with a lung-related condition!
In the Philippines I was very happy to be living in a bamboo hut, which breathes naturally. I have even built my own accommodation from mud and straw and there is tremendous satisfaction in doing that! Recently at SABGI students of a Marine Biology institute have been building some more bamboo accommodations.
In the PI we also had access to a motorbike for running around on, and a small van for pick-up and deliveries. There was also an office for the inevitable administration duties and both of these factors make the very important task of networking much easier of course…
This is the ‘ideal scenario’ but I understand how such facilities are not always available there are always other solutions.
Organisations working proactively with farmers can benefit from their networks created with farmers groups and community groups in order to encourage such groups to unite and to see the benefits of uniting and pooling knowledge and resources to improve their individual and collective situations. Such groups will often be willing to either lease land at low cost or offer land up freely, to committed agroforestry organisations as they become aware of the benefits which will accrue to the whole community through such a partnership.
Farmers and community groups should establish various HQs or field centres after identifying appropriate sites to conduct demonstration trials of suitable agroforestry techniques.
Ideally, there need not be any considerable initial expenditure, so that the costs can be spread out and you can get straight down to business.
END OF REPORT!
SOME MORE PEARLS OF WISDOM...
http://www.geomantica.com/articles/whats-the-connection-between-dowsing-and-nature-spirits/
Animistic traditions around the planet recognized and honoured the intelligences/consciousnesses in nature and strongly protected the deva’s homes. But growing human population levels started to demanded much more from Country. Exploiters of the Earth were intent on wiping out deva traditions, so they could mine/farm/develop land. Monotheistic religion backed them up. And indigenous traditions of Earth and deva reverence were denigrated as inferior and an impediment to progress...
http://agni-culture.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/2/4/22247118/patrick-flanagan-pyramid-power-the-millennium-science.pdf
Inscription above the doorway at the Temple of Delphi: "Man know thyself, and you will know the gods and their energies."
A Brief Introduction to the Natural Eco-Technological Theories of Viktor Schauberger http://free-energy.xf.cz/SCHAUBERGER/The_water_wizard.pdf
Viktor Schauberger (30 June 1885 - 25 September 1958) was born in Austria of a long line of foresters stretching back some four hundred years. He developed a gift for accurate and intuitive observation so great that he was able to perceive the natural energies and other phenomena occurring in Nature, which are still unrecognised by orthodox science. Refusing to attend University at the age of 18, to the fury of his father, Viktor Schauberger left home and spent a long period alone in the high, remote forest, contemplating, pondering and observing any subtle energetic processes taking place in Nature's laboratory, where they were still undisturbed by human hand. During this period he developed very profound and radical theories, later to be confirmed practically, concerning water, the energies inherent in it and its desired natural form of motion. These eventually earned him the name of 'The Water Wizard'. For the whole of his life he fought a running and often acrimonious battle with academia and its institutions, since his theories in the main were diametrically opposed to the so-called established facts of science. His practical demonstration of them always functioned as he had theorised, however, for he had come to understand the true inner workings of Nature and was able to emulate them. Viktor Schauberger's theories afford new insights into the naturally correct or 'naturalesque' management of water. This encompasses its proper handling, storage, and conduction by means that promote its self-purification, the retention and enhancement of its natural energies and health. In this book, the close interrelationship between water and the forest (as a water-producer - not a water consumer) is examined. The problem of soil salinity and how this comes about through over-exposure of the soil to the radiance of the Sun through deforestation and faulty agricultural practices, are also addressed. Indications are given as to how these may be avoided and overcome, due to Viktor Schauberger's radical and fundamentally new understanding of the coming into being and functioning of the groundwater table in relation to soil temperature. As a natural organism, water is formed and functions according to Nature's laws and geometry, the latter exhibiting none of the elements of the straight line, circle and point, the basis of modern mechanical and technological artefacts. Reflecting Nature's principal constant, namely that of continuous change and transformation, the vortex epitomises this form of open, fluid and flexible motion. Through his study of the vortices occurring naturally in flowing water and in the air in the form of cyclones and tornadoes, Viktor Schauberger developed his theories of implosion. It was through the research and development of these theories that he was able to produce spring-quality water and generate considerable energies in and with water and air. In listing some of his accomplishments one could not do better than to quote from his book, Our Senseless Toil, written in 1933: "It is possible to regulate watercourses over any given distance without embankment works; to transport timber and other materials, even when heavier than water, for example ore, stones, etc., down the centre of such water-courses; to raise the height of the water table in the surrounding countryside and to endow the water with all those elements necessary for the prevailing vegetation." "Furthermore it is possible in this way to render timber and other such materials non-inflammable and rot resistant; to produce drinking and spa-water for man, beast and soil of any desired composition and performance artificially, but in the way that it occurs in Nature; to raise water in a vertical pipe without pumping devices; to produce any amount of electricity and radiant energy almost without cost; to raise soil quality and to heal cancer, tuberculosis and a variety of nervous disorders." "... the practical implementation of this ... would without doubt signify a complete reorientation in all areas of science and technology. By application of these new found laws, I have already constructed fairly large installations in the spheres of log-rafting and river regulation, which as is known, have functioned faultlessly for a decade, and which today still present insoluble enigmas to the various scientific disciplines concerned." Water and its vital interaction with the forest was Viktor's principal preoccupation. He viewed water as a living entity, the 'Blood of Mother-Earth', which is born in the womb of the forest. Our mechanistic, materialistic and extremely superficial way of looking at things, however, prevents us from considering water to be anything other than inorganic, i.e. supposedly without life but, while apparently having no life itself, can nevertheless miraculously create life in all its forms. Life is movement and is epitomised by water, which is in a constant state of motion and transformation, both externally and internally. In confirmation of this fact, water is able to combine with more substances than any other molecule and, flowing as water, sap and blood, is the creator of the myriad life-forms on this planet. How then could it ever be construed as life-less in accordance with the chemist's clinical view of water, defined as the inorganic substance H2O? This short description is a gros misrepresentation, As the fundamental basis of all life, water is itself a living entity and should be treated as such. Failure to do so quickly transforms it into an enemy, rather than the nurturer and furtherer of all life that it should be "This civilisation is the work of man, who high-handedly and ignorant of the true workings of Nature, has created a world without meaning or foundation, which now threatens to destroy him, for through his behaviour and his activities, he, who should be her master, has disturbed Nature's inherent unity." Apart from the more familiar categories of water, there are, according to Viktor Schauberger, as many varieties of water as there are animals and plants. Were water merely the sterile, distilled H20 as claimed by science, it would be poisonous to all living things. H2O or 'juvenile water' is sterile, distilled water and devoid of any so-called 'impurities'. It has no developed character and qualities. As a young, immature, growing entity, it grasps like a baby at everything within reach. It absorbs the characteristics and properties of whatever it comes into contact with or has attracted to itself in order to grow to maturity. This 'everything' - the so-called 'impurities'- takes the form of trace elements, minerals, salts and even smells! Were we to drink pure H2O constantly, it would quickly leach out all our store of minerals and trace elements, debilitating and ultimately killing us. Like a growing child, juvenile water takes and does not give. Only when mature, i.e. when suitably enriched with raw materials, is it in a position to give, to dispense itself freely and willingly, thus enabling the rest of life to develop. Before the birth of water, there was no life. But what is this marvellous, colourless, tasteless and odourless substance, which quenches our thirst like no other liquid? Did we but truly understand the essential nature of water - a living substance - we would not treat it so churlishly, but would care for it as if our lives depended on it, which undoubtedly they do. "The Upholder of the Cycles which supports the whole of Life, is water. In every drop of water dwells the Godhead, whom we all serve; there also dwells Life, the Soul of the 'First' substance - Water - whose boundaries and banks are the capillaries that guide it and in which it circulates." “More energy is encapsulated in every drop of good spring water than an average-sized powerstation is presently able to produce.”
http://www.salvaleforeste.it/documentazione/lies.pdf Planting trees can be very good, but it can also be very bad. It all depends what you’re planting them for, the scale and site of the plantations and the costs or benefits they bring to local populations. Large-scale plantations of rapid-growth species such as eucalyptus and pines generate most negative impacts, both in social and environmental terms. Because of the kind of impacts caused by this type of plantation, resistance struggles against them have become generalized. The response of the firms responsible for these plantations and of the people who have promoted this model of plantation has been to deny such impacts and to elaborate and disseminate campaigns of disinformation designed to win them support amongst sectors of the population who are not well-informed. Below are ten of the most common misleading statements being disseminated about large-scale monoculture tree plantations… the need for wood is not the only cause of deforestation. Large areas of native forest are often eliminated and then replaced by cash crops for export or by extensive cattle-ranching; other areas disappear beneath giant hydroelectric dams; mangroves are eliminated and replaced by industrial shrimp farming; drilling for oil and mining destroy vast areas of native forest, etc. Monoculture plantations cannot lessen the forces behind these types of destruction.