Why sustainable and what is sustainable

Human civilization began when the hunter-gatherer turned to farming. Today agriculture is again the key to the survival of human civilization. In sustainable agriculture lie the seeds of solutions to our problems of food, material and energy security, health, environment, climate change and untrammeled urbanization. This is not merely an issue of high politics, this is also a moral and practical necessity as billions still struggle to live a decent life by working the land.

Consider this. We spend more on pills and powders than on wholesome food. While garbage piles up in cities, which devour more and more farm produce, villages lack biomass for manure and turn per force to chemical fertilizers. While millions in cities across the world yearn a return to a natural, wholesome state closer to mother earth, millions leave the villages for cities in search of a better life. For them the dream of an idyllic life in the country is a cruel joke as they look around and see schools without teachers, taps without water and bulbs without electricity. Skills are abundant and often underutilized in the cities; villages lack critical expertise. Time is at a premium in cities with lives lived at a frenetic pace; farmers' lives often lack rewarding activity. Industrial agriculture assumes that the farmer is not supposed to innovate or think about markets, technology or the environment.

This blog will be a platform to stimulate discussion and action on sustainable agriculture. Sustainable not only in the narrow sense of environmentally sustainable. Sustainable in the sense of geographical spaces; agriculture that connects urban and rural spaces. Sustainable in the sense of time; agriculture that connects generations, a farmer's son proudly picking up where his father left. Sustainable in the sense of human dignity, connecting farmers' work to their aspirations. If sustainable agriculture does all the rest - protect and nurture the environment, bridge the urban and rural spaces, produce all that our economies need but still does not give the farmer enough returns to afford a decent house, school for his children, all that 'we' aspire to in the cities, we would still not have succeeded in making agriculture sustainable.

With this as the starting point, we will share insights and experiences from around the world. We will talk about growing food, raising animals, composting and turning our balconies and backyards into experimental work stations. We will rededicate ourselves to Gandhiji's dream of reviving village life and bringing a smile to the faces of the forgotten.