Permaculture - The most natural form of farming

“You cannot go against nature. She is stronger than the strongest of men. We can permit ourselves some liberties, but in details only.” – Pablo Picasso

Permaculture, a form of farming discovered almost 50 years ago, is a radically different approach to farming as compared to other forms of farming such as aeroponics or hydroponics. Although definitions differ according to the source you refer to, one definition of permaculture can be to carry out all farming activities in a way that go with the flow of nature and its activities rather than going against the current. This can also mean that practitioners of permaculture don’t utilize tractors and machinery while farming, but that is open to contention. So what principles exactly constitutes permaculture? Some of them are given below:

1) Water Management: Clean water is the backbone of any farming operation. How does a permaculture farm obtain water? Through rain-water harvesting. Permaculture farms create reservoirs and storage ponds where they store rain water. By using canals and trenches, that water is transported to different areas of the farm and left on the soil so that the soil can absorb the water. This has two advantages for the farm: 1) It reduces surface water run-off, which means fast water flowing off the top surface of the soil which also takes along with it the most fertile area of the soil as it flows away, in the process leaving the soil less fertile than before as more and more water flows over the soil 2) The standing water allows the soil to absorb the water, which makes the soil moister and more fertile. Furthermore, with harvested rain-water, reliance on other sources of water reduces.

2) Soil Health: Fertile soils contains millions of bacteria that are responsible for keeping the soil fertile. However, whenever that fertile soil is pressed hard or is burnt, those bacteria die, rendering the soil infertile. In permaculture farms, crops aren’t burnt after being harvested.

3) Pest Management: Rather than utilizing conventional pesticides, there are more natural ways of managing pests in farms. A popular way is to grow the Marigold flower or the Sunflower. These plants release wild scents that repel away insects. Sunflowers attract ant colonies away from other plants, and they are tough enough to not suffer any damage. Other popular insect-repellants include the Tulsi plant, onions, garlic. Additionally, onion and garlic can also be used as food. The idea behind using natural pest-management control techniques is not to eliminate pests altogether, but to control upto 80% pests in a field, which is enough for the farm to earn an income.

4) Multi-cropping: Plant multiple crops in one location to maximize output and in a way ‘diversify’ your output to protect against failed harvest of one crop.

5) Seeds: Collect seeds from the plants you grow and use those to grow crops for the next season.

6) Multi-layer farming: This is a technique in which layers of plants are divided in terms of height. Also called a multi-tier cropping system, the idea is to utilize space beneath plants as efficiently as possible. Crops are grown at different heights but on the same land and at the same time. As an example, coconut + papaya + coffee + pineapple can be grown at the same time in a multi-tiered fashion. A coconut tree can grow to a height of 20 meters and more. Beneath the canopy of the coconut tree, a papaya tree can be planted which grows to a height of about 10 meters. Below the papaya tree, a coffee tree can be grown which grows about 3 meters high, while finally, a pineapple plant can be grown on the ground since it is a ground-based plant and usually doesn’t grow higher than one or one-and-a-half meter tall. Multi-layer farming has its challenges, such as competition for water between the plants growing on the same tract of land, but it tends to offer more benefits such as efficient utilization of farm-land. More information about this process and possible combinations of multi-layered farms can be found HERE.

7) Mulching: Mulching is a process in which soil between plants is covered by some material in order to keep the soil cool in summer and warm in winter. Mulching prevents water from evaoporating from the soil, and thus the soil will need less water when crops are grown on it. It also protects the soil from being washed away by wind and rain, and prevents weed growth by blocking out sunlight. How does a permaculture farmer do mulching? One way is to use post-harvest residue (that is usually burnt in order to make way for new crops) to cover the soil. The benefits of this process are two-fold: 1) Because no residue is burnt, soil-health is maintained 2) The residue decomposes by itself in about 100 days, thus requiring less amount of work to clear once crops are ready to be planted. Also, it goes without saying that if the crop residue is not burnt, no air-pollution is generated, which not only improves air-quality but also reduces risk to a farmer’s health. Some farmers also say that the plant residue that is burnt contains about 30% of the nutrients in the soil that were added while the plant was growing. Thus, by recycling the residue, the nutrients in the residue are also recycled and added back to the soil, reducing need for nutrients in the future while growing crops.

8) Compost: Use the plant waste and residue that is generated after harvesting to create compost that can be applied to plants in the form of fertilizers.

This post was supposed to be a primer in the art of permaculture farming. The approaches here are just a few of the approaches that can be applied. Different permaculture farms carry out different steps in order to go ‘with nature’ rather than ‘against nature’.

Article inspired by this video.