'Creative natural farming': Tribal community’s family farm shows the way forward

By Bharat Dogra

Maali Ram’s small home and farm may appear to be very ordinary to outsiders, but local people who know better are increasingly attracted by what this bheel (tribal community) farmer has achieved with the help of his wife Dulkibai and other family members. This is why they have been visiting this farm in growing numbers and in addition also inviting Maali Ram for training others in natural farming.

When I recently visited this farm located in Kataron Ka Khera village in Pratapgarh district (Rajasthan), what impressed me most was the very high level of creativity and intensity of involvement in his farming. He is all the time thinking of what he has done in any particular part of his farm, whether he could have done something better and what he’ll be doing next. He is so full of his creative ideas that he insists that you come to this nook and that corner of his farm to see and understand what he has been doing and what results he hopes to achieve. While speaking to him and being guided by him around his farm, I was reminded of what the American philosopher-farmer Wendell Berry has written about a good farmer—he wrote that a good farmer is working even when he is physically not on his farm, as he or she is always thinking of creative farming ideas.

On their small 3 bigha farm Maali Ram and Dulkibai have nearly 200 fruit and other trees, including guava, papaya, anvla, lemon, jackfruit and chandan (sandalwood) trees. Multi-layered pattern is used for growing over 15 vegetables. Natural farming methods are used in all this as well as grain, legume, oilseed and spice cultivation. Cows, bullocks, goats and poultry are integral parts of the farm and their excreta as well as other waste are used up while preparing manure and natural pest repellant. Emphasis is on one activity or resource being of assistance to some other activity or resource, and of waste being minimized and instead used as resource. A traditional well is just about able to meet the water needs of the farm, although the farm could make use of some more water if it was available.

Maali Ram’s creativity has come more into play since he started turning his 3 bigha farm into natural farming, one bigha at a time to avoid any sudden disruption. Alongside his shift towards natural farming also came multi-layer vegetable cultivation and fruit trees, making him very busy. But this is the kind of work that gives him more and more satisfaction, and after all the hard work, Maali Ram appears happy, not tired.

Many of these changes came due to the active presence in this and nearby villages of SRIJAN, a voluntary organization involved in supporting sustainable livelihoods that has been a source of help and encouragement for this enthusiastic farmer. However Maali Ram did not just take what was suggested to him, he also added a lot to this with his own creativity and experimentation.

At national and international levels, there is a lot of discussion on the crisis of farmers. But when we speak of solutions to emerge from this crisis, we can learn a lot from the experience of farmers like Maali Ram who have been able to secure satisfactory livelihood despite having very less land and a very low resource base to start with.

Actually Maali Ram has some additional land which is away from his home and also hilly. He hopes at a later stage to cultivate this land too in the same caring way as he has nurtured the land located closer to his home and hamlet.

Maali Ram says that his aim is to follow a path of farming which protects his and his family’s health, which protects the health of others and the health of soil. Following this path gives him happiness and satisfaction, he adds.

He expresses delight that his brother who lives close by has now agreed to traverse this same path. As though trying to convince me, he points to a path and tries to take me to his brother’s farm too. He is really very happy that his brother too has accepted the need for natural farming. He hopes that more and more farmers will come this way soon.

Although he does not say this specifically, and has probably not heard about this or has thought along these lines, the kind of farming he practices contributes to climate change mitigation as well as adaptation, and this increases its value all the more in these times of climate change and other related serious environmental problems. One can only hope that many more farmers will come the way of Maali Ram, further adding to his happiness and satisfaction.

---

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food, Man over Machine, When the Two Streams Met, and A Day in 2071

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Search This Blog