PERMACULTURE: THE TRENDING TOPIC •article by : Naga spurthi •

      PERMACULTURE : A NATURAL MIMIC

INTRODUCTION:

• Permanent+ Agriculture = Permaculture.

• It provides farmers a way to obtain more yields and productivity by doing it in a more sustainable and eco-friendly way than conventional farming methods. It applies more holistic approach to farming crops or livestock.

• The term originated from David Holmgren in 1978

• It is defined as is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.

• It has 3 cores:

1. Care for earth

2. Care for people 

3. Fair share.

LET’S LEARN ABOUT THE PRINCIPLES: 12

1. Observe and Interact

2. Catch and Store Energy

3. Obtain a Yield

4. Apply Self-regulation and Accept Feedback

5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services

6. Produce No Waste

7. Design from Patterns to Details

8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate

9. Use Small and Slow Solutions

10. Use and Value Diversity

11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal

12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

ADVANTAGES:

Permaculture has a lot of benefits that makes as an attractive choice for anyone who has land and is looking to grow food, from farmers all the way down to backyard gardeners. Some of the uses include:

     

         

1. Reduced water usage

2. It costs less

3. Reduced waste

4. Nature does most of the work

5. Less pollution

6. Less toxins

7. Improved values

8. More self-sufficiency

9. Applicable to existing systems

.

COMMON PRACTICES OF PERMACULTURE:      

           

1. Harvesting with rainwater and grey water

• Instead of just letting rainwater run off your land, you can accumulate and store it to use it. 

• Both rainwater and storm water can be used for a variety of applications, for irrigation and livestock and even drinking water if properly treated first which need to be screened, disinfected, and filtered before it’s potable for humans. 

• One final source of reusable water on the farm is grey water -from activities in the home or around the farm like taking a bath, washing dishes, or doing the laundry.

2. Agro forestry= agriculture + forestry.

• It combines trees or shrubs along with livestock or crops.

• The basic idea is to use a 7 -layer system to create your food forest.

 

• Canopy layer, Low tree layer, Shrub layer, Herbaceous layer, Rhizo sphere, Ground Cover layer, and Vertical layer

• silvopastoral and silvoarable: Silvopastoral systems combine trees with foraging livestock, while silvoarable combines trees with companion crops

• It’s designed to mimic naturally-occurring forests.

           

3. Hügelkultur:

• German meaning “hill culture.” It’s a technique whereby large amounts of wood are buried to improve the water retention abilities of the soil.

• Decaying wood acts like a sponge to hold onto water that seeps into the ground which the mound has lifespan of 5-6years before the wood fully rots and the process needs to be repeated again.

4. SHEET MULCHING: 

Sheet mulching an organic no-dig technique which tries to mimic the soil build up that happens naturally in forests like how leaves cover the ground. In some places it is named as “lasagna gardening”.

               

5. MINIMUM TILLING / NO TILLING: 

• It aims to leave soil undisturbed instead of breaking up the soil before planting, it’s simply left undisturbed.

• Conventional farming disturbs the soil. This lets carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and overly oxygenizes the soil.

• Loosening the soil like this can also lead to erosion and nutrient runoff, as well as destroying beneficial fungi networks in the land

• 
  
  

• The other practices are:

6. Cell grazing.

7. Natural building

8. Inter cropping and companion cropping

9. Market gardening.

Q: What is the difference between horticulture and permaculture?

A: Horticulture simply refers to the growing of plants for commercial consumption, usually vegetables. There is some overlap, and parts of permaculture can be classified as horticulture.

But horticulture also applies to other farming techniques like monoculture, and permaculture includes things like raising livestock that aren’t part of horticulture.

Q: Why is permaculture is not well adapted yet?

A: The main problem of permaculture is lack of common sense of the people (according to research gate ), all seeking economic improvement, while permaculture offers a full and healthy life, not just those who practice it but also the people around them.

THANKS FOR TRAVELLING TILL LAST OF THE PAGE I HOPE IT HELPED YOU AND FOR ANY QUIERIES DO COMMENT BELOW.