Living Farms Newsletter
Living Farms Newsletter : Climate Crisis
Community Charter on Climate Crisis
Climate change has become the subject of daily discussion today. Super cyclones, a surging ocean, rising temperatures, and a receding monsoon have woken up the people of the state to this vital issue. The farmers are the most affected, altough their sustainable livestyle did not cause the problem. The cyclone “Aila” had prompted the weather man to predict the onset of the monsoon. The farmers sowed their seeds. Now that the saplings are growing there is no sign of rain. The farmers stand to loose their seeds and the crop. This situation will impoverish them and push them further into indebtedness. Is there no way to cope with this kind of changes? Do the farmers and other communities have to bow down to the diktats of nature? At Living Farms we do not think so. We went to the Dongria Kondhs in Niyamgiri hills of Rayagada district to know from them how they perceive climate change and how they hope to tackle the crisis.
Establishing an ecological farming model
Farmers of Orissa have been pushed towards the cultivation of genetically modified Bt Cotton in hordes. Even though the state did not give the official nod they were encouraged by the agriculture extension officials who turned a blind eye to the import of seeds by farmers from Andhra Pradesh. Seed company officials went to the farmers and made tall promises about high yields and low expenses. But the promises failed and the farmer is today cursing his luck alone without anyone to turn to for help. Will the same scenario be repeated once again? Will the farmer be led to the trap? Living Farms seeks to show the farmer that cotton farming using traditional seeds and non chemical inputs is better than expensive and highly unpredictable Bt Cotton.
Discussion Board
We see ourselves as an open and learning organisation. This means we
want to share our opinion and learn from other people's opinions and
ideas. What can help us as an organisation to grow? How to deal with
what is going on in the world in a constructive way? What can people
on both sides of the world learn from eachother? These are important
questions we like to talk about with each and everyone of you. That is
why we want to invite you to join us to discuss about a variety of
topics in our new discussion board.
You can find the discussion board under http://www.living-farms.org/site/discussion
Everyone can read the discussions, however you need to register in order to participate.
