For more than two decades, LEISA India magazine has been inspiring those interested in agriculture with its focus on practical field experiences based on agroecology. LEISA India is all about celebrating the practical knowledge and benefitting from co-creating it, sharing it and using it for the benefit of all. All along, we believed that it is not just a publication but a knowledge exchange movement. LEISA India has been recognised as one of the primary sources of inspiration, a knowledge treasure on ecological agriculture by many individuals and agencies involved in development sector as well as mainstream research and training.
This special issue is brought out to celebrate two decades of knowledge sharing on agroecology. This issue includes some of the best articles published earlier in LEISA India, encompassing various dimensions and perspectives on agroecology. We are forever grateful to those small farmers who have been relentlessly practicing ecological agricultural methods inspiring many to follow and to all those authors without whom sharing such experiences would not have been possible. Hope you find this special issue interesting.
i Foreword
iv Preface
1 The battle for the future of farming: What you need to know
Michel Pimbert and Colin Anderson
4 Agriculture: A life of inter-connectedness
C F John
8 Cultivating biodiversity
P V Satheesh
11 Insects or Pests? Only practice decides
J Krishnan
15 Guiding Systematic Documentation and Knowledge Management
16 Pollinators: Key for agro biodiversity conservation
Robert Leo and Mathew John
21 Rejuvenated landscape, rejuvenated lives
WOTR
25 Farming without pumps
Shree Padre
28 The Narayana Reddy Column
Biodiverse farms are sustainable farms
29 Guiding Special Publications
30 The System of Rice Intensifcation and its implications for agriculture
Norman Uphoff
35 Upscaling SRI: Unpacking innovation, investments and institutions
C Shambu Prasad and B C Barah
43 About climate, meat and markets: High time to move towards agroecology and food sovereignty
GRAIN
46 Building climate resilience
Seema Ravandale, Vinod Niranjan and Debashish Sen
51 A self reliance path towards food sovereignty
Kulaswami Jagannath Jena
55 LEISA Alliance Meets
56 Farmer Field School: Building knowledge on the farm
Abhijit Mohanty and Ranjit Sah
59 Power of collectives
Jasbir Sandhu and Rajesh Sharma
63 Pashu Sakhi: An alternative livestock extension approach
Sanjeev Kumar
66 Women livestock keepers of South India prefer local to global breeds
Ilse Köhler-Rollefson and Karthikeya Sivasenapathy
70 Bih Maa: Theanaa ‘seed mothers’
Biswamohan Mohanty
73 Impact Studies
74 Simple innovations by small farmers deserve attention
Pratap Mukhopadhyay
78 Suman Sangam: A journey into an ecological farm
Sanjeev Kulkarni
81 Farmers Diary: Natural capital holds the key
82 Development through Convergence: Enhancing rural livelihoods through Watershed
Suvarna Chandrappagari, D Kalpana and N Polappa
86 Partnerships promoting digital platforms
Amit Chakravarty
