How natural farming is growing international alliances in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh PHOTOGRAPHS BY SOUMYA SANKAR BOSE TEXT BY UTKARSH GT Sujatha and her husband M Jagadish run a four-acre farm that is ten years old, just shy of the Tamil Nadu border in Karnataka’s Gottigehalli village. A decade ago, pushed by fear of the health hazards associated with chemical pesticides and …
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Amrita Bhoomi: A Continuing Struggle for Sovereignty
Niloshree Bhattacharya Alongside the spread and intensification of globalisation, the margins of this global system vibrate with possibilities. These localised and varied alternatives and small in scale and reflect the knowledge, culture and lives of the people in the respective locality. The global food economy is one such example; on one hand we have global chains of restaurants and agribusiness …
India: Youth camp by Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha (KRRS) in images
Amritabhoomi, the agroecology school of La Via Campesina recently hosted a youth training camp from Sep 21st to 23rd, in the southern State of Karnataka, India. Lots of debates and discussions were held on issues around agrarian crisis and responses by social movements. Youth training is one of the most important programs of KRRS and Amrita Bhoomi. Young people, the …
“No borders, only bridges”- International activists train local students on solar dryer construction at Amrita Bhoomi
These training workshops are being conducted by renewable energy technicians and activists Txell and Kartxi from Catalonia, Spain, who raised their own funds from the Catalan government to carry out these trainings. As members of the Anarchist and Feminist movements in Catalonia, they believe that knowledge should be shared freely for people’s wellbeing. “We didn’t want to just come and …
Urban Youth Internships on Agrarian Crisis at Amrita Bhoomi
Over the last month, Amrita Bhoomi has received many urban youths from Youth4Swaraj– a national level youth program run by young volunteers of the Swaraj India party. A radical effort to engage urban youth in agrarian issues and politics, Youth4Swaraj has mobilized hundreds of students to go to the far corners of the country. They are assigned work with local organizations there to …
The upper caste story is not the only story of India- student’s training camp on caste at Amrita Bhoomi
Students dancing spontaneously 22 Aug: The Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangh (BVS), a student group with members from the so called bahujan groups conducted a five day camp for students at Amrita Bhoomi. Bahujan means “majority of the people’, which includes Dalits, Adivasis, and many other castes and religions of the subcontinent who are caste-bound and ruled by upper-caste minorities. About hundred students attended from …
Amrita Bhoomi alumnus regenerates waste dump with waste water to create flower farm- an inspiring story
Narendra at his farm Narendra was a young graphic designer who comes from a small peasant family but had no farming skills and was forced to shift to an urban job in the city. Always fascinated by agriculture, he went to Amrita Bhoomi as a volunteer intern for a year and learned how to work the land. Today, he has …
Intensive Two Day Bootcamp on Zero Budget Farming Ongoing at Amrita Bhoomi
Mr Prasanna Murthy from Tumkur who is an expert in Zero Budget Natural farming and one of the state level conveners of the movement is conducting a two-day training on ZBNF at Amrita Bhoomi on the 19, 20 April. The training was timed for the upcoming Kharif sowing season.
Agroecology: Youth will be the change!
Youth will be the change BY LAVIACAMPESINASOUTHASIA 15 days/3 month Intensive course on agroecology with rural youth at Amrita Bhoomi, Youth are leaving agriculture. Our agonizing countryside doesn’t exactly paint a rosy picture to build a life upon. Their parents encourage them to go to the city, take up a white-collar job -‘we don’t want our children to suffer like us,’ …
Farmer-to-farmer training session on Millets at Amrita Bhoomi
At least 60 farmers, mostly from the neighboring indigenous Soliga community, as well as other small farmers including some urban origin farmers gathered for a farmer-to-farmer training session on millets at the Amrita Bhoomi agroecology center, on 2nd July 2016. Amrita Bhoomi is linked to the Karnataka State Farmers’ Movement (KRRS for its initials in Kannada language) and is La Via …