Asking the Earth: Farms, Forestry and Survival in India

by Jeremy Seabrook (Author), Winin Pereira (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $3.24

  This is a documentation of colonial intervention in India, describing its disastrous effects on Indian agriculture. It then describes the equally calamitous effects of Western techno-fixes, calling into question the very concept of development. Abandoning atomic physics for farming, Winin Pereira established a co-operative farm at Alonde, north of Bombay 25 years ago. His group lived through the false promises of modern techniques - ploughs which dug too deep, irrigation systems which lowered the water table, fertilizers and pesticides which damaged the soil - and instead learned from the local tribal people methods which had proved themselves for centuries. It shows how intelligent use of resources and humane forms of production can be achieved without the damage and toxins of modern farming. Its enormous success has had a great influence on farming in India.