The Navdanya Farm Derhadun, India
Great news. The Navdnaya farm is thriving! Our latest FON visit to the farm was a true reminder that organic farming is inherently robust and resilient. Crops of millet, carrots, radish, wheat, and more are producing beautiful yields in fields teaming with biodiversity. We’re talking blankets of bees and butterflies, and over 72 species of birds! See farm photos below.
In 1995, Vandana Shiva set out to build Bija Vidyapeeth (School of the Seed), also known as Earth University, in an old eucalyptus orchard in the Doon Valley in Utterkahand, India. Many said this could not be done, but Dr. Shiva persisted and transformed the soil and land into a successful thriving organic farm. Today, Navdanya's Bija Vidyapeeth is a fully operational 47-acre organic farm, seed bank, and biodiversity research center for farmers, educators, students, and thought leaders from around the world to come visit and learn about regenerative farming, agroecology, and the Navdanya movement.
Saving Seed. Saving Lives
The seed bank at the Navdnaya farm conserves and cultivates thousands of crop varieties. Navdanya has saved 4,000 indigenous rice varieties, 2,200 varieties of millets, pseudo cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables, 205 varieties of wheat and 151 species of tress including orchard fruit. As the number of natural disasters began to increase in India, Navdanya started conserving climate resilient seed varieties in a program called Seeds of Hope to help disaster-affected farmers. Since 1998 farmers who have experienced either floods or droughts have been able to cope with these extreme conditions by planting flood tolerant, salt tolerant and/or drought tolerant seeds saved by Nadvdany’s multi-state seed collaborative saving network.
Earth University
Navdanya welcomes all visitors to attend courses at Earth University/Bija Vidyapeeth that offer a unique opportunity to learn from nature and biodiversity about the practice of agroecology, food sovereignty, and peace and harmony with nature and in the human community. Earth University offers weekend, week and month-long courses, many including conversations with Dr. Vandana Shiva. The thriving organic farm, biodiversity research center and seed bank welcomes farmers, students, researchers, and thought leaders from all over the world to come learn and engage in nature, surrounded by the Himalayas. Learn more about the Navdanya farm.
