The Navdanya Farm Derhadun, India
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 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.
FALL 2024 RICE HARVEST
Today, more than 750 varieties of rice are cultivated, conserved, and rescued from extinction on the Navdanya farm.
India has one of the richest diversities of cultivated rice in the world, and more than 200,000 varieties have been cultivated by Indian farmers. The Navdanya network of farmers has conserved over 4,000 of these rice varieties.
The seed bank on the Navdanya Biodiversity Farm at the Earth University Learning Centre has been designed and operates to regenerate indigenous plant biodiversity with an emphasis on selecting seeds that are climate resilient and have high nutritional content and are water conserving. It is a living seed bank that conserves and stores seeds in its own building at the Learning Centre.
The staff at the farm annually plants, multiplies, and harvests seeds. They are also involved in participatory and evolutionary breeding of seeds. The Navdanya seed bank in Dehradun, India serves as one of Navdanya’s three regional seed banks for the distribution of seeds to Navdanya communities in conjunction with programs on Seed Freedom. The farm has also been conducting long-term research on plants that repel pests and attract pollinators in order to promote their use in agroecosystems for the benefit of rice crops (Ukdi variety). With extreme climate events happening throughout India, the Navdnaya research team of scientists has worked to naturally develop both drought and salt-tolerant seeds in recent years, like those cultivated for flood-prone areas like the Bay of Bengal. With our climate in crisis today, Navdanya recognizes the urgency to continue its work in preserving and researching more climate-resilient seeds. See pics of rice harvest and research through the years below.
SEE PICS BELOW OF RICE CULTIVATING ON THE FARM THROUGHOUT THE YEARS!
WINTER (RABI) HARVEST 2024
Wheat which becomes golden when it ripens is called "Kanak" (gold) in Punjabi. Navdnaya has harvested 250 varieties of ancient wheat to be saved for conservation. Oats and barley will ripen soon after, along with a diverse crop of winter vegetables for seed, including Rai, a variety of mustard used for its leafy greens and its seeds for oil and spices.
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.
