“If the technology decreases the operational (input) cost and complexity of the smallholder – consider it – else send it back to the drawing board”
Our Seeds, Our Data – Opening Up India’s True Assets – VARTA-Seeds Read More »
A Ghumantu Gujjar Family with Flock at Shikari Devi Sanctuary 3000m asl . | Photo Credit: Gram Disha Trust “Bhains hai to Gujjar* hai!” (Gujjar exist only if the Buffalo exists) – a Ghumantu Gujjar It is five-thirty on a winter morning somewhere in the foothills of Himachal Pradesh. It’s still foggy, and the only
Gujjar pastoralists and the History of Dairy Economy Read More »
AGRI-PV and integration of HDP Farming in Apples Hello, Cheshta Rawat here, a South-North Program volunteer from Ecoselva in the year 2025-26. In May 2026, I did my 2-week internship at an organic apple farm, Bio-Obsthof Nachtwey, situated in Gelsdorf, a small village near the city of Bonn. Here’s the journal of my experience in
Introduction As April sets in and afternoons get warmer day after day, a few families in the Shivalik Hills (southernmost Himalayan ranges) notice their buffalo herds getting restless. It is time; they must start packing up ration on horses and prepare for their departure. For the next four months, these families will walk together with
Gujjar pastoralists – Mobility and Marginal Livelihood Read More »
Across the Indian subcontinent, eons of knowledge is transmitted through daily practice, not lectures or any other kind of formal instruction. This knowledge encompasses ecology, agriculture, medicine, architecture, astronomy etc. . This treasure trove remains embedded within communities, yet absent from several modern education systems. Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are frequently treated as cultural heritage
Indigenous Knowledge Systems presented through cutting-edge digital technologies. Read More »
शास्त्रं कर्म च प्रज्ञा च शीलम् च इति चतुष्टयम् । तदेतत् स्थपतेः अङ्गम् चतुर्धैवापरं विदुः ॥ Śāstraṃ karma ca prajñā ca śīlam ca iti catuṣṭayam | Tadetat sthapateḥ aṅgam caturdhaivāparaṃ viduḥ || “Knowledge of the Treatises (Śāstra), Practical Experience (Karma), Intuitive Insight (Prajñā), and Righteous Character (Śīla)—these are the four limbs of the Sthapati. Those
Learning from the Stone Villages of the Himalayas – Śaila-Shāstra (शैल शास्त्र) Read More »
Village Tourism and the Relevance of Shail Shaastra (Śail-Shāstra) What if your hotel room had walls older than your grandparents?What if the place you stayed in was not built for tourists but shaped by generations who understood the mountain as family? Imagine waking up in a Himalayan village. The first sunlight gently touches thick stone
From Gram Disha to Germany: Learning Botanical Science in Practice Hi, I’m Cheshta. If you’ve been reading Gram Disha Trust’s blogs, you may remember that I have written for this platform before. Few of my articles are: History of Organic Farming in India, Identifying Wild Plants as Biocontrollers: 1. Girardinia diversifolia, 2. Nicotiana tabacum 3.
MoolyaSHIKHAR True Price AccountingCase Study 2025–26 A Ground Level Transformation in How Farmers Understand the ‘True’ Price of Their Agroecological Produce – Apples through Natural Farming For decades, apple farmers in the Himalayan belt have lived with one fundamental uncertainty – What should be the right price for their apples at the farmgate/ Mandi? This
Agroecological Apple Juice Value Chain 2025 SDG Indicator 2.4.1 and SDG 12 Impact Case Study Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 Target 12.3 – Indicator 12.3.1 – Sustainable consumption and production – provides the requirements – By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and
