Tag: organic farming

Developing small farms on unused land in urban areas could help alleviate chronic unemployment for refugees resettled in Australia. At Mangerton in Wollongong, Karenni refugees are transforming a steep hillside next to the Saint Therese Primary School, into a traditional terraced garden. According to University of Wollongong geographer Ananth Gopal, community...

"In our country people think farmers are from another planet; the way farmers are discussed, as if farmers are not like other human beings," says 65-year-old Subhas Palekar. "For example," says Palekar, "Prices increase for everything and everyone accepts price rise for everything from toys to petrol, but somehow the...

For four years after giving up his corporate job which was making him miserable, Bjorn Low spend a happy four years working on organic farms in far-flung places such as Scotland, Spain and Japan. How could one farm without land? While looking around Singapore, the many green spaces in the...

Urban farms have always been popular with gardeners in Singapore, especially those who volunteer at neighbourhood community gardens. Urban farming has become more high-tech and, well, urban. Urban farmers have started growing food in restaurants and taken over unused rooftop carpark spaces to set up garden plots. The gardening enthusiasts in the...

Most city schools learn the bit of farming within the four walls of a classroom. Students of Marudhamalai Devasthanam Higher Secondary School, Vadavalli, went a step ahead and created a small organic farm at the school to meet their needs. Started in June, the students cultivate spinach, tomato, ladies finger,...

Farmers in the Indian state of Punjab are trying to adopt alternatives to avoid the burning of crop stubble that causes heavy smog and health problems not only in the neigbourhood but hundreds of kilometres away. The latest is the use of "waste decomposer" in the fields, prepared by...

Gafarbhai Qureshi has collected over 5200 types of plants in his nursery and gives free information and training to farmers and students about these plants, herbs and trees. His father, a small farmer from Ramdechi of Junagarh district of Gujarat, had four acres of land, a well and 50 plants. He...

Scare over widespread use of pesticides has prompted many to turn to organic food and cultivation. Residents of Thiruvananthapuram, India, looking to buy organic vegetables at affordable price now have one more destination to head to. Krishibhoomi, a Facebook group, has started organic vegetable sale every Sunday at L-43, LIC Lane,...

Pot gardening is the growing of plants in pots or containers rather on the ground. It is generally applied for houseplants and is also useful in areas where the soil or climatic conditions are not suitable for a particular crop. Any pot or container can be used, anything that can...

When Blany D’souza told people that he was trying to grow jackfruits in a pot, they laughed at him. A Mangalore-based urban gardener with a rapidly increasing social media following, Blany had a green thumb since he was a precocious young boy. However, he finally found the time to set up his own garden only after he returned from the Gulf (where he served as an income auditor at a five-star hotel for six years) in 1998. Thanks to Blany’s careful nurturing, a multitude of fruits and vegetables were soon growing on the 1,200 sq ft terrace of his home in Mangalore. Today, Blany grows nearly 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables on his terrace, with his latest experiments revolving around growing jackfruits and lychees in a pot. In 2015, Blany became a household name among the garden-loving citizens of Mangalore after he helped a couple of his friends set up their terrace gardens.