Regenerative Agriculture in Italy. Interview on a popular national Italian Television " Telecolor"

Video recording of presentation " Organic Agriculture in Bhutan - A story of transition" at UN FAO, Rome 4th Dec. 2018

View this email in your browser Thank you for having attended the seminar/webinar on Organic agriculture in Bhutan – a Story of Transition In case you did not have a chance to attend, you can see the webinar recordinghere. You can download the presentation from the final screen at the end of the webinar. If you need more information, don't hesitate to send us an email. Stay tuned for the next event. Copyright ©FAO TNSCPA, All rights reserved. If you wish to unsubscribe, send a message to FTN-Sustainable-Crop-Production-Agroecology@fao.org. For any other information, do not hesitate to contact us.

Presenting a talk " Organic Agriculture in Bhutan - A story of Transition" at United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO), Rome on 4th December,2018

View this email in your browser The FAO Technical Network on Sustainable Crop Production and Agroecology is pleased to invite you to the webinar Organic agriculture in Bhutan – a Story of Transition Tuesday, 4 December 2018 15.00 pm – 16.00 pm (Rome Time - GMT+2) online at: http://fao.adobeconnect.com/requyr5odk3a/ Please connect 10 minutes before the webinar starts to ensure the audio works properly.   Farming is a major source of livelihood for 475 million farmers in the world with land holding of less than 2 hectares. However, the impacts of conventional agricultural practices on human health and the environment are experienced all over the world. There is need for a radical shift in the current food and agriculture system that is sustainable, regenerative and supports the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.  Bhutan, a Himalayan kingdom nestled between India and China, known for its pristine environment and unique Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, has set an example by choosing to transition into organic and carbon neutral food production. The National Organic Program under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests spearheaded the transition by developing a framework for organic agriculture, national organic standards and zero cost certification systems. Enabling policy interventions and collaboration of different departments of the Government facilitated nationwide promotion of organic agriculture. The presenter of our webinar, Dr. Thiammaiah who advised the government of Bhutan through this transition, will tell us the story about this transition: From developing the capacity  of stakeholders, involving the private sector and non-governmental organizations, over school curricula that include training in organic agriculture to the important role that farmers groups and governmental agencies play. We will hear about how Bhutan creates awareness on low-cost organic agriculture technologies among the farmers and how a blend of traditional knowledge and technologies using the available local resources strengthened crop production and protection. Join us in welcoming Dr. Thimmaiah and in learning more about Bhutan’s transition to organic and carbon neutral agriculture and food systems. Presenter's bio: Dr. Thimmaiah is an expert in regenerative organic agriculture, agroecology, rural development, traditional knowledge systems. He received his Master’s degree from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and a PhD in Sustainable Agriculture from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Thimmaiah has advised projects in various countries and worked with Governments, the United Nations, International organizations, Agribusiness corporations, non-governmental organizations, and farmers associations in systems of regenerative agriculture and agribusiness. He advised the National Organic program of the Royal Government of Bhutan for 6 years to transition the food production in the Himalayan Kingdom to organic and carbon neutral. He serves in the board of many international organizations notably, Carbon Underground US, Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA), SAFE Network Indonesia, Demeter US, Uberoi Foundation US, Sustainable Living Coalition US and trustee of The Cows Foundation US. Thimmaiah has published several papers in reputed international journals, written books and presented numerous talks at international conferences/events. Currently he is Associate Professor and Director of Regenerative Organic Agriculture Program at the Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA.   Copyright ©FAO TNSCPA, All rights reserved. If you wish to unsubscribe, send a message to FTN-Sustainable-Crop-Production-Agroecology@fao.org. For any other information, do not hesitate to contact us.

Healing through Farming

Recently a group of 20 men from Pride ROC Chicago Passages Program visited the Regenerative Organic Agriculture Center of Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa to gain hands on experience in organic farming. It was amazing to see how farming can help heal people who are suffering from trauma.

The concepts of Regenerative Organic agriculture is not restricted to farming alone, they are the insights for every human being to live a life that is filled with compassion kindness and love. Soil, plants, insects, micro and macro flora and fauna are treated with respect and care. The core concept is to realize the purpose and meaning for every organism in the existence. Farm is not just a piece of land where the soil is tilled, seeds are sown, manured, watered and the produce is harvested. It’s like our body where our mind is tilled, enriching thoughts are sown as seeds, they are nurtured by watering with compassion and manuring with kindness and harvest the goodness and love as fruits.

The visiting group of men from Pride ROC Chicago (www.priderocchicago.org ) are dealing with several trauma incidents that started in childhood and continued into adulthood. They all are from a challenging background, living in the rough areas of Chicago and have joined the Pride ROC Chicago Passages program to learn new skills and to develop new ways of living. Various approaches like Transcendental meditation and yoga are incorporated into their amazing program to work through their trauma.

Pride ROC’s mission is to execute integrated trauma healing Passages that rescue Urban Prisoners Of War (UPOWs) from their existing environment and initiate them into evidence based remediation practices that will prepare them for holistic, collaborative aftercare services as they transform into contributing members of our communities.

It was the first time that these wonderful loving individuals are moving out of their institutions and learning regenerative organic farming techniques. We need to take responsibility to help these youth to join them into the mainstream society so that they can be resourceful.

Members of Pride ROC planting Kale.