How did Indian Peasants Inspire Modern Organic Farming Worldwide?
Recently I visited the Rodale Institute, the leading organization in the world dedicated to researching regenerative and organic farming, founded in 1947 by J. I. Rodale, an early promoter of organic living. Mr. Rodale was interested in understanding the effects of growing food without chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on human and environmental (air, water and soil) health. But most people do not realize Mr. Rodale himself was inspired by Albert Howard, who was in turn inspired by Indian farmers. An English botanist (1873–1947) stationed in India, Howard was the first Westerner to document and publish the techniques of sustainable or biological agriculture (or permaculture) based on his consistent observations of the value of compost applications in Indian farming.
After spending considerable time learning from Indian peasants and the pests present in their soil, he called these two his professors. He is considered by many in the English-speaking world to have been, along with Rudolf Steiner and Eve Balfour, one of the early Western advocates of ancient Indian techniques of organic agriculture.
His 1945 book Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease was also intended for a general audience, and was republished in 1947 as The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture. Howard's documentation of Indian farming practices influenced and inspired many farmers and agricultural scientists who furthered the organic movement, including, besides Mr. Rodale, UK-based Soil Association and Lady Eve Balfour (author of The Living Soil).
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