Sowing holistic seeds
November 2010
An usual couple, but destined to meet, Daniel Uppendahl, an American artist, and Karen, a British environmental consultant, met in Ganeshpuri, fell in love, got married and started the Saha Astitva Foundation, a charitable organisation which practises ecological and ethical ways to return balance to nature, especially agricultural land.
They returned to ancient systems of agriculture prescribed in the Vedas, including biodiversity through a range of crops, vegetables and fruits, and ethically harnessed natural resources of wind, water and light.
Karen and Daniel Uppendahl with Andy Wright,
an eco-farming enthusiast In addition, the Uppendahls try to persuade farmers to abandon migration, monoculture and imprudent sale of land by showing them how lucrative farming can be. Only in their second year, Saha Astitva has yet to bank commercial profits, but the natural dividends are large. The trick was to get as much biomass into the soil as possible, to rebuild fertility. By a stroke of luck, 400 sheep had a free run through their farm, depositing valuable manure. To encourage biodiversity, the land has been portioned out for cultivation of millet, rice, vegetables, fruit, herbs, bamboo and so on. Everything at the farm is natural or recycled, from the thorn wire fence to the recycled tetra-pack cow-shed roof, to woven bamboo roofing and a solar-powered hand pump.
Their aim is to eventually organise a co-operative of adivasi farmers and help organise and channel their produce. “Our work has little to do with us being foreigners and this being India,” remarks Daniel. “Ecosystems have no boundaries. After all, the wind doesn’t stop at the Indo-Pak border.”
Those interested in volunteering can visit http://www.thankindia.org
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