Laws of Nature – Shaurya Chandra

Another year has passed. Until a few years ago, we purchased new calendars and diaries to celebrate and prepare for the New Year. But in the digital era, this reminder of a new milestone is well forgotten. Just like money, time as a concept is also digital now. However, nature reminds us of the passing of time through the constant physical changes it undergoes. It reminds us how old leaves shed and new leaves grow.

When left to itself, nature tries to make everything resilient. With time, every specie evolves to become stronger. Have we ever wondered why building resilience and adapting is the natural course of action for any biological system? Because subconsciously, we are aware of the impending end. With every passing second, we try to adjust to maximize the probability of survival. And hence evolution of species happens. Although this evolution is continuously happening, it is too subtle to be observed on the time scale of human life. That’s the way nature works, one small step at a time.

In the past year, Beforest farms have seen a lot of changes. From the study and implementation of check dams, the working out of the Food production Zone to hospitality activities getting started. A lot of new initiatives have been tried and implemented. On the legal and financial front, we are moving toward becoming more resilient when working at our farms in different geographical regions. On the human resource front, we have moved toward a more structured approach to manage our farms and organisation better, small increments at a time.

Time is a currency which, unfortunately, we cannot stop from spending. It is all about how we use our time to become more resilient. The year-end is a time to ponder how strong we have become physically, emotionally, mentally, financially and socially. With time slipping from our hands like beach sand, we need to keep moving the needle towards a resilient life.

As India celebrates its 75th Independence year, we try to look at agro-farm land laws. Post-independence, many independent states joined India and new states were created based on socio-linguistic needs. In the initial years (post-independence), as farming was one of the prime sources of employment and revenue, states were given a great deal of power to decide matters related to the buying and selling of farmlands.

It was the right step since one law might not fit all states because of the range of sociological and economic diversity we see across states. Hence, in India, rules regarding the buying and selling of land and duties applicable to its transaction are the prerogative of each state. Many states put restrictions on non-agriculturist buying agro-land in the state. Maharashtra is one of them. The restrictions on the sale or the use of land stem from the fact that all land belongs to the state.

The sale and purchase of agricultural land in the state of Maharashtra are governed by the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act 1948 (MTAL Act). Based on the rapid need for urbanisation, various laws have been amended in terms of land-use change and corporate ownership of land (after seeking due permission from the government). However, the core spirit for farming land protection still prevails.

While designing the ownership of a collective by the members, it becomes paramount for us to keep abreast with all the laws of the state and the provisions pertaining to activities being taken up by the collective. At Beforest, we engage with the best lawyers in the geography we operate in so as to get the right and most apt legal guidance on all land and related matters.

Seeds encapsulate life and they act as a blue-print for plants that germinate from them.

With proper nurturing, a good seed can blossom into a beautiful tree. But how to we identify good seeds? Indian farmers have been aware of the importance of good quality seeds since ages and they used to keep aside a good part of their produce as seeds. But with big companies pouring millions of dollars in R&D in improving seed quality and hence the productivity of crops, it has become imperative for a third party inspector to audit the quality of seed being delivered to farmers.

To ensure farmers have access to good seeds and to prevent malpractices in seed sale and cheating of uninformed farmers, the Government of India passed the Seed Act in 1966. With the passage of this law, a seed inspector was appointed by the State Government for the verification of seed quality being sold. Moreover, anyone dealing in seeds can apply and get certification for the same by a certifying agency.

At Beforest, we lay strong stress on procuring good quality seeds and saplings and nurturing them properly to realize their full potential in our nurseries, across our collectives. Our endeavour is to fall back on native species which are common in the localities where our collectives are situated.

Nature is the most efficient researcher and implementer. With every passing generation, the plant tries to produce seeds that are more resilient and adapted to survive in the climate prevailing near the surroundings of the parent plant. Therefore, native varieties become sturdier for the given environment and it is also advisable to use them in that locality only. And, hence sowing native species forms one of the pillars of permaculture practices.

The economic budget and pricing of goods depends on the cost of energy. With cheap energy being produced by fossil fuels, larger cities have come up which sustain on resources being shipped to city dwellers.

Our food and water sources are no different. Till a few years back, while our food came from outside the city, the government was able to provide water from nearby rivers or lakes. But, as the population density has been growing and water levels fluctuating in water bodies because of global warming, the water supplies to our housing societies have become erratic.

To overcome this shortage, societies have restored to bringing water tankers to fulfil their needs. The result is that our key resource for life, food and water comes to us in a truck, far away from source of origin. Coupled with increasing energy costs, we can see water costs jumping by more than 400% in many places. Currently, we can pay and buy water, but going forward the commodity resource grab will only intensify.

Beforest as a farming lifestyle company has laid a strong stress on water management from the very beginning. As a policy, we do not like to burden the land with high member density per acreage. We back that by creating lakes and natural water bodies to store water for our member needs. We also create water structures which help in increasing the ground water table. Finally, our green cover reduces the loss of water to erosions and evaporation. With this multi-pronged approach our attempt is to make our collective water abundant and tackle the ever growing scarcity of water.

Designing a self-sustainable way of life is both an art and science. It requires expertise on all levels, be it ecological, social or financial aspect to make it resilient from both exogenous and endogenous blows. Every action has a lasting effect and a wrongly calibrated response can spiral down the system faster than expected. Sometimes, even a well-intended action might misfire if it does not fit in the whole scheme of things.

A very recent example is Sri-Lanka, a country with a population of 2.19 crores and largely dependent on tourism. With dwindling foreign reserves, the COVID period dealt a death blow to the economy. Shutting out International travellers reduced the country’s ability to meet foreign good purchases. To avoid a drain on their foreign exchange reserves, the government banned imports of fertilizers and pesticides.

The reason given was they wanted to turn organic. This resulted in a drastic fall in food production resulting in a supply – side inflationary shock. For a failing economy, there is nothing worse than supply – side inflation which easily spirals into Hyper-inflation. That’s what happened. Decisions taken in haste followed with counter – measures which were equally harmful and resulted in the country descending into chaos.

There are lessons to be learnt from the Sri-Lankan example. First, system designs should be robust enough to handle negative externality. Secondly, drastic changes in the critical working system (in case of Sri-Lanka, the food production) should be implemented slowly and only when your other engines are firing in full speed. Thirdly, always save for the future. Sri Lankans squandered their wealth on tax-cuts which unfortunately came at the wrong time of COVID. Hope our governments and system planners take a leaf from the book of Sri Lanka’s crises and avoid such mistakes.

With the advent of technology and globalization, we lost touch with a way of life which earlier revolved around seasons. We now work at erratic hours, to cater to different time zones, eat any exotic food we desire, sourced from far off lands, irrespective of seasonality, and can even skate on an ice rink in a desert with no snow.

In earlier generations, people were very deeply connected to different seasons. Their work lives, food consumption and behavioral habits adapted themselves to changing seasons.

We ate foods which suited the season and kept us healthy, juicy fruits and light vegetables during summer and foods that kept us warm during winter. We celebrated festivals to commemorate changing season and the impact they had on our work and lives. Work would start at the crack of dawn and stopped as the sun began its decent. Farmers would sow their seeds towards the end of summer and let the monsoons do their magic of providing water to aid their growth. Changing seasons also affected us psychologically. Summers made us active, monsoons brought us hope and winters a time to rest and celebrate.

The ancient ayurvedic practice of Rituacharya (Ritu – seasons and charya – regimen or discipline), teaches us to acclimatize our lifestyles to seasonal transitions that are experienced. As we are in the process of transitioning from summer to the monsoons, we must acclimatize our bodies to this change and build our immunity by changing our dietary and lifestyle habits accordingly.

Foods that keep us warm like soups are best suited for this season. Consumption of sour, salty and oily foods are best suited for this season. Now you know why we enjoy fried foods along with a cup of chai more during the monsoons.

As we turn the pages of the calendar to May, sweet memories of summer vacations get hold of us. The remembrance of one’s childhood, when every kid waited for those 2 months of joy filled summer vacations with the family; are really special. We got to play and learn with our parents. As parents, we also look forward to a getaway with the kids, to a quiet destination with great lodging, away from the scorching summer sun.

Vacation time is time for rejuvenation. Apart from physical relaxation, our worn out mental and emotional being need quiet time away from the hustle-bustle of city life. A balanced life with sufficient time for relaxation is what makes life healthier and joyful. It helps us slow down, reflect and re-align ourselves which we often neglect in our daily life. Even nature creates day and night and four seasons where it expects us to work during favourable seasons and relax in unfavourable ones. And that’s why hospitality becomes a critical part of Beforest Lifestyle offering so that we can provide a place for everyone to unwind. At Beforest, we had envisioned providing a great homestay in the lap of nature. That dream is finally coming true, as we kick start operations at our Blyton Bungalow.

As the summer of 2022 sets in, we are not only preparing to face the usual challenges of water supply interruptions in our taps, but also the heat of higher inflation

Usually, the onset of summer is accompanied with increased energy consumption and higher bills to mitigate the soaring temperatures, but with inflation kicking in, woes are going to get accentuated further. Inflation affects every aspect of our lives. For food growers of our economy, this is a challenging time as the average farmer is also grappling with a huge surge in fertilizer prices which forms a substantial part of his input costs.

At Beforest, we aim to mitigate such variability, through the application of Permaculture. Through the application of Permaculture, which is a philosophy of agriculture and living, we aim to reduce energy costs by working with natural systems to the maximum extent possible.

With proper planning, we can harvest rainwater (a free gift from nature) and  increase the soil water retention, thus, reducing energy resources required for ‘moving water’ from its source to the place of usage. By using renewable power, energy prices are kept in control. On the inputs front, we are able to tide an onslaught of inflation by avoiding the use of fertilizers and only sparingly using bio-manures. It’s our hope that authorities implement such long term measures to make our systems more resilient.

Women play an important role in Indian agriculture in addition to their roles as wives, mothers and daughters-in-law. 

According to the economic survey of 2017 – 2018, India has seen a ‘feminization’ of the Indian agriculture sector as men have been increasingly migrating to urban centres in search of employment, leaving behind their families (to reduce city cost of living). As a result almost 80% of the farm work is undertaken by women. However, they own just 13% of the land! It’s quite disheartening to see that the essential part of the workforce is devoid of their land-rights. Moreover, with low mechanization, their roles are largely restricted to manual jobs like sowing, weeding etc and not more decision based roles.

The gender based discrimination has always been visible at the policy level where women have not enjoyed equal rights as compared to their male counterparts. To counter the inequality, Mr. MS Swaminathan, former Rajya Sabha MP, introduced the Women Farmers Entitlement Bill in 2011. It was mainly drafted to address issues like land title of women, especially widows, water and other legal rights. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t see the light of the day and it lapsed in 2013. But, that does not mean, we get disheartened. As a member of society, we need to support female farmers both collectively and individually. 

At Beforest, we are driven by the Permaculture Principles of ‘People Care, Earth Care and Fair Share’, which has been our guiding light since day one. Equal pay for women, full medical insurance, 20 days paid leave and education for their children are just some of the simple steps that we are taking in this direction. This is just the beginning and we hope to do more. 

The Union budget was presented on the 1^st of February, 2022. Apart from the push towards Infrastructure led growth, it was heartening to listen to the Finance Minister talk about how her different policy will lead to ‘Sustainable Development’ keeping the needs of the environment in focus.  

At COP 26 in November 2021, India had committed itself to a net-zero carbon emission target by 2070. In terms of natural farming, the government has planned for initiatives like:

• Chemical-free natural farming to be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers’ land in 5 km wide corridors along the River Ganga, in the first stage. 
• Education to be the focal point to effectuate the change by revising the syllabus of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming practices, modern-day agriculture and value addition.

Special mention is needed about the proposed issuance of sovereign green bonds for mobilising resources for green infrastructure. The proceeds will be earmarked for public sector projects that focus on reducing the carbon intensity of the economy. 

A green bond is a type of fixed-income instrument that is specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. This is really a great boost for the investors with environmental concerns in mind.

We hope these proposals do see the light of day so that we, as an Indian society move toward sustainable practices.