The term ‘Permaculture’ was coined by Bill Mollison in 1978. The word is a contraction of “Permanent Agriculture” and also of “Permanent Culture”. The aim of Permaculture is to create systems that are ecologically sound, economically viable and self sustaining.
Permaculture studies and applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts at any scale to create resilient and regenerative systems. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting, renewable energy, natural building, agroforestry, waste management, animal systems, appropriate technology, economics and community development. This course will help you understand the basic tenets of Permaculture and inspire you to use it in your everyday life.
Permaculture offers a solution based approach to conscious design. It alters how one lives their life, their relationship with Mother Earth and all her life-forms. Therefore, this course is for anyone, regardless of origin, gender, age who would like to live an ecologically balanced life and contribute towards a sustainable future.
We encourage participants from all walks of life, professions, countries as the more varied the batch, the richer the take-aways. We conduct “Introduction to Permaculture” courses both in English and Telugu. If needed, course can be done in Hindi as well.
“This course was very enriching! It helped me in getting an insight into how we are spending energies trying to defy basics of nature, instead of using them. It also helped to streamline what was otherwise cluttered knowledge in my journey to become a farmer.” – Ravi Kiran Kalidindi, Hyderabad
The Introduction to Permaculture course is an enriching course with a fair mix of practicals and theory. It will cover the following topics:
Origin of Permaculture – Definition, brief world history and scope of Permaculture. History and application in India.
Permaculture ethics and principles.
Design methodology – From analysis to design to implementation.
Additional topics that will be customized and covered based on discussion with local course coordinators includes:
Introduction to soils, composting methods
Organic Gardening – perennial gardens and farms
Forestry – Definition and how to integrate with farms
Natural building – local sustainable building options for house design
Urban Permaculture – local food self sufficiency, city water harvesting methods etc
Building Community
Alternative Economic Systems
The theory classes will be interspersed with practicals, group discussions and on – ground activities.
Narsanna Koppula is India’s most renowned permaculture practitioner. Trained by Bill Mollison and Robyn Francis in the 1980s, Narsanna has worked tirelessly for the last three decades to bring ecological and sustainable agricultural to thousands of farmers across India.
His permaculture begins with helping farmers develop water catchment systems that allow them to be self-sufficient with their water (jala swaraj). He teaches them to diversify their crops and leave no ground left fallow to develop a self-sufficient farm. This allows for the formation of Mahatma Gandhi’s final goal of a self-sufficient and self-reliant community (gram swaraj).
The course will be conducted most often at:
Aranya Farm – The ideal learning ground for Permaculture, this 10-acre farm sits near Zaheerabad and has been developed following permaculture principles by Aranya Agricultural Alternatives’ founders to become a functional model. It is an oasis of green and an excellent example of rainfed agriculture in the dry lands. Indigenous perennials keep the farm supplied with tropical fruits 365 days a year. Aranya is the perfect location to learn about Indian Permaculture, water harvesting, plant identification and uses. It is a warm, welcoming, constantly evolving place with one motto: (almost) everything should come from the system and remain as long as possible within the system.
It can also happen that the course happens at:
Polam Farm –Situated by the Singur reservoir near Andole village in Sangareddy district of Telangana, two former students of Narsanna, highly inspired, decided to become the custodians of this 96-acre farm and apply what they’ve learnt. This young farm (2 years old) is being developed under the guidance of their teacher to make it a regenerative, eco-friendly and sustainable.
Email us at aranyahyd@gmail.com to know more about the Introduction to Permaculture course. Like us on Facebook or subscribe to our news letter for updates and happenings in the world of Permaculture.
“My overall experience during this week-end was great. The one thing that I learnt about permaculture is the “Art of Giving”: give back to the nature a little which nurtures you. The learning experience changes the mindset towards way of life for present butterfly generation.” – Bhupender Singh, Hyderabad
