In my journey, I encountered a myth that certain types of
lands or lands with water were better for human consumption.
Nothing else could have been far from truth. It is a
devilish thought that has turned naturally undulating and pristine lands, first
into mechanized plains and then into poisonous dustbowls.
As I travelled into interiors of Madhya Pradesh and saw the
denuded rocky patches, denuded for mining and left as no good for agricultural
purposes, it dawned to me that these were once thriving forests- giving life to
small streams that flowed into large rivers.
Once a place for a happy tribal hamlet inside forests, now
they were pictures of impoverished, subsistence living. I took upon that as a challenge, i.e. to
convert them into food forests that produce top quality foods.
The first challenge was to bring some life and biomass back
to such barren landscapes. The first pawn in our army were the hardy shrubs-
often cursed as bad across agri fields. These were Gajar ghas, Besharam, and
lantana. We knew they would spring up even here, with a little assistance in
monsoons.
Once they sprang, then lots of saplings of Peepal, neem,
bel, etc very hardy plants, that could withstand and break rocks, were planted.
The shrubs were going to act as temperature controllers and moisture trapping
plants for the roots of these hardy saplings.
In addition, there would be a layer of biomass present on the surface.
It took one year for these hardy plants to set up their
roots, and be settled for long term. I knew that in a radius of five feet,
their roots would be busy finding ways and holding whatever biomass and solid
comes around. So in second monsoon, the next set of tree saplings were planted
that accelerated the rate of leaves dropping and biomass creation. These were
planted just five feet from first set of saplings.
Once these became stable, in next year we came with smaller
plants like lemon and cranberry. Toor pulse native breeds that are tall and
used to rocky soil, were planted next to all saplings. Then to accelerate the soil holding process,
vetiver was planted everywhere in monsoons.
We had begun the process of breaking the ground underneath
and creating soft soil on top.
By fourth year, we had a vibrant system- pleasant enough in
summer heat, and with a small layer of biomass present. The plants would
support each other in handling cold winters, heat and draining excess
rainfall. So it was time to try lowest
layer of forests- turmeric, dhania, and
sweet potatoes, and similar plants.
The result is for all to see. In a quick span of about 4
years, absolute rocky and barren land was converted to thriving food forest.