Collaborative Endeavors by The Art Of Living Pave a Novel Course for Indian Agriculture, Favoring Sustainable Farming Practices
In a significant stride towards reviving India's traditional agricultural strengths with modern scale and strategy, The Art of Living’s Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust (AOL-SSIAST) has entered into two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL).
Reviving Indigenous Seeds: The BBSSL Partnership
The MoU with BBSSL focuses on the preservation, multiplication, and promotion of indigenous seeds, which are vital for sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and food sovereignty. Key activities under this agreement include:
- Establishing community-based seed banks and empowering seed keepers
- Conducting joint seed research and farmer training programs
- Organizing seed festivals and awareness campaigns to promote indigenous seeds
- Implementing blockchain-based traceability for seed authenticity
- Supporting the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)
Scaling Organic Produce: The NCOL Partnership
The partnership with NCOL aims to create end-to-end value chains to aggregate, certify, and market organic produce grown by farmers trained by AOL-SSIAST. Objectives include:
- Streamlining aggregation and certification processes for naturally grown farm produce
- Ensuring fair pricing and transparency for farmers' produce
- Providing market access that bridges grassroots farmers with national-level markets
- Empowering farmers through trust-based cooperative marketing networks
Together, these partnerships aim to transform traditional Indian agriculture by integrating modern scaling and technology strategies while strengthening sustainable farming practices and farmer empowerment across the country.
Shri Ashish Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India, was present at the signing of the MoUs. AOL-SSIAST has trained over 3 million farmers in Natural Farming practices across 23 Indian states and has empowered 1.15 lakh farmers in suicide-prone districts, developing a nationwide network of 2,300+ certified trainers.
In addition to these initiatives, AOL-SSIAST has made significant strides in promoting sustainable agriculture. For instance, it has converted 56,157 acres of farmland into climate-resilient, chemical-free zones and planted 100 million trees across 36 countries and 26 Indian states.
The collaboration between AOL-SSIAST, NCOL, and BBSSL is poised to build comprehensive value chains from seed preservation to organic product market delivery, strengthening India’s agricultural biodiversity and supporting natural farming initiatives on a large scale.
Shri Prasana Prabhu, Chairman of AOL-SSIAST, emphasized the importance of restoring native seed wealth for a sustainable agricultural model. AOL-SSIAST invites corporates, philanthropic institutions, and community stakeholders to partner in the national mission for sustainable agriculture and farmer empowerment.
The partnership between AOL-SSIAST and NCOL also aims to make organic and natural produce accessible, traceable, and scalable domestically and internationally. AOL-SSIAST has planted 38.7 lakh Lakshmi Taru saplings, known for their medicinal value in cancer treatment research, further demonstrating its commitment to sustainable agriculture and health.
- The collaboration between AOL-SSIAST, NCOL, and BBSSL not only aims to support the scale and marketing of organic produce but also focuses on innovation through implementing blockchain-based traceability for seed authenticity and the preservation of indigenous seeds.
- In the vision to promote sustainable agriculture, AOL-SSIAST has undertaken various initiatives ranging from seed preservation to community-based seed banks, further emphasizing the significance of culture (native seed wealth) and technology (blockchain-based traceability) in the progress of sports (Natural Farming practices) and its large-scale adoption.
