Episode 009 - Narsanna and Padma Koppula: India's Permaculture Stewards

SUBSCRIBE: WWW.EARTHREPAIRRADIO.COM In this episode we hear from the husband and wife team who have grounded Permaculture in India for the last 30 years. Narsanna and Padma Koppula are the hosts of the upcoming International Permaculture Conference and Convergence in Hyderabad, India in November of 2017 (http://ipcindia2017.org/) and have an incredible wealth of experience working throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the South. They have worked training farmers through their organization Aranya Agricultural Alternatives in the arid Deccan Plateau, the wet tropical coastal regions of India, in mountainous tribal areas, and through government programs, gaining an incredible wealth of practical knowledge from the many tens of thousands of people they have impacted over 3 decades. In this episode we discuss the history of Permaculture in India, starting with Bill Mollison and Robin Francis's first design course there in 1987. We discuss the work that Narsanna and Padma are doing there, and then go on to deeper questions of the challenges that Indians face today, and how Permaculture fits in to a society with a rich agricultural and social legacy that is still practiced today. Please enjoy. If you are not familiar with the accent of Indians speaking English, then you may have to pay extra attention to understand everything that is said, and there is a little bit of terminology that is not used in American English, but if you stick with it, your interpretation will get better as the interview progresses. Narsanna and Padma's links: http://ipcindia2017.org/ http://permacultureindia.org/ https://vimeo.com/72176775 Full Bio: Narsanna Koppula is a permaculture pioneer in India. His environmental-humanitarian work has been empowering rural communities for the past two and a half decades. Narsanna is a Permaculture Consultant, Designer & Teacher and a campaigner of permaculture practices all over the world. He is a post graduate from Osmania University and received his Permaculture Certificate from Permaculture International Institute, Australia He is a student of Dr.Venkat who invited Bill Mollison and Robyn Francis to India to further permaculture. Narsanna was on the Board of the Permaculture Association of India and served for 12 years (1986 to 1998) as Director and General Secretary of Deccan Development Society, a premier NGO working on sustainable agriculture. He is a designer and professional guide in ‘efficient water use techniques in command irrigation’. He is actively engaged in implementing Tree Based Farming Systems (TBFS) and planting 100,000 fruit plants and 3 lakh mixed forest species on 1000 tribal families’ lands under Tribal Development Program. He is a project evaluator for various natural resource management projects and networks with several national and international organizations. Narsanna is committed to ecological and sustainable agricultural livelihoods through permaculture farming practices to create a greener planet. He believes the forest is the future and he spreads his message through his non-profit organization “Aranya Agricultural Alternatives” presently operating in the rural and tribal areas of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, India. Narsanna also leads a three month internship through the Permaculture Patashala where students implement projects in rural areas for poor farmers. Padma Koppula (CEO) is a committed social worker since nearly 20 years of work with rural farmers , Institutional development expert, irrigation expert & Gender specialist ,Her past services include advisory member for Andhra Pradesh Farmers Water Management Committees Association (FWMCA) ,Secretary for the Bodhi Education Society, Deccan Development Society coordinator , consultant to the Govt of AP –Irrigation projects;Promoter of sustainable agriculture practices & Permaculture.