The changing global scenario and the amendment of national legislations on ownership over biological resources and intellectual property rights over the indigenous knowledge evolved by the local communities for the useful exploitation of these resources, demands that agricultural biodiversity and indigenous knowledge rich countries like India identify the agricultural heritage sites and document t

Amidst the multidimensional problems and issues that dent the livelihoods of farmers in India, mixed cropping comes as a fresh breeze of hope. As the model plays as a risk reduction measure, farmers can rest assured that even in the face of an unforeseen event causing failure of a crop, they can still put a smile on their faces.

Hill farming system involves diverse crops and their varieties, medicinal plants, forest species, practiced by the Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. These tribal farmers are conserving biodiversity and meeting the food, balanced nutrition and health benefits from this farming system.

Supporters of small-scale farming claim that it provides livelihoods, and it can also conserve agrodiversity. In an attempt to show this, an international network of scientists joined hands with farmer communities to document

Adding various components on to a farm and integrating them has helped small farmers in Tamil Nadu reap rich harvests. The bio intensive farm models promoted by the Department of Science and Technology and based on agro-ecosystem principles, have resulted in a sustainable farm production and livelihoods.

A six-year study in Cuba has shown that increasing a farm

Diversity is being lost rapidly both in nature and culture,
including agriculture. But, all is not lost yet. Realising the benefits and also as a reliable option in fragile ecosystems, communities are still nurturing diversity. This article highlights issues, available and potential options as well as barriers.

The article highlights the strength of integrating farmer’s involvement in identifying native species, establishment of plant nurseries in the vicinity, timeliness of operations and shared ownership in terms of protection measures. This is an effort of CAZRI in collaboration with local farming communities to revive traditional agro forestry systems in Rajasthan.

Small land holders can be self sustainable. This was proved by Shri. Santu, a small farmer in Gorakhpur, who started making a decent living from farming by increasing the diversity on the farms and integrating one into another.