Step away from chemical intensive agriculture and nurture our soil-the ecological way.

Agriculture is thebackbone of the Indian economy,

and a source of livelihood for a large majority of Indian rural households.

Unfortunately, synthetic agrochemical based agriculture and complete neglect of organic matter addition in soils resulted in..

Biological, Chemical and Physical Deterioration of the Indian Soil.

Threatening the sustainability of our food production system.

Greenpeace India’s ‘Living Soils’ team

in consultation with over 6000 farmers from 24 blocks of Bihar found out that the soil health is deteriorating and farmers

are forced to apply higher doses of

costly chemical fertilisers every year

Farmers

Civil Society Groups

Agriculture Dept. Bihar

All other Stakeholders

Living Soils Team

Interacted With

Farmer’s Perception About 1000 farmers were surveyed in Bihar, and the

following responses were received.

No12%

Yes88%

Soil Has Life?

No2%

Yes98%

Awareness of Organic Fertilisers

Farmer’s Perception About 1000 farmers were surveyed in Bihar, and the

following responses were received.

The farmers are aware of the potential remedies and are willing to work towards reversing the soil’s

condition.

Farmer’s Perception About 1000 farmers were surveyed in Bihar, and the

following responses were received.

Biomass Unavailability•Biomass availability is

seriously impacted due to competing uses for cooking,

fodder etc. Declining number of cattle and

other livestock components is also contributing to the

biomass crisis.

Lack of a strategy to harness

available biomass

• Support for organic fertilization is now

scattered under various schemes and will

require a clearer focus, along with much better

assessment of soil health and nutrient

needs at the farm level.

Lack of proper grassroots level

institutional mechanism

• Grass roots level institutions that

follow a participatory

approach is critical for implementation

of a holistic biomass strategy.

Barriers to Ecological Fertilisation

“The way forward is to rejuvenate soil and restore soil health through addition of soil organic matter in bulk quantities.” The 12th Five Year Plan Approach Paper ‘Faster, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth’ Planning commission of India.

Proposed Solution: Living Soils

Living Soils is an initiative to bring a perception change among the farmers, policy makers and their implementers towards biomass availability.

It is aimed at providing a comprehensive and integrated biomass-based eco-fertilisation solution to address the issue of soil health crisis and ensure a sustainable food production system.

The model includes biomass-based community enterprise and creating grassroots institutions, which will, in turn play a very significant role in enhancing the soil health status, facilitating the production of biomass based eco-fertilisers, increasing farmers’ income and securing rural livelihood.

Thus, the project intends to benefit the farmers and the entire village in multiple ways.

The project Living Soils requires a total funding of Rs. 30,78,000.

Clean RenewableEnergy

Saving Forests over

Dirty Coal Mining

Sustainable and

Ecological Farming

Similar to this project, Greenpeace India is also running various other campaigns that address the issues of

..that need your generous financial support!

Your decision to financially support Greenpeace will make a huge difference to many lives!

Without your support,our victories would be impossible!

Greenpeace strictly doesn’t accept funds from corporate or government bodies. Our work solely relies on donations from

individuals like you!

For more information on the project Living Soils, contactIshteyaque Ahmed ishteyaque.ahmed@greenpeace.org

For other information, contactSandeep Vegad sandeep.vegad@greenpeace.org supporter.services.in@greenpeace.org

Music credits: Ross Bugden