Hi Rama.
I am Charlotte Anthony and I have recently moved to Tamil Nadu, India to serve in reversing desertification here in India, as well as to making farming for subsistence farmers more viable. I am still sorting through all my options of what to plant, but one tree I will definitely plant is moringa. All our planting will be aimed at restorative agroforestry which means that everthing we advise people to plant (and plant ourselves) will have the stacking functions of rejuvenating the
water cycle, increasing microbes, increasing soil fertility in general and also to make a good income from local markets. We believe growing for export is not
sustainable.
Country coconuts are one of the best trees for this. The whole Indian subcontinent is obsessed with making more and more money from hybrid plants and hybrid trees which supposedly increase yield and definitely the trees bring about fruiting much earlier. The problem is that most of these trees and hybrid plants are no where near as hardy, in terms of disease resistance and water needs as open pollinated varieties. They need 3 - 4 times the water which then invokes a cycle of too rapid growth for the plants which leads to insect and fungus damage. we are also advising folks simple, inexpensive ways to do key lines on their property. This results in rain fed crops getting almost equal yields to irrigated crops without the disease problems as the water comes from soil retention which is where the plants need it.
Our first farmer wants to plant next week, so will have an extensive list (we always plant at least 20 crops together) by then. My phone number here in India is +91-7639468062 if I can help.
Meanwhile I want to recommend that you get the book about Bhaskar Save, Vision of
Natural Farming, from
earthcarebooks@gmail.com.
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