I live in India and wish to do permaculture stuff here. Could anybody please suggest me any books or online encyclopedia or wiki links that talks about the kind of trees & Plants that are specific and local to India Geographical Location and Climatic Zone.

I need this information because, for example I want to know which plant or tree fixes Nitrogen in the soil in India so that I could plant them near my fruit trees etc.
Because most of the plant & tree names covered in most of the PDC Course and books seem to be related to USA & Australia Geographical locations and such plants or trees don't seem to be available in India.

I need something specific to India geographic location. Please guide. Thanks in Advance.

Welcome to Permies, Rama!

Pigeon peas (toor dal) are a very good answer to your question. A perennial legume that is commonly used in India for intercropping with other food plants. Here is a paper where they studied intercropping of pigeon pea with sorghum and millets, and your fruit trees might also be able to benefit from them.

What kind of fruit trees do you have and what would you like to add in with them? Livestock forage? Vegetables? Grains?

Thank you very much for the information John, but I am seeking some kind of extensive lists like the below, where in I could find a lot of choices specific to the country I live (india):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Soil_improvers

Something like an encyclopedia with all the plant/tree names etc. inputs & outputs of different eliments etc., so that I could go through them and make my own choices in the Permaculture Design Process.

Hi Rama and welcome to Permies!

As to your question, I don't think just "one" book or resource exists. However, permaculture places a lot of emphasis on the legume family of plants. Kew Gardens in England has put out a massive book called Legumes of the World (often referred to as "LOWO"). They've now made the information in the book searchable on their website here:

Legumes of the World Searchable Database

If you type "India" into their search box, you come up with 129 genera of legume trees that grow in India. You would have to narrow this list by your specific climate within the Indian Subcontinent.

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.

Thank you jennifer for your post. I did not know of that resource and will go on there today.