A working library
No farm is built from one book or one scheme. This is a curated shelf of the people, programmes and organisations worth knowing about as you go — the foundations under everything on this site. Read widely, then trust your own soil over any author. Anything below marked † still needs checking before you rely on it.
Books
The thinkers who shaped regenerative farming — start with these.
- Masanobu Fukuoka — The One-Straw Revolution. The classic that launched natural farming worldwide: do-nothing farming, no tillage, no chemicals, working with nature rather than against it. The book that changes how you see a field.
- Bill Mollison & David Holmgren — Permaculture: A Designers' Manual / Permaculture One †. The founding texts of permaculture — designing whole systems where every element supports the others.
- Robert Hart — Forest Gardening †. The pioneering work on temperate food forests — growing food in layers like a woodland, an idea that adapts beautifully to Indian conditions.
- Subhash Palekar — The Philosophy of Spiritual Farming / writings on Zero Budget Natural Farming* †. The architect of India's natural farming movement — jeevamrut, beejamrut, mulching and the cow at the centre of fertility.
- Sir Albert Howard — An Agricultural Testament †. The British scientist who developed the Indore composting method in India a century ago — the grandfather of modern organic farming.
Government schemes
India has substantial public support for water, soil and natural farming. The details and eligibility change, so confirm the current terms locally.
- PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana) — the national irrigation programme, supporting water harvesting, watershed development and micro-irrigation ("more crop per drop"). †
- MGNREGA farm ponds — the rural employment guarantee scheme can fund the labour for farm ponds, wells and other water and land works on eligible holdings. †
- PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana) — the central scheme promoting organic and cluster-based natural farming, with support for inputs, certification and marketing. †
- PM-KUSUM — support for solar pumps and solar power for farmers, helping replace diesel and grid pumping with renewable energy. †
- PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) — a farmer-group-based organic certification system, more accessible and affordable for smallholders than third-party certification. †
Films & channels
Seeing a working farm explains more than any text. These search links point you toward video; confirm specific creators and content before sharing.
- † Subhash Palekar / natural farming & jeevamrut — https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=subhash+palekar+natural+farming
- † Permaculture in India — https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=permaculture+india
- † Food forest / forest garden tours — https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=food+forest+india
- † APCNF / Andhra Pradesh Community-managed Natural Farming — https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=andhra+pradesh+community+managed+natural+farming
Organisations
Bodies doing the research, training and on-the-ground work.
- APCNF (Andhra Pradesh Community-managed Natural Farming) — the large-scale state programme scaling natural farming to many thousands of farmers; a leading real-world proof of the approach. †
- NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) — finance and support for rural development, watersheds, farmer producer organisations and natural farming initiatives. †
- ICAR-IIFSR (Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research) — the ICAR institute focused on integrated and diversified farming systems research. †