Micro Food Forests – Planting Hope for Tomorrow

To celebrate International Mother Earth Day on April 22 , IDS invites you to Arvind Kumar’s farm near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh . Having spent decades cultivating tomatoes, wheat, and rice on his modest 5 Beegha land (about 3 acres), Arvind long carried the heavy burdens typical of chemical-based farming—depleted soil fertility, escalating input costs, and a shrinking herd of livestock. With ten family members reliant on his harvests, each growing season felt like an uphill battle, often ending in the sale of livestock to repay debts on fertilizer and pesticide purchases.

A turning point came a year ago when Arvind connected with the Shramik Bharti team. Inspired by their encouragement, he embraced the creation of a Micro Food Forest with natural farming practices . This entailed preparing bio-inputs from local resources, practicing mulching, and diversifying his planting with inter- and multi-cropping. These changes revived not just his land but also his spirit; he reduced costs, improved soil moisture and health, and saw superior produce that fetched better market prices.

Building on this momentum, Arvind adopted the role of a “Seed Saver” , preserving native seeds of wheat, paddy, gram, peas, and mustard for his own use and to share freely among other farmers. He further minimized his reliance on fuel-based machinery , opting for eco-friendly alternatives and sharing these innovations with his community. With a suggested layout as a guide (see below), Arvind and his family tailored the design to suit their soil and local needs.

Arvind’s Micro Food Forest is taking shape as a haven of biodiversity and nutrition . While young fruit saplings take root, Arvind maximized the land’s productivity by intercropping fast-growing seasonal vegetables between them. This strategy ensures the first harvest arrives in just three months, while certain fruit trees will begin bearing in six months—and within two years, the Micro Food Forest will flourish, providing a resilient and diverse harvest and ensuring ecological sustainability .

IDS is supporting Micro Food Forest development for 50 farmers in this region with your generous donations. Thank you for bringing joyous smiles to the faces of Arvind and his neighboring villagers and enabling their annual income to grow by Rs. 30,000+ .