December 2nd 2016, a varied group of 28 eager participants converged at Native Place for a 3 day
Introduction to Permaculture Course. Attracted by the opportunity to learn
the basics of growing their own food , mangling soil fertility, setting
up regenerative systems, water harvesting, biodiversity regeneration etc and to understand the
inter-relationships among all of these.
Under the guidance of Narsanna Koppula, India’s
pioneering permaculture practitioner, with his decades of experience in this
field, this 3 day course turned out to be a power packed learning experience
fulfilling the needs of the various participants - some were working on their
land, some had plans to buy land, some were involved in urban terrace farms and
some were simply curious.
Narsanna skilfully guided the participants though the
fundamentals , the basics of permaculture practices and principles.
Lectures & Interactive discussions, plenty of hands-on practicals, Palikade Farm site visit and tree identification walks.
The Native Place garden, a permaculture project in
progress, spread over many levels, packed with bio diverse plantings and an impressive
list of native trees - provided the perfect setting. After the initial
talk in the yoga room a semi open meeting space at the bottom of the garden,
Narsanna led them out into the garden where he preferred the many shady seating
areas in the garden much to the delight of the participants.
Each day the program went on till late in the evening
followed by dinner, a short film on permaculture, singing and
bonding.
They were a lovely bunch of people from Mumbai,
Pune, Nasik, Bangalore, Germany and Canada. They came together as
individual participants but emerged into a cohesive group bound by common
interests and the promise of growing sharing and supporting each other in the
journey to apply permaculture in their lives.
Cheers to the Permaculture Patshala and all who energize it
Astrid Rao & Sneha Shetty
Narsanna Koppula is a permaculture pioneer
in India. Along with his wife Padma Koppula, he founded the organisation AranyaAgricultural Alternatives that works with rural farming communities in Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana in applications of permaculture and natural resource
management. In recent years, through his Permaculture Patshala, Narsanna has
also been sharing the wealth of his 30 years of experience with urban folks
from across India and the world, who are attempting to return to land and live
in harmony with nature. His organisation is also hosting the 13th InternationalPermaculture Convergence in India in November 2017.
