Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

During Covid, like much of the world’s population, Solar Roots underwent a period of reduced activity and withdrawal. I myself, retreated to Rowdy Bear, my mountain retreat in Northern California, where contact with other people was minimal. Strangely, all that seems like a fading memory now and we are back to business as usual, albeit in a “new normal” world.

I have already explained why, for personal, political and military reasons, it is not feasible for me to return to Myanmar at the moment. Although it seems as if the world has completely forgotten about the civil war there, I can report that the situation continues to deteriorate regarding the safety and wellbeing of the Myanmar people. The military junta is on the back foot, having lost control of most of the territory inside the country, leading them to ever increasing brutal and desperate measures. It may well get worse before it gets better, which is a frightening prospect. I continue to support individuals and communities financially, as best I can.

 Although I am about to turn 73, I feel that I still have several good years in the field, pursuing the goals of Solar Roots. While casting about for my next assignment I was delighted to come across the site Workaway.com, (see below), which is somewhat like the Woofers, where volunteers can exchange light work duties for room and board and maybe some learning too. Anyone who knows me can appreciate how my heart soared when I saw so many projects around the world which might possibly benefit from an exchange with Solar Roots. Since Northern Thailand suffers from dangerous air pollution in March and April, I decided to leave then and revisit India for the first time in 47 years. Although Northern India is becoming famous for its appalling air pollution and record-breaking high temperatures, I avoided those and chose to visit a farm where I was very comfortable and welcomed as an honored guest – Praveen’s farm *.

Praveen graduated more than 40 years ago, but decided to return to his ancestral land to become a farmer, rather than go into academy. His calling was largely inspired by the looming crisis in Indian farming which was caused by falling prices, increased costs, mechanization and expensive chemical inputs. He determined to experiment with a more natural way of farming, more akin to what his forefathers had been doing for centuries before him. He has been perfecting his techniques and philosophy ever since and has given trainings to over 20,000 farmers from near and far. Key elements of Praveen’s philosophy include: pure organic, using livestock manure as fertilizer, become as self-sufficient as possible as regards water, energy and inputs, feed the farm families first, then the village and lastly sell to the open market.

I will examine Praveen’s beliefs some more in future reports. But for now I will end with a mention of another farm resident – the langour monkey. These animals pass through the farm in groups of a dozen or more and cause quite a bit of destruction to crops and buildings. Often I would open my door in the morning to find one of these big monkeys grooming himself and looking at me as if to say ”Whatcha gonna do about it?” They are big and heavy and sometimes jump from a tree to a roof, crashing right through the cement sheeting. But the farm has a watchman whose sole job it is to ward off these intruders. More of him in the next report.

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Best wishes,

Bruce

(* I have substituted his name, as per GG’s guidelines).

Links:

• Workaway is a site for exchanging work for food and board