Life Organic: Farming at Mojo

About this Book: Having made their home in the rainforests of the Western Ghats, Sujata and Maya Goel communicate their organic farming practices with vivid descriptions and photographs of coffee, cardamom, vanilla, pepper and other crops cultivated under native tree canopies. The Western Ghats of southern India are unique in being one of the world’s biodiversity ‘hottest hotspots’ while also having agriculture as a primary source of livelihood. Although wildlife has survived alongside humans for centuries in this region, increased development, deforestation and intensive chemical farming have placed mounting pressure on the land, destroying its fragile ecological balance. These habitats are also home to the exclusive Shola-grassland ecosystem that acts as a catchment area for the Southwest monsoon, absorbing and releasing water in streams that feed the Cauvery River, which sustains life and livelihoods across peninsular India. The practices outlined in this book convey crucial information about adaptions in farming methods needed to allow life in the region to continue. The book also describes in rich detail the biology of how plants defend themselves with inbuilt mechanisms, and the role fungi, microbes and termites play in maintaining these balances – thereby offering a holistic understanding of the science and philosophy behind sustainable food systems.

About the Authors:

Sujata Goel is a Ph.D in Botany and left her life as a Lab Researcher to create a farm in the Western Ghats of southern India. Along with her daughter, Maya, they have documented their practices to share an understanding of what makes a forest vibrantly alive without human intervention.

Maya Goel has a double Masters in Anthropocene Studies (University of Cambridge, UK) and Creative Writing (University of East Anglia, UK) with a keen interest in bridging the gap between the social and biological sciences through her understanding of forest ecosystems. She organizes workshops on subjects across ecology and the arts, and is pursuing her own research to enable conversations between different disciplinary world views.