A successful partnership between the University of Reading, UK, the M S Swaminathan Reserach Foundation India, and a network of small holder famers in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, saw us co-design ecological interventions in rice, okra, mango and moringa fields in. All interventions (including lentils, sunflowers and sesame) were co-developed with smallholder farmers to ensure context specific floral resources to boost beneficial biodiversity including natural enemies of pests and insect pollinators. These in turn contributed to enhanced ecosystem services, better yield and quality of produce and improved livelihoods. The interventions also provided co-benefits in the form of added income or by meeting household nutritional needs. These practices are now being adopted further by farming communities in the wider countryside through peer to peer sharing of knowledge and good practice. Links to peer reviewed published evidence as well as short documentraies featuring our farmers and the lessons we learned from the project are featured below
- Project website - https://research.reading.ac.uk/gcrf-tropical/about/project-tropical/
- Video incorporating farmer interviews and their experiences of ecological interventions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtCtwyFX8DM
- Video highlighting the key lessons we learned from implementing ecological interventions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gVb8RgQCM
- Peer reviewed publication showing EI impacts in moringa orchards - https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.14532
- Peer reviewed publication showing EI impact in rice paddy fields - https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/afe.12615
Dr. Deepa Senapathi