roof terrace home, pondicherry, night, 14-1-05

i have noticed since my arrival that indians strike their matches differently than how most americans do. it's done like this: grasping the small box on its's broad side one of the two striking surfaces is offered up. the match is held between the thumb and second finger with the index set snuggly against its tiny base. the match is generally at a slightly less than right angle with the thumb, which is somewhat aligned with the forearm. the motion is quick, hitting the boxs' surface briefly. with a new box this is done at the far end in the direction the match is following. the angle of strike is less than forty-five degrees. i am still working out a more precise figure for this. as this area becomes used the match contacts the surface a little further back and an expressive gesture may be added as it rises away from the surface. the box is flipped and rotated as it empties of matches. the quick motion is finished with the matched cupped in one or two hands depending on what it is being used for. when well executed, as it invariably is, it is a precise and beautiful gesture. it is both functional and styled. it has a very definete practicality. this is what i have come to understand, the difference between how Americans and indians strike matches is a layer of economy and societal expectations. in the u.s. we drag the match across much of the striking surface. we expect supersized portions. our country grew up on expansion into a preceived limitless land. we want bigger and better. it's what we pay for. here in india they already knew limitations of area and resources when matches came to be. i would believe that at that time their population was as large, if not larger, than our's is now. indias' land is smaller and its' civilisation vastly older than the united states. it has had much time and necessity to understand and apply the many meanings of the word economy. when i arrived i dragged my matches like all good americans do. what i found out was that this used up the striking surface faster than the matches. significantly. At first i was frustrated and vexed with indias apparent stengenous. It was only after continually watching indian men lighting matches that the genius and directness that can be a part of india became visible. it is said that communication(which preceeds understanding) is only five percent verbal. this true individually, societally, and culturally. it is important for all of us to remember this. it is by observing and considering all of what our senses are giving us do we begin to understand what the environment and culture are trying to tell us. only in this way will we not run-out of surfaces to strike our matches on.

How will Permaculture Help the Farmer?

With an understanding of permaculture and an ability to use the tools it offers a farmer will be able to create and/or modify their farm to increase functionality and yields while decreasing the external inputs (time and resources) necessary to achieve these. It should be noted that these increases will likely take more than a year or two to realize. While it is important, and Permaculture teaches how, to get immediate benefits (yields) from its application, it will take a few years (depending on conditions and the farmers skill) to achieve the optimal results mentioned above. Permaculture is a relatively new approach (about 30 years old) and has a limited history from which to jumpstart a project. However, as more people apply Permaculture in a variety of conditions and cultures, document the process from the start, and share their understandings this ‘lag time’ will decrease.

Some of the immediate benefits the farmer will receive from training and applying Permaculture are as follows: First will be a deeper insight and understanding of how resources of all types flow onto, through, and out of their farm. With this knowledge they can make decisions that will help to minimize inputs and optimize the benefits form these flows. They will be able to assess how and where resources are being ‘lost’ and how and where to interact with resources to maintain them longer on the farm. Simultaneously there will be a diversification of yields. This will have several affects, yields will move towards a year round occurrence, there will be an overall decrease in the percentage of crop loss due to pests and disease, and there will be an increase in sustainability which will reflect a move towards true resiliency. The farmer with this deeper understanding of how their farm is functioning, and with the specific tools and approaches Permaculture teaches, will be able to develop a long term design that includes strategies of implementation. At the beginning of the implementation process there can be an increase in necessary inputs and resources from time and money to labor, materials, and experimentation. However, as the farmer builds on their successes, as beneficial and regenerative relationships are established between all aspects of the farm, as diversity and complexity become a foundation for the farm, the necessity for external inputs decreases and resources become internalized with less energy needed to maintain the farm. This is not to say that farming will become a lazy nap in the afternoon sun, but, when Permaculture is successfully applied much less resources and work is required to achieve the same and often greater yields. A Permaculture technique that exemplifies this is called a Guild. A Guild is a harmonious assemblage of species around a central element (often a tree). It is over simplistically like companion planting, but contains greater levels of complexity and yields. This is achieved by utilizing a multitude of spacial areas within a very confined area; tall canopy, mid canopy, bushes, smaller shrubs, herbaceous layers, climbers, and subsurface tubers and taproots. All species within this assemblage contribute to the community; from nutrient fixing, to insect repelling and attracting. Once established a well designed guild will give year around yields of various types; food, fodder, medicine, fuel or whatever specifics the farmer designs into it. This technique exemplifies Permacultures emphasis towards perennial plantings that require less continuous and reoccurring inputs (though it still has much to offer towards the annual cropping patterns inherent in much of farming).

To summarize, Permacultures offerings can be seen as multilevel. First, it teaches the farmer how to come to a deeper understanding the flows internal and external that move through their farm. Second, it assembles a wide range of techniques and strategies (from cropping methods, to waste management, to energy alternatives) that a farmer can utilize as is appropriate to their specific site and culture. Thirdly, Permaculture gives the farmer the skills and understandings to assemble these flows, techniques and strategies into a design (including the process and schedule for implementation) that is site specific, maximizes a wider variety of yields, and creates a diversity and complexity that is the hallmark of a resilient system. Included in this outcome is the decrease in the external inputs so that even if there is a drop in yields due to environmental or market factors the overall outcome is still well within the parameters of sustainability.

Brief look at Permaculture

Permaculture is a design system to create sustainable, regenerative systems. For food production systems (agriculture) this means that not only will they sustain over time, but also that the system is inherently resilient to the challenges and stresses of various types and intensities, has qualities that gives it a sense of adaptability, and creates mutually beneficial linkages and relationships with other systems as well as the larger system it is a part of. How it does this is by focusing on relationships. While it is important that parts of a system be appropriate and adhere to the Ethics of Permaculture (Care for Earth, Care For People, Fair Share/Reinvest surplus) it is by the relationships that we create between them that true sustainability and resiliency occurs. Permaculture does this on several levels.

First and primary Permaculture has a set of principles that form guidelines and avenues by which we can design sustainable systems. In addition these principles can be used to look at and understand systems already in place, thus allowing us to intervene and adjust in appropriate and sustainable ways to improve (step up) the system. For a farmer this means a better understanding of resource management (from seed, to water, to manure, to time and labor) and how these move thru their farm to influence and create or reduce yields. This movement of resources as well as the movement of all parts of an environment (including the human generated ones) is referred to as flows. Permaculture creates resiliency by weaving these flows into a complexity. It is through a diverse, complex web of elements and relationships that a system is able to endure even in times of stress from disease and pests, drought and flood, as well as the fluctuations that are inherent in a market economy. On a farm one thing this means is that within a given context of space, time and the environment a greater number of species can be grown and a complexity of cropping and support systems will be created and linked. In addition, relationships beyond the farm will be optimized for the benefit of all concerned.
Another level, one of the gems of Permaculture, is Pattern Literacy and Application. This is a part of the foundation of Permaculture designing and understanding of systems, from the farm to the greater context in which the farm exists, and another level to creating sustainability and resilience. Patterning includes individual flows, how these flows interact and layer to create patterns, as well as how to apply patterns in design to match and optimize the natural patterns and flows of a specific site. A distinct advantage that will aid the farmer through Pattern Literacy will be the ability to recognize points of opportunity. These are points (nodes) within a system (pattern) where a simple intervention leads to complex and far reaching results.

Related to this is Sector Analysis, a Permaculture tool for understanding how flows move across a particular site. Again, a Flow can be physical (water, fire, manure, seeds, animals etc.), invisible (economic, information, etc.), or anything else that can be considered to move within or through a system. A flow can originate in or outside the system. With Sector analysis a map (pattern) of flows is created to get a better and deeper understanding of what is shaping and influencing the system. Sector Analysis informs how elements are or can be placed within the context of a particular site to optimize for appropriateness and sustainability. In Permaculture design this is called Right Placement.

Coupled with Sector Analysis is another Permaculture tool called Zonation. Zonation is a way by which parts (elements) of a system are placed in relationship to maximize beneficial relationships and minimize the inputs necessary to maintain and utilize them. On a farm this would involve the relationships between cowshed, garden, farmhouse, water, orchard, and all other aspects of the farm. Zonation facilitates the creation of a diverse and complex web of interactions between a set of elements that requires the minimum input of external resources. It also maximizes the functionality between the varied elements on the farm. This is called Relative Placement.

With Relative and Right Placement resiliency is designed into and becomes a natural outcome of the system. Like a web, if one or several strands (relationships) were to break the web survives. Together Sector Analysis and Zonation are another layer by which Permaculture creates these beneficial and complex relationships.

These (Ethics, Principles, Flows, Patterns, Sector Analysis, and Zonation) are all parts of the Design Process and are part of the core of Permaculture. What a permaculturalist is at heart is an opportunist. As long as the design, technique or strategy adheres to or the intervention falls within the Permaculture Ethics, and the Principles are applied, than Permaculture is being practiced. While this may sound simple, if you really understand and skillfully apply these Principles and Ethics very specific and functional outcomes occur. It should be understood that while being very specific Permaculture has great flexibility and adaptability to local conditions. Because Permaculture is about relationships and less about objects (elements) it is very site specific, taking into account not only the physical uniqueness of a place but also the culture and history as well. In fact and practice it recognizes the value of traditional indigenous knowledge. Permaculture seeks to preserve and honour this storehouse of sustainability while also coupling it with the realities of the world today. It is through this site specific approach and honouring of local culture, history, and traditional practices that Permaculture is being applied in over 120 countries worldwide, in conditions ranging from high altitude deserts to the wet tropics, from extremely cold to extremely hot climates, from small farms of less than an acre to ones of many hundreds and thousands of acres.