SAFBIN in Pakistan organised capacity building sessions for Smallholder farmer Committee (SHFC) members were organized on sustainable crop intensification and permaculture from 13th to 18th August in seven villages of Sargodha District. Permaculture is a holistic approach to agriculture that provides for human needs—high-quality food, fiber, fuel, medicine and building materials—while enhancing the ecosystems and communities from which these derive.
The workshop was organised in coordination with the district Agriculture Department, who facilitated the training. 140 farmers participated and benefitted from capacity building sessions. The Agriculture Officers covered a range of topics under the theme that gave emphasis on productive use of available natural resources; improving management of natural resources in water scarce areas; establishment of healthy plants both early and attentively, taking care to conserve and nurture their potential for root system growth and for associated shoot growth; enrichment of the soil with organic matter, and keeping the soil well-aerated to support the better growth of roots and of beneficial soil biota; and application of water in ways that favor plant-root and soil-microbial growth, avoiding hypoxic soil conditions that adversely affect both roots and aerobic soil organisms.
