Agricultural project: Roots and Origins

  ROOTS AND ORIGINS

„If you want to make small changes,

Change how you do things

If you want major changes,

 change how you see things! “

                                       Don Campbell (holistic management)

  

Agriculture, as known in these days, is closing to its end. Conventional production, integrated, even eco-organic can’t return the soil in its original state. Because of usage of standard agricultural techniques, soil have lost most of its original purpose and powers: to grow plants, holding water, collecting sun and to feed animals and people.

Usage of chemicals and inorganic fertilisers for decades caused dramatic reduction of fertile alive soil stratum. Even production on organic principals didn’t show results. Aldo eco (organic) production is positive and not causing further damage, can’t influence on soil regeneration and restoration of fertile stratum. All numbered is causing growing inputs in agriculture, but because of non-regenerative soil processes outputs are going to be smaller every year. In addition, as Joel Salatin noticed well: every production that can’t attract young people is going to die out. And most of young people are not interested in agriculture of any kind. Lacking in information and education, most people in general are not even interested in food they are eating. Most of food is imported from other countries and food with eco certificate is too expensive for the most of Croatian workers. People lose trust in food and agriculture and as they think they can’t really do anything for that part, they don’t want to think about it.

Knowing all mentioned facts, our group make a corporative “Green giant”. It includes 6 small scale production farms for now. We want for our farms to became centre of regenerative and holistic management including praxis such is biodynamics, permaculture, Keyline design, biochar production and holistic grazing systems.

In our farms, we already apply biodynamics in vegetable and fruit production, grazing systems for ruminants (cows and sheep’s), pasture management of poultry for meet and eggs and pasture raised pigs. We started to produce small scale of secondary products such as Hard and cottage cheeses, heavy cream, yogurts, sausages, bacon, dry duck, turkey and lamb meat, James, juices, cakes and we are getting more inspiration for new ones every day.  Also, we have good market for all our products.

We have experience and knowledge, land, animals and most important great faith in our project. We already have invested all that we have and could in our properties. No matter of anything our farms are going develop in right direction but the process is going to be kind of slow and it shouldn’t be. We already have many interested people and groups of visitors that are willing to come and learn from our practises.

If we could get support we could fast forward in development of our farms rapidly and we could offer everyone interested in such production to visit or to work with us and to be educated for such principals in many fields (fruits, vegetables, animal production, secondary products production) Also, we expect that our way of doing things will be accepted in surrounding by including more people in. That should have resulted in very beneficial influence on environment but also on people. We are assured that if more of people could see that our families can live decent life of this kind of production, the shift would be major. It is very important for other people to see the possible change because it’s the great dogma in Croatia as well as in other countries, that that kind of regenerative and holistic approach can’t be done successfully. Only as very little experiment. That opinion is also supported by many members of Universities and big producers. Because of that, even in private vegetable gardens and orchards people are using chemicals and fertilisers.

In opposition to described situation, principals of holistic management are applied on 45 million of hectares all around the globe and in every bit of soil included in experiments regeneration of the soil was confirmed 100%. So, there is proof on enormous scale that can be done and that can have phenomenal results, in soil regeneration, and in financial results that are equally important for people for living normally. We want our farms to be leader and show cases for others to see that.

Written by Ivan Štefanić