WORKSHOP – Growing a Food Forest – Agroforestry Course and Implementation – Arthur Venturella

This 3 days course represents a partnership between Kul Kul Connection and a local farmer in the dry subak in the neighboring village of Sibang-Gede. Together we intend to work on the shared goals of regenerative agriculture that brings about healthy land and food while nurturing traditional knowledge and self-reliant communities

Topics Covered.

• Understanding forest strata. We will explore how plants behave in their environment, considering the quantity and quality of light that the plants need to be healthy and the particular forest niche they thrive in.
• Natural succession. To cultivate a forest it is important to see how plants behave across time. How long it takes them to reach their full life cycle and how long it takes until they reach maturity.
• The importance of Mulching. It is essential that soil stays covered with organic matter to be fertile. We will teach people the best mulching practices for maximum soil health.
• Intercropping. We will demonstrate how to combine plants in an Agroforest, including examples on how to properly combine different species in one system.
• Plant Propagation. Knowledge of best practices for the propagation of different plant species to create long term health and productivity of individual plants.
• Agroforestry Design. There will be a practical design exercise evaluating the producer’s goal regarding the quantity and type of products being produced and considering all variables of a property: climate, soil quality, ground leveling, positioning considering the sun, etc.
• We will also initiate the implantation of a new area that will become a food forest at the local banjar

The intensive course is followed by 6 weekly half-day implementation sessions on Tuesday mornings from February-March at Subak Sibang Gede

More about Agroforestry and Syntropic Farming

“In Syntropic Farming, holes become nests, seeds become genes, weeding becomes harvesting, the competition gives way to cooperation and pests and diseases are seen as the “agents from the department of optimization of life processes”. These and other terms do not arise by chance, but rather derive from a change in the way we see, interpret and relate to nature.

Many of the sustainable farming practices are based on the logic of input substitution. Chemicals are replaced with organic, plastics with biodegradable materials, pesticides with all sort of preparations. However, the way of thinking is still very close to that one they oppose. In common, they combat the consequences of the lack of adequate conditions for healthy plant growth.

Syntropic Agriculture, on the other hand, helps the farmer replicate and accelerate the natural processes of ecological succession and stratification, giving each plant the ideal conditions for its development, placing each one in their “just right” position in space (strata) and in time (succession). It is process-based agriculture, rather than input-based. In that way, the harvest is seen as a side effect of ecosystem regeneration, or vice versa.” Agenda  Gostch – read more

Profile

Arthur Venturella

Arthur joins us from Porto Alegre, Brazil, and is dedicated to the recovery of degraded land through agroforestry systems. He studies with the best references in agroforestry in different regions of the world. In the last year he has dedicated his life as an agroforestry farmer and also as an educator

Kul Kul Connection

KKC bridges the international community of Green School with the local community of Sibangkaja. Our endeavors nurture a united community spirit and create a space for local engagement in Green School’s learning and doing, ultimately leading to the fulfillment of Green School’s mission to be an inclusive community of learners making our world sustainable

The organizer was proud to invite bright future Indonesian Agroforester to apply for a fully-funded scholarship and partial scholarship. Please click the green button below for more information and registration:

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CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS.

We are welcoming a maximum of 25 participants for this course. Please place your booking as soon as possible to ensure a spot. We understand that sometimes things happen. If you need to cancel your ticket we will give you a refund, less a US $50 admin fee 2 weeks prior to the start date of the course. Within two weeks of the course, no refund will be available, we will instead give you a credit note, less an admin fee of US $100,  that you can use to participate in a future course.