Beejpatra began as an attempt to provide a space for the urban farming community to present, talk about and propagate different ways in which citizens can make cities beautiful, socially just, more self-reliant, and ecological. It became a place to save and share the knowledge, experiences and possibilities in urban farming. The last three editions documented accounts of unique initiatives in urban farming from across the world where it has come up as an effort of community initiative, individual hobby, or as a means for survival and to resist colonial forces. The Fourth Edition of Beejpatra explores the relationship of city, river and agriculture, one that used to be and is now under threat.
Geetanjali, the guest editor of this edition of Beejpatra, notes that- “(the) space, where once indigenous farmers used to cultivate their food, subsistence fishers used to catch fish and riverside communities used to live for generations, is being developed and beautified. Thus, urban rivers—or rivers that flow through now well-defined cities—no more have fertile floodplains. In fact, they have no floodplains, only concrete on either side. Along with floodplains, peri-urban farms have also disappeared. Today, the ‘urban farmer’ is she who cultivates in the balcony, on the terrace and inside her housing society premises. This edition of Beejpatra is a reminder of the changing relationships between the city and its river/s and between the river and those involved in agriculture and the city.”
This edition is the result of the brilliant contributions received from Pornima Buddhivant, Chandana C., Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Nitin Bhardwaj, Aakiz Farooq and Nishant, Raina Ghosh, Archana, and Akshita. People’s Resource Centre would like to offer the heartiest gratitude to Geetanjali Gurlhosur for providing continuous support, time and effort to help curate this special edition. Apart from her, PRC could not have produced this leaflet without the efforts of Akshita and Avikal, the other two members of the editorial collective for the fourth leaflet. On behalf of the editorial collective, PRC welcomes your feedback and suggestions on the leaflet. Please write to us at beejpatra@gmail.com.
In this edition of Beejpatra:
Editorial Note by Geetanjali Gurlhosur
Exploring the Relationship Between City, River and Agriculture by Pornima Buddhivant
Water, Culture and Society: A Case Study of Kapila River by Chandana C.
Brahmaputra, Guwahati and Farmers by Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman
Past, Present and Future: Delirious nature of development of Burari village by Nitin Bhardwaj
Survey of Urban Agriculture in Delhi by Aakiz Farooq and Nishant
How ‘fishy’ is the future of urban fishing in Varanasi? by Raina Ghosh
In dearth of the essential: Agriculture in “distant” Diaras of Patna by Archana
Caught in the tangles of court orders, Yamuna remains polluted by Akshita Rawat
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For the urban farming community to grow and thrive, collaboration is essential. Therefore we invite urban cultivators, researchers and enthusiasts to share their experiences and ideas. You can share with us-
- Your experiences (or experiences of your friends/relatives) of farming in the house, terrace or balcony
- Essay, article, brief report etc. on community initiative of farming or encouraging farming in cities
- Discussion on technical and theoretical questions related to urban farming
- Brief of original research work, short notes, or comments related to urban farming
