SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Eco-faming and Agroforestry for Self-reliance: Small-scale, Sustainable Growing Practices in Russia

Russian Agricultural Tradition

• peasant economy • small-size; family labor • peasant-owned land • non-capitalistic motivation • subsistence growing • cultural / spiritual dimension Alexander Chayanov

Dacha Movement

• in WWII to fight food shortages • 50% of urbanites own a dacha • 35 million families (70% of population) • 8 million ha (20 million ac) • 40% of Russia’s agricultural output

Small size, huge importance

• 92% of potatoes • 77% of vegetables • 87% of berries & fruit • 60% of meat • 49% of milk • plus hunting, gathering and fishing

A typical dacha

Land, capital and labor

• LAND: median size 0.05-0.06 ha • CAPITAL: low-put • LABOR: 18 hrs / week • 555 hrs / growing season • travel (90% gardeners) – 1.5 - 4 hrs • plus hunting, gathering and fishing

Crops & growing methods

• potatoes & other vegetables & greens • fruit, small fruit & berries • cattle, milk, chicken, eggs • organic methods • manual, machinery-free labor • innovation & know-how

Subsistence, market & spiritual

• subsistence first • $1,000 worth of labor to produce $140 worth of produce • “dacha makes no economic sense” • connection to the Earth

The Ringing Cedars Series

• 8 books • 10 million copies sold in Russian • in 20 languages • Back-to-the-Earth movement Vladimir Megre

The Ringing Cedars: Russian

The Ringing Cedars

Small homesteads, big aspirations

• land-based diversified enterprise • trees & NTFP • spiritual connection to the Earth

Spiritual? What’s that?

“managing forests to protect the range of spiritual needs and values” Government of the United States of America, 1995 (Santiago Declaration – criteria and indicators for sustainable management of boreal forests)

An eternal garden

19-century permaculure

• the estate / apple orchard protected by

Pinus sibirica

windbreaks • maintenance-free for 100 yrs

Déja vu?

Russian XIX century estate www.CenterForAgroforestry.org

Intentional? Integrated? Intensive? Interactive?

Karl Turmer (1824-1900)

• “There exists a harmonious relationship between forestry and agriculture. If forestry is regarded as separate from agriculture, this harmony is disrupted.”

[succession]

• “The basic principle of

agroforestry

is simple: more grain, more timber, more income.” • Planted over 10,000 ac of forest & agroforestry trials in central Russia

Kin estates

“A new revolution…”

“Over the last few years Russia, Byelorussia, and Ukraine experience a real

eco-village boom

: thousands of families are building their kin estates…” — Vesti Weekly, February 24, 2005

Supreme Mufti of Russia

“I

love

the Ringing Cedars books. I read them and derive a lot for myself…” —

Talgat Tajuddin

Dr. Viktor Medikov

“I am building my own kin estate in an eco-village 20 miles from here…” Dr. Viktor Medikov at The Ringing Cedars Movement conference, Vladimir, June 5, 2004

“Russia’s new national idea”

“The Ringing Cedars will shape Russia’s future.” — Viktor Medikov, Member of Parliament, author of

Putin, Megre and Russia’s Future

The movement

200+ delegates. 48 regions. The Ringing Cedars Movement conference, Vladimir, June 5, 2004

Re-settling villages

— Eco-village “Grishino”, north of St. Petersburg

New eco-villages

Eco-building for eco-villages

Growing food

New communities

Pine nut products

• created mass demand in Russia and beyond

New sprouts

Sharash-kin estate

Implications for the U.S.

• gardening - $18 billion industry • know-how & potential for agroforestry adoption in micro-scale cultivation • landowners may adopt practices for spiritual or religious reasons, in addition to economic, social, environmental, or cultural considerations

Images courtesy of:

Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A.

www.RingingCedars.com

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