In southern India, the agricultural region around Anantapur, one of the largest in the country, is in the process of converting to 100% natural agriculture, contrary to the Indian agricultural model. The country has eight million farmers, including Surendra Reddy. The farmer was one of the first converts. He has been cultivating his fields without chemicals for four years. “In the beginning, the transition to natural farming was very difficult. After years of using chemicals and pesticides, my country was deserted.”he confides.

He has also given up the monoculture in order to grow various types of fruit and vegetables on his land: papayas, tomatoes or aubergines. They grow on a mixture of cow dung and urine that encourages microbial life underground. “Today I think less and earn more”, says Surendra Reddy. In total, almost 800,000 farmers in the region have switched to 100% natural agriculture. It is the largest agroecology project in the world. We owe it to Vijay Kumar, the government’s agricultural adviser, who wanted to develop the program in response to a spate of farmer suicides in his region.