i'm stephanie simple. next on d.w. . every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word published in the. rico is in germany to learn german why not with him simple online on your mobile and free shop d w z e learning course nikos speak german meeting scene. hello welcome to eco india this week let's look at why the practice of farming to me and off the future needs a serious street pick. coming to you from a. bust let's look at an often neglected

good in agriculture the women farm. more than 400000000 women engage in farm work although the lack of equal rights in land of the ship. this is true for more than 90 countries including india an organization in the region which is north to be the farm a source side capital of the country eastern maharashtra is empowering women farmers to be key decision makers and on the land the working let's see why this is a monumental 4th step in transforming agriculture in the india. and early love of the. market. to. see. the women of bobby village in eastern maharashtra are singing songs of prayer for a good harvest to see here and. leading out the bad luck they've had to face in the

last decade. but a lot and now they look at the law that go in the region of. bobby is one of the hottest places in india to be a farmer crop failure severe groundwater depletion food insecurity and uncertain cash flow out of widespread problems it's drought prone districts are seeing an increasing number of farmers who cite every year. in 2018 the number stood at 947. despair and hope of guaranteed returns had forced farmers likes to knead call carney to concentrate on cash crops like sugar cane and so have been the money he earned was always ploughed back into the farm for the next season this meant there

was very little to feed his family. his wife was determined to break the cycle. when a man works on the farm he only thinks about money what i want and the big decisions that need to be taken this is effective but i want to support you is very different she thinks about home and the needs of her family the food and the money that's required to survive when they hit the. 3 years ago she insisted that her husband set aside one acre of farmland to grow fruit vegetables and greens to meet the food needs of the family not only that she insisted but the land be legally transferred to her name. for a woman to make such

a demand was not only rare but revolutionary. in india 83 percent of farm land is inherited and owned by male members of the family while women inherit and on less than 2 percent. that men have always had to work as farm laborers 70 per cent of the men farmers today do 80 per cent of all the work in the north is just as you make us but as helpers knowledge has to mike in one incredible. journey and then we get a middle of the. good over he heads to a local wing of so i am sure shown a priori a women's empowerment organization that has helped many women assert themselves. other than the one that i love. to offer i think.

the idea to empower women came after a startling revelation in 2009 many of them were severely malnourished. i mean really it's particularly an event to be conducted a medical came to test the level of him a little being in the van as he realized that it was very you know. that made about one out of the men present said the intruder families women traditionally serve the men 1st and then whatever is left and sometimes it's nothing at all but i do. not have that glamour that might have i'm not. so the one acre more of women lead and climate resilient farming also helps ensure

women eat better. so i'm sure trains women farmers to preserve seeds and grow 35 different types of nutrient rich vegetables grains and tubers on their patch of land using organic farming techniques that minimise water use this reduces their reliance on store bought produce but. they're also trained in alternate sources of flight really heard such as gold trading poultry and dairy farming. the one eco model has improved our general status not only within her family but also within the community. actually we

need to prove our word to ourselves if you want our families to believe in our ability now that i am successful my family consults me about every major decision that needs to be taken. with us. that even they got that going to. be that that bit of money. on my lawn. and they thinking she. got it but there had been. living with it all i feel very proud 25 years ago i started working with these women and saving 10 rupees was difficult odd today women can say 502 piece that's a big difference today they can spend most of their income and their children's education but they spend it themselves and they don't have to ask anybody.

in the drought prone model. more than 41000 women farmers now practice the one. many of them are able to sell their excess produce giving them from you a savings of nearly $500.00 per household. but the fight for women's rights is far from over. in a deeply society only 10 percent of women own one acre farm and do. shalani and out of china are now monday a group of women who are pushing the government to cool defy and strengthen their rights but you wonder how the farmers and if you lot bobby village is really a fix to our next story we'll tell you how food production affects you and the

environment you're part of. the seeds of our food our stone in the fields of the world all the products we buy and eat are produced by farmers agricultural development is also the primary fuel for economic growth and is crucial to poverty alleviation and food security. currently our agricultural systems are driven only by the need to feed more people and to remain profitable the 20th century saw farming technologies like the production of genetically modified crops the use of chemical fertilizers and increased mechanisation. this industrial agriculture model doesn't give sufficient consideration to the strain that food production puts on the environment and this impact is huge. the agricultural sector is the 2nd largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the

energy sector the industry is also the largest consumer of water. to make crops more resilient and harvests bigger farmers increasingly use pesticides and fertilizers richer nitrogen potassium and phosphates. another feature of this model is the practice of monoculture meaning farmers focus on one or 2 types of crops over an entire farm or area. this is thought to be a highly productive method of farming which is simpler to manage and boasts greater yields but the downside to this is the degradation of soil and water sources and that has struck. of natural eco systems. extended periods of droughts and floods a weather cycle exacerbated by climate change also brings crop failure groundwater depletion and food insecurity. now germany has had

a long tradition of organic farming but for young farmers the hotels are high land is expensive and their harvest. yet they're choosing to go back to the eco friendly produce by rethinking the basics of farming practice with nature conservation at the forefront take a look. at. the birds have returned to the island of liter vandar the conservation area used to be so overgrown that a number of bird species didn't nest here. to be a sky is out with an ornithologist he visits the island every day to check on the bird population and the 60 cows that graze here. in going to them is perfect basically this is a perfect cooperation between nature conservation and farming more farming cattle here on the island but we're also conserving nature because the cattle graze on the

meadows that allows birds to breed here and provides a comfortable habitat for many species. thanks to the grazing cattle the island is now a breeding ground for 10000 black headed girls and many other bird species of the faults of. our paths are useful because cows only graze around there so the grass grows better so it grows on the former colony and serves as a breeding ground for the reds. the cattle belong to a collective of 3 farms in northeastern germany the billboard uncooperative buys farmland across germany members of the co-operative pay $1000.00 euros for a share. theirs to. toughen the members contributions mean we as the below board and cooperative can financially secure

a farm like this one of even in other words we can take it off the market and give it to farmers who want to farm it sustainably long term to get out of the chest. in order to protect the soil and the ground water the farmers don't use pesticides and artificial fertilisers and they grow green manure catch crops to prevent ground erosion after the autumn harvest but also makes the ground more fertile. while conventional farming often uses hybrid seeds that need to be bought every year farmer stephan decade grows crops that produce their own seeds they have one or 2 because of course we want healthy and robust across there are also suited to local conditions i can flourish it's getting drier and warmer we don't want to be reliant on big corporations we want to maintain our independence when i think. of things on the organic farmers work with local customers the potatoes grown here are

sold in the farms own shop and to nearby food startups. they go right into the pot at lunch just down the road it was the 1st startup to move here it prepares vegan meals for kindergarten schools and supermarkets the partnership with the organic farms is a win win situation for both. because if you look at me we can buy a lot of vegetables including potatoes and pumpkins for us business and profit isn't everything because sustainability is important to us too the guys are short value chains buying locally sourced produce and building something up in the region here. the startups also give the organic farmers ideas for new crops to grow this is blue corn a traditional mexican crop tanya miller produces organic corn tortillas.

but instead. we have a lot of demand for blue tortillas and of course we don't want to buy the flour or have the corn shipped across the world ideally we want to grow it here instead. now let's it's why i have done about we are currently growing it on 2 hectares of land we had a small test phase and it worked well. even though it's been a dry year we're hoping we can start harvesting some of it soon. in germany melons are often imported from other continents but the organic farmers are growing them on a test field if they survive over the next few years without requiring additional irrigation they'll be grown on a larger scale. by. i insist we are adjusting to the prospect of a drier climates and hot summers. there are plenty of crops that currently only

grow in southern climates that can now grow here. such experiments can mean a financial risk but these farmers may 1 day be able to offer soybeans and melons grown on fields in north eastern germany. the onus of sustainable agriculture is as much on us as consumers as the farmers our decisions depend on the money we can spend enough food and also our preferences exotic local produce organic on organic as consumers our decisions can make a big difference. every time we visit the supermarket we make decisions that affect the environment often unthinkingly household budget habits and mood all influence what we buy meat and sausage is bad for the global climate. but what many don't know is that butter is even worse it's production on

an industrial scale requires massive amounts of milk and therefore vast numbers of carols and cattle a mix of huge amounts of greenhouse gases. shampoos hand creams even bakery products palm oil and hoff of all supermarket products. rain forests around the globe are destroyed to make way for the palm oil plantations. now experts are calling for products ecological footprint to be clearly stated on the packaging. is difficult today although it's changing the technologies are coming out that allow us to understand the full trace to value chain of what we buy and i think that will become increasing the case i mean for now it's very clear that having more vegetables and fruits in your diet is probably a step in the right direction but i want to make it very clear that all food can be grown sustainably so we need to go down that road. pesticides and chemical

fertilizers pollute soil and groundwater. however only 1.4 percent of all arava lenders organically cultivated but demand is rising world wide in india alone there are over $800000.00 farmers but organic cost small. the expression we often use is you can pay me now or you can pay me later so if you're in the grocery store and you're choosing something in your thinking well that organic prada. whatever is more expensive it might be today but alternately the path that we're headed on is going to lead to much higher prices we need to do something today. for example by buying organic fruit and vegetables that's also being grown locally. to decide what goes on the family dinner table gives everyone a chance to be part of the change for the better. in addition to one of the

changing climate follows may have to come face to face with a new kind of change in how agriculture is practiced robots are being developed to perform just about every activity in the farming process how could this in fact be a processes and what can farmers do to stay ahead. once growing here we it's all carrots. here in this field a prototype is being tested the hope is that this technology will be able to combat weeds and improve harvests. i meet a robot that works for organic farmer trying to customs. discovered a 5th of life become a visionary in this operation because i'm trying to foresee the problems we'll have in a decade and i'm doing my best to solve them through some of. the farmers already having

problems finding enough employees to work his fields bonnie rob could solve this labor shortage by recognizing weeds and destroying them without relying on chemicals but the robot is still at the learning stage or the farmer has brought in i.t. experts to help bonnie robb has to be able to identify which plants are wanted and which ones aren't as forced or. you can imagine drawing a picture with a green marker and a red marker and then we tell them that's a carrot and those are weeds and later we have pictures without anything and we tell the robot to find out where would you use the color red or green doesn't and this is what you see in the end it examines all the images and says you're away it was called. artificial intelligence for farming the vegetable crop is being separated from the weeds by hand at least it's environmentally friendly the vehicle is powered by solar panels. there's

a big demand for big visions of farming can benefit greatly from digitalisation. winds are calm as our dream is to come here with a small trailer open the door and then 100 drones fly out and around the field and doing everything automatically this automotive. so when will drones take on the difficult tasks how will farm jobs change and how many will remain what will digitalisation mean for food production and livestock farming and. depends on the new technological possibilities and how we exploit them. more and more land is heated to cool food pretty space is limited and the extensive lanterns has left the desert a fictitious in many parts of the way these challenges have given rise to a unique invention of soil agriculture open spaces a hyperloop a farm in mumbai is trying to create a sustainable model of farming but the city's residents have access to freshly

harvested produce. located in the heart of the bustling and he said this ramshackle old industrial building gives little to the unsuspecting passer by. but walk in and you'll discover the city's forced ever climate controlled hyper local farm. this space is a farm for dreams of fresh leafy vegetables growing smack in the middle of mumbai. farms started in 2017 as an experiment on a terrace it was the brainchild of. joshua lewis born out of the duo's single minded commitment to making people more mindful of what was on their plates we felt like we missed a sense of purpose we you know we were not doing enough to the community around us

and mumbai we decided we'd make a trip to a place that very much unlike mumbai and i was over there we decided we'd start working a farm because that would help us understand food which was the one thing that we poured into our body for every day and it was something that we needed to reconnect with and rebuild a relationship with. hydroponic farming uses and other materials as substrates for the plants. this soil is replaced by water a method taught to hark back to the past of civilization of central america. farms harvests more than 2000 plants every month. you know as well hydroponics is beneficial in the same amount of space you can grow

almost 10 times the amount because you can grow bored and because of the closed loop water systems that are used to it you can use up to 90 percent less water and there's the added advantage that you don't have to use pesticides when you're growing indoors also if you can grow these closer to people's homes you have less carbon miles you can deliver fresh food. in a radical departure from the very traditional markets work here is to offer customers a completely transparent supply chain from production to delivery so they can trust the hygiene and nutritional value of what goes on their plate when you want to draw food you have to make sure the good off. because you've got to make sure that the need to know where your food is coming from and. in local markets in mumbai.

for all the many advantages of hydroponic farming the energy cost for lighting farms and temperature regulations are very high and that affects the price but toby was gone $50.00 strong. hydroponic farming has the potential to be a model for the future especially when it comes to feeding the world's. population . when you're you know whether you feel it is only when you start feeling well are you able to impact people around you and i have more meaningful relationships with them this is what life is about for us and we feel that the world needs a lot more going go to rivers.

the choices follows me largely depend on what each of society demands from them it's up to us to choose sustainability over market forces. i hope to be as we give you the forward in the will to do that we've seen next week with yet another possible king episode until then.

well this is the world's oldest film that's. supposed to do a factor. thank you for joining us just got.

a few in those parts of. welcome to the show. cause me me me me me me me me me me me me loose because there's so much to discover will remain curious details made for minds. they moved. and knocked me out. the premises. was never defeated me.

from. the time you add. them to your backyard or car for good. or for. a minute a whole lot more. coffee in the public perception africa is now assuming the position to which it was always entitled to from some of their views of it if it was should have stuck. playing something genuine.

this is news live from berlin. a plane crash in kazakhstan kills 12 people. when a passenger jet came down shortly after takeoff from the city of dozens made out a lot. also coming up australia has called the army to help battle brush fires raging in much of the country conditions are expected to worsen this weekend as an extreme heat wave and stronger winds. and passengers on germany's biggest airline

could face delays and cancellations in the coming days flight attendants are.