A to Z of Biodiversity, Agroecology & Regenerative Organic Farming
Thirteen days living and learning on the Navdanya farm in Dehradun — soil, seed, food and health, taught by Dr Vandana Shiva and Navdanya's own faculty.
Thirteen days of field lessons, lectures and films — the farm as classroom, the season as syllabus.
A residency in regenerative agriculture
Held each October at Bija Vidyapeeth — Navdanya's Earth University in the Doon Valley — the A to Z program moves through soil, seed, food and health across thirteen days, mixing morning lectures with hands-on field lessons and evening films.
Every day pairs a theme with real work on the land: sowing the Rabi crop, saving seed in the living seed bank, making natural soap from soap-nut seeds, cooking with forgotten grains. The sixteenth of October closes the season with Vasundhara, Navdanya's World Food Day celebration.
Thirteen days, day by day
Opening: The Navdanya Experience
- Farm walk — the Navdanya Heart Connection
- "Don't just do something, sit there" — a biodiversity meditation from within our bodies
- Film: Seeds of Vandana Shiva
Biodiversity & Living Ecosystems
- Ecological regenerative agriculture and regenerating diversity
- Community visit
- Field lesson: Navdanya's Kharif cropping pattern, harvesting crops
- Film: Bullshit + Neem
Regenerating Living Soil
- Soil story: an earthworm's eye view — Reworm the World
- Field lesson: field preparation and sowing for the Rabi season crop
- Film: Symphony of Soil
Regenerating Earth
- Maximizing photosynthesis to regenerate farming, environment and climate
- Turning weeds into cover crops
- Soil health and nutrition in agroecological, regenerative organic agriculture
- Field lesson: keeping the soil covered — living vs dead mulch, companion planting, and how above-ground biodiversity affects what happens below ground; making traditional elixirs from gifts of the cow
- Film: Living Soil
Regenerating Earth, continued
- Using ecological systems to manage pests and diseases
- Marketing — the key to successful farming
- The myths of safe pesticides
- Field lesson: Vedic agriculture, Panchparni and Dashparni; how integrating livestock has been foundational to sustainable farming
- Film: Queen of the Sun
Gift of Food — Visit to Paonta Sahib
- Langar — a free, communal meal served at Sikh Gurudwaras
- Cultural immersion in Sewa, the Sikh philosophy of selfless service to the community
Agro-ecologies
- Biodynamic and organic agriculture, and permaculture — principles, trends and practices
- Understanding a regenerative farm: nutrient uptake and fertility, incorporating livestock, bio-stimulants and fermented plant extracts
- Field lesson: sowing the A to Z garden — calibrating moisture, light and warmth
- Film: We Feed the World
Marketing Good Foods
- Guarantee systems: third-party and participatory organic certification
- Circular economy — from long to short food supply chains
- Community-Supported Agriculture
- Field lesson: maintaining the Gyaan Garden and making tree paste
- Film: After the Flood
Nutrition Science
- The circadian rhythm, body functions and our modern habits
- Macronutrients, micronutrients and various vitamins
- Field lesson: preparing micronutrient-rich chutneys and sauces
- Film: Annapurna
Food and Health
- Mental and physical health through food
- Reproductive health, connected to healthy meals
- Field lesson: cooking artisanal snacks
- Film: Food Inc
Human Health
- Intellectual property rights: pharmaceutics and public health
- Hazards from the chemicalisation of the body
- The right to health
- Field lesson: harvesting soap-nut seeds, making natural soap
- Film: Feeding the Four Billion
Diets and Health
- Ultra-processed foods and youth health
- The fallacy of number-driven diets
- Indigenous food systems
- Field lesson: Living Seed Bank — seed selection and saving of vegetables
- Film: Climate Change at the Third Pole
Return to Earth
- Biodiversity and climate resilience as a way to combat the climate crisis
- Biodiversity at the Navdanya Farm: regenerating seed, soil, water, wild uncultivated diversity, insects and birds
- Forest walk
- Field lesson: maintaining the A to Z and Gyaan gardens
The daily rhythm
Every lecture day — except cultural visits and the closing days — follows this shape.
Taught by the movement's own founder
Dr Vandana Shiva holds a PhD in quantum theory and has spent decades as an ecological activist and ecofeminist. In 1982 she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to Navdanya in 1991 — a movement that now runs a network of 150 community seed banks across 22 Indian states.
She received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, co-founded the World Future Council in 2004, and started Bija Vidyapeeth in the Doon Valley to carry the same seed-sovereignty work into the classroom — and into the field.
Dr Shiva teaches directly across this program — opening day, the closing Return to Earth session, and several lectures in between — alongside eight faculty members drawn from soil science, nutrition, public health and regenerative agriculture.
Nine teachers, nine disciplines
Dr Vandana Shiva
Dr Sultan Ismail
Dr Anna Powar
Dr AV Singh
Dr Suresh Kumar C
Dr Mira Shiva
Maya Goburdhun
Vasundhara: Regenerating India
The program closes on Friday 16 October with Vasundhara — Navdanya's World Food Day celebration — built around a Himalayan organic-themed lunch and voices from across the country.
- Ladakh — Head, Women's Alliance
- Assam — Hema Das
- Sikkim — speaker to be confirmed
- Rajasthan — Sarita Kumari
- Madhya Pradesh — Dr Janak Palta, Dr Aruna Rodrigues
- Tamil Nadu — Mr Selvam
- Karnataka — Mr Pandurang Hegde
- Kerala — Dr Suresh Kumar C
- Andhra Pradesh — Dr Narsimhan Reddy
- Gujarat — SEWA
- West Bengal — Ms Shukla Chattopadhyay
Book your place
The program is residential and runs at the Navdanya farm for the full thirteen days, with the option to stay on for Vasundhara. Space is limited each year around faculty schedules, so early applications are safest.
A to Z of Biodiversity, Agroecology & Regenerative Organic Farming
Navdanya's flagship annual residency at Bija Vidyapeeth, Earth University.
Navdanya Biodiversity Farm
Village Ramgarh, Old Shimla Road, Dehradun – 248197, Uttarakhand
earthuniversity@navdanya.net
Join us in October 2026
Write to the Earth University office with your background and interests, and we'll send full details on fees, accommodation and travel.
Apply NowLearning @ Navdanya
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Bhoomi 1st October 2026
(Thursday) -
Return to Earth: A to Z learningReturn to Earth: A to Z learning 03rd October (Sat) - 16th October 2026 Fri)
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Vasundhara - Regenerating India 16th October 2026 (Friday)
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Economic Freedom & Self Reliance 13th November 2026(Fri)- 17th November 2026(Tues)
Navdanya signifies ‘nine seeds’—a symbol of protecting biological and cultural diversity—and also the ‘new gift’ that upholds the right to save and share seeds. In an era of ecological loss, seed savers offer the ultimate gift: preserving life, biodiversity, traditional knowledge, culture, and sustainability.
Helpful Resources
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Earth University
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Navdanya Seed Banks
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Soil & Resilience
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WTO on Food Security
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Biodiversity Based Organic Planning
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Navdanya's Training & Research
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Regenerative Agriculture
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Climate Disaster
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Women led Economy
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Contact us