Agriculture in a global city:A visit to the farmlands of Yamuna floodplains near Chilla Khader, New Delhi
The students engaged in meaningful conversations with the cultivators, walked into the farmlands barefoot respecting the cultivators’ tradition, visited the river Yamuna, and returned to the campus with a bunch of new learning and a bag of farm fresh veggies they bought straight from the cultivators.
“We are poor, but we are richer than you when it comes to food”.
̶ A cultivator we visited at Yamuna Floodplains near Chilla Khader
What is it like to farm in a city? Can we expect to see farmlands in a metropolitan city? Who farms in a city and how do they do it? How does agriculture survive in the never-ending process of urbanisation? There are many more questions to ask when it comes to agriculture in a global city like Delhi.
To have glimpses of the ground reality, the Department of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University organised a students’ field visit to the farmlands of the Yamuna floodplains on 1st October 2023. Students from the course “Agri-food systems and sustainability” joined the visit. The students engaged in meaningful conversations with the cultivators, walked into the farmlands barefoot respecting the cultivators’ tradition, visited the river Yamuna, and returned to the campus with a bunch of new learning and a bag of farm fresh veggies they bought straight from the cultivators.
The participants have gained many fresh perspectives during their visit. Jules Pomero, an exchange student from France says “What surprised me most was the extent of the cultivated area. We’re right in the heart of Delhi, yet you can see fields as far as the eye can see.” The field visit also shed some light on how River Yamuna continued to sustain cultivators’ livelihoods in the face of ongoing urbanisation and the emerging challenges posed by the gentrification of urban green spaces. After the visit, a multitude of perspectives were changed on topics such as farming practices, cultivators’ intricate relationship with livestock, the food security of the cultivators, their experience during COVID-19 lockdowns, cultivators’ perception of flood, and more.
The field visit proved essential in broadening the students’ comprehension of Yamuna Floodplain farming, realising its complexity beyond what academic literature has previously portrayed. The students returned to the campus with many more questions that needed answers.