Kokan is a land of natural and cultural abundance. Permaculture as we know it in India has existed for decades or perhaps more in places like Kokan which is a rich, diverse belt of coastal Maharashtra located between Arabian sea and Sahyadri Mountains of western ghats.Kokan Permaculture is the initiative focussing on permaculture education, research and practice. Founders of this initiative derived a major part of their education, experience, and knowledge from the Kokan region.
We are beginning with the complete PDC extending over 4 months (online classroom sessions on weekends and 7-days field session). We will also be starting with 2-days Introduction to Permaculture sessions every month soon. We have 2 farms for demonstrations- one at Murbad, Thane and one at Nate, Ratnagiri where we have been working for the last 20 years. Our consultancy project sites at Shahapur, Thane offer excellent opportunities for field sessions during PDC.
We intend to focus our research on native leguminous trees to be evaluated as support species, combinations of crop plants suitable for different seasons for coastal region, propagating and maintaining varieties of roots, tubers and beans which are cultivated traditionally in this region, cultivation techniques for rock outcrops in this region, etc.
Seema is a postgraduate in Agriculture. She pursued her interest in Ecology and Conservation through various field based programs which lead to the formation of FERN (Foundation for Educational Rendezvous with Nature), an organization involved in Nature Education. Through FERN we continuously nurture the interest and knowledge of people from all walks of life who are keen towards nature and conservation. FERN is known for various classroom and field based programs involving Field Botany, Basic Ornithology, Gardening, Environmental Lecture Series, Nature Friendly Lifestyle, etc.
Seema is also working as a consultant for medium to long term projects based on natural farming, ecological restoration, urban forest development. She got introduced to Permaculture through one of her Botany course participants and completed Geoff Lawton’s Online PDC in the year 2021-22.
2009 - Masters in Horticulture (by research) from Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri. University topper for the year.
2006 - Bachelors in Agriculture from Kokan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli. Gold medal and Chancellor's Award recipient for the year.
2021-22- Geoff Lawton’s Online Permaculture Design Course conducted by Permaculture Research Institute, Australia
2020-21- One year Diploma course in 'Sustainable development of Natural resources and Nature conservation' organized by Ecological Society, Pune.
2018- Certificate Course in Wildlife Conservation for Wildlife Enthusiasts organized by Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
2014 - Certificate Course in Basic Ornithology conducted by Ela Foundation and MES Garware College, Pune
2013 - One year Certificate Course in Botany of Habitats conducted by Nisarga Sevak, Pune
2008 - Certificate Course in Basic Field Botany conducted by Agharkar Research Institute, Pune
● Working as an ecological & biodiversity consultant for various projects covering ecological restoration, developing eco resort, eco homestays, natural farming, biodiversity surveys, urban forest and permaculture design.
● Founded a nature & environment education organization in Thane in January 2015 named FERN (Foundation for Educational Rendezvous with Nature). Organizing short duration classroom and field-based courses in Field Botany and Basic Ornithology, workshops on Butterfly garden, Vegetable Garden, Home Health Garden, Nature Friendly Lifestyle, Environmental Lecture Series, etc. for people from all walks of life.
● Visiting faculty at College of Architecture, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai for Landscape Architecture Course.
● Visiting Faculty at Bhavan’s College, Andheri for MSc Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation and Management Program
● Conducting field based programs for students of Pillai College of Architecture, Panvel and Patkar College, Goregaon
● Former member of Tree Authority Committee, Thane Municipal Corporation.
● Member of the Expert Committee appointed by Thane District Collectorate for Survey and Brief Documentation of the 132 wetland sites in Thane district in 2018-19
● Member of the expert committee appointed by Honorable Bombay High Court for monitoring of tree cutting and transplantation for Mumbai Metro line- 4
● Member of the National Academic Committee for National Children’s Science Congress, Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.
● Working on documentation of 11 sites in Ratnagiri districts to be proposed as Biodiversity Heritage Sites for State Biodiversity Board
● Co-author of the book ‘The Other Mahabaleshwar’, a project by Dhruti Vaidya Design Studio published in 2018
● Translated a bilingual book ‘Panvel- Great City, Fading Heritage’ in Marathi.
● Volunteering with Jidnyasa Trust Thane and Hariyali since the last two decades and successfully organizing effective programs for these organizations.
Harshad is a Botanist by education, Horticulturist by career and a real gardener at coronary heart. He has been exploring the magical world of plants for the last 18 years, primarily by means of educating and coaching. Currently he is a Director at Nature First Horticultures consultancy and services. At Nature First, Harshad helps urban citizens to pursue their hobby of gardening by providing them technical and material support. He offers complete home gardening solutions to any individual who wants to grow plants with compassion, care and love. Harshad has been practicing organic farming for more than decade. He is also working as a consultant for permaculture farming projects, agro-tourism sites, farmhouse management, sustainable development, and ethical landscaping.
Academic degrees
2010 - UGC, Maharashtra SET qualified in Life Sciences.
2008 - Masters in Botany (Flowering plants & Phytochemistry) from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai. (Distinction holder.)
2006 - Bachelors in Botany (Applied Component- Horticulture) from Wilson college, Mumbai (Top ranker.)
Vocational field programs
2022 - Permaculture Design Certificate Course conducted by Geoff Lawton, PRI, Channon, NSW, Australia.
2009 - Vocational training courses on General Greenhouse Management conducted by NIPHT’s Horticulture Training Center (Pune)
2006 - Vocational training courses on cultivation of medicinal & aromatic plants conducted by MITCON (Thane)
At present-
● Organic Farmer (2009 to present.) has commercially cultivated rice, watermelon, pulses, banana, mango, pachauli and different vegetables over the past decade. Transformed from conventional agriculture to organic farming and permaculture methods.
● Founder and director at Nature First Horticultures Consultancy and services. (2013 to present)
○ In-house faculty- Harshad has conducted more than hundred offline and online gardening workshops on various topics like Organic vegetable gardening, flowering and indoor houseplants, Microgreens, Terrarium & bottle gardening, Kokedama and Medicinal plants.
○ Gardening expert- Harshad has provided consultancy to numerous home gardening sites, helping the passionate gardeners to grow herbs, vegetables, flowering plants and houseplants.
○ Field consultancy- Designing and developing food forests, community organic farming projects, native landscaping, agrotourism and homestead farms by applying permaculture principles.
Previous-
● Volunteer Coordinator at various organizations viz. Blatter Herbarium, WWF- India, Go green plants nursery, Mumbai Rose Society, Hariyali, Herbal World. (2004-2007)
● Nature Interpreter at Maharashtra Nature Park, Sion, Mumbai. (2006 to 2009). Job involved environmental education, conducting Nature trails for students and citizens of all age groups. Creating awareness about local biodiversity and conservation.
● Lecturer in Botany and Horticulture at Elphinstone College, University of Mumbai. (2011- 2015). This job involved pure academic teaching for undergraduate students who are pursuing B.Sc. in Botany and Biotechnology.
● Faculty, at Post graduate diploma in Landscape gardening. VPM’s Advanced study center, Bandodkar College, Thane. (2016- 2019)