MG Integrated Farming
MG Integrated Farming is a regenerative agroforestry system developed by Mahadev Gowda. It combines natural farming, permaculture, and agroforestry to create a farm that is “beyond organic and beyond sustainable,” ultimately producing an abundance.
The entire philosophy is built on harnessing the power of natural succession—nature’s process of rehabilitating land from barren to fertile. Instead of fighting nature with competition, this method views the farm as a single, intelligent “living system” that evolves through cooperation.
Key Principles
Plant Intelligent Consortiums: The farm must be designed from the start with a dense, diverse mix of plants that fill all strata and successional roles.
Natural Succession: The system mimics and accelerates nature’s stages of evolution (Placenta, Secondary, Climax) to build fertility.
Stratification: Plants are densely grouped in vertical layers (Emergent, High, Medium, and Low) based on their sunlight needs, maximizing energy capture and space.
Intelligent Consortiums: Specific mixes of trees and vegetables are planted together based on their cooperative relationships, life spans, and roles in succession.
The Soil Food Web: The health of the entire system relies on creating a vibrant, living soil (like a “healthy gut flora”) rich in fungi, bacteria, and micro-organisms, which provides immunity and nutrients.
Phases of Evolution: The goal is to move the farm from a simple “colonizer” phase, through an “accumulation” phase, to a self-sustaining “abundance” phase where the system produces its own fertility.
The 3 Keys to Implementation: The farmer’s main role is to guide and accelerate this natural process using three key actions:
Prune to Stimulate Growth: Strategic, heavy pruning of biomass plants (not just target crops) releases a system-wide “growth pulse” of hormones, stimulating all nearby plants.
Cover the Soil: A thick layer of organic matter (mulch) is essential. It protects the soil, feeds the soil food web, retains moisture, and suppresses weeds.
Plant Intelligent Consortiums: The farm must be designed from the start with a dense, diverse mix of plants that fill all strata and successional roles.
Benefits and Outcomes
- High Yields with steady, diversified income that increases as trees mature.
- Minimal Costs by eliminating the need for external fertilizers, pesticides, and heavy machinery.
- Soil Regeneration: The process actively builds fertile, aerated topsoil that retains water.
- System Resilience: High biodiversity creates a strong “living system” that naturally resists pests and diseases.
- True Sustainability: The farm becomes a self-sufficient ecosystem that produces an abundance, contrasting with conventional farming, which the document states leads to scarcity and soil degradation.