G. Nammalvar

G. Nammalvar, an Indian agricultural scientist, environmental activist and organic farming expert, dedicated his career to advancing ecological farming across South India. After early work at a government research station conducting chemical fertilizer trials, he grew convinced that conventional high-input methods were unsuited to resource-poor farmers and turned to sustainable low-external-input methods, founding the organization LEISA (Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture) in 1990 to promote self-reliant, waste-recycling farming principles. He trained farmers across South India, established research centers for rain-fed cultivation, wrote extensively in Tamil on natural farming techniques, and campaigned against industrial threats to Indian agriculture including methane extraction and genetically modified crops.