After beginning his career as a civil engineer specialising in irrigation management, since 1982 Oswald Quintal has been actively working with his Emmaus organisation, Kudumbam, towards the development of sustainable and responsible farming.
In an article on 23 January, Oswald explained to The Hindu how they do it.
Kudumbam raises awareness among farmers about the need to harvest rainwater and the importance of inter-cropping. It has also campaigned against a government-sanctioned programme to plant eucalyptus on 13,000 hectares of shrub forest. It also focuses its efforts on developing native irrigation and soil fertilising methods, which demonstrate that eco-friendly and people-friendly solutions do exist.