fertilizer. His job included instructing farmers in its use, for which he was promised a commission of Rs 5 on every bag of the chemicals he sold. Soon, Save was recognized as a "model farmer" for his use of the new technology. Several agricultural scientists from Pune and elsewhere drew on his experience for conducting their field trials. By 1954–55, Save had already earned enough money to buy one hectare of land suitable for growing rice to begin his own family farm. This was the first of the plots purchased on which today stands the Save family's Kalpavruksha farm, now a 6 hectare orchard, in Umbergaon region, a coastal zone of South Gujarat. By 1956, Save reverted to his father's traditional farming methods. However, inspired by both the writings of Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave, particularly an article by Vinoba on farming practices of certain adivasis, he decided to revert to an organic system on one paddy for experimentation. This called for changing the impounded water several times in one plot (during pauses in the monsoon rains), without using any chemicals. This, too, was successful. Though his yield declined the first year, so did his expenses and gradually he converted more acreage, which he reserved entirely for organic experimentation. Organic methods of crop rotation, the planting of un-irrigated pulse legumes, like beans, Bengal gram, moong, and so on after harvesting his organic rice were implemented. He found that winter pulses, which supplied an abundance of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, grew entirely on the sub-soil moisture still present from the recent monsoon. When the pulses were harvested, cattle were allowed to browse the crop residue in the field, thereby recycling their manure to condition the soil as well. In 1957, Bhaskar Save built a small home on his new, now present, farm, which had grown to two hectares and moved there with his family. Raising an orchard was now his major preoccupation, and he wanted to spend more time working and observing. By 1960, he had eliminated the use of chemicals on his farm. Save's Philosophy of Natural Farming Bhaskar Save developed his system of natural farming after being induced to use chemical fertilizers, which after three years he realized was not returning value to him or his land. He later commented that: "By ruining the natural fertility of the soil, we actually create artificial 'needs' for more and more external