Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2025·India

The Nalanda Model of Filling Grow Bags and Coupled Line Paradigm for Rural Development

R. Jaishanker, Akshay Kumar, Mritunjay Pandey

Journal of Rural Development

Urban Farm DB summary

This paper proposes the "Nalanda model," a paradigm linking rural and urban women in India through grow-bag rooftop farming: rural women prepare cow dung cakes that are stacked in grow bags with a sand-dung mixture as potting material, channeled through women's collectives to urban women who fill and sell the bags to urban customers. The paper presents this as a conceptual empowerment and livelihood strategy connecting rural and urban marginalized women rather than reporting field-tested outcomes or measured results.