The Agro Rebel
Permaculture in Salzburg Alps
A film by Bertram Verhaag
Documentary, 45 minutes
Sepp Holzer, the Austrian farmer and forester practices “permaculture” a different kind of farming on his mountain property. With this certain form of organic agriculture, he is very convincing and successfully. Contrary to all conventional rules and despite annual average temperatures of 4.5°C and an altitude of between 900m-1400m, he cultivates cherries, apples, mushrooms, kiwis, lemons, pumpkins, potatoes and zucchinis. In 2000 he also started big permaculture-projects in Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Venezuela.
Press release:
Contrary to all conventional rules – and despite annual average temperatures of 4.5 °C and an altitude of between 900m – 1400m – he has created an edible, paradisiacal landscape and caused quite a stir in so doing. In forty years of observing nature, of unrelenting joyful experimentation and fighting government agencies, he has succeeded in convincing his opponents of his way of farming, which means adhering to the laws of nature. Holzer states: “Variety instead of uniformity, for all plants and animals have a meaningful function“. He completely refrains from using pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. Sepp Holzer’s golden rule for achieving success in farming and the basic principles of permaculture: “Cooperate with nature instead of fighting it. Observe nature to determine which plants support one another.“
Since 1962 when he took over his father’s farm at the age of 19, Sepp Holzer and his wife have operated a perfectly functioning permaculture system without ever having heard the term “permaculture“ before.
Laid out in terraces, similar to rice fields in Asia, his 46-hectare farm greatly differs from the surrounding pine monocultures. Many things grow here not thought possible at an altitude of 1400m, ranging from cherries, apples, mushrooms and kiwis to lemons, pumpkins, potatoes and zucchinis. Nature is sprouting and thriving everywhere, along the paths, on the terraces, in the woods, on extremely steep inclines and even on rocky ground. Within the mixed cultivation there are ca. 45 water gardens, humid biotopes, ponds and three mountain lakes. It is here that the organic farmer breeds rare fish, toads, crustaceans and aquatic plants. His pigs plough the earth, harrow and fertilise it, and plants supply each other with moisture, nitrogen and fertiliser. In this way, Sepp Holzer has less work and more time to elucidate his mixed cultivation to interested visitors from all over the world.
| DIRECTOR Bertram Verhaag |
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FILM EDITOR Gabriele Kroeber B.F.S |
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CAMERA Malcolm St. Julian Bown Gerardo Milsztein |
| MUSIC Hubert von Goisern |
POSTPRODUCTION Michael Saenger Film |
PRODUCER Bertram Verhaag |
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| CO-PRODUCTION DENKmal-Film & BR |
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THE FARM OF SEPP HOLZER WAS SELECTED AS THE ONLY AUSTRIAN
AGRICULTURAL PLANT FOR THE EXPO-PROJECT 2000
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Order FilmVisit our DENKmal-Web-Shop...[order...] |
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TrailerWatch the Trailer of The Agro Rebell...[watch...] |
Keusching 13
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A-5591 Salzburg
Fax: 0043 / 6475 / 239
e-mail: krameterhof@aon.at
Internet: www.krameterhof.at
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Oekotop-Heerd |
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Heide Gerot Witzfeldstr. 21 40667 Meerbusch Fax 0049 (0)211 / 922193 Anrufbeantw.: 02122 / 70032 |
| Prinzhoefte Zentrum für oekologische Fragen Volker Kranz Simmenshauserstr. 1 27243 Prinzhoefte Tel. 0049 (0)4244 / 544 Fax 0049 (0)4244 / 95067 |
Peter Birkett Herrmannsdorf 11 85625 Glonn Tel. 0049 (0)8093 / 5020 Fax 0049 (0)8093 / 3137 |
Permakultur - Landwirtschaft und Siedlungen in Harmonie mit der Natur
Bill Mollison/David Holmgren, Pala - Verlag, Schaafheim 1983
Permakultur II - Praktische Anwendungen
Bill Mollison, Pala - Verlag, Schaafheim 1983
Permakultur konkret
Bill Mollison, Pala - Verlag, Schaafheim
Das alternative Branchenbuch
Al-Top Verlags- und Vertriebs Ges. für Umweltfreundliche Produkte
Ruth Stout, Pala - Verlag, Schaafheim
Die ökologische Landwirtschaft - Reihe : Alternative Konzepte
Reinhold Kickuth, C.F. Müller Verlag, Karlsruhe
Der große Weg hat kein Tor
In Harmonie mit der Natur
Rückkehr zur Natur
Masanobu Fukuoka, alle erschienen im Pala - Verlag, Schaafheim
© 2000
