India, July 25 -- Standing beside her fishpond in Paschim Satgaon village of Assam's Nagaon district, 43-year-old farmer Swapna Marak points to her vegetable patch, pig and poultry shed.

"Earlier, if one crop failed, everything failed," she says. "Now every part of the farm supports another."

For years, like many farmers across Northeast India, Marak depended largely on commercial crops and chemical inputs. Herbicides became common as labour costs rose and weeds flourished in the region's heavy rainfall. But over time, production costs increased, pests became harder to manage, soils weakened and returns became uncertain.

"We spent more every season but earned less," she recalls. Disease outbreaks repeatedly damaged her crops, forcing h...