His meticulous planning, vast intuitive knowledge of agriculture, and management of the farming and social/economic organization of the community are described by the late Dr Iraj Poostchi in an article titled: ‘Adasiyyah: A Study in Agriculture and Rural Development (Baha'i Studies Review 16.1 (April 2010):61-105)

About the author - Iraj Poostchi obtained his Ph.D. from Cornell University and was a former professor of Agronomy and head of the Department of National Rural Development at Shiraz University in Iran. Subsequently he worked as a freelance international agricultural and rural development consultant. He passed away in 2008.

Here are some of the notable regenerative agricultural practices that ‘Abdu’l Baha implemented:

• To get water from the River Yarmuk to the fields and orchards of ‘Adasiyyah, the Baha’i farmers built a small stone dam. The main canal was designed to supply all the farms and orchards and when the last farm/orchard had been irrigated, the excess water would return downstream into the River Yarmuk.

• Crops were grown on three major types of soils, black, yellow and red soils. The black soil was considered to be most suitable for planting fruit crops such as banana, citrus, pomegranate, apples, pears and other fruit trees.

• The normal rotation practiced by the farmers in ‘Adasiyyah using the rain fed system of crop production involved a succession of wheat, lentils, barley, chickpeas, vetch and white maize (corn). An alternative to this rotation in fields where rain-fed crops were previously grown was to grow wheat–lentils–barley– lentils–wheat–vetch. Barley was grown extensively to improve the soil structure. Vetch grains were used as food for pigeons and the straw was a nutritious feed for dairy cows, while decaying roots added nitrogen and improved soil fertility. Since the farmers used an intensive system of crop production not many fields were left fallow.

• Every farm household reared cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, and pigeons to produce the required amounts of manure for the season’s crops. The farmers also purchased manure from herdsmen and migrating Bedouins who had large herds of sheep, goats, cattle and mules.

• Forage crops, domesticated grasses or legumes, such as burseem clover or alfalfa/lucerne were grown as animal feed.

• Other irrigated farm crops, such as cotton and beans, were grown mainly for personal consumption.

• The Baha’i framers grew a wide variety of vegetables such as eggplant (aubergine), cucumber, courgette, squash, marrow, pumpkin, tomato, broad bean, carrot, onion, okra, kohl rabi, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, potato, chilli, cantaloupe melon, winter melon, watermelon, spinach, turnip, lettuce, beetroot and a popular local green vegetable called mulu¯khiyyah (Jew’s mallow, Corchorus olitorius).

• Crops such as eggplant, tomato, cabbage, green pepper and lettuce were not grown from seed but from transplants produced in a nursery. Animal manure was applied to a small parcel of land and plowed under. The soil was dug up and large clods were broken to produce a friable and mellow seedbed and smooth soil surface. It was then ridged up into a basin and divided further into smaller basins to hold water. These basins were then given a light irrigation to encourage the germination of weeds, which were removed using hoes. Manure had already been incorporated into the soil. The soil surface was leveled and the seeds were then broadcast and covered, In each parcel seeds of a specific crop were grown. Later the nursery was again irrigated. No more manure was added to the soil during the growth of the vegetable plants in the nursery. When the plants were about 8 inches tall they were transplanted into the fields.

• ‘Abdu’l-Baha encouraged the Baha’i farmers to also grow fruit-trees. He specifically instructed them to grow grapes, oranges, lemons, tangerines, grapefruits, limes and sweet limes, bananas, and sour oranges. Despite the relatively mild winters in the area, ‘Abdu’l-Baha instructed farmers to grow apples, pears, sour cherries, pomegranates, quinces, peaches, plums and mulberries and he advised them to grow mostly large yellow lemons and sesame seed that fetched higher prices.

• ‘Abdu’l-Baha introduced bananas to the region by requesting that the Baha'is in India send him a number of shoots (suckers). During the last years of his life he received seven suckers of bananas. He gave them all to the farmers in ‘Adasiyyah. Without having ever cultivated or grown bananas, ‘Abdu’l-Baha guided the Baha’i farmers in planting what are believed to be the first bananas grown in Jordan and Palestine. Since banana plants require plenty of moisture for rapid growth, pits were dug in each basin. A pit was about 1 meter in diameter and 0.8 meters to 1 meter deep. A sack of farmyard manure was emptied into each pit and mixed with the soil. Each recently planted banana sucker would normally produce one bunch of fruit within a period of a few months depending on weather and the amount of water. Each plant produced seven or eight suckers. Only one vigorous sucker was allowed to remain The main advantage of the basin was that it allowed a gradual and slow infiltration of water into the soil.

For Earth Day 2019, I created a You Tube video about this village as a model of Regenerative Agriculture