32 Main Street
Kentville, Nova Scotia
B4N 1J5
Phone: (902) 678-7722
Fax: (902) 678-7266

199 Innovation Drive
Bible Hill, NS
B6L 2H5
Phone: (902) 896-0277
Fax: (902) 896-7299

Av Singh is one of Canada’s leading experts on organic agriculture. He works predominantly with organic and small-scale farmers on issues of production, processing, and marketing of agricultural goods. Av emphasizes farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange and works towards revitalizing rural communities through increasing social capital.

Av shares production and processing information with organic and/or small-scale producers/processors; investigates and supports alternative food distribution systems for organic and/or small-scale producers/processors; supports and develops initiatives that the organic community deems integral to their growth; supports and develops initiatives that encourage new entrants into agriculture (including transitional farmers into organic) and supports initiatives aimed at maintaining current farmers.

Av has had the privilege of visiting over 800 farms in North America which has shaped his work on extending holistic, system-based solutions for farm management with emphasis on soil health. Av has authored over 130 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, and extension articles (a frequent contributor to The Canadian Organic Grower). Av has been an invited speaker to over 350 workshops, conferences, symposia and has guest-lectured at over 20 universities in Canada and the US.

Av routinely gives presentations on such general topics as: 1) Localizing Food Systems; 2) Organic Gardening and Community Gardens; 3) Holistic Animal Health; 4) Compost and Soil Health; 5) Domestic Fair Trade; 6) Biodynamic Farming; Permaculture; & Urban Agriculture; 7) Food Security and Food Sovereignty; 8) Systems Thinking in Organic Farming; 9) Transformative Agricultural Education; and 10) Pasture-based Livestock Production; 11) Organic Farming Practices (e.g., Pest Management; Green Manures and Cover Crops, etc.).

He currently serves as a Board advisor to the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN); Board member of the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists; Board Advisor on the Pollination Project; Board member on the Just Us! Development & Education Society; Board member of the Tatamagouche Local Economic Trading System; Board member of the SunRoot EcoSolidarity Network; and several other community and Provincial Boards.

Av has an appointment as a research associate with the Rural Research Centre at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and is actively engaged in a Community-University Research Alliance project on Community Food Security. Av is a founding member of the Organic Council of Nova Scotia and sits on the Crops and Livestock Committees in the review of permitted substances for the National Standards of Organic Agriculture.

Av works as an educator and is comfortable in presenting information in a dynamic form to a variety of audiences ranging from academics at a university to consumers wanting to know more about the food they are eating. Av uses a hands-on/experiential delivery method that works well with farmers in the field as well as with students in a classroom.