In this video, Subhash Palekar discusses the findings of his research over the last eight years on the quality of soil and explains that the soil is naturally full of nutrients for plants, which is why trees grow and produce fruits and flowers in forests under natural surroundings without addition of chemical or even the organic fertilisers.
Palekar challenges the perception that even top scientists in this country have on the need to improve the soil quality by doing soil tests and recommending addition of organic fertilisers to the soil.
He says that many a times, top layers of the soil could be less in some ingredients, but the quality of the soil from the deeper layers is always good and can be utilised by plants to improve yield. Thus, use of chemical or organic fertilisers is actually unnecessary and can lead to exploitation of farmers as well as earth and nature.
Please view the video here:
Source: 12forestsorg
In the second video, Palekar discusses about his views on organic farming to improve yield and productivity of the soil and argues that although organic farming is a big movement, it is as dangerous and exploitative as chemical farming or even more dangerous than chemical farming. This is because those who want to exploit and make money do not want the farmers to be self reliant.
The best way to improve the soil is to utilise the natural ingredients of the soil such as the humus that uses waste from plants, leaves, dead animals, excreta in the forests which are broken down by bacteria to produce a mass, namely humus, which is very good for the soil. However, multinational companies want to sell their products as chemical and organic forms to prevent humus formation in the soil making farmers dependent on chemical and organic products.
He further informs, humus is the backbone of the soil or the heart of the soil. When roots of any plant take nutrients from the soil, it is from the humus. Maximum humus is good for the soil and the fertility of soil depends on saturation with humus and the microbial content of the soil. Humus produced through decomposition of agricultural waste produces best results in the Indian context when decomposed by microorganisms culture which comes from desi cowdung or local livestock. Thus, desi cowdung must not be wasted.
Nowadays, farmers asked to burn agricultural waste so that humus not created and farmers will be forced to buy organic and chemical products from multinational companies. Indigenous cow is more important in the process than foreign cow, as desi cowdung is of a different quality than foreign as the type of bacteria are different in the two types.The ones found in foreign cows are harmful bacteria, he informs.
The video can be viewed below: