Umendra Dutt speaking about Kheti Virasat Mission
Video courtesy: Amanjot Kaur
Eco-sustainable agriculture can provide food security and improve rural livelihoods for farmers. This was the main conclusion of the Natural Farming and Environment Festival by Kheti Virasat Mission held during May 11-13 2012 at Bathinda, Punjab.
Kheti Virasat Mission, a non-profit and conscious civil-society organization, based at Jaitu in Faridkot, Punjab has been working with the farmers to address the destruction caused by the green revolution's chemical and hybrid agriculture. It has been promoting sustainable, ecological farming practices as well as the conservation and regeneration of natural water resources, to re-establish the traditional wisdom and practices related to water.
Evidence suggests that our soils and water are getting increasingly polluted with highly poisonous and toxic substances generating an environmental crisis. The festival attended by hundreds of farmers and organic farming experts from states such as Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra sought to raise some hard questions related to environmental health and ecological crisis and tried to bring ecological farming at the center stage.
The Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) is of the view that issues concerning environmental and health crisis must reflect in the farmers’ movements and Kisan Unions must support natural farming. The event was therefore marked by talks by political and trade union leaders apart from eminent experts and practitioners. The direction of farmer’s movement in the present context was discussed.
The event was also marked by a celebration of traditional foods through “Bebe di rasoi”, a sale of organic products particularly indigenous farmer owned seeds and cultural programmes from various states. Reports suggest that the organic sales counters were able to sell organic produce worth over Rs 1 lakh at the fest.
Exhibition on natural farming, environment and health with stalls for traditional and native seeds
Image: Amita, India Water Portal
There were discourses with eminent experts in ecological farming and practical training in natural and ecological farming. The success of organic farming in western and southern states were shared with the farmers of Punjab and they learnt about how to cut the use of pesticides that poison soil, water, and crop.
Angrej Singh Bhullar, a farmer from Bhullar village in Muktsar district discussed aspects related to harvesting to marketing of organic crop. He benefitted from organic farming in 8 acres and uses vermicompost produced in his own farm. He has his own plant to pack organic paddy, which enables him to sell the output on the market at Rs. 70 per kg. He grows organic vegetables in 2.5 acres.
A natural system and an agricultural philosophy
Video courtesy: The Source Project
Subhash Sharma of Dorli village in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, an expert in organic farming shared how he has been growing organic vegetables, moong, banana, and other crops on his 20 acre farm. In agrarian crisis ridden Vidarbha, this has helped him secure good profits and repay his debts.
Suresh Desai, a farmer innovator from Belgaum, Karnataka founded an Organic Farmers Club in the area where he encourages people to take up experiments with organic practices. He shared with the participants about his experience of shifting to organic farming, in particular water efficient sugarcane. His system has helped reduce water usage by 75 to 80 percent in comparison with the conventional usage. Sugarcane is conventionally grown in three-year cycles and takes a year and a half to mature. It is then harvested and a ratoon crop is left to grow.
Suresh Desai interacting with farmers of Punjab
Image: Amita, India Water Portal
Suresh Desai felt that the nutrients contained in the ashes are leached out with the first irrigation whenever he burnt the sugarcane residue. He started venturing into experiments in his sugarcane fields and started using organic materials. He composted the organic residues and used it to fertilize his sugarcane crop and later incorporated organic residues into the field in situ and thereby saved on time and labour considerably. He cut down his fertilizer application considerably and was still able to maintain production levels. He is stated to have trained over a lakh farmers in organic farming. He appealed to the farmers of Punjab to go for multi-cropping systems and green manuring.
He shared how he has adopted zero tillage methods and was yet able to get 100 tonnes/ hectare of yield. He discussed at length about the manner in which he stimulates tillering by the "snapping method" and about the method followed in intercropping sugarcane with dryland food crops (wheat and paddy in rotation). He also grows kitchen-garden crops such as onion, soyabean, paddy, turmeric (haldi), and pulses (like moong).
Suresh Desai's system for organic sugarcane
Image courtesy: Food and Agriculture Organisation
On the second day a women’s convention was held on environment, health and food. A discussion on opportunities and problems for marketing of organic produce in Punjab was also held. The meeting concluded with a resolve to develop a strategy for environmental health and mitigate agricultural and ecological crisis in the state. The Kheti Virasat Mission will organise the next Kudrati Kheti-Vatavaran Utsav in October this year at Jalandhar.
Contact details:
Umendra Dutt
Executive Director,
Kheti Virasat Mission,
Jaitu-151202,
Faridkot, Punjab
Phones: 01635-503414/09872682161
Email: umendradutt@gmail.com
Website: www.khetivirasatmission.org;
Blog: umendradutt.blogspot.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/BabaKudratDass
Contact details of Suresh Desai - Village Chikodi, Belgaum district, Karnataka, 09480448256, 08338-262056.
Contact details of Subhash Sharma - Village Dorli, Yavatmal, 09422869620.
Kheti Virasat Mission organizes “Natural farming and environment festival”
Video courtesy: MetroNewz Channel