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<P><BR><BR></P></DIV><BR><BR><BR>Rabiah Al Nur
<DIV></DIV>Spring of Light
<DIV></DIV>rabiah_sol@hotmail.com
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<DIV></DIV>From: <BR>Subject: <I>Must Read!Fw:Open Letter from India> 84 year old Organic Farmer to Gov't of India</I><BR>Date: <I>Sat, 12 Aug 2006 04:29:16 -0400 (GMT-04:00)</I><BR>"This Creation is whole and complete"..don't mess with it!! Namaste...BB<BR>>---<BR>>Open Letter<BR>><BR>>Wrom: PYOQKEDOTWFAOB<BR>>'Kalpavruksha' Farm,<BR>>Village Dehri, via Umergam,<BR>>Dist. Valsad, Gujarat ? 396 170<BR>>(Phone: 0260 ? 2562126 & 2563866)<BR>><BR>>To: Shri M.S. Swaminathan,<BR>>The Chairperson,<BR>>National Commission on Farmers,<BR>>Ministry of Agriculture,<BR>>Govt. of India<BR>><BR>>July 29, 2006<BR>><BR>>Subject: Mounting Suicides and National Policy for Farmers<BR>><BR>>Dear Shri Swaminathan,<BR>><BR>>I am an 84-year old natural/organic farmer with more than six decades
of<BR>>personal experience in growing a wide range of food crops. I have, over the years,<BR>>practised several systems of farming, including the chemical method in the<BR>>fifties ? until I soon saw its pitfalls.<BR>><BR>>I say with conviction that it is only by organic farming in harmony with<BR>>Nature, that India can sustainably provide her people abundant, wholesome food.<BR>>And meet every basic need of all ? to live in health, dignity and peace.<BR>>[Annexed hereto are:<BR>>(1) a concise comparison of chemical farming and organic farming;<BR>>(2) an introduction to my farm, Kalpavruksha;<BR>>(3) some recorded opinions of visitors; and<BR>>(4) a short biographical note on myself.]<BR>><BR>>You, M.S. Swaminathan, are considered the 'father' of India's so-called '<BR>>Green Revolution' that flung open the floodgates of toxic 'agro'
chemicals ?<BR>>ravaging the lands and lives of many millions of Indian farmers over the past 50<BR>>years. More than any other individual in our long history, it is you I hold<BR>>responsible for the tragic condition of our soils and our debt-burdened farmers,<BR>>driven to suicide in increasing numbers every year.<BR>><BR>>As destiny would have it, you are presently the chairperson of the 'National<BR>>Commission on Farmers', mandated to draft a new agricultural policy. I urge<BR>>you to take this opportunity to make amends ? for the sake of the children, and<BR>>those yet to come.<BR>><BR>>I understand your Commission is inviting the views of farmers for drafting<BR>>the new policy. As this is an open consultation, I am marking a copy of my<BR>>letter to: the Prime Minister, the Union Minister for Agriculture, the Chairperson<BR>>of the
National Advisory Council, and to the media - for wider communication.<BR>>I hope this provokes some soul-searching and open debate at all levels on the<BR>>extremely vital issues involved. ? So that we do not repeat the same kind of<BR>>blunders that led us to our present, deep festering mess.<BR>><BR>>The great poet, Rabindranath Tagore, referred not so long ago to our<BR>>"sujhalam, sufalam" land. Ours indeed was a remarkably fertile and prosperous country ?<BR>> with rich soils, abundant water and sunshine, thick forests, a wealth of<BR>>bio-diversity, ? And cultured, peace-loving people with a vast store of farming<BR>>knowledge and wisdom.<BR>><BR>>Farming runs in our blood. But I am sad that our (now greyed) generation of<BR>>Indian farmers, allowed itself to be duped into adopting the short-sighted and<BR>>ecologically devastating way of
farming, imported into this country. ? By<BR>>those like you, with virtually zero farming experience!<BR>><BR>>For generations beyond count, this land sustained one of the highest<BR>>densities of population on earth. Without any chemical 'fertilizers', pesticides,<BR>>exotic dwarf strains of grain, or the new, fancy 'bio-tech' inputs that you now<BR>>seem to champion. The many waves of invaders into this country, over the<BR>>centuries, took away much. But the fertility of our land remained unaffected.<BR>><BR>>The Upanishads say:<BR>>Om Purnamadaha<BR>>Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate<BR>>Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamewa Vashishyate<BR>>"This creation is whole and complete.<BR>>From the whole emerge creations, each whole and complete.<BR>>Take the whole from the whole, but the whole yet remains,<BR>>Undiminished,
complete!"<BR>><BR>>In our forests, the trees like ber (jujube), jambul (jambolan), mango, umbar<BR>>(wild fig), mahua (Madhuca indica), imli (tamarind), ? yield so abundantly in<BR>>their season that the branches sag under the weight of the fruit. The annual<BR>>yield per tree is commonly over a tonne ? year after year. But the earth around<BR>>remains whole and undiminished. There is no gaping hole in the ground!<BR>><BR>>From where do the trees ? including those on rocky mountains ? get their<BR>>water, their NPK, etc? Though stationary, Nature provides their needs right where<BR>>they stand. But ?scientists? and technocrats like you ? with a blinkered,<BR>>meddling itch ? seem blind to this. On what basis do you prescribe what a tree<BR>>or plant requires, and how much, and when??<BR>><BR>>It is said: where there is lack of knowledge,
ignorance masquerades as<BR>>'science'! Such is the 'science' you have espoused, leading our farmers astray ?<BR>>down the pits of misery. While it is no shame to be ignorant, the awareness of<BR>>such ignorance is the necessary first step to knowledge. But the refusal to see<BR>>it is self-deluding arrogance.<BR>><BR>>Agricultural Mis-education<BR>><BR>>This country has more than 150 agricultural universities, many with huge<BR>>land-holdings of thousands of acres. They have no dearth of infrastructure,<BR>>equipment, staff, money, ? And yet, not one of these heavily subsidized universities<BR>>makes any profit, or grows any significant amount of food, if only to feed<BR>>its own staff and students. But every year, each churns out several hundred ?<BR>>educated? unemployables, trained only in misguiding farmers and spreading<BR>>ecological
degradation.<BR>><BR>>In all the six years a student spends for an M. Sc. in agriculture, the only<BR>>goal is short-term ? and narrowly perceived ? 'productivity'. For this, the<BR>>farmer is urged to do and buy a hundred things. But not a thought is spared to<BR>>what a farmer must never do so that the land remains unharmed for future<BR>>generations and other creatures. It is time our people and government wake up to<BR>>the realisation that this industry-driven way of farming ? promoted by our<BR>>institutions ? is inherently criminal and suicidal!<BR>><BR>>Gandhi declared: Where there is soshan, or exploitation, there can be no<BR>>poshan, or nurture! Vinoba Bhave added, "Science wedded to compassion can bring<BR>>about a paradise on earth. But divorced from non-violence, it can only cause a<BR>>massive conflagration that swallows us in its
flames."<BR>><BR>>Trying to increase Nature's 'productivity,' is the fundamental blunder that<BR>>highlights the ignorance of 'agricultural scientists' like you. Nature,<BR>>unspoiled by man, is already most generous in her yield. When a grain of rice can<BR>>reproduce a thousand-fold within months, where arises the need to increase its<BR>>productivity?<BR>><BR>>Numerous kinds of fruit trees too yield several hundred thousand kg of<BR>>nourishment each in their lifetime! That is, provided the farmer does not pour<BR>>poison and mess around the tree in his greed for quick profit. A child has a right<BR>>to its mother?s milk. But if we draw on Mother Earth?s blood and flesh as<BR>>well, how can we expect her continuing sustenance!<BR>><BR>>The mindset of servitude to 'commerce and industry,' ignoring all else, is<BR>>the root of the problem.
But industry merely transforms ?raw materials? sourced<BR>>from Nature into commodities. It cannot create anew. Only Nature is truly<BR>>creative and self-regenerating ? through synergy with the fresh daily inflow of<BR>>the sun's energy.<BR>><BR>>The Six Self-renewing Paribals of Nature<BR>><BR>>There is on earth a constant inter-play of the six paribals (key factors) of<BR>>Nature, interacting with sunlight. Three are: air, water and soil. Working in<BR>>tandem with these, are the three orders of life: 'vanaspati srushti' (the<BR>>world of plants), 'jeev srushti' (the realm of insects and micro-organisms), and<BR>>'prani srushti' (the animal kingdom). These six paribals maintain a dynamic<BR>>balance. Together, they harmonise the grand symphony of Nature, weaving the new!<BR>><BR>>Man has no right to disrupt any of the paribals of Nature. But
modern<BR>>technology, wedded to commerce ? rather than wisdom or compassion ? has proved<BR>>disastrous at all levels... We have despoiled and polluted the soil, water and air.<BR>>We have wiped out most of our forests and killed its creatures; ? And<BR>>relentlessly, modern farmers spray deadly poisons on their fields. These massacre<BR>>Nature?s jeev srushti ? the unpretentious but tireless little workers that<BR>>maintain the ventilated quality of the soil, and recycle all life-ebbed biomass<BR>>into nourishment for plants. The noxious chemicals also inevitably poison the<BR>>water, and Nature's prani srushti, which includes humans.<BR>><BR>>The Root of Unsustainablity<BR>><BR>>Sustainability is a modern concern, scarcely talked of at the time you<BR>>championed the 'green revolution'. Can you deny that for more than forty centuries,<BR>>our
ancestors farmed the organic way ? without any marked decline in soil<BR>>fertility, as in the past four or five decades? Is it not a stark fact that the<BR>>chemical-intensive and irrigation-intensive way of growing monoculture<BR>>cash-crops, has been primarily responsible for spreading ecological devastation far and<BR>>wide in this country? ? Within the lifetime of a single generation!<BR>><BR>>Engineered Erosion of Crop Diversity, Scarcity of Organic Matter, and Soil<BR>>Degradation<BR>><BR>>This country boasted an immense diversity of crops, adapted over millennia to<BR>>local conditions and needs. Our numerous tall, indigenous varieties of grain<BR>>provided more biomass, shaded the soil from the sun, and protected against its<BR>>erosion under heavy monsoon rains. But in the guise of increasing crop<BR>>production, exotic dwarf varieties
were introduced and promoted through your<BR>>efforts. This led to more vigorous growth of weeds, which were now able to compete<BR>>successfully with the new stunted crops for sunlight. The farmer had to spend<BR>>more labour and money in weeding, or spraying herbicides.<BR>><BR>>The straw growth with the dwarf grain crops fell drastically to one-third of<BR>>that with most native species! In Punjab and Haryana, even this was burned, as<BR>>it was said to harbour 'pathogens'. (It was too toxic to feed farm cattle<BR>>that were progressively displaced by tractors.) Consequently, much less organic<BR>>matter was locally available to recycle the fertility of the soil, leading to<BR>>an artificial need for externally procured inputs. Inevitably, the farmers<BR>>resorted to use more chemicals, and relentlessly, soil degradation and erosion
set<BR>>in.<BR>><BR>>Engineered Pestilence<BR>><BR>>The exotic varieties, grown with chemical 'fertiliser', were more susceptible<BR>>to 'pests and diseases', leading to yet more poison (insecticides, etc.)<BR>>being poured. But the attacked insect species developed resistance and reproduced<BR>>prolifically. Their predators ? spiders, frogs, etc. ? that fed on these<BR>>insects and ?biologically controlled? their population, were exterminated. So<BR>>were many beneficial species like the earthworms and bees.<BR>><BR>>Agribusiness and technocrats recommended stronger doses, and newer, more<BR>>toxic (and more expensive) chemicals. But the problems of 'pests' and ?diseases?<BR>>only worsened. The spiral of ecological, financial and human costs mounted!<BR>><BR>>The 'Development' of Water Scarcity and Dead, Salty Soils<BR>><BR>>With the
use of synthetic fertilizer and increased cash-cropping, irrigation<BR>>needs rose enormously. In 1952, the Bhakra dam was built in Punjab, a<BR>>water-rich state fed by 5 Himalayan rivers. Several thousand more big and medium dams<BR>>followed all over the country, culminating in the massive Sardar Sarovar. And<BR>>now, our government is toying with a grandiose, Rs 560,000 crore proposal to<BR>>divert and 'inter-link' the flow of our rivers. This is sheer 'Tughlaqian'<BR>>megalomania, without a thought for future generations!<BR>><BR>>India, next to South America, receives the highest rainfall in the world. The<BR>>annual average is almost 4 feet. Where thick vegetation covers the ground,<BR>>and the soil is alive and porous, at least half of this rain is soaked and<BR>>stored in the soil and sub-soil strata. A good amount then percolates deeper
to<BR>>recharge aquifers, or 'groundwater tables'.<BR>><BR>>The living soil and its underlying aquifers thus serve as gigantic,<BR>>ready-made reservoirs gifted free by Nature. Particularly efficient in soaking rain are<BR>>the lands under forests and trees. And so, half a century ago, most parts of<BR>>India had enough fresh water all round the year, long after the rains had<BR>>stopped and gone. But clear the forests, and the capacity of the earth to soak the<BR>>rain, drops drastically. Streams and wells run dry. It has happened in too<BR>>many places already.<BR>><BR>>While the recharge of groundwater has greatly reduced, its extraction has<BR>>been mounting. India is presently mining over 20 times more groundwater each day<BR>>than it did in 1950. Much of this is mindless wastage by a minority. But most<BR>>of India?s people ? living on
hand-drawn or hand-pumped water in villages,<BR>>and practising only rain-fed farming ? continue to use the same amount of ground<BR>>water per person, as they did generations ago.<BR>><BR>>More than 80% of India's water consumption is for irrigation, with the<BR>>largest share hogged by chemically cultivated cash crops. Maharashtra, for example,<BR>>has the maximum number of big and medium dams in this country. But sugarcane<BR>>alone, grown on barely 3-4% of its cultivable land, guzzles about 70% of its<BR>>irrigation waters!<BR>><BR>>One acre of chemically grown sugarcane requires as much water as would<BR>>suffice 25 acres of jowar, bajra or maize. The sugar factories too consume huge<BR>>quantities. From cultivation to processing, each kilo of refined sugar needs 2 to<BR>>3 tonnes of water. This could be used to grow, by the traditional,
organic<BR>>way, about 150 to 200 kg of nutritious jowar or bajra (native millets).<BR>><BR>>While rice is suitable for rain-fed farming, its extensive multiple cropping<BR>>with irrigation in winter and summer as well, is similarly hogging our water<BR>>resources, and depleting aquifers. As with sugarcane, it is also irreversibly<BR>>ruining the land through salinisation.<BR>><BR>>Soil salinisation is the greatest scourge of irrigation-intensive<BR>>agriculture, as a progressively thicker crust of salts is formed on the land. Many<BR>>million hectares of cropland have been ruined by it. The most serious problems are<BR>>caused where water-guzzling crops like sugarcane or basmati rice are grown<BR>>round the year, abandoning the traditional mixed-cropping and rotation systems of<BR>>the past, which required minimal or no
watering.<BR>><BR>>Since at least 60% of the water used for irrigation nowadays in India, is<BR>>excessive, indeed harmful, the first step that needs to be taken is to control<BR>>this. Thus, not only will the grave damage caused by too much irrigation stop,<BR>>but a good deal of the water that is saved can also become available locally<BR>>for priority areas where acute scarcity is felt.<BR>><BR>>Conservative Irrigation and Groundwater Recharge at Kalpavruksha<BR>><BR>>Efficient, organic farming requires very little irrigation ? much less than<BR>>what is commonly used in modern agriculture. The yields of the crops are best<BR>>when the soil is just damp. Rice is the only exception that grows even where<BR>>water accumulates, and is thus preferred as a monsoon crop in low-lying areas<BR>>naturally prone to inundation. Excess irrigation in the
case of all other crops<BR>>expels the air contained in the soil?s inter-particulate spaces ? vitally<BR>>needed for root respiration ? and prolonged flooding causes root rot.<BR>><BR>>The irrigation on my farm is a small fraction of that provided in most modern<BR>>farms today. Moreover, the porous soil under the thick vegetation of the<BR>>orchard is like a sponge that soaks and percolates to the aquifer, or ground-water<BR>>table, an enormous quantity of rain each monsoon. The amount of water thus<BR>>stored in the ground at Kalpavruksha, is far more than the total amount<BR>>withdrawn from the well for irrigation in the months when there is no rain.<BR>>Thus, my farm is a net supplier of water to the eco-system of the region,<BR>>rather than a net consumer! Clearly, the way to ensure the water security and<BR>>food security of this nation, is by
organically growing mixed, locally suitable<BR>>crops, plants and trees, following the laws of Nature.<BR>><BR>>Need for 30% Tree Cover<BR>><BR>>We should restore at least 30% ground cover of mixed, indigeneous trees and<BR>>forests within the next decade or two. This is the core task of ecological<BR>>water harvesting ? the key to restoring the natural abundance of groundwater.<BR>>Outstanding benefits can be achieved within a decade at comparatively little cost.<BR>>We sadly fail to realise that the potential for natural water storage in the<BR>>ground is many times greater than the combined capacity of all the major and<BR>>medium irrigation projects in India ? complete, incomplete, or still on paper!<BR>>Such decentralized underground storage is more efficient, as it is protected<BR>>from the high evaporation of surface storage. The planting of
trees will also<BR>>make available a variety of useful produce to enhance the well-being of a<BR>>larger number of people.<BR>><BR>>Even barren wastelands can be restored to health in less than a decade. By<BR>>inter-planting short life-span, medium life-span, and long life-span crops and<BR>>trees, it is possible to have planned continuity of food yield to sustain a<BR>>farmer through the transition period till the long-life fruit trees mature and<BR>>yield. The higher availability of biomass and complete ground cover round the<BR>>year will also hasten the regeneration of soil fertility.<BR>><BR>>Production, Poverty & Population<BR>><BR>>After the British left, Indian agriculture was recovering steadily. There was<BR>>no scarcity of diverse nourishment in the countryside, where 75% of India<BR>>lived. The actual reason for pushing the
'Green Revolution' was the much narrower<BR>>goal of increasing marketable surplus of a few relatively less perishable<BR>>cereals to fuel the urban-industrial expansion favoured by the government.<BR>><BR>>The new, parasitical way of farming you vigorously promoted, benefited only<BR>>the industrialists, traders and the powers-that-be. The farmers? costs rose<BR>>massively and margins dipped. Combined with the eroding natural fertility of<BR>>their land, they were left with little in their hands, if not mounting debts and<BR>>dead soils. Many gave up farming. Many more want to do so, squeezed by the<BR>>ever-rising costs. This is nothing less than tragic, since Nature has generously<BR>>gifted us with all that is needed for organic farming ? which also produces<BR>>wholesome, rather than poisoned food!<BR>><BR>>Restoring the natural health of
Indian agriculture is the path to solve the<BR>>inter-related problems of poverty, unemployment and rising population. The<BR>>maximum number of people can become self-reliant through farming only if the<BR>>necessary inputs are a bare minimum. Thus, farming should require a minimum of<BR>>financial capital and purchased inputs, minimum farming equipment (plough, tools,<BR>>etc.), minimum necessary labour, and minimum external technology. Then,<BR>>agricultural production will increase, without costs increasing. Poverty will<BR>>decline, and the rise in population will be spontaneously checked.<BR>><BR>>Self-reliant farming ? with minimal or zero external inputs ? was the way we<BR>>actually farmed, very successfully, in the past. Barring periods of war and<BR>>excessive colonial oppression, our farmers were largely self-sufficient, and<BR>>even
produced surpluses, though generally smaller quantities of many more items.<BR>>These, particularly perishables, were tougher to supply urban markets. And so<BR>>the nation?s farmers were steered to grow chemically cultivated monocultures<BR>>of a few cash-crops like wheat, rice, or sugar, rather than their traditional<BR>>polycultures that needed no purchased inputs. [See Annexure 5 on an old,<BR>>six-crop integral system (of cotton, 2 millets and 3 edible pulse legumes) which<BR>>successfully provided farmers in low-rainfall regions with more diversity and<BR>>continuity of yield round the year ? without any irrigation or external inputs.]<BR>><BR>>In Conclusion:<BR>><BR>>I hope you have the integrity to support widespread change to mixed organic<BR>>farming, tree-planting and forest regeneration (with local resources and<BR>>rights) ? that India
greatly needs. I would be glad to answer any query or doubt<BR>>posed to me, preferably in writing. I also welcome you to visit my farm with<BR>>reasonable prior notice. Since many years, I have extended an open invitation to<BR>>any one interested in natural/organic farming to visit Kalpavruksha, on any<BR>>Saturday afternoon between 2.00 and 4.00 pm., which continues till date.<BR>><BR>>I may finally add that this letter has been transcribed in English by Bharat<BR>>Mansata, based on discussions with me in Gujarati. (The annexures hereto are<BR>>excerpted from his forthcoming book, 'The Vision of Natural Farming,' Earthcare<BR>>Books, which draws largely on my experience.)<BR>><BR>>Whether or not you agree with my views, I look forward to your reply.<BR>><BR>>Yours sincerely,<BR>>Bhaskar H. Save<BR>><BR>>Copy to:<BR>> (i) The Prime
Minister of India,<BR>> (ii) The Union Minister for Agriculture,<BR>>(iii) The Chairperson, National Advisory Council,<BR>>(iv) The media.<BR>><BR>>Annexures:<BR>>1) Comparison of Chemical Farming and Organic Farming<BR>>2) An Introduction to Kalpavruksha (my farm)<BR>>3) Recorded Opinions of Visitors<BR>>4) A Biographical Note<BR>>5) Note on a Traditional Six-Crop, Integral System ? in a low rainfall zone,<BR>>providing diverse yield round the year without any irrigation or external<BR>>input.<BR>>6) Content Overview and More Excerpts from 'The Vision of Natural Farming'<BR>><BR>>Annexure 1: Comparison of Chemical Farming & Organic Farming:<BR>>-- by Bhaskar Save, transcribed from Gujarati to English by Bharat Mansata<BR>><BR>>1) Chemical farming fragments the web of life; organic farming nurtures its<BR>>wholeness<BR>>2)
Chemical farming depends on fossil oil; organic farming on living soil.<BR>>3) Chemical farmers see their land as a dead medium; organic farmers know<BR>>theirs is teeming with life.<BR>>4) Chemical farming pollutes the air, water and soil; organic farming<BR>>purifies and renews them.<BR>>5) Chemical farming uses large quantities of water and depletes aquifers;<BR>>organic farming requires much less irrigation, and recharges groundwater.<BR>>6) Chemical farming is mono-cultural and destroys diversity; organic farming<BR>>is poly-cultural and nurtures diversity.<BR>>7) Chemical farming produces poisoned food; organic farming yields nourishing<BR>>food.<BR>>8) Chemical farming has a short history and threatens a dim future; organic<BR>>farming has a long history and promises a bright future.<BR>>9) Chemical farming is an alien, imported technology;
organic farming has<BR>>evolved indigenously.<BR>>10) Chemical farming is propagated through schooled, institutional<BR>>misinformation; organic farming learns from Nature and farmers? experience.<BR>>11) Chemical farming benefits traders and industrialists; organic farming<BR>>benefits the farmer, the environment and society as a whole.<BR>>12) Chemical farming robs the self-reliance and self-respect of farmers and<BR>>villages; organic farming restores and strengthens it.<BR>>13) Chemical farming leads to bankruptcy and misery; organic farming<BR>>liberates from debt and woe.<BR>>14) Chemical farming is violent and entropic; organic farming is non-violent<BR>>and synergistic.<BR>>15) Chemical farming is a hollow 'green revolution'; organic farming is the<BR>>true green revolution.<BR>>16) Chemical farming is crudely materialistic, with no
ideological mooring;<BR>>organic farming is rooted in spirituality and abiding truth.<BR>>17) Chemical farming is suicidal, moving from life to death; organic farming<BR>>is the road to regeneration.<BR>>18) Chemical farming is the vehicle of commerce and oppression; organic<BR>>farming is the path of culture and co-evolution.<BR>><BR>>[Note: Annexures 2 to 6 are being sent separately to avoid overloading.]<BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></div></html>