Natural Farming in India

On this blog I insert more and more informations that I find on the net, in this way keeping them for me and hoping that other people will be interested in it. Last year when I was in India with Mona, I was lucky to find the indian edition of "The one straw revolution: an introduction to natural farming" of Masanobu Fukuoka in a library of Delhi. The preface of this indian edition was written by Partap Aggarwal. In this preface, he  relates his experience with natural farming at the Friends Rural Centre in Rasulia, Madhya Pradesh.

Since then I''ve been looking for informations about this experience and similar ones in India. I know some people who have got a land in India and are (or would like) to cultivate it organically.  I'm now coming towards the end of my masters course in Vienna, and I'm thinking of  organising a project  in India to see if it would be possible to grow crops according to Fukuoka's method. I recently  found two documents on the net dating from around 1994-1995: avideo from the Titus Farm and an article about the Vikalp , Titus and Ankur farms which I insert on this page. If ever some of you have  got more informations about natural farming in India (or somewhere else), I would be intderested.

Click on the music if you want to read with music:

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(found on http://www.ofai.org/case/mpcas.htm )

VIKALP
Bansalpura, Kesla Post, District Hoshangabad—461 111, Madhya Pradesh.
Authors: Lorry Benjamin and Krishna Kumar, partners in rishi kheti since Rasulia days.

The Friends Rural Centre, Rasulia is, in a sense, the birthplace of Natural Farming in India and the history of Vikalp would be incomplete without mention of the ‘Rasulia Experience’. Vikalp began in 1989, after we, i.e. Krishnakumar (who had been working with FRC, since 1977) and Lorry Benjamin (who joined as volunteer in 1984) left the centre and bought eight acres of forest land in Kesla which is about 40 kms from Rasulia. It is important to understand the factors which led us to abandon that ten-year experiment in natural farming.

In 1979, when it started, Partap Aggarwal gave it an Indian name, ‘Rishi Kheti’. It was at first misunderstood to mean going back to primitivism, a life-style akin to that of the rishis or hermits of ancient India. And it was an uphill task for Partap when he made basic changes in FRC: he did away with chemical farming (including selling off the tractor), introduced indigenous breeds of cattle in the “modern” dairy (stocked with cross-bred animals), and generally declared war on a wasteful way of life—prayer meetings under the banyan tree, hard work for everyone including office staff, and a programme for self-reliance through sustainable agriculture. A shift to gobar gas, windmills, weaving and spinning, unpolished grain, and a workshop for designing simple inexpensive, hand-operated machines was set in motion. For some years, everyone, right from those working in FRC to the general public outside, considered Partap mad. In an age when everyone was struggling to become more “modern” with a craze for high-tech, here was a man who seemed to be going in reverse gear.

The turning point came in 1984, when FRC published the Indian reprint of Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One Straw Revolution. Rishi Kheti began to be viewed in a different light. It now had international recognition because it embraced almost everything Fukuoka talked about in that book. Rishi Kheti was building a new, closer relationship with Nature. It was a pact with Nature, that Man would endeavour to abide by the laws of Nature and work in harmony rather than against Nature. Man would no longer consider himself “lord” of creation: rather, just one thread in the web of Creation. This is the fundamental ideology of Rishi Kheti. From this centre-point we spread out to all other spheres. We grow unpoisoned food, we treat all living creatures with respect, live an unexploitative life and strive to share the world’s resources unselfishly. Every day in FRC was a workday and yet every day a holiday. Life itself became a picnic. Joy and laughter with volunteers from different countries sharing community dinners, cultural programmes and work.

So far so good. These ideas were very much in consonance with Quaker philosophy, the base of FRC. However, when Partap began to make changes in the very structure of the organisation by getting workers onto the Governing Body, by giving three-acre plots to individual workers for experiment, and by encouraging a decentralised functioning in day-to-day responsibilities in both the office and on the farm, the GB felt he was going too far: spiritualism was fine, but this was politics because it dealt with power structures or rather the demolishing of power structures! So Partap was eased out and a new coordinator, someone with more conventional ideas, was invited to take charge.

Naturally, we felt suffocated. We were full of ideas and enthusiasm—for ever new things to be done. Partap had unleashed tremendous energies in all of us and these could not be contained. We needed a place to fulfil our dreams. A place with full freedom to experiment, both on the land as well as with technologies, with children, with human relations. Another institution was out of question—we needed a place of our own. So, six of us left Rasulia. And so Vikalp was born.

On the VIKALP farm: In March 1989, we got the land registered—four acres to each of us—and committed ourselves to natural farming for the rest of our lives. Krishnakumar and I were both 34 years old, with growing children who needed food, clothing and education. We could not afford to be romantic about life. It was the beginning of summer. Madhya Pradesh summers go from 35°C to 46°C. March is the beginning of mahua flowering. All the tribals in the area go into the forest to collect the heady-scented mahua flowers which are dried and sold (for making liquor). We too began to gather mahua. We had 22 trees on our eight acres. But keeping away grazing animals was a problem. So we applied to the bank for a loan for barbed wire fencing.

But first we needed drinking water. There was a well about ten minutes walk away. Krishnakumar did his water-divining act with a “Y” shaped henna stick and finally decided on one spot. We started digging our well. After 10 feet of mud we hit rock. We tried dynamiting. No luck. So we went on with the digging.

With the beginning of the monsoon, we began planting trees. We collected whatever saplings we could lay our hands on: we brought citrus and lemon from Shiva in Shendurjana Ghat, Maharashtra; and we prepared pomegranate, guava, custard-apple, ber and jamun saplings from seed derived from fruit we had eaten. We also started growing vegetables for our community kitchen. By the end of September, we had dug the well 32 feet deep and hit water. Joy unlimited! Soon we got the bank loan and got down to fencing the farm. Now that the land was protected, we could hope for survival of the trees. We began to move out of Kesla, attending meetings, keeping in touch with activities in other parts of the state. The children, eight of them all below 15 years, began to go to school.

Farming practices: Our well had two-and-a-half feet water during the second summer. But now, after six years, it has at least 15 feet in May-June. This is proof of the rise in groundwater level.

We were very lucky with water. Recently, one person dug a well about 200 metres away from ours. After spending thousands of rupees, when he did hit water he was disappointed to find it saline. Now, when we look back at the manner in which we started our venture, we can only consider ourselves lucky. Of late, people around us have started coming to Krishnakumar to help them locate water spots with the stick method, especially given the failure of tube wells in this area.

The first two summers, we irrigated the fruit trees—nearly 300 of them—with headloads of water drawn manually from the well. It was a difficult task. As soon as we were able to raise some money, we bought a diesel pump and pipes and dug pits in three or four places about 50 feet away from the well. Once the pits were filled by the pump, we could carry water in buckets to the trees. Soon we hope to be able to construct a tank so that crops can also be irrigated. For vegetables we use a watering can with a sprinkler, especially on the raised beds.

The soil here is sandy and was pretty over-grazed when we started. Our plot slopes towards the south where it is bordered by a stream which dries up in the summer. During the first monsoon, we noticed that a lot of topsoil was being washed away. In some places the water soon formed deep rivulets. Our first concern was to arrest this soil erosion. So we decided not to cut grass at all. We also raised bunds and dug trenches along the slopes to slow down the speed of water.

The following year we sowed paddy in the trenches. Within two years we found that all the water that drained out of the farm was crystal clear, unlike the muddy water of previous years. Today, after six years, the water retention capacity of the soil has greatly increased and soil erosion is nil.

We grow at least 22 kinds of vegetables. Seeds are preserved for the following year. As far as fruits are concerned, we have been eating papayas and guavas from the second year on. Papayas grow well in the permaculture design of five or six trees placed in a circle with mulch in the centre. Other trees like citrus, bananas, custard apple, have only just started fruiting. Apart from these, we get jamun, ber, mangoes and other seasonal fruit from the jungle around us. On the farm, we have almost 20 varieties of fruit trees and 15 kinds of timber, seven medicinal plant varieties, not to mention grasses, flowers and shrubs. So much for biodiversity.

Apart from weeds and grasses we have used mulch to keep the ground covered at all times. Weeds have never proved a nuisance to us. As it is we do very little weeding, and where it becomes necessary, we just cut and spread them down as mulch. If there is sufficient mulch material and moisture, earthworms appear and they do the job of ploughing for free. Termites, we have noticed, do not attack plants if they get their food—mulch. On the contrary, they can be useful in converting mulch into manure.

A crop is something which man has sown; a weed, that which nature has grown. Weeds and grasses tell us a lot about the condition of the soil. If you don’t have access to a soil-testing laboratory, just study your weeds and grasses closely. Where the soil is poorest you will find the toughest and most prickly weeds. Just shows that Nature attempts to keep the ground covered at all times. In poor soil, the grass grows close to the soil almost as if spreading its tentacles in all directions in order to prevent soil from being washed or blown away. As the soil improves you will notice healthier weeds and tall grasses making their appearance—with no help as far as seeding is concerned.

It is difficult for any one to judge the number of weed seeds lying dormant in different layers of the soil. Just try some digging, shallow as well as deep, and see what you find. On our farm, we have noticed that each year new varieties of weeds and grasses, much healthier than in previous years, are appearing. Of late, weeds with a good leaf population have come up. These provide good mulch material. We had to give up keeping poultry because the hens ate up a good bit of the termites and earthworms. We also had a cow which we sold off because the amount of cow dung that went back to the soil was much less than the grass being cut to feed the cow.

All organic waste derived from the farm must be returned to the soil. At first, people here were in the habit of taking a can of water and going far out into the forest for a shit. But when we sat down and discussed about returning waste to the soil, people slowly began to use latrines. Our first latrines were just pits along the riverside, which we covered with mud and later planted trees on. With the gradual inflow of visitors, it became necessary to have better latrines. Our focus, as always, was that it should be inexpensive and easy to be replicated by village folk. So Munna, one of our colleagues, set to work. He dug a pit three feet deep at one end of which a seat was made of bricks and tiles. The pit was covered with logs, closely fitted and packed with mud on top. After three months use, the latrine was closed for another two to three months after which the manure was used. In the meantime, a second latrine was made. We don’t use night soil manure for vegetables or quick yielding crops, only for trees.

We also collect urine in mud pots placed in the ground at strategic points. These are emptied every two to three days, the urine is diluted in ten times water and given to the trees. All kitchen waste is used straightaway as mulch.

Propagation: Our activities outside the farm include meetings with farmers, training programmes to discuss and demonstrate natural farming methods.

Under a project now being funded by Oxfam India, we began to visit villages trying to locate persons who might be interested in natural farming. We have consciously avoided setting up a typical organisation with buildings, vehicles and the rest of the paraphernalia. Instead, we have just a functional office, with a table and a chair and an old typewriter. All of us work on the farm doing routine work as well as visiting villages, holding meetings, etc.

We have organised training programmes in which interested people from different villages were brought together to share their problems in agriculture and see what we were doing on the farm. We do not claim to have achieved very much in this connection. Basically, we believe that we should not force our ideas on people. Creating awareness and sharing information is more important. We have much to learn from tribals. They have a system of life which has sustained them for centuries and this has been destroyed by us so-called “civilised” people. We have taken away their forests, the basis of their survival and classified them as “backward”. If we can return them their right to the forests we would be doing them a great service.

Apart from soil health, we are concerned with the collection and exchange of indigenous varieties of seed. For this purpose we are in the process of forming a network of farmers in Madhya Pradesh (later to be linked to the larger Seed Network at a national level). Hunting for sturdy, good yielding, indigenous varieties is quite a job and there are too few of us involved in this work. However, as more and more farmers begin to move away from chemical farming, there will be a spurt in such activities. Although there is no visible “movement” towards sustainable agriculture, the rumblings are being felt all right. The change will take time, but it is inevitable.

(Source: Lorry Benjamin of Vikalp) [PS: The most recent news is that Krishna Kumar is no longer with Vikalp.—Ed]

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Rishi farm of Raju and Shalini Titus

Titus Farm House, Bhopal Road, Hoshangabad—460 001, Madhya Pradesh.

After a prolonged wait and great determination, the family of Raju Titus has finally achieved what seemed to be asking too much from Mother Earth. Today, the Titus family is a proud owner of a small piece of land, totally cultivated according to the hallowed principles of organic farming. When Raju accompanies a curious visitor walking through his lush green farm, he remains silent about his experiment. His plants, trees, grasses, fruits and flowers say it all. Raju has a name for his novel experiment. He calls it rishi farming.

Experiments like rishi farming stand like light houses in the rough and turbid sea of competitions encouraged by the false idea of ‘development’. Those who wish to retain their sanity and integrity as human beings, are left today with no choice but to attempt such bold experiments, asserts Shalini, Raju’s better half. For Raju and his family, the experiment of organic farming goes much beyond the idea of tilling the land with ecological considerations. Rishi farming is a way of life that involves an enduring commitment of the entire family to a mystical force called nature. It also means an increasing dependence of Raju’s family on the forces of nature.

The Titus farm is situated on the outskirts of Hoshangabad, just one and a half kilometre from the city, on the Bhopal highway. Raju and his family live in a small house, surrounded by the farm. A government servant by profession, Raju definitely has green fingers and an unbounded love for nature. This, and his desire to follow a natural lifestyle, brought him to this idyllic place, and an ideal retreat far from the maddening crowd. For the Titus family, nature is a part and parcel of their experience, not just some thing that it to be appreciated once and then forgotten.

The different kinds of trees whose branches are full of birds of colourful feathers, the rich and varied insect life, the trees wafting the fragrance of guava, mango, and wild berries add an aesthetic dimension to this farm. The idea of this unique experiment did not go down well with many, including his friends. Those who knew what Raju was up to, dismissed the experiment as quixotic and impractical. Raju, by sheer will power and determination, proved his critics wrong. Today the same critics have become his great fans. They have seen the transformation that was brought to the piece of land, once considered to be barren and useless. Today, Raju towers above all the farmers in the vicinity who claim to use scientific methods for cultivation. Raju is a pioneer not only in the experiment of organic farming, but has also dared to use Gobar gas for cooking. The same Gobar gas also electrifies the Titus household. Also to his credit goes the first ever use of jersey cow for dairy farming.

It was exactly ten years ago that Raju got possessed with the idea of organic farming. He did not even know whether this kind of farming would yield any results at all. Raju had seen a unique experiment of organic farming in Rasulia that together with his own initiative in the field encouraged him to go whole hog in the organic way. His journey on that path is unhindered since then. This is inspite of the fact that his 12 acre farm could barely provide a few kilos of food grains in the initial days. This, however, did not deter him. Around this time about, the prophet of organic farming Fukuoka had come down to India from Japan. He stayed with Raju’s family on his Rishi farm. This meeting proved to be fortuitous, for Fukuoka taught Raju some secrets of organic farming, and also learned some from him.

The weeds in Raju’s farm posed a real problem to begin with. This weed is a kind of long grass that shoots up on any land. Most farmers and agricultural experts look down upon this weed as a harmful parasite. This myth is rampant across the world and the so called progressive farmers in America, thinking it to be a parasite, destroy it. The farmers from Somalia also did the same thing to this long grass. The truth is however that the land becomes barren in the absence of this grass. Learning from this experience, Fukuoka advised Raju to use the growth of the grass to the advantage of his farm. The result is for any one to see today. Raju did not cut this ‘parasite’, instead he crushed this growth with the help of his feet and spread it across the field. This proved to be good manure for the land. The standing wheat, paddy and masur crop in Raju’s farm today underlines the efficacy of this parasite.

Contrary to popular belief, the long grass that shoots up in the farm land is its friend. It arrests the process of soil erosion and protects the top soil which is so vital to the health of the land. This simple fact has been recognised in the Hindu lore and a festival like Rishi Panchami actually celebrates and worships this grass. The Fukuoka practice of spreading weeds on the land and making them a part of it symbolises the principle of ‘offering something to land which belongs to it in the first place’, believes Raju.

The weeds or parasite, as this growth is called by conventional farmers, is treated by them as garbage and destroyed. Also included in this garbage are vital organic wastes like plants, grasses, leaves, dead wood, insects, earthworms and various kinds of biological waste. Although dubbed as ‘garbage’ this is nothing short of tonic for the land. To destroy this is like destroying the life support system of any land. Fukouka’s genius lies in recognising this. Raju’s success too lies in following this advice faithfully. The crop which has derived its nourishment from the ‘biological garbage’ speaks for itself on Raju’s rishi farm. These days Raju is trying to grow crops under the shade of trees. Surprisingly these crops too look healthier, discounting thereby, the popular myth that nothing can grow without sunlight.

Sowing of the seeds in Raju’s farm takes place on unconventional lines. Unlike the majority of farmers, Raju does not follow a seasonal ritual of sowing. His sowing for the Kharif seasons begins much earlier when he covers his seeds with mud. These mud balls are then spread on the field, covered by dry grass and sticks. A great care is taken while these seeds are covered to ensure that some amount of sun light and air reaches them. As the rainy season breaks, these seeds get fertilised and sprout on the bed of biomass, so carefully arranged before. Sometimes, the seeds are just thrown as the first rain descends. More or less, the same technique precedes the Rabi crop but extra care is taken to ensure the adequacy of irrigation. If, for some reason, the sowing is delayed, then sowing of corn seeds as well as cereal seeds is done simultaneously by hand. The strength of this kind of farming lies in the biomass collected in the field over the years. In the initial stages however, this biomass is not enough; over the period of time the quantum keeps increasing, enriching the land in manure and enhancing crop productivity.

It is Raju’s experience that this biomass, if not destroyed, accumulates in the field and covers the entire field in a short time. It arrests possible soil erosion and enriches the land with biofertilisers and nitrogen, so vital for the growth of the crop. At the same time this biomass engenders the growth of various insects and earth worms, helpful to the soil. The life cycles of these insects and worms are dependent on each other, they feed on each other: and keep under control, the unnecessary growth of pests that afflict the standing crop. His cereal crop of Tooer, Masoor, and Channa show a remarkable growth in a surrounding where similar crop face the predatory attack of various types of caterpillars.

Earthworms found in the soil of Raju’s farm are the real collaborators in his experiment of organic farming. They breed in the biomass produced in the farm and make the soil porous and soft. This increases the soil’s capacity to absorb more water and adds up to its productivity. This usefulness of earthworms is being exploited by some who sell them for a lucrative price in the market. Raju abhors the idea of vermiculture devoid of supportive farming and based on purely profit motive. Similarly he does not subscribe to the idea of high breed variety of earthworms. Raju has also identified a plant in his farm which stays green all over the year and keeps the soil in top condition. Raju’s family calls it the ‘blessing of Rishi’ Any one can observe the steady growth of this plant in his farm.

Today, Raju’s family, in addition to enjoying the bliss of organic farming, also enjoys the satisfying statistics that could be projected out of his novel experiment. His results would be useful for those farmers for whom farming is a full-time profession.

Last year, the Rishi farm of Raju yielded 22 quintals of Masoor, and about 8 quintals of wheat per hectare. By any standard, this yield is impressive and encouraging. The figures become more impressive when one notes that not a single paisa was spent on chemical fertiliser and conventional methods of farming. This figure becomes even more impressive when the joy that the Titus family has been enjoying on account of this farming is taken into account.

Today Raju is a free man thanks to his courageous path of organic farming which has freed him from the hassles of buying fertilisers, worrying about irrigation, cutting and destroying the ‘unnecessary weeds’ and crying over the increasing cost of farming. His Rishi farming has given him an experience which is profitable and satisfying at the same time.

Raju’s experiment in Hushangabad has given the label of ‘Rishi farming’ to similar types of experiments elsewhere in the country. His Rishi farming come very close to Fukouka’s philosophy of do-nothingism. Obviously there is a lot of similarity between Raju’s idea of Rishi farming, which shows a remarkable tenderness to the land and Fukouka’s farming philosophy based on non-interference with the forces of nature and land.

(Source: Yogesh Diwan)

SHYAM BAHADUR NAMRA

Ankur Farm, Post Jamudi, Anuppur, District Shahdol—484 224, Madhya Pradesh.

Ankur farm is situated in an Adivasi bahul in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, nine kms from the road that goes to Udgam Amarkantak from Anuppur railway-junction. The area of this farm is approximately five acres. It was established in 1977 with a view to teaching the adivasis conventional farming. Shyam Bahadur Namra and Anuradha Singh, with the help of friends, started farming in the year 1977 and till 1987 were using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and high yielding modern seeds on the farm. In the beginning there was good income and neighbouring farmers were influenced.

As a result vegetable farming was undertaken in around 100 villages and Anuppur became one big vegetable mandi. The local coal mine and paper mill employees and others, in big numbers, had earlier got their vegetable requirements from other places. But as the local farmers started growing vegetables, vegetables were soon available in the area itself on a large scale.

Problems related to chemical-based farming:

According to Shri Shyam Bahadur Namra, with little expenditure they got a good income in the beginning, but later, as expenses kept going up, profits kept decreasing. There were other problems also, like:
1. The efficacy of the pesticides used was diminishing and so more poisonous pesticides had to be used.
2. The inputs of chemical fertilizer had to be increased every year.
3. The balance of various micro-nutrients like zinc, manganese, copper, etc. was being disturbed.
4. The soil started becoming hard and coarse.
5. The number of earthworms started diminishing and later were as good as gone.
6. The birds either stopped coming to the area or they started dying.

Then, in the first week of December 1984, the Bhopal-based Union Carbide Factory that manufactured a pesticide by the name of Sevin, suffered that gas leakage due to which thousands of people died and lakhs of people fell terminally ill. The pesticide, Sevin, was the major pesticide being used then. After the Bhopal tragedy, the farmers began to have their doubts; if this gas could kill thousands of people, a pesticide made with this same gas would definitely have a bad effect on the health of users. So Anuradha and Namra stopped using pesticides. As a result, the entire crop was destroyed by pests. Because they both were social workers and wanted to save the environment they were torn between making this big change and getting their daily bread. For upto three years they continued farming using milder pesticides, but yields kept decreasing.

The Namra family then attempted to obtain and read literature on organic farming and to take a closer look at some experiments. Around that time a national seminar on natural farming was held at Bordi in Thane district near Bombay. Mr Namra took part. There he had the opportunity to see some experiments in natural farming in Bombay and Gujarat, from which one conviction emerged strongly — that farming should be done in an entirely natural way. Discontinuing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as modern seeds, natural farming was undertaken on the Ankur farm.

Benefits of changeover:

In the first year, maize, barbati, brinjal, tomato and okra were sown. Brinjal was quite weak, some tomatoes were produced, okra also, maize, barbati was attacked by a pest called maho. The attack was so severe, they thought the crop would be ruined. However, one week later, big ants and flies invaded the field and put an end to the maho attack. The Namra family thought this to be a miraculous event. They decided then that they would use neither chemical nor organic pesticides. For the last six years there has been no ploughing and no chemical fertilisers and pesticides have been used. The practice of compost making has been stopped and wastes are spread directly in the fields. Seeds are either germinated and sown or after making a simple depression in the soil with a shovel.

These practices have yielded the following benefits:
1. The earthworm population in the soil has increased.
2. All kinds of birds are around through the day eating worms and pests.
3. Although the yields are not yet equal to those from chemical farming, there is an increase in the yields every second year.
4. The pests on the farm are taken care of naturally.
5. Lesser irrigation is needed.
6. When the crops on other farms are destroyed by lack of or excessive rainfall, the Ankur farm experiences less damage.
7. Fewer plants are affected by disease.
8. The crops look so green and healthy that envious villagers accuse the Namras of using chemical pesticides on the quiet.
9. The yields are so tasty that demand for them in the market has increased.
10. Cracking and erosion of the soil has stopped.
11. The porosity of the soil keeps increasing every year.
12. The water retaining capacity of the soil has increased.

However, some problems remain: (1) The best way to sow in the organic/natural way has not yet become clear; and (2) Many new grasses have taken root which are expensive to remove. Also, a particular variety of grass is growing in the fields and how to stop it is a big question.

Slow acceptance:

Unlike the sweeping influence that the chemical farming methods used on this farm earlier, had on neighbouring farmers, this new way has not caught on. But having taken a look at this experiment, many farmers are beginning to think positively about it. Besides, since there have been no subsidies, etc. for this kind of farming, financial problems have to be faced. Also, it is still at the experimental stage and there has therefore been no campaign to popularise it. Due to local political conflicts, envious or threatened people are spreading wrong information. And so many farmers are confused. However, as expenses are rising for the farmers using chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the number of new diseases and pests are increasing and profits shrinking, they are now trying to understand this kind of farming. A lot is left to be learnt and to do, but the eyes of this district are zeroing in on this farm, even if slowly.

(Source: Communication with Lorry Benjamin)