Bengaluru: Thought-provoking presentations, signing of partnership agreements, honoring of farmers, sharing of best practices and brainstorming on ways to make the country organic at the earliest marked the concluding day of the Natural Farming Summit held at the Art of Living International Center in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
A Ukrainian delegation led by People's Deputy Nadiya Savchenko also attended the 2-day summit, which has brought together a wide cross-section of stakeholders from seven countries including farmers, researchers, experts, and policy-makers. The delegation included representatives of a farmers’ association from the Kharkov region and renowned brand consultant Elena Derevyanko.
On the concluding day, the Art of Living also honored 39 progressive farmers from different parts of the country who have set unique examples of natural farming. From growing crops with less seeds to boosting yield with zero-budget farming, the chosen farmers were awarded Krishi Ratna awards for their commitment and dedication to popularizing natural farming.
The highlight of the day was a power-packed presentation by scholar and environmental activist Vandana Shiva, who presented a strong case for going back to natural farming to ensure the health and wealth of the nation. She shared figures and examples to prove how chemical farming is not only ruining the health of the soil, but also human health. She cited recent findings which suggest many of the current chronic diseases have their roots in consumption of food grown with chemical and fertilizers. “Total solution to climate change is possible with the world turning to natural farming,” she said.
She called for a movement to stand up against genetically modified (GM) food and technologies as they are against the very essence of farming, saying that they blatantly interfere with nature’s ability to grow and perpetuate itself. “A seed knows what it should become. It doesn’t need permission from seed companies,” she said, regretting that what was part of imperialism has now been pushed in as science. She urged Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who was present on the dais, to impress upon the Union and state governments to curtail the support and subsidy given to promoting GM seeds and technologies and also to sensitize the masses to take a pledge not to consume poisonous food.
Chhattisgarh Minister for Forests Mahesh Gagda emphasized the need for sensitizing farmers not go by immediate profits and see the long-term implications of chemical farming.
The day also witnessed series of discussions on various topics related to natural farming. Rajini Sikhri Sibal, Joint Secretary from Haryana, shared India’s success story on A2 milk while T. Vijay Kumar, retired Special Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, shared best practices adopted by the state government.
