Natural-born farmers

Call it a backlash against the overdose of pesticides or the creeping awareness about its fallouts, but it8217;s back to the nature for Punjab farmers. The state, which has 1.5 per cent of farmland in India but consumes 20 per cent of pesticide, is slowly beginning to eschew chemicals under the aegis of the Kheti Virasat Mission KVM, a non-profit civil society action group, registered as a trust in March 2005 with head office at Jaitu town of Faridkot.

8220;This holistic model of farming is the only way out for these debt-ridden farmers, for it minimises the cost of their inputs and maximises output,8221; says Umendra Dutt, the brain behind this movement, which boasts 800 members, 90 per cent of them farmers and a host of medical practitioners.

The concept is different from organic farming in that the farmers don8217;t buy anything from the market, producing everything themselves, and don8217;t even use vermi-compost pits, crucial for organic farming.

Hartej Singh Mehta, a farmer from Mehta village in Bathinda, says the natural farming model is zero-budget. 8220;On an acre, I sow 30 kg of wheat seed, five kilos of gram, half a kg of coriander and 50 gm of fenugreek, besides potatoes on raised beds and peas around them. My input cost is in hundreds, for I don8217;t have to buy fertiliser or pesticides, but the output is good. The 15 quintals of wheat I harvested last year fetched me Rs 1,600 a quintal as compared to the MSP of Rs 1,000.8221;

Farmers in this movement swear by Nature. Or by Subhash Palekar, the Amravati-based pioneer of natural farming, whose lectures in Amritsar and at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala were a huge hit with KVM members. Palekar8217;s treatments, such as bijamrita seed treatment, jiwamrita a fertliser with cow urine, his emphasis on gau mutra cow urine, but only of the indigenous Indian hump cow may smack of the Sangh, but Umendra Dutt, former executive editor of Swadeshi Patrika, a mouthpiece of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS affiliate, insists his is an apolitical movement. 8220;Our mission is to empower the farmer, not to make him a slave to any ideology or political party.8221;

But this empowerment comes at a price: the farmer has to tend to his fields every day, not leave them to the labourers. As Dutt puts it: 8220;You have to romance your land.8221; The hands-on approach intrinsic to this model has led to lifestyle changes as well. 8220;Most of the farmers who were given to boozing after 5 p.m., now don8217;t seem to have any time for the bottle,8221; chuckles Dutt.

The movement, which started from the hinterland of Malwa belt, comprising districts like Bathinda, Faridkot and Abohar, is now flourishing in both Doaba and Majha as well. The Pingalwara Charitable Society, Amritsar, a prestigious social service institute founded by Bhagat Puran Singh, has established a natural farming centre spanning 37 acres at Dhirakot village near Jandiala Guru.

Bhagwant Singh, a farmer who has switched to natural farming on his two acres at Bhotna village in Barnala district, says initially his family thought he was risking their livelihood. 8220;But now they realise we have nothing to lose. For the first time in years I am not in debt. I did not need to spread my hands before a commission agent.8221;

One refrain that follows you from Malwa to Doaba is that this kheti is so easy. 8220;It8217;s fuss-free, you don8217;t need to plough the land several times or dig for weeds. The exhaustive inter-cropping and crop rotation not only ensure fewer weeds but also helps replenish the soil and keep it healthy,8221; says Amarjeet Sharma, pradhan of the Vatavaran Panchayat, at Chaina.

The well-read Nirmal Singh, chairman of Zila Sehkari Sangh, Sangrur, reels off study after study to prove how the poison-laced vegetables are wreaking havoc, while unscientific agriculture is ruining the soil. 8220;We plan to bring 80 acres of land in Bhotna and Tallewal village under natural farming. We8217;ve already done it in around 45 acres at Bhotna,8221; he adds.

However, Dr P.S. Rangi, consultant, Punjab Farmers Commission, has reservations. 8220;We have thought deeply about it and don8217;t think it8217;s viable on a large scale. It will also affect food security by bringing down production.8221;

Undeterred for now, the farmers seem to have taken a deep liking to it. While Hartej Singh Mehta gushes about the Bansi variety of wheat8212;8220;The chapattis made from this remain soft even after a day8221;8212;a beaming Amarjeet Sharma invites you to conduct the ultimate test of his soil. 8220;Just smell it,8221; he says, offering you a handful. You wrinkle your nose prepared to be assailed by the smell of cow dung. But lo, the soil smells spicy. You take another deep breath and sniff on. It8217;s passed the test.