Reestablishment of Indian Agriculture. The knowledge and techniques of farming have always been a part and parcel of Indian civilization. That the culture and civilization of Vedic Aryans were based on and centred round agriculture is fully borne out even by the oldest portions of the Vedas. The importance of INDRA, the Rain-God and the large numbers of prayers addressed to him in the Rigveda proove beyond doubt that the Vedic Aryans were Agriculturists. MARUT, The Wind-Gods are also invoked and prayed along with INDRA and occupy an important place in the Vedic pantheon. Varuna, Mitra Varuna and Parjanya are some additional Vedic dieties which are connected with rain and to whom are addressed a large number of prayers. The famous Krishi-Sukta [IV:57:1-8] of Rigveda is directly connected with agriculture. The Aksha-Sukta [X:34:13] glorifies agriculture while the famous Manduka-Sukta[VII:103:1-10] praises Mandukas [frogs] as harbingers of the rainy season. Evolution of agriculture Science could be seen in the works such as Artha-Sastra of Kautilya [400BC] and Birhat Sanhita of Varahmihir [600AD]. These epic literary works treat topics related to agriculture in Considerable detail. Panini[600-500BC] and Patanjali[200BC] illustrate several rules of Sanskrit grammar with examples having a direct bearing of farming procedures and the lives of farmers. Abhidhanaratnamala,Namalinganushasana,Mansollasa,Viramitrodaya,shivatattava ratnakara and shukraniti, are some additional sources of information on agriculture, in addition to these there is a vast prakriti literature in which works such as Hala’s Gatha-saptashati [100-200AD] provide invaluable information about peasants and their profession. krishi shasana is a compilation of passages relating to agriculture and krishi shastra deals the time suitable for some of the items of agriculture operations. Kashyapiya krishisukti also deals with agriculture in an exclusive manner. Krishi was initially a part of wider discipline called Varta Which include krishi,pasupalya and vanijya ,that animal husbandry even to day is considered a branch of agriculture. pashupalya, a science of rearing of and caring for domestic animals associated with krishi have been discussed in considerable detail in Krishi-parashara in the section called Vahanvidhanam Vanijya-comprising of commerce and economics also was regarded as a sister science of agriculture as agricultural produce was the chief commodity traded in the old times. That prosperity is directly linked with success of agriculture is emphatically stated by parashara in various contexts in Krishi-Parashar. Gradually, as more and more sources of marketable commodities came to be explored and as the kings management and control of these resource as became more and more necessary for general prosperity of the land ,Vannijya could not be linked solely with agriculture. This country flourishes well because its firm foundation is Varta states Vays in the epic mahabharat. This land is considered rich because is take care of its cattle and agriculture says patanjali. Thus agriculture was a part of a wider branch of knowledge called Varta was recognised in ancient India even before kautilyos time [400BC]. It has been considered the main source of income and it has remained the backbone of the country’s economy with or without vanijya associated with it. The great scholars and thinkers of ancient India such as Parasara, garga and kashyapa perused the subject of agriculture methodically and scientifically. These three scholars [and perhaps many others whose memory has not been preserved in the course of time] laid the foundation of agriculture science. Before the time of Varahamihir [600AD]. The science of agriculture Krishi Parasara deals with detail propounding several theories of rain forecast, general management of agriculture, plough and other implement of farming and detailed instruction for ploughing are given most of farming operations such as procuring seeds, ploughing sowing, levelling, transplanting, water management weeding and plant protective is dealt with considerable detail. Harvesting, threshing, measuring and storage are also dealt with. Vrikshayurveda of surapala [the science of plant science] deals with importance of trees, merit and demerits of tree planted near the residence, soil propagation method of planting nourishment, aliments, treatment,horticultural wonders, pleasure gardens, natural indicators of ground water for construction of wells and plant indicators for crop and animal production. Present scenario:- Before Britishers Indian agriculture was a way of life it was no more economic activity and its main function was to fulfil their life need. And this agricultural practice was naturally organic, self sustaining and strengthening the village. Britishers changed the agriculture and forest policies and imposed heavy tax on agriculture. They also force the farmers to grow cotton, jute, indigo, tea and coffee which were the raw materials for the industries. During the green revolution new artificial seeds, chemicals fertilizers, chemical pesticides, tractor and other machineries and modern irrigations systems adopted by farmers have changed the self sufficient nature of agriculture; it has become an appendage of modern industries. The green revolution package was introduced in selected pocket of our country but its impact has been felt in the entire country side. Concentration of resources in pockets implied a total neglect of other regions which further lead to the decline of all traditional technologies and resources and even of the aggregate rate of growth of our agriculture production. The greatest impact has been on traditional seeds varieties –the thousands of seeds tested and evolved over thousand of years started disappearing in less than fifty years of practice. The high yielding seeds tested nearly in some laboratories for a year or two stated founding universal application leading to all sorts of diseases and pest attack. Simultaneously the impact on soil has been devastating. The chemical fertiliser and pesticide not only killed almost all micro organism which played the role of revitalising the soil but also removed the valuable nutrients from the soil. Once modern agriculture started taking hold of Indian agriculture the role of cattle changed. The cattle was not particularly a friend of this new agriculture. The drought power was to be taken over by tractors and trucks. Cattle manure was no longer important. Its only role was to provide milk – even that was primarily for industrialised urban sector. The white revolution was borne out of such a philosophy. The primary aim was collect milk form rural areas for supply to cities . Farmers has become only the producer of milk not the consumer which is the main cause of mal nutrition of the population of rural India .The so called second green revolution in forestry and agroforestry which replaced indigenous species of trees by exotic varieties and mono culture plantation is again to fulfil the need of the industries. Modern agriculture which is mainly based on synthetic [chemicals fertiliser and pesticides] hybrid and GM seeds and flooding system of irrigation has changed the traditional Indian agriculture as a whole. Forty-five years of green revolution has lost its greenness and has been changed in BLACK. The golden agriculture of golden India has been changed into suicidal agriculture. Lakhs of farmers committing suicide every year in the country is a naked reality. Heavy use of synthetic hazardous pesticides in champion states of modern agriculture [Punjab, Haryana, maharastra, AndhraPradesh etc.] caused death of thousands of farmers due to uncurable diseases like cancer blindness, mental disorder and skin diseases . During less than fifty years of uses these chemicals have polluted the soil, water and air [environment] completely. Other disadvantages of this modern agriculture is its market based which converted the independent farmers to live on the mercy of pesticide, fertiliser and seeds companies. The agriculture universities and other agriculture research institutions have not developed a alternative package of farming system, technology and managements up till now. Committing suicide by farmers, decreasing fertility of the soil, reducing productivity of the crop, hazarduous pollution of the soil ,water and air , decreasing taste and nutritive value of the produce, reducing bio-diversity, farmers being poorer every day and committing suicide due to debt have created a vary alarming situation. Thus there is a dire need to research a new farming system, technologies and management. The ancient Indian text and other resources of knowledge in the field of agriculture ,horticulture, animal husbandry and agribusiness gives us a golden opportunity to look in to it and rediscover the new agricultural tools , technologies and managing systems leading to prosperous sustainable agriculture. Objectives:- 1] Research new agriculture technologies , tools and managing system. 2] Develops most sustainable agricultural management technologies suitable for different agro eco regions. 3] To make environment pollution free. 4] To restore bio-diversity. 5] To make the farmers happy, healthy and wealthy. 6] Agriculture free from all hazardous chemicals. 7] To improve the quality of the produce. 8] To make produce tastee and healthy. 9] To convert the agriculture as an honourable and profitable enterprise. 10] To erradicate the powerty through generating employment in agriculture, animal husbandry and agribusiness. 11] To establish a new culture of agriculture and save the mother earth. Dr RaghuvanshMani Pandey Mo-09454729478 Founder Trustee FAIDA. FAIDA [Food And Agriculture Integrated Development Action] Vill-Jaukada,Po-Khuthan,Dist –Jaunpur,Uttarpradesh-222104. faidabharat.org/facebook-faidabharat email-faida09@gmail/kumarlogistics@rediffmail Mo-09433002050/08577006122
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 14:44:57 +0000
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