AGRI-RESCUERS
The Atharvaveda, the fourth Veda, describes the life of the ancient Indian agriculturist community. It is interesting to note that in Vedic times, agriculture was considered the most honourable of human activities. According to the Atharvaveda, the farmer is an authority in the knowledge and acquirement of food and is therefore highly respected. The common people choose their king from amongst the agriculturists. And the king is given the honour of being the first to plough the land. Everyone must cultivate the land and grow nutritious food. The farm is compared to the divine cow fulfilling all the desires of the hard working farmer.
“Famine was the mark of a maturing agricultural society, the very badge of civilization.”
― Richard Manning, Against the Grain
There are two famous collections of Vedic hymns: the Bhoomi Sukta or Earth Hymns and the Anna Sukta or food hymns............
In the Bhoomi Sukta, Earth, Prithvi, the divine mother is worshiped by the farmer, her son. She is worshiped because she sustains all plants and animals. She is the bestower of food. When cultivated, she provides all necessities of life. That is why every agricultural activity has to be accompanied with rituals that remind us of the divine quality of Mother Earth and the sacredness of all life forms. Divinizing Mother Earth ensures that man lives in partnership with nature rather than exploit it. Vedic people were wise when they overlapped the agricultural calendar with the ritual calendar. Agriculture has to be first of all a spiritual activity, not just a materialist, mechanist activity.
In the Anna Sukta, food is equated to God. Great emphasis is laid on growing food in plenty and sharing it.
Molded by the Vedic spiritual view of nature, ancient India's farmers evolved nature friendly farming systems and practices. Agricultural activities were designed to ensure ecological sustainability. Impregnated with the Vedic thought that every life form, living or non living, is sacred, India developed its own holistic scientific knowledge. It has a number of classical texts related to agricultural science. Kautilya's Arthashastra, Patanjali's Mahabhasya, Krishi-Parashara, Varahmihira's Brhat Samhita, and Surapala's Vrikshayurveda are some of the manuscripts that contain valuable information about selection of seeds, land preparation, pest control, storage, plant nutrients, grafting, soil selection, plant propagation, diseases and plant protection, crop rotation, intercropping….
While India's traditional agriculture has proved to be sustainable by maintaining the country's fertility and biodiversity over centuries, the Green revolution couldn't be sustained for more than three decades. There is therefore an urgent need to rediscover India's traditional ecological agricultural knowledge.
Organic farming can benefit from the principles described in the ancient texts of India. Time has come for traditional knowledge to take its rightful place in the context of modern knowledge!
India's Traditional Ecological Knowledge
India, with its diversity of people, cultures, and landscapes, is home to vast amounts of traditional ecological knowledge or ecological traditions. This extensive traditional ecological knowledge is the result of thousands of years of man living in close contact with nature. It arises from the long-term, immemorial association of traditional people with the local flora and fauna.
Unlike western science, India's traditional ecological knowledge (like all indigenous knowledge systems) is holistic. It is impregnated with cultural values of respect for all things and of reciprocity towards nature. It is science with a heart and infused with feelings of compassion. It is connected to life.
Traditional ecological knowledge encompasses the fields of medicine, water harvesting, forest management, agriculture, animal care, textile, food, architecture… It governs the management of the land and its resources in a way that ensures the respect of all ecosystems, plants, trees and animals.
Traditional ecological knowledge is sustainable and therefore forms the basis of an ecological way of life. Scientists, environmentalists… are increasingly ready to recognize indigenous people's traditional ecological knowledge as a potential source of ideas for new models of environmental conservation and sustainable development. TEK's contribution is increasingly becoming more and more significant in fields such as ecology, conservation biology, forestry, wildlife sciences, botany (medicinal plants), organic agriculture, and natural resource management.
Unfortunately, traditional knowledge systems are at risk of becoming extinct because of economic and cultural changes. Revitalization of indigenous knowledge is therefore necessary and absolutely essential for survival of the planet.
