Indias Traditional Agriculture

अमन्त्रम्‌अक्षरंनास्तिनास्तिमूलमनौषधम्।अयोग्यःपुरुषोनास्तियोजकस्तत्रदुर्लभः॥

amantramakṣaraṁnāstināstimūlamanauṣadham|

ayogyaḥpuruṣonāstiyojakastatradurlabhaḥ|

 "There is no syllable that cannot be used in mantras; nor a root that that cannot be used as medicine; There is no useless person too; only the one who knows how to use these

ancient knowledge and organic farming

India's Traditional Agriculture

The Vedas, world's oldest scriptures, form a rich body of traditional ecological and agricultural knowledge. Composed of hymns that reveal the reverence, the respect and admiration Vedic people had for nature, the Vedas represent the grandest homage ever rendered to the environment.

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.

There are two famous collections of Vedic hymns: the BhoomiSukta or Earth Hymns and the Anna Sukta or food hymns.

In the BhoomiSukta, 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.

Moulded 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'sArthashastra, Patanjali'sMahabhasya, Krishi-Parashara, Varahmihira'sBrhatSamhita, and Surapala'sVrikshayurveda 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!