International seminar on Agroecology

Nov 6^th. Mysore

Tilly Gifford

Stephanie Wang

Palekar, Basawareddy, Puttanaiyah and Nandini Jairam

The Rani Bahadur Auditorium of the B.N Bahadur Institute of management of Mysore University hosted a one-day seminar which was the closing event of this five days exchange program. As the opening speech, Chukki Nanjundaswamy first introduced the importance of agroecology and the work of La Via Campesina to face farmers issues such as suicides. She also situated natural farming as a mean of struggle: “Natural farming is not just about technologies, but it’s also about resisting capitalism”. Finally, natural farming is an opportunity to address and redefine our relation to nature. As an opening ritual, water was given by the first panelists Subhash Palekar, Peter Rosset and chairpersons Puttanaiyah and Nandini Jairam.

Presenting La Via Campesina’s campaign on Agro-ecology, Peter Rosset explained how agroecology has many definitions, some referring to it as the science of how agro ecosystems function, others as a movement to transform farming system and others as a set of ecological principles. For La Via Campesina,  Permaculture, agroecology, Natural Farming, Zero budget natural farming and organic farming are only different names for same principles.  However “organic farming”, as defined by Tamil or Cuban farmers for instance, should be differentiated from the neo-liberal organic farming. The latter uses monocultures, expensive external inputs, sophisticated technologies and is advocated, for example, by the Indian state.  Neo-liberal organic farming might produce healthier food, but it does not challenge agribusiness’ dominance over world food production. Farmers practicing this kind of farming still need to cope with the high prices of organic fertilizers and pesticides. As organic produces are now being sold by multinational companies such as Walmart, it is obvious that the term “organic” is no longer linked to a sustainable peasant-based form of agriculture; it is being co-opted to generate capitalist dependency. La Via Campesina’s posture is clear: “Farming is ours”.

Then, Subhash Palekar, who developed the concept of Zero Budget Natural Farming, explained that in natural farming, the farmer needs not purchase anything from the market and can expect an income within the first year.  He need use only a fraction of the water and electricity required by chemical farming. For Palekar, Natural farming is not a technique, but a movement.  He argues that there are currently 4 millions natural Farmers in India. A single Indian cow specie for 30 acres is all that is required. It is a network to support the right of the farmer to set the rate of their produce themselves. According to Palekar, food crisis, farmer suicides, climate change, ecosystem break-down make natural Farming all the more urgent and necessary. In other words, it is in self-defense that we act to preserve ecosystems, in self-defense to not poison our human community with chemically mediated foods.

Basawareddy from Northen Karnataka shared his experience of Zero Budget Natural Farming in dryland areas. Using Jeevamrutha and neemastra, rain fed farmers obtain excellent yield. For instance, chichpea, pulses and millet sprayed with Jeevamrutha reached a yield of 10 quintals/acre, establishing a new state record. On chemical farming, farmers only obtain 4-5 quintals/acre. Other techniques used include drying cow dung and jeevamrutha and store it until needed. He also mentioned that ¾ acre of his land is dedicated to grow food for his home consumption.

KRRS President Puttanaiyah then addressed the audience, stating that their demand for governments is that ZBNF has to become global. He also reitered his long-standing demand for a special policy for rain fed areas.

After lunch, Partap Aggarval, who introduced the One-Straw Revolution in India and was the first one In India to adopt Fukuoka’s natural farming method, spoke about Fukuoka’s philosophy and experience in Japan. It is only after repeated trial and errors that Masanobu Fukuoka succeeded.

Delegates

Kim Jeongyeol explained that in South Korea, 6% of the population work in the land. With such small numbers, farmers alone cannot defend their agriculture. Civil society must be onside.  In India however, near to 60% of the population rely on agriculture for their main livelihood. The demographic and natures of the struggles will be different, hence the importance of the network to support and unify the peasant farmers movement.

Arul Nandy from Sri Lanka then explained that in their country, and also in India, a huge portion of the profits of agribusiness products are dedicated to “commissions” at all stages of institutional transactions. Obviously, massive money is at stake to keep us addicted to chemical farming and within a neo-liberal framework.

To summon up, the seminar began to share the common ground between farmer struggles, on how to widen the demographic of practices to include the voices of those least represented, to make the rural voices louder in calling for self-determination and in shaping policy. The challenge is now to support the small and marginal farmers’ voices.