A farmer-to-farmer exchange of seeds based on mutual trust and appreciation should be the basis of a revolution that can help society regain the lost freedom for an organic living, said P.K. Abdul Jabbar, assistant professor, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ambalavayal.
Delivering a talk on ‘Safe food through family farming’ as part of ‘Njattuvela’ festival comprising awareness sessions and exhibition of planting materials under the aegis of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad at Town Hall here on Monday, Dr. Jabbar said that conservation of the traditional seed varieties was vital to organic farming.
Stating that different vested interest groups of the prevailing market economy had stolen the freedom of people to live organically, Dr. Jabbar said that the per capita pesticide intake of an Indian citizen was more than 10 times higher than that of a person in the United States or in United Kingdom. “That freedom can be reclaimed only through a collective effort from different stakeholders,” he said.
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He said that the evolving technologies such as soil-less farming, terrace farming, and vertical garden concepts had enabled people to participate in the collective effort.
Emphasising the importance of conserving the traditional wisdom related to farming in different parts of the country, Dr. Jabbar said different conventions to exchange traditional farming wisdom should be organised periodically between different villages. A regional food system connecting village production clusters and urban consumer clusters should also be established to ensure a dynamic interdependence between the two.