While the world praises Nobel laureate and father of the Green Revolution Norman Borlaug as the saviour of humanity, Subhash Palekar, zero-budget natural farmer, calls him a ‘fraud’. Mr. Palekar says that Green Revolution is not a revolution at all. ‘It has destroyed soil, water, air, environment, vegetation and finally human health,’ he claims.
He was in the city to speak to farmers from 17 districts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at a convention held here last week.
All over the world sustainable agriculture is eco-friendly agriculture, but the Green Revolution had lead to the destruction of environment and fall in productivity.
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Mr. Palekar says that natural farming is the most sustainable farming. Several names have been given for alternative technologies — organic farming, agro ecological farming, Jaiva Krishi, Saawaya Krishi, Aero Greens Technology, Biodynamic farming, Rhishi Krishi Technology, Agnihotra Farming and Rekki Farming — but all these are unnatural and unscientific, according to him.
Organic Farming (vermicomposting) launched foreign surface feeder earthworm Eisenia foetida imported from Europe and Canada.
This worm concentrated the heavy metals like cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury in the soil used for cultivation. This was being ingested by humans who were developing chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and hypertension, he said.
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He says in future the raw materials needed for making chemical fertilizers will all run out and farmers would be forced to practise natural farming. It is possible to cultivate 30 acres of land with the dung and urine produced by one cow or buffalo, he adds. Beginning with consumer awareness the linking of farmers and housing societies should be achieved at the local level in the second phase. In the third phase terrace and vacant land cultivation would have to be taken up as part of the zero-budget natural farming movement, he says.
He says people don’t have to launch agitations to reduce pollution and protect the environment. They could reduce pollution by simply not using toothpaste, shaving cream and bathing soap. These items not only cause a lot of pollution they also result in wastage of water. “What is the quality of toothpaste used by one billion people? And the pollution caused by it,” he says.
Those who have the habit of drinking tea and coffee in the morning should think of the huge areas of most luxuriant forests that have been raised to the ground for the development of tea and coffee gardens, he says. Global warming was the result of such large scale destruction of vegetation.
The clothing (nylon) we wear and several others things contribute to pollution.
“What if one billion people stop using shaving cream and soap, won’t it make a huge difference?” he asks.