Subhash Palekar is an unprepossessing man from Maharashtra who believes that he has found a way out, a solution; to the agrarian crisis afflicting the Indian economy and that in the long run it is the only sustainable way to carry on agriculture in the country.
Palekar, conducting a workshop here on Monday and Tuesday to familiarise the farmers in the north-coastal Andhra Pradesh with his methods, says that "after the so-called green revolution the local base of agriculture has been destroyed in the country, with hybrid seeds and overemphasis on use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides to increase yields."
Conceding that even though in the initial phase the green revolution had led to dramatic spurt in yields, especially food grains such as paddy and wheat, he argues that in the later stages it has been found to be unsustainable, with ever-increasing cost of cultivation and the dependence of the farmer on outside sources for all inputs from seeds to fertilisers to pesticides.
Palekar says, "Now is the time to go back to the basics. Nature has provided all that is necessary in a given eco system and we should be conscious of the bio-diversity and try to preserve it. We can teach farmers to carry on cultivation, with minimal costs, using local seeds and shunning the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The cost of cultivation can be recouped through inter crops and the main crop will be a bonus to the farmer."
There are few farmers practising the methods advocated by Palekar in Andhra Pradesh. Kranthi, an engineering graduate who has a 45-acre holding in Vizianagaram district, is very enthusiastic about the Palekar's methods. "I have stumbled on Palekar's methods while surfing the internet. I have used the methods in my farm. I have bought six cows and am preparing 'Jeevamrutham' - a solution prepared with cow dung, urine, black jaggery and bengal gram. It is truly effective in increasing the yields and containing the pests. I am using only local seeds," she has said.
In response to a query whether any studies have been conducted in her farm, Kranthi has said that she has informed and even invited agricultural scientists to do so in her farm, but the response has not been very encouraging.
Suryanarayana Raju alias Fakir Raju from East Godavari is equally enthusiastic about the methods. "I came to know of Palekar through one of my relatives working in Maharashtra. I tried the methods tentatively in the first phase, but the results have been staggering. I am trying to convert the other farmers too," he says.
Palekar says that his methods are suitable for all the agro-climatic zones in the country and "it is the responsibility of the farm scientists and policy-makers to give my way of farming a serious try, as they are unable to come up with any lasting solutions to the problem."