CREATE- a movement By & For Farmers

Why?

Makes us wonder WHY have Farmers been designated a sub class in the social hierarchy or a grouping in a society which means 'Poor sod, toiling hopelessly in soil & Sun & Rain'. 


These same farmers had been the fathers-Grandfathers- Great grandfathers- Grandest of Grandfathers and so on.....................all these Fathers toiled in sun and rain to give next generation a future to behold. 

But why this disdain and apathy towards a community which still reserves the 'Right to Feed' the nation. 

50 years ago people never sold their arable land to meet their needs; Today the unthinkable is happening- a farmer's wealth his land and livestock. This is pledged to meet his generation's needs. What has happened to the elected Government? Are they working or sleeping?...................why would they sell land and why should they feel cheated?

Feeling cheated is more because of misguided policies of the Government be it water sharing issues, use of unconventional farming techniques like artificial synthetic growth stimulates,  share of public utilities to farmers is at the bottom of pyramid- actually the excess or empty promises(the no. of hours of power cut at expense of city dwellers wasteful way of life- not all), civic amenities at its trickle be it proper roads, sanitation facilities, school infrastructure, drinking water and irrigation. 

With so little to look for, what motivates Farmer to get up early in the morning with his plough and ox to tend to his field. 

Above all this insult comes injury; subsidized fertilisers, Pesticides, Insecticides, Herbicides, weedicides, Bactericide, Fungicide- this food is consumed by ordinary city folk without knowledge of Government sponsored poisoning. The consumer blames the farmer. This vicious circle is beginning to become more convoluted and complicated. Perfect example is dangers of pesticide spray over cashew crop in Kerala, resulting in serious health conditions and new born deformities.

The culture of food cultivation was tried and tested methods. Today's consumerism and fast paced life is posing hurdles to normal way of life. The first person to be affected is the farmer.

The farmer begins to adopt ways which are in contravention to nature leading to unseen diseases and pest attacks and steady decline of yields from initial high levels. 

So what Next, sell off lands to Big industrial houses and become a Mendicant in his own home. The past decade & Half has seen levels of farmer distress never seen before; Vidarbha belt; Andhra cotton growers, Tamilnadu Cauvery delta, Karnataka Kaveri belt and much more have become victims of drought, soil salinity-erosion, debt trap, GMO's, poor procurement policy and much more. 


For those who have braved all these above storms is in for an unknown devil GMOs. These seeds which have been widely talked about as the next BIG DANGER has silently entered Indian markets. GMO's are still unraveling its horror. Farmer who is least informed is given a quick fix to cultivate GMO's and enter a trap which would eventually break his neck. 

What Trap are you talking about?

The trap of becoming dependent on a single source for his crop yield; tests show that GMO's once harvested do not flower again when the harvested seeds are cultivated- which means every year you go to the Pardesi Babu for your cultivation. 

What happens to those consuming GMO's?

This is still more complex- studies and reports in US state that GMO food has shown negative effects in consumers health and also animals consuming such products. With all such negativism surrounding GMO's why has Government permitted them into India? Has Government of India carried sufficient studies to understand GMOs'? Because we are yet to be FOOLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Farmer can be looked down as a lifeless object who can be tossed around by politicians based on their 5 year itch or for usurping their land in name of development and also beginning to charge for the grains they hold high in Kalasams; more precious than their lives.

What made this initiative to come to life by many like minded people from Thanal to Nammaalvar Aiyya to Vandana Shiva to Sridhar to Organic Farmers Association is- the growing colonization of a livelihood to millions of farmers. 

What does colonization of Farming mean?- earlier the farmer who cultivated the crop reserved the right to take home the first few sacks of good grain to be harvested the next year or even share his best produce with his fellow farmer. But with increasing pressure from Uncle Sam's corporation's interests, Indian agriculture market has made this more susceptible for attack. 

All this needs to be addressed by Farmers as they are left to define & defend their rights by themselves.

Many such individuals and organisation gathered at Thiruthiraipoondi on 25th and 26th for a Farmers' Sammelanam. 

We had a sea of farmers flooding the temporarily erected pandals eager and keen to know more about Organic farming and traditional farm practices. The opening sessions were jam packed not less than 1000 braving the severest summer heat.

Nammalvar Aiyya had moderated most of the 2 day sessions; farmers were ever enthusiastic in participating and listening to what the speakers had to say. 

There were certain organic produce marketing teams which extended their helping hand to those farmers looking for selling their produce in open market. 

The farmers associations played a major role in such a large congregation- they had also passed resolutions which outlined the importance of adopting Organic Farm practices and also hidden agenda played by MNC's in seed procurement and also GMO's.

Few such individuals who had graced the occasion are-

1. Sridhar- who has been coordinating efforts for the fight against GMO's in India. He represents Thanal- a frontier NGO fighting to undone the mistakes committed by Pesticide lobby in Kerala.

2. Mrs. Muthuselvi amma- an accomplished Siddha practitioner who dealt on the subject with great clarity and conviction. The need for appreciating the traditional medicinal systems 

3. Poochi Selvam- An Agri expert who had given a bird's eye view on what is pest and disease in a plant and how do we treat it

4. Archalur Selvam- a Passionate individual whose sole aim is to shake up the farmers complacency towards invading GMO's and Government policies against sustainable farm practices

(the gentleman in the middle- standing)

5. Few select farmers graced the occasion for their best practices in their farm and the resultant economic growth


Tamilnadu farmers lacked a cohesive force to take up Organic farming in a big way for some time, this initiative has added fuel to this desire of farmers to take up organic cultivation in a big way. 

This initiative will free the farmers from a sense of deprivation and conviction in shunning unnatural farm substitutes. The other beautiful steps taken at this event is distribution of native (organically grown) seeds. The pledge given by the farmer taking home the seeds is he will return with twice the quantity taken today, next year. This twice quantity will be from an organically maintained farm. This event has been a regular feature in the Organic calender, which should become a part of a Indian farmers yearly MUST VISIT convention.

About Jayaraman- http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/school-dropout-helps-preserve-traditional-paddy-seeds/article3775854.ece