Update of Natural Farming Initiative

As the purpose of creating this whatsapp group was to initiate or promote some activity/ groundwork that helps to realise the vision of Rajiv ji, I hope everyone here is ready to participate and help in any way they can. I hope all group members will read this post as now I am going to give an update on what I have been doing to achieve the stated objective.

LET'S REALLY TRY SOMETHING!

Going forward, I will have individual chat with everyone in the group in order to ensure everyone is on the same page as far as doing or trying something related to Swadeshi promotion is concerned. I have been trying to get people together for a sort of cooperative contract farming initiative that allows us to divide responsibilities among volunteers so that their leisure and professional life does not get adversely affected.

WE WILL NOT FOCUS ON MAKING MONEY!

The idea is not to make profit as early as possible, but to make sure a system emerges that bridges the gap between crop growers and final consumers (because nowadays, that is imperative for enabling sustainable organic or natural farming). Let me affirm beforehand that making money is the last of my priorities and I am willing to invest time without expecting anything in return for many years, and we will consider getting poison-free food as the real achievement. Like I said, time to be invested should not be so much that it affects the professional life. So, before posting this, I would have removed those members in the whatsapp group who have tried to use it to sell their products with profit motive. 

COORDINATION WILL BE NEEDED

Of course, all this is easier said than done, but in my opinion coordinated group action by trustworthy people can achieve something worthwhile. And in any case, what's the harm in trying?? I tried to conceive of a farming venture that did not involve high investment of time or money. After having a word word with B Srinu ji (Big Thanks to Vikas Reddy ji for recommending to add him), I got to know that initial investment may not be needed at all or a negligible amount may be needed. Simply investment of time is needed which, if volunteers coordinate, can be easily managed. 

SO WHAT HAVE I DONE TILL NOW? 

First, I googled for relevant information and learned about an excellent concept of contract farming. 

CONTRACT FARMING

Contract farming involves agricultural production being carried out on the basis of an agreement between the buyer and farm producers. The buyer helps the farmers with funds and all means required for farming. The farmer in turn has to produce the crop suggested by the buyer and according to the buyer’s method. The minimum selling price is predefined and the buyer buys the entire crop on that price even if the market price is low. The farmer gets a share of the profit in case the prices are high in the market — a win-win situation for both the buyers and the farmers.

This followed - 

मुझे ज्ञात था की राजीव दीक्षित ने प्राकृतिक खेती सुभाष पालेकर जी से सीखी थी | इसलिए पालेकर जी की वेबसाइट पर जा के ये पता किया की कैसे हम वैसी खेती करवा सकते हैं | वेबसाइट पर 500 से ज्यादा उन किसानो का contact no. और पता दिया हुआ है जो उनकी द्वारा बताई गयी विधि से सफलतापूर्वक खेती कर चुके हैं | उसमे से मैंने दिल्ली से सबसे पास वाले किसान का नंबर निकाला  जो की नॉएडा से केवल 160 किलोमीटर दूर हरयाणा में है | बात करने पर वो बता रहा था की इस तरह खेती कर के वो उतना ही उगाते हैं जितना की ग्राहक पहले ही लेने के लिए तैयार हो | इसलिए अगर हमें चाहिए की वो विषमुक्त खेती करे और गाय बैल पाले तो इसके लिए मार्किट देना पड़ेगा | अगर कम से कम 4 - 5 परिवार मिल के सीधे किसानो से पालेकर जी जैसा बताये गए तरीके से अनाज उगवा कर खरीदें तो वे ऐसी खेती करने के लिए encourage  होंगे |  

अगर 4 - 5 परिवार किसानो को support करें तो वे गौ आधारित खेती जरूर करेंगे | ये सुनिश्चित करने के लिए की खेती वो सही में गोबर गौमूत्र वाली कर रहे हैं की नहीं, हर वीकेंड पर 1 परिवार से कोई जाते रहे तो ये हो सकता है | इससे ये होगा की महीने डेढ़ महीने में केवल 1 बार ही गाँव जाना होगा और इतना समय हर कोई निकाल सकता है | अगर हम २०-३० लोगों का ग्रुप बना सकें तब तो हर दिन कोई न कोई जा पायेगा खेत देखने के लिए और ये सुनिश्चित करने के लिए की किसान पालेकर जी वाली पद्धति से ही खेती कर रहे हैं|  मेरे साथ ३ शहर के लोग जुड़ चुके हैं इसके लिए और एक तो हरियाणा का किसान भी संपर्क में है| आप जुड़ेंगे तो मैं बहुत आभारी रहूँगा |

इस तरह खेती करवाने को कॉन्ट्रैक्ट फार्मिंग कहते हैं और आजकल बहुत लोग ऐसा कर रहे हैं | 

I have contacted quite a few people urging them to take part in the above. One of them who have shown interest, Amit Raman, is in this group. The most promising interest was shown by Chandan Pandey, a volunteer of Agniveer who conducts Dalit Yagya and other upliftment activities in slum areas of Delhi. He is currently on a trip to Vaishno Devi. He wants to conduct a meeting soon after coming back with the blessings of the Divine Mother. 

Chandan ji wants to conduct the meeting with as many interested persons as he can gather. I urge everyone living in Delhi-NCR in this group to be a part of that meeting and discuss issues, clarify doubts and take part with enthusiasm in what we mutually agree to pursue. Hopefully, we can arrange for Skype contact with interested members and group admins who are in locations far away from Delhi/NCR. 

It will NOT be an official Agniveer meeting as I don't think that kind of publicity will be useful for this venture.