Author: IANS
Publication: Mumbai Mirror
Date: July 6, 2008
URL: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=3&contentid=200807062008070602044257671897b77
Introduction: Farmer says homa-farming as
mentioned in the Rig veda is paying him rich dividends
Four years ago, when a Lucknow-based horticulture
institute floated the idea of homa-farming, cultivators in the mango belt
of Kakori and Malihabad adopted it in droves.
While most of them gave it up to return to
agro-chemicals, one odd man stuck it out - practising this ancient Indian
farming technique based on the Vedas.
Today Ramesh Chandra Tiwari, a farmer in Unnao
district, is reaping the benefits and is thankful to the Central Horticulture
Sub-tropical Research Institute (CHSRI) for giving him the idea. The yield
has kept increasing year after year on his 12-bigha mango orchard and there
are none of the usual pests to be found near the trees.
"The method is an age-old phenomenon
invented in India and is described in detail in the Rig Veda," said Tiwari.
"Besides farmers from neighbouring areas, I have also imparted the training
to people from Austria, Australia, Turkey, United States, Spain and other
countries," he added.
The term 'homa' is derived from the ancient
Hindu practice of performing 'yajna' or 'havan'- by lighting a ritual fire
and putting various things in it amid the chanting of Vedic mantras. Homa
farming, Tiwari said, is a mix of performing havans and administering organic
fertiliser to the crop. Said Tiwari: "My initial investment was high
but now my costs are meagre and my profit is increasing every year."
Last month he organised a fair and invited farmers and scientists from around
the globe.
