Pitrdevo bhava.
The Government of India Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is holding consultations on the Science of Natural Farming. The key conclusion emerging is that natural farming, regenerative agriculture, and agroecology-based farming in harmony with nature do not require any more proof. It is established as a paradigm, of technology. It is the sun, microbes, and plants that do the farming. Chemicals are not required for agriculture. NF reduces the costs of cultivation. NF increases crop diversity and cropping intensity. NF produce tastes better with higher micro-nutrients. Shelf life is superior. Consumers pay a higher price. NF does not add to Food and nutrition insecurity; instead, it augments food-nutrition security with increased cropping intensity, land equivalent ratios, and unfallowing lands.
Automatically, NF qualifies for high priority in research and knowledge dissemination. To be demonstrated in budgets, dedicated personnel, research farms, etc. To this, farmers’ research and learning-living landscapes need to be added. The research needs to be led by farmers and farmer-scientists, in their living landscapes. The scope of exploration and research is not limited to production but includes pre-production and post-production. It includes models and model makers. Local, customized. It includes fodder, fibre, food systems; seeds; value chains; nutrition-health; climate change resilience; and cooling the planet. It includes mobilization, extension, learning, communitization, scaling, data, analytics, digital platforms, communication, advocacy, policy, systems, institutions, and enterprises. It includes integrating trees, and livestock into farms. It includes commons and landscapes. It includes convergence, networking, partnerships, philanthropy, economics, costs, and budgets. It includes impacts, savings in water, and savings in subsidies. New paradigm. New architecture.
Can we gear up? Should we be in a big set-up, a small start-up, or between hybrids? Learning hand-held, or unlearning without guidance? Open, diverse, belief-challenged systems, and culture? Lower pay now with a higher reward later? Chaos, ambiguity, volatility, and uncertainties, may be complexities – all these to be handled with a small, incoherent group, or team. No fixed roles, no fixed protocols? Only time, energy, stamina, digging deep in several, maybe all, aspects, dimensions? Self-doubt on usefulness, two steps ahead, 1-3 steps backward? Hope, faith, promise, love, coexistence matters. Face-to-face with the team as often, as long as possible matters. How do we transition from start-up to scaling-up to seed to scaled-up? Huge shifts in the way we work in these jumps. Some of us may not be comfortable in these shifts and may have to migrate out, in due course.
Life’s purpose and meaning are personal and idiosyncratic. One has to find it oneself. It can change with time and events. We have to be open and ready for these changes. Our usefulness is not a function of our longer stay but of our knowledge, tools, skills, expertise, networks, space, and agency. Effectiveness and efficiency matter. Longer days and weeks may not guarantee our usefulness. None of us are irreplaceable. Sooner or later. Period. Our qualifications may not guarantee usefulness. Intentions alone do not help. Long breaks help. Reflection and meditation help. True friends help. In crises, in need, in tough times. Authentic long-standing relationships help. Gratitude and humility help. Can we flow towards our purpose, and vision, with our ladders, escaping/tackling snakes, step-by-step?
Yes, we can. If we coexist, with flow-end clear. In the flow. In N? In siddayoga for 7L.
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