Interview with Sarvdaman Patel
Sarvdaman Patel is one of the pioneers of the organic farming movement in Gujarat. His 40 acres farm in Ravipura, near Anand, in Gujarat, is a pilgrim centre for farmers interested in biodynamic farming. Like many others, Patel too once practised chemical farming. It was only later, when he realised the after effects of chemical farming that he changed to organic farming. His farm yields a good crop which he sells from his own shop. The surplus is sold to an organic shop in Baroda and to other organic farmers who have their own outlets. Sarvdaman Patel is the President of OFAI.
Bhaikaka Krushi Kendra, At: Ravipura, Po:Ghuteli, Anand- Sojitra Road, Dist: Anand, Gujarat, Phone: 02692-281664 Cell: 09825045730
Gautam Sarang: First, tell me something about your present way of farming i.e Biodynamic farming.
Sarvdaman Patel: Biodynamic farming is something more than organic farming. It was started by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in 1924, in Germany. It invokes a combination of both cosmic energy and earth forces through various preparations. For example, the horns of (dead) cows are filled with cow dung and buried in the soil for about six months in the wintertime. The material we get from this is full of humus and micro organisms. 25 grams of this material is mixed in 15 liters of water, stirred clockwise and anti clockwise, forming a whorl. This is sprinkled on the soil in the evening. It increases the micro-organisms, biotic activities, earthworm population and improves the structure of the soil. This is done 4 to 6 times in a year. This preparation is called BD 500.
There are seven such preparations named BD 501, 502 etc., each involving different materials. Some of these are ground quartz or silica, certain flowers, herbs etc. Instead of cow dung, the cow horn is filled with one of these materials and buried in the soil for six to twelve months. Some preparations have to be made by burying the material in animal skulls. These preparations are excellent for composting. One gram each from these seven preparations will increase the speed of composting.
GS: How does BD farming actually work?
SP: Plants are classified into leafy crops, root crops, flowers and seed crops. In biodynamic farming there are certain days for planting, sowing and harvesting particular plants using the lunar biodynamic calendar. This is done according to the part of the plants that we use. Such cultivation according to the biodynamic calendar uses lunar energy to influence the plants and introduce vital forces into it. According to Dr. Steiner, food which is produced by using chemicals can fill our stomachs, but not our souls. The food from biodynamic farming is filled with spiritual energy as well. It transmits this vital force to those who eat such food.
The BD preparations are basically not substances in themselves. They give certain force to the plants to take the necessary nutrients from the soil. There is a preparation using 60 kilos of cow dung and three grams of each of the BD preparations from 502 to 507. This is used as a supplementary input for the crops. Some preparations are intended to stabilize the nitrogen in the soil. Some are used as pesticides as well (BD 501 and BD 508)
GS: How long have you been practicing biodynamic farming?
SP: We have been practising biodynamic farming since 2002. We arrange for knowledgeable people to talk on this subject regularly. One such person is Mr. Peter Proctor from New Zealand. He comes to India and gives courses on biodynamic farming in different parts of India. We frequently organize courses on our farm in Ravipura too.
GS: Are there any other farms that do biodynamic farming?
SP: There is one good farm run by Dr. Dinesh Patel in Kathwada, near Ahmedabad. He has about 160 acres of organic farm and is practising biodynamic farming since 2003.
GS: Are there any special methods for dairy farm and poultry in BD farming?
SP: Of course there are very specific and strict rules. For example, de-horning (cutting of horns) is not permitted. There are special ways in which to tie the animals, feed them etc. In our farm we do all these things in the BD way except for the feed concentrate that we give the animals. We still give the feed concentrate from Amul dairy because we have not been able to produce necessary ingredients ourselves. However, we hope to produce enough concentrate soon.
GS: Is biodynamic farming easy to learn? Does it involve much preparatory work?
SP: It is easy to learn, but one should be prepared for a lot of work. As I have already mentioned, several factors are at play: the lunar calendar, the BD preparations, all the farming operations to be done as per the schedule etc. All this makes it a little difficult. But you can see the results very quickly. Within days of using some of the preparations, you can see the change. For example when you spray BD 500 on the earth, there will be intense dew formation next morning because it draws the dew from the atmosphere and it gives it to the soil. Think of the consequences if this is used in dry lands where rain is scarce or there is a dry spell for more than 20 days. If it is sprayed on the field in the evening, this will keep the soil moist and the plants living. There is a good possibility that we can save some of our crops. The preparation can also be used in the winter so that we can save some irrigation. So these preparations have a significant role in water usage management, regenerating soil and cultivation in dry land farming.
GS: Coming now to organic farming, do you think it is possible to eliminate the use of chemicals totally from the cultivation process for all crops?
SP: Yes, we have been doing this since 2000. We use organic manures instead of NPK. We supplement the nitrogen in the soil with neem or groundnut cake, rock phosphate for phosphorus, ash or seaweed for potash. We have been able to maintain our yields for most of the crops.
GS: Do you have a farming background?
SP: As a matter of fact I do come from a farming background. I have a basic B.Sc degree. As a final year student we had to take a one year practical farming course. A five acres farm was managed jointly by eight boys and we had to cultivate paddy, maize, soybean and wheat. It was meant to provide students with experience. But I really think that being a Patel, we are hereditary farmers. For one or two generations, we may not have farmed. But it has all come back to me. After receiving my master’s degree from University of Wisconsin, Madison, I worked for one and an half year at three different dairy farms in the USA before returning to India.
GS: What do you grow on your farm?
SP: We have allocated six acres for growing vegetables where we grow almost all the vegetables that grow in our region. We have fruit trees like papaya, banana, guava, mango, pomegranate, chickoo, amla, mosambi, lemon and many other small fruits. We have pulses as well. So basically, what we have is a certain amount of everything. We are doing this so that our shop can cater to the different food requirements of the people throughout the year. At the same time, we do not produce so much that we have to go to someone else to sell the produce. After all, vegetables and fruits are perishable commodities and there have been times when we could not sell all of it. With experience I know how much my shop can sell. Only as the last resort will I go to the general market to sell the surplus. There too, as I have a name as an organic farmer I get 10-15 percent better price for my produce.
GS: Nowadays there is a great emphasis on foreign markets and export of organic products. Is this a good thing? Will it benefit the average organic farmer?
SP: Actually, not many farmers are going for certification because of the paperwork involved. In Gujarat we have developed our own certification system involving farmers as appraisers. My views on this are: if we can sell our produce for the same or a better price in India, why export it? On the other hand if I get more money from selling the produce abroad, it can be used for spreading of organic farming movement in India or research. So, I am not against export as such, but I think we have good organic market in big cities itself.
GS: Are there adequate markets for organic produce? After all, unless there are adequate buyers for the produce, farmers may not have the incentive to go organic.
SP: I have created my own market. I have a shop on my farm. I am also selling my produce to Vasundhara (earlier run as Ameedhara by Jatan) and to some people here and there in Ahmedabad. That’s the situation at present. We are not yet organized. However, farmers are converting to organic farming not because they will get a good price for the produce but because they are not getting a good crop any more from chemical farming. They have realised this fact.
GS: Applying a cost benefit ratio to organic v/s chemical farming, is organic farming beneficial from the point of view of cash returns?
SP: Definitely yes. It took about two to three years to get to that level. Initially there were some problems of pests and so on. Later, as fertility of the soil improved it increased resistance in plants and so the pest attacks became fewer. So, costs have come down now, as there are no pesticides or fertilisers being used. Compost making is one of the major costs we incur now. Cultivation has also become very easy because the soil is always workable, water requirements are very less, and so is labour. We have reduced irrigation by about 30-40 percent. Less irrigation means fewer weeds in the fields. Less weeds means less work for the labourers. So there is definitely a very good cost-benefit ratio.
GS: Could you tell us about some of the improvements that have taken place on your farm because of organic farming.
SP: Take the case of our fodder crop lucern (alfalfa). Earlier, we used to irrigate the field once every seven days, in summer. Now we are irrigating the crop once every 14-15 days. Earlier the crop stood at two to two and a half feet height only. Today it grows up to three and some times four feet in winter. In winter we used to irrigate once in twelve days, but now once in 20-25 days. So we are saving 30%-40% on irrigation for just one crop. As for the other crops like lady’s finger, cow pea and cluster beans, the first irrigation is done only one month after sowing. And the subsequent irrigation comes after ten or twelve days. Earlier we used to irrigate about twenty days after sowing and subsequently every seven days. So here again, we save on irrigation. So one significant change is water conservation and that means saving of electricity, wear and tear of the motor, labour, everything! Earlier we faced water shortage in the summer season. Gujarat Electricity Board gives electricity for irrigation purpose for only eight hours daily. But we don’t complain anymore.
Another aspect is that disease and pests have reduced tremendously. Mosaic has practically disappeared. It comes and goes. Aphids, which were a problem on our farm for one and a half years, we don’t see at all. Fruit flies have reduced, though they have not gone away completely. And caterpillars in cauliflower and cabbage cause a negligible one to half percent damage only. Tomato is also having no problem. Chili is the one crop where we have not been successful and our harvest has reduced.
GS: Did your yields drop when you changed to organic?
SP: No. To my surprise, the yields didn’t drop for most of the crops. Possibly the residual effect of the chemicals we used for the past 23 years were still playing a role in the first season. I felt the drop in the second year, not the first.
GS. That’s very interesting. Other farmers tell a different story.
SP: I always had around 70 animals. I used to use cow dung and good compost along with the pesticides and chemicals. So, actually there was nothing like a big change when I stopped using chemicals. My pesticide use was also minimal as compared with the other farmers. I had a good earth worm population even when I was using chemicals, which of course have multiplied a hundred fold now.
GS: What is the effect of the chemicals used by the neighbouring farmers on your farm and how do you protect your farm from contamination through air, water or soil?
SP: We have been very lucky that around our 40 acres farm, on three sides there is a village road and on the lower side there is a slope and our water goes to the other land. On that side we have three thick lines of glyricidia and one line of trees. So we have very good buffer zone. Even from the village road, water doesn’t come to our land, but it goes into the drainage. So there is no way that any pesticide or chemicals can come to our land. Also in our area the use of pesticides is negligible. Farmers use urea and sulphates but no pesticides.
GS: Do neighbouring chemical farmers come to visit your farm? How do they feel?
SP: Very few of the neighbouring farms bother about me. But because of Jatan and other people in Gujarat who know about my farm, at least 4-5 farmers come weekly to see the farm. On the last Saturday of every alternating month we have groups of 40-50 people visiting. I spend a few hours with them. I show them the farm and the different practices that we follow.
The mood is definitely changing. We now see more people starting to do vermicomposting. Many chemical farmers who visit our farm want to change because yield has gone down in chemical farming, but they are reluctant to keep cows and other animals to meet their compost requirements. They feel a lot of work is involved in doing organic farming that is why the change to organic is slow.