By Maria Stephen

Bhopal, March 5, 2020: More than 300 farmers and their organizations from 17 states who attended a Church-initiated conference have urged the Indian government to encourage organic farming and set up more seed banks.

“The future of good farming has to be environment friendly,” asserted the March 3-4 “Kisanotsav” (farmers’ festival) at the Pastoral Center, Arera Colony, Bhopal, capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Caritas India, the social service arm of the Indian Catholic bishops, organized the conference in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Social Service Society and Welt Henger Hilfe, a German non-denominational aid agency that fights hunger around the world.

The conference stressed the need for a proper budget for training of farmers and promotion of ecofriendly cultivation. The conference has also formed a committee of farmers to get their views incorporated into the government’s agricultural policy.

The conference also released agro-based books and souvenirs “to provide readymade resources to improve the farming systems,” the organizers said.

On the last day, the farmers shared their experiences through panel discussions and cultural programs. The conference acknowledged that climate change has severely affected farmers. The poor farmers have no resources to face the untimely disasters like drought, and excess rainfall.

The farmers from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh said that they obtained qualitative results by adopting organic farming according to the seasons. Earlier they could cultivate one or two crops in a year. But now they cultivate four to six times a year using modern organic methodology, they claimed.

Women from Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand explained how the modern system of animal husbandry helped raise the standard of living of women.

Farmers from West Bengal and Odisha said that they were disillusioned with farming system after their crop was ruined. They then migrated to other places for wages.

Caritas India chairman Coadjutor Archbishop Sebastian Kallupura of Patna regretted that all speak about their contributions to nation building but ignore farmers who play a great role to create a better India

“If the farmers face a problem, the entire country would be affected,” he said and told the farmers gathered: “You are our provider. You have invisible place for the progress and development of the country.”

The Kisanotsav is an initiative of Caritas India to celebrate the successes of marginal and small holder farmers in an era of climate hostilities and socioeconomic indifference, the organizers said.

It brings together intrepid farmers from across the country to demonstrate the grit to resist counterforces and temptation to give up, the organizers said.

The festival offered an empowering platform for women to gain an identity as active farmers. They could express themselves, show their discoveries and showcase their potential and power at the festival.

Caritas India executive director Father Paul Moonjeli, in his keynote address, said it was his dream to provide farmers a platform.

“We were trying for a long time and it was necessary to give expression to the achievements of the farmers, their success story was to be told to everyone. Today we have got this opportunity, so we should take full advantage of it and learn about each other’s techniques and skills and use them,” he added.

Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur, regional chairman of the social work, opened the stalls to display the farmers’ products. The main products on display were environmentally friendly insecticides and fertilizers.

The festival was opened by Padma Shree Rahi Bai Popre. She said she began harvesting when she was 15. Despite misunderstanding and quarrels among villagers, she gathered 5,000 women farmers and set up a seed bank cultivating 30 types of vegetables and made more than 90 wild seeds available to people.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, in his welcome address, noted farmers as the backbone of India. “They face so much crisis and suffering directly or indirectly to produce organic to build a healthy and better India,” the prelate noted and urged the government to support them.

He commended Caritas India for its tireless service to those affected by natural calamities. Archbishop Cornelio asked the farmers to take maximum benefit organizations such as Caitas.

Pratibha Srivastava, who heads Wealthungarhilfe in India, highlighted the contribution of farmers in the country’s economy and stressed on nutritious food for the family members and for the entire country.