Laxman Singh grows a variety of crops on different plots and at least two on the same plot. For example, mustard is sown with wheat and rotated between plots every three years. Inter-cropping and crop rotation discourage pests and improves production.
Of all the agricultural inputs used on the farm, only one comes from outside and that is diesel for their tractor. Laxman Singh would prefer to have a pair of oxen do the plowing. The hooves of the oxen improve soil permeability by churning it, while their dung and urine add nutrients. The tractor compresses the soil with its weight and emits noxious smoke. But he cannot find anyone willing to do the plowing!
Government agencies have conducted soil tests and declared the land of Laporiya as deficient in nutrients. Yet productivity is good, comfortably exceeding the all-India average, a testimony to the agricultural practices followed by Laxman Singh. This has helped him survive a prolonged drought. But there is a limit to how long the village can hold out without water. It is true that organic farmers need a lot less water, but they cannot survive on none. As each year passes with indifferent rain, Laxman Singh grows progressively more anxious.
Laxman Singh's message has spread beyond his village. Neighbouring Nagar village has created a wildlife sanctuary. A rocky outcrop, surmounted by a temple and surrounded by scrubby woodland, it has become a sanctuary for birds. Rare species of owls have chosen to nest there. Needless to say, the farmers of Nagar are organic as well and join in the annual celebration of nature, during which the ponds are cleaned through community effort and trees worshipped with bright red cotton wound around the trunks.
It is evening and the cattle are home. Stall-feed supplements the grasses they have nibbled all day. Oil cake, hay and grains, all produced on-farm, make a rich diet for the cattle. For Laxman Singh, it is time for the second meal of the day, as he normally skips lunch. The meal is in the courtyard of the family home, pleasant even in the hot weather and without electronic cooling devices. Cow dung cakes are burnt to ward off unwelcome insects. Organic breads, vegetables and green gram dhal with spicy accompaniments and chunks of white butter make up the simple vegetarian fare. So good, it could put a six-year-old off MacDonald's forever.
Organic living is not just a philosophy for Laxman and his family. It is what they believe in and also what they do. And all that they have done, they now realise, is not enough. Laporiya is just one habitation among millions. However environment friendly its lifestyle, the village must bear the consequences of the world's unsustainable industrial "growth" and profligate consumption of energy. Every bottle of mineral water, every round-the-world tourist jamboree, every designer car and plastic carry bag, will impact on Laporiya's survival.
Image: The Laporiya pasture after seven years of low rainfall.
Also see: Maharashtra: Woes of the real farmers
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