Now, farmers can meditate to boost crop production

A spiritual organisation has developed a new yoga/meditation technique for farmers which can help boost crop production.

Sustainable Yogic Agriculture (SYA) is being showcased at a special workshop at the ongoing UN biodiversity meet here.

Developed by the Brahma Kumaris along with four Indian agriculture universities, it is a process of making the atmosphere around one's agriculture field positive and pure by meditating near the crops.

"It is based on 'Rajyoga', where you sit around the field and meditate. This creates an atmosphere of positivity around the fields which is seen to have significant effects on the quality of crop and yield," K.V. Sumant, a member of the Brahma Kumaris, told IANS.

The Brahma Kumaris are working with four agriculture universities - S.D. Agriculture University (Gujarat), Marathwada Agriculture University (Mahrashtra), G.B. Pant Agriculture University (Uttarakhand) and Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University (Maharashtra) besides two agriculture research institutes.

"We encourage farmers to practice meditation before and during the seed-sowing process and then at frequent intervals when the crop is growing. Specific meditative modules have been developed during each phase of the agrarian cycle of the crop, ranging from seeds till harvest," he said.

According to the Brahma Kumaris, initial data generated by them indicates significant effects on crop quality and yield, besides improvement in mineral and nutrient content of crops.

"At present, their main area of operation on this issue is Maharashtra and Gujarat states where over 500 farmers are practicing it and this has shown good results. The process is also a way to keep farmers away from using harmful chemicals in their fields," he said.

Explaining further, Sumant said if SYA is adopted by farmers whole-heartedly, they can easily move away from heavy cost-based fertilizers or pesticide-intensive agriculture where production cost is sky-rocketing and yield is stagnating at a certain level.
The organisation has been receiving responses from several institutes and countries.
"We have held a talk at the biodiversity conference and got lot of queries from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh," he said.