“Om Rom Jum Sah” for Better Yields in Goa

Vijay Sardesai, the Agriculture Minister of Goa has the solution for the plight of the farmers in the state. The solution is, to instill cosmic energy energy into the soil during planting the seeds by sitting on the land and meditating while chanting “om rom jum sah.” The “Shiv Yog Cosmic Farming” which according to its designer Dr Avdhoot Shivanand a god man based in Gurgaon, is “science beyond science” is welcomed by agriculture minister for better yields. The minister has claimed he would go to any extent to cultivate interest in farming and this is one of them. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Goa Forward Party (GFP) government in its budget in 2017, had made agriculture its main focus. The Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had allocated Rs 172 crore for the agriculture sector aiming a 6 per cent growth rate in the sector. Sardesai, launching the “Shiv Yog Cosmic Farming” project at a field remarked, “There is no money involved and, as an agriculture minister, I will explore every method to increase interest in farming. If you convince me a rock show or a beauty contest will also help get people excited about agriculture, I will pull it in the middle of the fields. We need to now look into methods to get everyone interested in farming.” The minister however seemed to be ignorant about the allocation of Rs 172 crore as part of Goa’s “special focus” on agriculture. 

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The farmers in Goa and in the country are not interested in farming not because of they are not entertained enough or they find farming not entertaining, as what Sardesai seems to be thinking. The study conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi in 274 villages across 18 states in the country show that the interest in farming is influenced by the social class of the farmers. According to this study, landless and small farmers show less interest in farming and the large farmers show more interest. 

The study showed that, the benefits of government schemes and policies are being enjoyed by the large farmers having landholding of 10 acres (4.05 hectare) and above. Only 10 percent of poor and small farmers with average land holding of 1-4 acres (0.4 to 1.6 hectare) have benefited from government schemes and subsidies. The study also shows that  74 per cent of the farmers interviewed do not get any farming-related information from officials of the agriculture department. The survey shows that 62 percent of interviewed farmers were not aware about the minimum support price (MSP) and among those who have heard about MSP, 64 per cent were not satisfied with the price government offers. 

As it is argued in the report of the study, the reason for less interest in farming is low income and productivity, irregular weather cycles and low levels of support from the government. Does this give solution to the concerns of the minister of agriculture of Goa? Yes. The answer is at the policy, governance level and not in the “cosmic energy/shakti” realm. This as the minister has rightly noted, needs money and the Chief Minister of Goa and the central government have allocated funds. 

The godman Dr. Avdhoot Shivanand, his “Shiv Yog Foundation” and his “Shiv Yog Cosmic Farming” is not a discovery of Vijay Sardesai; bust as the minister has noted, it is part of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana of the central government (PKVY) that was launched in 2015 by the central government. 

“Avdhoot Shivanand farming” is one of the financial beneficiaries under the PKVY. The PKVY is part of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and Soil Health Management (SHM). The scheme promotes organic farming through “traditional-Vedic” methods of farming and the farmers adopting these “traditional” methods of cultivation will be eligible for an assistance of Rs 48,700 per hectare. The Yojana promotes yogik farming, gou mata kheti, Vedic farming, Vaishnav kheti, Ahinsa farming, Adhvoot Shivanand farming, and rishi krishi. 

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The central government by promoting such unscientific methods, providing irrational explanations- flagging “culture” and “tradition” is trying to wipe its hand off the responsibility of the agriculture sector. All that these methods which are supposed to “re-introduce” the forgotten ways of farming are legitimising the godmen, likes of Avdhoot Shivanand.