Ramesh Tiwari’s Story

Village: Khanpur Sirauli
Tehsil: Hasanganj, District: Unnao
Uttar Pradesh, India

mango

“In India, most of the mango varieties are alternate bearers, which means that they give fruits only every other year. The mango variety Dashehari is also an alternate bearer. Together with a group of 20 farmers I have initiated Homa Organic Farming in mangos in the Unnao district, which is famous for the cultivation of Dashehari variety.”

“I have been practicing Homa Farming since 2003. I have adopted all the organic techniques being suggested by Dr R.K. Pathak, (ex-head of National Horticulture Mission of India) like simple mulching, tree pasting, use of Jiwamrita (a bio-enhancer with a rich microbial consortia, prepared by fermenting cow dung and cow urine along with local soil rich in microbes), Agnihotra enriched water and Biosol.”

“On my farm we regularly perform Agnihotra, daily four hours of Om Tryambakam Homa and in
addition up to 8 hours Om Tryambakam Homa on Full Moon and New Moon days. My mango orchard has shown a continuous increase in production since starting Homa Organic Farming and the quality of the fruits is excellent.”

“On about 10 trees in the orchard the mango fruits are growing directly from the branch instead of from the cluster of leaves at the end of the branches.”

The yield data for past 5 years is given below:

Average production in this area is around 10 tons/ha. With all the known techniques using agro-chemicals it can be extended up to 14 tons/ha.

“The fruit quality of the Homa farms in this area is far better than corresponding fruit on farms practising conventional agro-chemical horticulture, regarding taste, size and appearance.”

“On none of the Homa farms do the mangoes suffer from a common problem of spongy tissue and a number of pests and diseases have been eradicated; diseases like powdery mildew and pests like the mango hopper and mealy bug. Cost of pesticides was previously about Rs 5,000 per acre. Harvest was decreasing every year. Cost and frequency of the chemical applications (pesticides and fertilizers) was increasing. Taste of the mangoes was not good.”

“In my Homa farm, all these problems have been resolved completely.”

Ravindra Wadekar’s Story

Homa Farm: Yadnyanagar
Village: Talwade, Tehsil: Rajapur, District: Ratnagiri
Maharashtra, India

cashew nut

Report from P.S. Kadam B.Sc. (Agri)
Officer, Agricultural Dept.
Pachal, Rajapur, Dist: Ratnagiri

Report on Cashew Nut trees

“I recently visited the Yadnyanagar Homa Farm of Shri Ravindra Wadekar in Talwade village. During the visit I inspected the Cashew Nut crop (which at the moment is in the flowering stage). Following are my observations:

Savita Joshi’s Story

Islampur, District: Sangli
Maharashtra, India

lime tree

“I heard about Agnihotra and its effects in a talk by Dr Pramod Basarkar from Dharwad Agricultural University, Karnataka. After hearing about it, I started to practice Agnihotra. But I didn’t think more about the benefits that were told in the talk.”

“Near to my house, there is a small garden which has a lime tree and which is about ten years old. It gives good fruit. This year again there were a lot of flowers but during flowering the tree was attacked by an insect pest and it lost all its flowers. People gave various advice for chemical treatments. Then I remembered Dr. Basarkar telling about the Agnihotra ash water solution.”

“I decided to mix some Agnihotra ash in water and after letting this sit for 3 days, the Agnihotra ash water solution was ready for use. I sprayed the lime tree only once with this solution. After 8 days, I checked the tree and found the insects had all disappeared and the tree had started to flower again. Thanks to Dr. Basarkar for his good advice about Agnihotra!”

Abhay Mutalik Desai – Climate Engineering

Village: Sutakatti, District: Belgaum
Karnataka, India

climate engineering

Dr O.P. Rupela, Chief Scientist (retired), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, visited the farm recently and reported:
“The crop production system in this Homa farm reflects a complete balance, which can only be achieved when Nature is in perfect balance and harmony. The farm is a good place of education and research for agricultural scientists…” Continue reading “Abhay Mutalik Desai – Climate Engineering”

Karin Heschl – Soybean

Homa Farm of Prestige Feed Mills
Dewas, District: Indore
Madhya Pradesh, India

soybean

“In the year 2001 we began a Homa Farming project in soya beans in cooperation with Prestige Feed Mills, Jaora Compound, Indore. I and my two children stayed on the ‘Dewas’ farm for the entire season practicing Agnihotra and Om Tryambakam Homas.”

“Using agro-chemicals the yield from the Prestige farm in the previous year was 350 kg per hectare. Using Homa Organic Farming techniques the yield in the current year was 1,800 kg per hectare.” Continue reading “Karin Heschl – Soybean”

Report of P.J. Joseph – Coconut

Art of Living International Campus
Bangalore
Karnataka, India

coconut

Report by P.J. Joseph, Asst. Director of Agriculture
District: Kasaragod
Kerala

24th August, 2004

  • I first visited the coconut gardens of the Art of Living International Campus, Bangalore on 15th August, 2004.
  • During my inspection I noticed severe attack of leaf eating caterpillar pest Nephantis serinopa.
  • The leaves of most of the coconut palms were being eaten away by the caterpillars and the attack was fast spreading from the palms in the north portion to the southern region.
  • Continue reading “Report of P.J. Joseph – Coconut”

Tapovan Update – Cotton

Homa Farm: Tapovan
Parola, District: Jalgaon
Maharashtra, India

cotton

Comparison of Tapovan Cotton with Bt Cotton, Khandesh, Maharashtra, India

“There are four main cotton growing areas in Maharashtra, India – Khandesh, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Deccan Canal. Tapovan is situated in the Khandesh area. The GMO varieties of cotton which are known as Bt cotton have now achieved almost 100% penetration into these areas due to very aggressive marketing strategies by the seed companies.”

“Bt cotton is genetically engineered to protect the crop against only one pest – the American boll worm. However, cotton is attacked by no less than 165 pests. And now these secondary pests are attacking with great severity. The number of attacks by aphids, thrips, jassids, etc, has risen steeply since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002.”

“Tobacco leaf streak virus, tobacco caterpillars, etc, have emerged as new diseases and pests of Bt cotton. The emergence of the mealy bug as a Bt cotton pest also appears to be a case of secondary pest resurgence, and no amount or type of pesticide has been able to control it.”

Neighboring Bt cotton attacked by secondary pests

Neighboring Bt Cotton attacked by Lalya disease

“This year, the farmers of Khandesh report massive attack of the fungal wilt disease known locally as “Lalya”. Lalya seems to attack only some varieties of Bt cotton. Lalya causes an initial reddening of the leaves, then the whole plant turns red and after a few days it completely dries up and dies. In the farms surrounding Tapovan as many as 50% now show signs of Lalya wilt. Some farmers have already removed their cotton and are preparing their land for the next crop. This results in a massive economic loss to the farmers who are already in serious financial difficulty.”

Tapovan Homa cotton- up to 90 bolls per plant

Tapovan Homa Cotton – no pest problems

“On the other hand in the HOMA Farm “Tapovan” we have sown non Bt American hybrid, Ankur 651. The plants are smaller in height than the Bt varieties but a count of the number of cotton bolls per plant reveals an average of up to 80 or 90. This compares very favorably with the Bt varieties. Bt plants are normally much bigger in size but this does not necessarily translate into more bolls per plant. And on some farms we have counted an average of only 50 to 60 bolls per plant.”