Category: Farmers’ Testimonies

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The Tapovan Story – Climate Engineering

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

climate change

In December, 2009 there was an unseasonal storm in the Dhule/ Jalgaon region of North Maharashtra. 35,000 hectares of farmland was damaged. Hundreds of thousands of rupees of crop losses were reported by farmers in the area. In the district of Parola 49 villages were affected. In some places, 2 feet of ice were reported in the fields from the hail storm. The ice remained in some fields for 3 days after the storm.

In Tapovan Homa farm, which is in the centre of the affected area, there was minimal damage to our crops. The only damage – banana leaves were split and one branch of one tree fell down. It was a young drum-stick tree of a height of 12 feet and the tree recovered quickly.


A type of protection is created by the practice of Homa Therapy on the farm.
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Maria Cristina Correa and Rafael Valenzuela’s Story

Cienaga, Magdalena
Colombia, South America

mango
banana
papaya
cassava
coconut
beans

“Our Homa garden on the Caribbean Sea”

“When we bought this house on the beach, there were cocoa plum bushes planted on the borders of the property. We began to recycle all fallen leaves and then we created a reafforestation system. We started planting trees and ornamental plants.”

“We planted cassava, mangos, guava, papaya, plums, beans, sapodilla, lemons, avocados, grapes and many aromatic herbs such as mint, oregano and plenty of basil around the house and all this on the salty sand of the beach. We spray everything with the Agnihotra ash water solution and of course, we practice daily sunrise and sunset Agnihotra.”

“We live practically on the ocean-front but all these plants really took off after we started doing the Homa fires. Now, we are surrounded by mango trees, which give fruits all year round! Usually the mango is a seasonal fruit, but on our land it gives fruit at all times.”

“Now can you imagine what happened? We were not here for 3 months (nobody did Agnihotra) and during that time the mango trees did not produce! We are truly amazed because we had mango all year round. Nobody has that around here.”

“Also, we had a papaya tree growing in the sand with a cluster of six papayas! Once we got a cassava plant about a meter long and 30 cm thick. It was very heavy. Nobody has what we have here. Practically speaking we have transformed our small farm of 2,700 square meters.”

“We also have 4 varieties of plantains and bananas which are the manzano banana (small banana), a thick variety banana with 4 edges, a big banana called “Harton” (eaten fried or green) and the regular banana variety which is eaten in fruit salads.”

“Our beans reach a length up to half a meter. We have a mango variety called ‘Tommy’ which gives big fruits and once we harvested a mango which weighed about 2 kilos and it was delicious. That tree gives baskets after baskets of mango.”

“Like the coconuts, which are full of water and we constantly drink coconut water. We have various kinds of coconut trees which are always full of fruits.”

“We recycle the water and we recycle all waste, except plastic, glass and metal. For example all organic waste material serves as fertilizer for the soil. When we arrived here, there was no grass growing. Now, as you can see, it is like a stadium and we did not bring this from outside. We are able to donate much of our delicious garden products to the nursing home.”

“We also take Agnihotra ash every day and we feel very good, very harmonized. Here, at our little farm, we invite the people for Agnihotra, because we want to share the good things that are happening to us. This is fantastic and a very real experience.”

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Virgilio Gavasso’s Story

Homa Farm: Huerta Ecologica
Mesa de los Santos, Santander
Colombia, South America

tomato
beans

“We have 18 years of organic tradition and we now have 2 years of HOMA experience. Since we began to use the HOMA farming technique, we have noticed an improvement in the quality and production of the fruits.”

Tomatoes:
“We used hybrid tomatoes called “Long Life”, these seeds are imported mainly from Holland and they are very expensive. Now, with HOMA, we can save the seeds from our garden and they are of better quality than that of
“Long Life”. Tomatoes that used to last 5 days after harvest, now, they last 45 days!”

“Also, the production level is permanently increasing. The tomato plant is growing better and the tomatoes are bigger and heavier. It is so incredible! A basket of tomatoes that usually weighed between 28 and 30 kilos, with our Homa tomatoes weighs 35 kilos. It is a tomato that has less water, is more resistant to damage and handling, has better flavor and lasts longer. HOMA changed the physical characteristics of the tomato. They have 25% more weight.”

“The hybrids have a good production, but they produce very few seeds. Non-hybrid varieties can transfe their genetic properties to the next generation but the production and quality is low. What HOMA does is to improve the seeds of both hybrid and non-hybrid varieties. So it increases the production and quality.”

Beans:
“Initially, we sowed a hybrid seed, imported from France, called “Habichuela”. It was a very good quality bean. We collected its seeds and, as always happens with hybrid seeds, it generates a number of other varieties: yellow beans, green beans, tasty beans, bad beens, etc. We selected one that seemed to be good in taste and color. The seeds of our selected variety were planted with HOMA Farming Technology and we were able to establish a new variety. It no longer generates other varieties.”

“It is a variety which is a little bigger and has some characteristics which are different from the original bean, but it is wonderful. It is such an incredible bean that, when the moms come to get products from our farm, they tell us that their children don’t like beans. I tell them to try ours and then they continue buying them, because they say that it is a marvelous bean and that it fascinates their children. Our beans can be eaten raw or for one minute cooked in water.”

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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.”

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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:

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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!”

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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”

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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”