Title : Conscious farming for a flourishing future with yogic agriculture as an agroecological system
Abstract:
“You cannot change a system unless you transform consciousness.” Otto Scharmer, (2018)
Can the power of thought be a new fertilizer that leads to sustainable agriculture, healthy environment and
viable farming communities? Agriculture is one of the biggest and far-reaching industries around the world,
affecting every living being on the planet. Sustainable Yogic Agriculture is a research project carried out by
the Rural Development Wing of the Brahma Kumaris, it is a unique form of farming, combining thoughtbased
meditative practices with methods of natural and organic agriculture.
This presentation will share the principles and practices of farming and food systems from the perspective
that part of life is not visible to us. Everything that we know (and do not know) about the physical world has
an invisible, subtle counterpart that has been scarcely considered in the farming practices or research of
modernist cultures. It may be called Subtle Agroecology, which considers a non-material dimension upon
existing, materially based agroecological farming systems.
At this time food systems rather than nourishing our collective health and well-being, are at the heart of the
social and environmental crises we face. Despite significant investment and effort towards transforming
food systems, the solutions emphasized so far are not delivering the necessary impact. This impasse calls us
to examine more deeply the root causes of our crises and the structural barriers to transformation.
To bring about long-lasting change in any social or environmental system, awareness grounded in selfreflection,
universal values, and personal transformation are essential.
Sustainable Yogic Farming using technology of consciousness aims to educate farmers about natural
methods of agriculture; promote soil biodiversity and holistic ways of controlling land and soil degradation,
and increase a sense of responsibility towards nature. In India, more than 2000 farmers use this method and
experience positive qualitative and quantitative crop results.
Sustainable Yogic Agriculture is a process that includes seed empowerment (through meditation), mind and
heart development of the farmer (through meditation) and integrated organic farming (through cow
products, crop rotation and integrated pest management). As farmers gain confidence, the impact they are
able to have on their crops through meditation is enhanced.
Benefits reported by the farmers from these practices included increased crop yield, resilience, nutritional
content and product sold along with decreased production costs and crop damage. They also reported more
peaceful relationships within their families and among their communities, increased feelings of well-being
and purpose and a reduction in emotions such as anger and frustration.
What will audience learn from your presentation?
(Try to list 3-5 specific items)
? Learn the easy thought - based method, for further personal and community experiments to get
quantitative benefits in organic farming, such as:
o Increased crop yield
o Increased nutritional content
o Decrease costs Increase price per kilo sold
o Decreased vulnerability to pests
o Faster root germination
o Greater root germination
o Increased plant resilience
o Easy incorporation with other methods or sustainable agriculture
? Get acquainted with simple meditative practices bringing quantitative benefits for individual farmers
and farming communities, such as:
o Improved family relations
o Increased feeling of connection with livelihood
o Increased sense of wellbeing and purpose
o Increased sense of pride as a farmer
o Improved relationships among farming communities
o Reduction in emotions such as anger and frustration among farmers
o Increase in emotions such as patience and forgiveness among farmers
o Incorporating cultural and spiritual meaning into work life
o Bringing together disparate social sectors into a common purpose with wide-ranging benefit.
? Get inspiration and process to experiment with own traditional and cultural contribution as a part of
agroecology.
