The Alternative Future - 4
From Cold-blooded, Cruel Agriculture To
Enlightened Agriculture
Back To Agrarian Base
Access to land means access to self-sufficiency, which means access
to life. Land is primal, everything else is based upon it, even culture.
- Jensen
Mainstay of any civilization has been its agriculture. It thrives and survives on agriculture, because food is all that matters, first and foremost. Two other essential ingredients, water and air are of course free. Industries are artificial and they sap the vitality of human beings and nature. They deplete all resources, human, environmental and natural. Industries are a short run drama and a drama does not last forever. Next few decades will see the sad ending of this drama when the curtain of realities falls over it. Agriculture is real life. Drama is for few hours and real life is forever.
Modern industrial agriculture is a form of molesting earth. Humanity is set to pay a big price for this crime. Lesser and lesser number of people are showing any interest in agriculture. Unscrupulous profit crazy corporations are taking over small farms. These corporations have only one relationship with Earth - that of exploitation & profiteering. All this can not last forever. We are taking food for granted, we are taking God’s nature for granted. Its not going to work. Something has to change and something will change, whether we like it or not.
Agriculture is still the occupation of almost 50% of the world's population, but the numbers vary from less than 3% in industrialized countries to over 60% in Third World countries.
Modern industrial agriculture is a form of molesting earth. Humanity is set to pay a big price for this crime. Lesser and lesser number of people are showing any interest in agriculture. Unscrupulous profit crazy corporations are taking over small farms. These corporations have only one relationship with Earth - that of exploitation & profiteering. All this can not last forever. We are taking food for granted, we are taking God’s nature for granted. Its not going to work. Something has to change and something will change, whether we like it or not.
Agriculture is still the occupation of almost 50% of the world's population, but the numbers vary from less than 3% in industrialized countries to over 60% in Third World countries.
Legacy of ‘Development’
Some traditional societies believed that the land does not belong to them but to their ancestors and their descendants and that it was their duty to hand it on in as good condition as they received it. What kind of land or planet or environment are we preparing for handing over to the next generation? We will hand over a legacy of an Earth, turned into a toxic waste dump.
If we study the life of a typical villager in any traditional community, we would find him living with his wife and a few children in a thatched hut with mud walls and a dirt floor. He has a couple of cows, a well and some land. He may have never gone beyond two or three villages, but he is happy. He lives to a ripe old age, doesn't get many diseases, works honestly in the fields, and has enough milk and grains to eat. With his extra produce, beyond what he needs to maintain his family, he may trade for clothing, jewelry and other items. In other words, he lives a very simple life. And he has sufficient time in hand to cultivate art, culture and to nurture tradition, in a crime and stress free environment. Now this ‘backward and undeveloped’ community needs to be developed and science and technology need to be introduced in their lives. Soon they will be a ‘developed’ lot with pollution, crime, stress, life-style diseases, family breakdown, drugs, violence, prostitution and financial meltdowns. This is what we are doing in the name of progress and development.
If we study the life of a typical villager in any traditional community, we would find him living with his wife and a few children in a thatched hut with mud walls and a dirt floor. He has a couple of cows, a well and some land. He may have never gone beyond two or three villages, but he is happy. He lives to a ripe old age, doesn't get many diseases, works honestly in the fields, and has enough milk and grains to eat. With his extra produce, beyond what he needs to maintain his family, he may trade for clothing, jewelry and other items. In other words, he lives a very simple life. And he has sufficient time in hand to cultivate art, culture and to nurture tradition, in a crime and stress free environment. Now this ‘backward and undeveloped’ community needs to be developed and science and technology need to be introduced in their lives. Soon they will be a ‘developed’ lot with pollution, crime, stress, life-style diseases, family breakdown, drugs, violence, prostitution and financial meltdowns. This is what we are doing in the name of progress and development.
Subsistence Farming To Commercial Farming - A History
From early times, people created ingenious systems of ploughing, seeding, irrigation and harvesting. For example, in the Middle East, the American Southwest and Mexico, the Nile Valley, and South Asia, we find distinct agricultural systems, suited to local condition. Subsistence farming basically means farming for the purpose of self-survival whereas commercial farming means growing crops primarily for trade.
Modern agriculture finds its roots in industrial revolution that started in 18th and 19th century in Europe. This was the beginning of the demise of local and self-sufficient agriculture. Industrial revolution gave rise to market economy which set in motion a process that is even now destroying traditional village economies and the environment.
In the village communities of many areas of medieval Europe, land was managed in ways that were not very destructive to the environment. Out of numerous such healthy practices, one was three-field system wherein the peasants divided their farmland into three fields, one for winter crops, one for summer crops, and one to remain fallow. The use of the fields was rotated each year. A second part of the system, in order to prevent soil exhaustion, was to use different crops that took different nutrients from the soil. The winter crop typically would consist of winter wheat or rye, and the spring crop would be either spring wheat or legumes (beans or peas). The greater variety of crops provided people with a more balanced diet. Also an advantage of legumes is that they take nitrogen out of the air rather than the soil, and when buried, actually replenish the soil with nitrogen (the Romans referred to this as "green manuring"). Pastures, forests, and water resources were held in common, and their use was carefully regulated by village councils.
It was all set to change with the introduction of cash crops. Inland communities with little access to markets had practiced traditional agriculture that aimed to feed, clothe, and reproduce the family. This form of subsistence farming was far more ecologically sensitive than farming for the market would later be. After clearing forest trees by cutting or burning, farmers used small lots for crops for just a few years, rotating corn, beans, and squash between three fields. Those fields then lay fallow (unused) or served as pastureland for up to eight years, then reverted to forest while a new lot was cleared for the growing of crops. Such methods worked effectively to preserve soil nutrients.
Single-crop fields were more vulnerable to pests including insects, squirrels, and crows. Deforestation altered the climate resulting in colder springs, warmer summers, and earlier frosts. Planters, slaves, and small farmers all suffered from changes in the disease environment. As the aedes mosquito found breeding grounds in new ditches and reservoirs, populous towns endured epidemics of yellow fever and malaria.
Construction of roads and canals that provided backcountry easier access to markets. The transportation and market revolutions altered the environment in two kinds of ways. Direct consequences included disruptions to the fragile ecosystems of rivers and lakes by canal and dam construction and the burning of vast quantities of firewood aboard new steamboats. Indirect consequences were perhaps more profound. New forms of transportation helped create new regions and economic zones.
The impact of the new methods of commercial agriculture on European ecology was profound. Inhabitants came to perceive of their physical surroundings in basically capitalist terms. Natural resources increasingly were viewed as commodities, articles of value capable of being exchanged for other goods or money. Though ecological consequences varied according to region, every colony touched by the growing commercialisation suffered deforestation, epidemics, soil exhaustion, and decreasing numbers of wild animals. Market forces would continue to transform the European environment. Trees were cut to expand farmland and pasture and to supply fuel and raw materials for factories. Deforestation resulted in a drier landscape more vulnerable to erosion from high winds. Beaver, fox, and lynx had grown scarce as trappers and traders sought valuable pelts.
Elsewhere, Colonial agriculture was carried out not only to feed the colonists but also to produce cash crops and to supply food for the home country. This meant cultivation of such crops as sugar, cotton, tobacco, and tea and production of animal products such as wool and hides. From the 17th to the 19th century the slave trade provided needed laborers, replacing natives killed by unaccustomed hard labor in unfavorable climates and substituting for imported Europeans on colonial plantations that required a larger labor force than the colony could provide. Slaves from Africa worked, for instance, in the Caribbean area on sugar plantations and in North America on indigo and cotton plantations.
Modern agriculture finds its roots in industrial revolution that started in 18th and 19th century in Europe. This was the beginning of the demise of local and self-sufficient agriculture. Industrial revolution gave rise to market economy which set in motion a process that is even now destroying traditional village economies and the environment.
In the village communities of many areas of medieval Europe, land was managed in ways that were not very destructive to the environment. Out of numerous such healthy practices, one was three-field system wherein the peasants divided their farmland into three fields, one for winter crops, one for summer crops, and one to remain fallow. The use of the fields was rotated each year. A second part of the system, in order to prevent soil exhaustion, was to use different crops that took different nutrients from the soil. The winter crop typically would consist of winter wheat or rye, and the spring crop would be either spring wheat or legumes (beans or peas). The greater variety of crops provided people with a more balanced diet. Also an advantage of legumes is that they take nitrogen out of the air rather than the soil, and when buried, actually replenish the soil with nitrogen (the Romans referred to this as "green manuring"). Pastures, forests, and water resources were held in common, and their use was carefully regulated by village councils.
It was all set to change with the introduction of cash crops. Inland communities with little access to markets had practiced traditional agriculture that aimed to feed, clothe, and reproduce the family. This form of subsistence farming was far more ecologically sensitive than farming for the market would later be. After clearing forest trees by cutting or burning, farmers used small lots for crops for just a few years, rotating corn, beans, and squash between three fields. Those fields then lay fallow (unused) or served as pastureland for up to eight years, then reverted to forest while a new lot was cleared for the growing of crops. Such methods worked effectively to preserve soil nutrients.
Single-crop fields were more vulnerable to pests including insects, squirrels, and crows. Deforestation altered the climate resulting in colder springs, warmer summers, and earlier frosts. Planters, slaves, and small farmers all suffered from changes in the disease environment. As the aedes mosquito found breeding grounds in new ditches and reservoirs, populous towns endured epidemics of yellow fever and malaria.
Construction of roads and canals that provided backcountry easier access to markets. The transportation and market revolutions altered the environment in two kinds of ways. Direct consequences included disruptions to the fragile ecosystems of rivers and lakes by canal and dam construction and the burning of vast quantities of firewood aboard new steamboats. Indirect consequences were perhaps more profound. New forms of transportation helped create new regions and economic zones.
The impact of the new methods of commercial agriculture on European ecology was profound. Inhabitants came to perceive of their physical surroundings in basically capitalist terms. Natural resources increasingly were viewed as commodities, articles of value capable of being exchanged for other goods or money. Though ecological consequences varied according to region, every colony touched by the growing commercialisation suffered deforestation, epidemics, soil exhaustion, and decreasing numbers of wild animals. Market forces would continue to transform the European environment. Trees were cut to expand farmland and pasture and to supply fuel and raw materials for factories. Deforestation resulted in a drier landscape more vulnerable to erosion from high winds. Beaver, fox, and lynx had grown scarce as trappers and traders sought valuable pelts.
Elsewhere, Colonial agriculture was carried out not only to feed the colonists but also to produce cash crops and to supply food for the home country. This meant cultivation of such crops as sugar, cotton, tobacco, and tea and production of animal products such as wool and hides. From the 17th to the 19th century the slave trade provided needed laborers, replacing natives killed by unaccustomed hard labor in unfavorable climates and substituting for imported Europeans on colonial plantations that required a larger labor force than the colony could provide. Slaves from Africa worked, for instance, in the Caribbean area on sugar plantations and in North America on indigo and cotton plantations.
Produce your own food and eat sumptuously, be healthy and chant Hare Krsna. This is civilization. This is civilization.
-Srila Prabhupada (Lecture, Bhagavad-gita 9.4 — Melbourne, April 22, 1976)
Beginning Of Industrial Agriculture
Like any monoculture (an agricultural system dominated by a single crop), single-crop fields promoted the development of soil toxins and the rapid multiplication of parasites. With access to better transportation, farmers began to participate in the market economy in new ways, beyond raising cash crops, that the landscape could not long sustain.
The eventual ecological decline of farms helped set the stage for early industrialization, which in turn created new environmental challenges. As farms faltered, many landless sons and daughters turned to wage labor in new factories including textile mills and sawmills. This new source of cheap labor, combined with the introduction of the power loom fueled an explosive textile industry. Sawmills also expanded, depleting forests. Construction of dams for the new industries altered the ecology of rivers in which fish, including salmon, were blocked from upstream spawning grounds. By the late 18th century, the signs of modern industrial pollution were already evident. As textile mills turned to steam power, burning coal, smoke blackened the skies over fast-growing cities.
The real onset of industrialization would have to await the railroad and textile boom of the Early nineteenth century.
During the 18th century, England, faced with a shortage of wood, had switched to coal as an energy source for industry. Carolyn Merchant says, “Whereas the medieval economy had been based on organic and renewable energy sources-wood, water, and wind-the emerging capitalist economy taking shape over most of western Europe was based not only on the nonrenewable energy source-coal-but on an inorganic economic core-metals: iron, copper, silver, gold, tin, and mercury-the refining and processing of which ultimately depended on and further depleted the forests”.
The interaction between mankind and the environment was reciprocal: short-term effects on weather and longer-term climatic change, had profound consequences for medieval economies, societies, and cultures.
This un-ecofriendly science-based civilizational model that originated a few centuries ago in Europe would eventually spread all over the world in the form of ‘American dream’ and threaten the very existence of life on this planet. We can clearly see this happening now.
The eventual ecological decline of farms helped set the stage for early industrialization, which in turn created new environmental challenges. As farms faltered, many landless sons and daughters turned to wage labor in new factories including textile mills and sawmills. This new source of cheap labor, combined with the introduction of the power loom fueled an explosive textile industry. Sawmills also expanded, depleting forests. Construction of dams for the new industries altered the ecology of rivers in which fish, including salmon, were blocked from upstream spawning grounds. By the late 18th century, the signs of modern industrial pollution were already evident. As textile mills turned to steam power, burning coal, smoke blackened the skies over fast-growing cities.
The real onset of industrialization would have to await the railroad and textile boom of the Early nineteenth century.
During the 18th century, England, faced with a shortage of wood, had switched to coal as an energy source for industry. Carolyn Merchant says, “Whereas the medieval economy had been based on organic and renewable energy sources-wood, water, and wind-the emerging capitalist economy taking shape over most of western Europe was based not only on the nonrenewable energy source-coal-but on an inorganic economic core-metals: iron, copper, silver, gold, tin, and mercury-the refining and processing of which ultimately depended on and further depleted the forests”.
The interaction between mankind and the environment was reciprocal: short-term effects on weather and longer-term climatic change, had profound consequences for medieval economies, societies, and cultures.
This un-ecofriendly science-based civilizational model that originated a few centuries ago in Europe would eventually spread all over the world in the form of ‘American dream’ and threaten the very existence of life on this planet. We can clearly see this happening now.
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When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization. |
History of Chemical Fertilizers
First introduction of chemical fertilizers in agriculture can be traced to the theories of nineteenth-century German chemist Baron Justus von Liebig, who in 1840 published an essay entitled "Chemistry in Its Application to Agriculture and Physiology." His idea was that when a living plant is incinerated and all its organic matter destroyed, the mineral salts remaining in the ashes will contain all that's required for its growth (basically potash, nitrates, and phosphates.) Other scientists and agriculturalists concluded that simply adding these chemicals to the soil would maintain its fertility.
Although this conclusion apparently oversimplified ages of agricultural practice, the observable results were impressive. Artificial fertilizers composed of the above chemicals and calcium oxide (lime) produced good initial crops—which seemed to verify Liebig's experiments. This apparent breakthrough led to the astronomical fertilizer production now so lucrative for the chemical industry. Typically, whenever a farmer has a soil test made on his fields, if the laboratory report indicates deficiencies of phosphate, lime, and so on, he receives a formula of chemicals. He then adds them to the soil to correct the imbalance. Here we have the basis of the prevalent belief that "you get out of the soil what you put into it."
However, this conclusion came into question a few years ago, when the French agricultural bulletin "Nature et Progres" disclosed a startling experiment. A researcher reported that every month for one year, he had monitored two identical soils—one to which only fermented compost had been added, and one to which an organic mixture rich in phosphorus had been added. At the end of the year, the first sample contained one-third more phosphorus than the second sample, the one to which phosphorus had originally been added.
Thus, soil itself can produce phosphorus without any external supply of this mineral. The researcher called it "a miracle of the living soil!" One wonders where the phosphorus in the first sample came from, since none was added before or during the experiment. After all, chemists have learned that it's impossible to create new elements or transform one element into another (that is, to alter an element's atomic structure) simply by chemical reactions. At the same time, many scientists still believe that all reactions occurring in nature are in fact simply chemical—or, in other words, that life comes from chemicals. The fact is that life generates chemicals and not vice versa.
This conclusion was proven in another experiment by chemist, Albrecht von Herzeele, who demonstrated that seeds sprouted in distilled water, with nothing added but air, increased their content of elements like sulphur, calcium, and magnesium (although the law of conservation of matter holds that this is impossible). This experiment proved that plants can continuously create matter as well as absorb matter from soil, water, and air. Von Herzeele claimed that plants could also transmute or change one element into another (such as phosphorus into sulphur, and so on).
Although this conclusion apparently oversimplified ages of agricultural practice, the observable results were impressive. Artificial fertilizers composed of the above chemicals and calcium oxide (lime) produced good initial crops—which seemed to verify Liebig's experiments. This apparent breakthrough led to the astronomical fertilizer production now so lucrative for the chemical industry. Typically, whenever a farmer has a soil test made on his fields, if the laboratory report indicates deficiencies of phosphate, lime, and so on, he receives a formula of chemicals. He then adds them to the soil to correct the imbalance. Here we have the basis of the prevalent belief that "you get out of the soil what you put into it."
However, this conclusion came into question a few years ago, when the French agricultural bulletin "Nature et Progres" disclosed a startling experiment. A researcher reported that every month for one year, he had monitored two identical soils—one to which only fermented compost had been added, and one to which an organic mixture rich in phosphorus had been added. At the end of the year, the first sample contained one-third more phosphorus than the second sample, the one to which phosphorus had originally been added.
Thus, soil itself can produce phosphorus without any external supply of this mineral. The researcher called it "a miracle of the living soil!" One wonders where the phosphorus in the first sample came from, since none was added before or during the experiment. After all, chemists have learned that it's impossible to create new elements or transform one element into another (that is, to alter an element's atomic structure) simply by chemical reactions. At the same time, many scientists still believe that all reactions occurring in nature are in fact simply chemical—or, in other words, that life comes from chemicals. The fact is that life generates chemicals and not vice versa.
This conclusion was proven in another experiment by chemist, Albrecht von Herzeele, who demonstrated that seeds sprouted in distilled water, with nothing added but air, increased their content of elements like sulphur, calcium, and magnesium (although the law of conservation of matter holds that this is impossible). This experiment proved that plants can continuously create matter as well as absorb matter from soil, water, and air. Von Herzeele claimed that plants could also transmute or change one element into another (such as phosphorus into sulphur, and so on).
Agricultural Chemicals - Leftover War Explosives
Then came the war and the war ended sooner than expected, resulting in stock piling of war explosive, mostly compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus. Global approach to agriculture modified in the light of industrialization. New seeds were developed and war surplus chemicals were converted into compounds called chemical fertilizers. The seeds, popularly called Green revolution seeds or miracle seeds, were developed to consume these synthetic chemical fertilizers. Thus monoculture came into being at the expense of agro biodiversity and water resource crunch.
To understand its long run impacts, we take up the case of India, an agrarian economy till date. Four decades into the green revolution, the situation is pathetic; soil in general has become humus deficient, excessively hard and bears no pores for holding air and moisture. This soil no longer harbours the beneficial microbes but the pathogens and pest eggs, requiring excessive use of synthetic pesticides. The impacts of these chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides are well observable. Use of chemical fertilizers especially nitrogen fertilizers invites more pests and leads to further usage of pesticides. The disastrous consequences of the use of these pesticides over several decades are now clearly observable. There is a rise of resistance in the pest species at the expense of the beneficial organisms like the beneficial insects (honey bee) and scavenging birds (vultures). Reports of crop failure are also linked to the changes in natural status of the soil. Reports of occurrence of agricultural pesticides in underground water (bottled water and soft drinks) are certainly due to their excessive applications and non-degradation. There are various reports of people in villages dying after consuming water from shallow tube wells in India. (Chakulia, Balasore, 2005).
One may argue that such chemicals are, after all, also a part of nature, and that scientists are simply using them in a more advantageous way. However, studies indicate that prolonged use of chemical fertilizers designed to increase soil nitrates creates an artificial dependence on the chemical itself: the chemical fertilizers kill the myriad microorganisms and earthworms in the soil that naturally produce such nitrates.
Initially there may be "bumper" crops, if climatic conditions are good; but eventually the soil loses fertility. And the long-range leaching effect can be disastrous. Wes Buchele, Professor of Agricultural Engineering at Iowa State University, describes the situation in no uncertain terms. "We've lost one-half of the country's topsoil since we started farming here."
There ought to be a shift in approach to the whole practice of agriculture at the moment.
To understand its long run impacts, we take up the case of India, an agrarian economy till date. Four decades into the green revolution, the situation is pathetic; soil in general has become humus deficient, excessively hard and bears no pores for holding air and moisture. This soil no longer harbours the beneficial microbes but the pathogens and pest eggs, requiring excessive use of synthetic pesticides. The impacts of these chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides are well observable. Use of chemical fertilizers especially nitrogen fertilizers invites more pests and leads to further usage of pesticides. The disastrous consequences of the use of these pesticides over several decades are now clearly observable. There is a rise of resistance in the pest species at the expense of the beneficial organisms like the beneficial insects (honey bee) and scavenging birds (vultures). Reports of crop failure are also linked to the changes in natural status of the soil. Reports of occurrence of agricultural pesticides in underground water (bottled water and soft drinks) are certainly due to their excessive applications and non-degradation. There are various reports of people in villages dying after consuming water from shallow tube wells in India. (Chakulia, Balasore, 2005).
One may argue that such chemicals are, after all, also a part of nature, and that scientists are simply using them in a more advantageous way. However, studies indicate that prolonged use of chemical fertilizers designed to increase soil nitrates creates an artificial dependence on the chemical itself: the chemical fertilizers kill the myriad microorganisms and earthworms in the soil that naturally produce such nitrates.
Initially there may be "bumper" crops, if climatic conditions are good; but eventually the soil loses fertility. And the long-range leaching effect can be disastrous. Wes Buchele, Professor of Agricultural Engineering at Iowa State University, describes the situation in no uncertain terms. "We've lost one-half of the country's topsoil since we started farming here."
There ought to be a shift in approach to the whole practice of agriculture at the moment.
Why don't you get your eatables from the land? Therefore it is said, sarva-kama-dugha mahi. You can get all the necessities of your life from land. So dughä means produce. You can produce your food. Some land should be producing the foodstuff for the animals, and some land should be used for the production of your foodstuffs, grains, fruits, flowers, and take milk. Why should you kill these innocent animals? You take. You keep them mudä, happy, and you get so much milk that it will moist, it will make wet the ground. This is civilization. This is civilization.
-Srila Prabhupada
Green Revolution Becoming A Yellow Nightmare
Green revolution was introduced in India and some other developing countries in the early sixties to meet the food deficit. But the aftermath of this revolution is disastrous as we have seen already. The soil, devoid of humus has lost its water holding ability, pests have acquired resistance against pesticides. Indian paddy fields are adding large amounts of methane, a green house gas, into the atmosphere. Food chain and water table are contaminated with pesticides.
The environmental deterioration, food and water contaminations demand a paradigm shift from chemical to organic agriculture. With the growing demand of food, diminishing arable land holdings and exodus of the agrarian community from villages to towns abandoning agriculture, only organic farming will not suffice. An integrated new approach of sustainable agriculture is required where soil fertility, crop yield and pest management are taken care of together with the environmental protection.
Albert Howard explains the nature of soil fertility in his classic book, “An agricultural Testament” as follows, “The nature of soil fertility can be understood only when it is considered in relation to Nature’s round. To study soil fertility we have to know the natural working system and to adopt methods of investigation in strict relation to such a subject. We must look at soil fertility as we would study a business where the profit and loss account must be taken along with the balance sheet, the standing of the concern, and the method of management. So it is with soil fertility.” According to him, a fertile soil is one which has humus in abundance. If the soil is deficient in humus, the volume of pore space is reduced, the aeration of the soil is impeded, there is insufficient organic matter for the soil population, the soil machinery runs down, the supply of oxygen, water and dissolved salts needed by the root hairs is reduced, the synthesis of carbohydrates and proteins in the green leaf proceeds at a lower tempo; growth is affected.
The environmental deterioration, food and water contaminations demand a paradigm shift from chemical to organic agriculture. With the growing demand of food, diminishing arable land holdings and exodus of the agrarian community from villages to towns abandoning agriculture, only organic farming will not suffice. An integrated new approach of sustainable agriculture is required where soil fertility, crop yield and pest management are taken care of together with the environmental protection.
Albert Howard explains the nature of soil fertility in his classic book, “An agricultural Testament” as follows, “The nature of soil fertility can be understood only when it is considered in relation to Nature’s round. To study soil fertility we have to know the natural working system and to adopt methods of investigation in strict relation to such a subject. We must look at soil fertility as we would study a business where the profit and loss account must be taken along with the balance sheet, the standing of the concern, and the method of management. So it is with soil fertility.” According to him, a fertile soil is one which has humus in abundance. If the soil is deficient in humus, the volume of pore space is reduced, the aeration of the soil is impeded, there is insufficient organic matter for the soil population, the soil machinery runs down, the supply of oxygen, water and dissolved salts needed by the root hairs is reduced, the synthesis of carbohydrates and proteins in the green leaf proceeds at a lower tempo; growth is affected.
Just like here in this Letchmore Heath there are so many, so much land lying vacant. You produce you own food. Why you are going to London, to the factories? There is no need. This is wrong civilization. Here is land. You produce your food. If you produce your food, there is no need of going hundred miles, fifty miles on your motorcycle or motor to earn your livelihood. Why? There is no need.
Then you require petrol. And petrol there is scarcity. Then you require so many parts, so many. That means you are making the whole thing complicated unnecessarily. Unnecessarily. There is no need. Simply you keep to the land and produce your food, and the cows are there. They will supply you milk. Then where is your economic problems. If you have sufficient grains, sufficient vegetables, sufficient milk from the land where you are living, where your economic problem? Why you should go to other place?
That is Vedic civilization. Everyone should remain in the spot and produce everything as he requires, and God will help you. Because you can produce from the land anywhere. The rainfall is there. If you have got land and the rainfall is regular, then you can produce anything.
- Srila Prabhupada
Agriculture - A Journey From The Noblest Profession To The Most Hazardous Industry
Agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries as per the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Farmers are at high risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries, work-related lung diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases, and certain cancers associated with chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. Farming is one of the few industries in which the families (who often share the work and live on the premises) are also at risk for injuries, illness, and death. In an average year, 516 workers die doing farm work in the U.S. (1992-2005). Of these deaths, 101 are caused by tractor overturns. Every day, about 243 agricultural workers suffer lost-work-time injuries, and about 5% of these result in permanent impairment.
Agriculture is the most dangerous industry for young workers, accounting for 42% of all work-related fatalities of young workers in the U.S. between 1992 and 2000. Unlike other industries, half the young victims in agriculture were under age 15. For young agricultural workers aged 15–17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces . Agricultural work exposes young workers to safety hazards such as machinery, confined spaces, work at elevations, and work around livestock.
An estimated 1.26 million children and adolescents under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2004, with about 699,000 of these youth performing work on the farms. In addition to the youth who live on farms, an additional 337,000 children and adolescents were hired to work on U.S. farms in 2004. On average, 103 children are killed annually on farms (1990-1996). Approximately 40 percent of these deaths were work-related. In 2004, an estimated 27,600 children and adolescents were injured on farms; 8,100 of these injuries were due to farm work.
This is the outcome of industrialization of agriculture which until few decades back, was regarded as the noblest profession.
Agriculture is the most dangerous industry for young workers, accounting for 42% of all work-related fatalities of young workers in the U.S. between 1992 and 2000. Unlike other industries, half the young victims in agriculture were under age 15. For young agricultural workers aged 15–17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces . Agricultural work exposes young workers to safety hazards such as machinery, confined spaces, work at elevations, and work around livestock.
An estimated 1.26 million children and adolescents under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2004, with about 699,000 of these youth performing work on the farms. In addition to the youth who live on farms, an additional 337,000 children and adolescents were hired to work on U.S. farms in 2004. On average, 103 children are killed annually on farms (1990-1996). Approximately 40 percent of these deaths were work-related. In 2004, an estimated 27,600 children and adolescents were injured on farms; 8,100 of these injuries were due to farm work.
This is the outcome of industrialization of agriculture which until few decades back, was regarded as the noblest profession.
Solution - Depatent Life
Another controversial issue is the patent protection given to companies that develop new types of seed using genetic engineering. Since companies have intellectual ownership of their seeds, they have the power to dictate terms and conditions of their patented product. Currently, ten seed companies control over two-thirds of the global seed sales. Vandana Shiva, an environmentalist, argues that these companies are guilty of biopiracy by patenting life and exploiting organisms for profit. Farmers using patented seed are restricted from saving seed for subsequent plantings, which forces farmers to buy new seed every year. Since seed saving is a traditional practice for many farmers in both developing and developed countries, GMO seeds legally bind farmers to change their seed saving practices.
Solution - Healthy Agronomic Practices
Pesticide use has increased since 1950 to 2.5 million tons annually worldwide, yet crop loss due to pests has remained relatively constant. The World Health Organization estimated in 1992 that 3 million pesticide poisonings occur annually, causing 220,000 deaths. Pesticide resistance in the pest population is leading to a condition termed the 'pesticide treadmill' in which pest resistance warrants the development of a new pesticide. Giving up good agronomic practices such as crop rotation has landed us in a vicious cycle.
Solution - Free Agriculture From Clutches of Meat
Livestock production occupies 70% of all land used for agriculture, or 30% of the land surface of the planet. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2,) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. Livestock expansion is cited as a key factor driving deforestation, in the Amazon basin 70% of previously forested area is now occupied by pastures and the remainder used for feedcrops. Through deforestation and land degradation, livestock is also driving reductions in biodiversity. Thus livestock meant for meat are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems.
Solution - Environmentally Sound Traditional Agricultural Systems
There are many remarkable cases of environmentally sound traditional agricultural systems which have been developed over a long historical period.
For example, land surrounding the Hagmataneh hill in Hamadan, Iran, with over 5000 years of agricultural history, does not show any sign of degradation, whereas other sites in the same district where modern methods are in practice, have degraded. Similarly, in the territory of San Francisco Pichátaro, an indigenous community of Central Mexico, with at least 4000 years of agricultural history, no sign of land degradation is visible.
There is a growing and urgent need to realign agricultural processes with natural process, so that they can work complementarily instead of against one another. In these integrated systems, agriculture will be more successful, environmental degradation will be lessened, and more of an opportunity will exist to preserve the landscape. In the same vein, the principles of sustainable and organic agriculture, as well as specific practice of Community Supported Agriculture and vegetarianism are all alternatives to conventional agriculture which embrace the tenets of bioregionalism and environmental conservationism.
Modern technology and High Yield Variety (HYV) seeds significantly outperform traditional varieties in the presence of adequate irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers. But as our earth’s resources deplete and the availability of these inputs come into question, importance of traditional technologies and traditional seeds increases.
The first Western scientist to demonstrate the real importance of life activities in agriculture was Sir Albert Howard, who at the turn of the century was the imperial botanist to the Indian government. Beginning in Pusa, Bengal, and continuing for forty years in other parts of the subcontinent, Howard managed several experimental agricultural stations. His famous book An Agricultural Testament (1943) inspired a surgeon named J. I. Rodale to begin the organic farming movement in the United States, during the early 1940s. By following the ancient methods of Indian farmers—who regularly aerated the soil, used no artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and returned accumulated cow manure and compost to the land—Howard virtually eliminated disease from both soil and animals. Also, he managed dairy cows and kept oxen for plowing. He wrote, "With no chemical help from science, and by observation alone, he [the Indian farmer] has in the course of ages adjusted his methods of agriculture to the conservation of soil fertility in a most remarkable manner… For countless ages he has been able to maintain the present standard of fertility."
For example, land surrounding the Hagmataneh hill in Hamadan, Iran, with over 5000 years of agricultural history, does not show any sign of degradation, whereas other sites in the same district where modern methods are in practice, have degraded. Similarly, in the territory of San Francisco Pichátaro, an indigenous community of Central Mexico, with at least 4000 years of agricultural history, no sign of land degradation is visible.
There is a growing and urgent need to realign agricultural processes with natural process, so that they can work complementarily instead of against one another. In these integrated systems, agriculture will be more successful, environmental degradation will be lessened, and more of an opportunity will exist to preserve the landscape. In the same vein, the principles of sustainable and organic agriculture, as well as specific practice of Community Supported Agriculture and vegetarianism are all alternatives to conventional agriculture which embrace the tenets of bioregionalism and environmental conservationism.
Modern technology and High Yield Variety (HYV) seeds significantly outperform traditional varieties in the presence of adequate irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers. But as our earth’s resources deplete and the availability of these inputs come into question, importance of traditional technologies and traditional seeds increases.
The first Western scientist to demonstrate the real importance of life activities in agriculture was Sir Albert Howard, who at the turn of the century was the imperial botanist to the Indian government. Beginning in Pusa, Bengal, and continuing for forty years in other parts of the subcontinent, Howard managed several experimental agricultural stations. His famous book An Agricultural Testament (1943) inspired a surgeon named J. I. Rodale to begin the organic farming movement in the United States, during the early 1940s. By following the ancient methods of Indian farmers—who regularly aerated the soil, used no artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and returned accumulated cow manure and compost to the land—Howard virtually eliminated disease from both soil and animals. Also, he managed dairy cows and kept oxen for plowing. He wrote, "With no chemical help from science, and by observation alone, he [the Indian farmer] has in the course of ages adjusted his methods of agriculture to the conservation of soil fertility in a most remarkable manner… For countless ages he has been able to maintain the present standard of fertility."
Solution - Disengage Food From Oil
Since the 1940s, agriculture has dramatically increased its productivity, due largely to the use of petrochemical derived pesticides, fertilizers, and increased mechanization (the so-called Green Revolution). Between 1950 and 1984, the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe. However, every energy unit delivered in food grown using modern techniques requires over ten energy units to produce and deliver. The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel sources. Because of modern agriculture's current heavy reliance on petrochemicals and mechanization, there are warnings that the ever decreasing supply of oil (the dramatic nature of which is known as peak oil) will inflict major damage on the modern industrial agriculture system, and could cause large food shortages.
Modern or industrialized agriculture is dependent on petroleum in two fundamental ways: 1) cultivation - to get the crop from seed to harvest and 2) transport - to get the harvest from the farm to the consumer's refrigerator. It takes approximately 400 gallons of oil a year per citizen in developed countries to fuel the tractors, combines and other equipment used on farms for cultivation or 17 percent of the those nations’ total energy use. Oil and natural gas are also the building blocks of the fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used on farms. Petroleum is also providing the energy required to process food before it reaches the market. It takes the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to produce a two-pound bag of breakfast cereal. And that still does not count the energy needed to transport that cereal to market; it is the transport of processed foods and crops that consumes the most oil. The kiwi from New Zealand, the asparagus from Argentina, the melons and broccoli from Guatemala, the organic lettuce from California -most food items on the US consumer's plate travel average of 1,500 miles just to get there.
Oil shortages could interrupt this food supply. The consumer's growing awareness of this vulnerability is one of several factors fueling current interest in organic agriculture and other sustainable farming methods. Some farmers using modern organic-farming methods reporting yields as high as those available from conventional farming (but without the use of fossil-fuel-intensive artificial fertilizers or pesticides. However, the reconditioning of soil to restore nutrients lost during the use of monoculture agriculture techniques made possible by petroleum-based technology will take time.
Modern or industrialized agriculture is dependent on petroleum in two fundamental ways: 1) cultivation - to get the crop from seed to harvest and 2) transport - to get the harvest from the farm to the consumer's refrigerator. It takes approximately 400 gallons of oil a year per citizen in developed countries to fuel the tractors, combines and other equipment used on farms for cultivation or 17 percent of the those nations’ total energy use. Oil and natural gas are also the building blocks of the fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used on farms. Petroleum is also providing the energy required to process food before it reaches the market. It takes the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to produce a two-pound bag of breakfast cereal. And that still does not count the energy needed to transport that cereal to market; it is the transport of processed foods and crops that consumes the most oil. The kiwi from New Zealand, the asparagus from Argentina, the melons and broccoli from Guatemala, the organic lettuce from California -most food items on the US consumer's plate travel average of 1,500 miles just to get there.
Oil shortages could interrupt this food supply. The consumer's growing awareness of this vulnerability is one of several factors fueling current interest in organic agriculture and other sustainable farming methods. Some farmers using modern organic-farming methods reporting yields as high as those available from conventional farming (but without the use of fossil-fuel-intensive artificial fertilizers or pesticides. However, the reconditioning of soil to restore nutrients lost during the use of monoculture agriculture techniques made possible by petroleum-based technology will take time.
Solution - Locavores, Eating Local Food
The dependence on oil and vulnerability of the food supply has also led to the creation of a conscious consumption movement in which consumers count the "food miles" a food product has traveled. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture defines a food mile as: "...the distance food travels from where it is grown or raised to where it is ultimately purchased by the consumer or end-user."
In a comparison of locally-grown food and long-distance food, researchers at the Leopold Center found that local food traveled an average of 44.6 miles to reach its destination compared with 1,546 miles for conventionally-grown and shipped food.
Consumers in the new local food movement who count food miles call themselves "locavores"; they advocate a return to a locally-based food system where food comes from as close as possible. In addition to the "locavore" movement, concern over dependence on oil-based agriculture has also dramatically increased interest in home and community gardening.
In a comparison of locally-grown food and long-distance food, researchers at the Leopold Center found that local food traveled an average of 44.6 miles to reach its destination compared with 1,546 miles for conventionally-grown and shipped food.
Consumers in the new local food movement who count food miles call themselves "locavores"; they advocate a return to a locally-based food system where food comes from as close as possible. In addition to the "locavore" movement, concern over dependence on oil-based agriculture has also dramatically increased interest in home and community gardening.
Solution - Food For Food, Not For Fuela
Farmers have also begun raising crops such as corn (maize) for non-food use in an effort to help mitigate peak oil. This has contributed to a 130% rise in wheat prices recently, and has been indicated as a possible precursor to serious social unrest in developing countries. Such situations would be exacerbated in the event of future rises in food and fuel costs, factors which have already impacted the ability of charitable donors to send food aid to starving populations.
In 2007, higher incentives for farmers to grow non-food biofuel crops combined with other factors such as over-development of former farm lands, rising transportation costs, climate change, growing meat consumption in China and India, caused food shortages in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Mexico, as well as increase in food prices around the globe. As of December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls. Some of these shortages resulted in food riots and even deadly stampedes.
In 2007, higher incentives for farmers to grow non-food biofuel crops combined with other factors such as over-development of former farm lands, rising transportation costs, climate change, growing meat consumption in China and India, caused food shortages in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Mexico, as well as increase in food prices around the globe. As of December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls. Some of these shortages resulted in food riots and even deadly stampedes.
Solution - Revival of Small Farms
One national advertisement by a US farm machinery manufacturer depicts the historical development of farming techniques, leading up to the phenomenal modern harvests. The first illustration shows a single man in a corner of a field cutting small amounts of grain by hand with a scythe. He represents the earliest, "primitive" farming methods. The second illustration shows a man driving a horse-drawn machine, indicating how much more could be accomplished using animals. The third illustration pictures an early tractor in operation, and the series ends with a photograph of a giant, modern tractor silhouetted against a blue sky and endless fields of perfectly cut grain. The tractor is replete with a wraparound windshield, radio, air conditioning, and padded dash.
But if the first illustration were expanded beyond the close-up of the lone man in one corner of the field, we would see a whole field of men working together with scythes, very much as they still gather bundles of grain in parts of India and other developing countries. In America the process of urbanization has brought nearly all the descendants of those people who formerly worked in the fields with scythes, horses, and oxen into an economic dependence upon a comparatively small number of farmers using sophisticated machinery. Unscrupulous business practices by food processing conglomerates, inflated living costs, a scarcity of honest labor, bad weather, an exodus of young people to the cities, and the high cost of machinery and artificial fertilizers have forced many owners of smaller farms to exploit the land for as much yield as possible, as soon as possible, as often as possible. Yet the numbers of farms going out of business indicate that it still costs too much to produce too little.
The latest federal Agriculture Department figures show that between 1954 and 1974 the United States farm population dropped more than 50%—until today only about 10 million people (out of a nation of more than 260 million) live on farms. In addition, although the total farmland remained at about one billion acres, the number of farms dropped almost 42%. In fact, since the 1940s the number of farms has decreased by three million, and it continues to drop by two thousand per week. Clearly, "agribusiness" is gobbling up the small- and medium-size farms.
But if the first illustration were expanded beyond the close-up of the lone man in one corner of the field, we would see a whole field of men working together with scythes, very much as they still gather bundles of grain in parts of India and other developing countries. In America the process of urbanization has brought nearly all the descendants of those people who formerly worked in the fields with scythes, horses, and oxen into an economic dependence upon a comparatively small number of farmers using sophisticated machinery. Unscrupulous business practices by food processing conglomerates, inflated living costs, a scarcity of honest labor, bad weather, an exodus of young people to the cities, and the high cost of machinery and artificial fertilizers have forced many owners of smaller farms to exploit the land for as much yield as possible, as soon as possible, as often as possible. Yet the numbers of farms going out of business indicate that it still costs too much to produce too little.
The latest federal Agriculture Department figures show that between 1954 and 1974 the United States farm population dropped more than 50%—until today only about 10 million people (out of a nation of more than 260 million) live on farms. In addition, although the total farmland remained at about one billion acres, the number of farms dropped almost 42%. In fact, since the 1940s the number of farms has decreased by three million, and it continues to drop by two thousand per week. Clearly, "agribusiness" is gobbling up the small- and medium-size farms.
Bhagavan: Now they have... the other day in the paper that India exploded its first atomic bomb.
Prabhupada: Yes, and therefore yet it has become very great.
Yogesvara: Now its in the top six.
Prabhupada: But there is no food. Never mind, you starve, but get your atom bomb. That's all. This is civilization. There was a cartoon. Somebody approached some politician, and he said, "Yes, I know there is food problem. So I cannot say what can I do for you, but from next week, you will have television." This is their program, "From next week you will have television." As if television will minimize my hunger. This is the civilization.
Solution - Organics
Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.
Organic farming relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. Since 1990 the market for organic products has grown at a rapid pace, averaging 20-25 percent per year to reach $33 billion in 2005. This demand has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 306,000 square kilometers (30.6 million hectares) worldwide are now farmed organically, representing approximately 2% of total world farmland. In addition, as of 2005 organic wild products are farmed on approximately 62 million hectares.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic organizations established in 1972.
Organic farming relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. Since 1990 the market for organic products has grown at a rapid pace, averaging 20-25 percent per year to reach $33 billion in 2005. This demand has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 306,000 square kilometers (30.6 million hectares) worldwide are now farmed organically, representing approximately 2% of total world farmland. In addition, as of 2005 organic wild products are farmed on approximately 62 million hectares.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic organizations established in 1972.
Solution - Isavasya (God-centered) Farming
By Rupanuga dasa
A God-centered farming conception is relevant because it forms the basis for a workable agricultural life-style which includes a strict consideration of the ecological balance between humans, animals, the land, and God. Although sophisticated modern farmers might concede that the success of their endeavors, including their use of innovative machinery, depends in the end on "acts of Providence or God," or at least upon chance, the Isavasya (God-centered) farmer considers that long-range production and ecological balance require actual God consciousness. Therefore, even today in many parts of India, farmers make a point of gratefully offering God a portion of the crop in the form of prasada, or vegetarian food preparations. These offerings are often part of community celebrations in which the members of the community or village meet, especially in the morning and evening, to chant God's holy names and dance.
This God-centered attitude does not reflect a "primitive" agrarian culture or mentality of a distant Indian sect, but about a life-style that's in real harmony with the ideals of sustainable living. In fact, some of the most successful of the modern farm communities are based expressly upon isavasya principles.
Members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) say that farm communities of theirs don't use technological prowess to try to outwit natural laws. Rather, community members try to do their work in a God-conscious way. "Success cannot come by working at your own risk," says one follower, "You may get good results for a while, but lasting success depends on how conscious you are of your relationship with the actual proprietor of nature."
Gradually, we have to become aware that God is always present— in every place and at every moment. As we learn this art of being conscious of God's presence, we will naturally develop a devotional, serving attitude toward everyone, including humans, plants, and animals. Then we will see all living beings as spiritually equal, because all living beings are equally related with God. Thus, in one sense, returning to the land, to vegetarianism, to nonviolence, to herbal medicine, and to ecological concern—returning to nature-- necessitates returning to God consciousness, our natural consciousness. The age-old Vedic literatures describe that consciousness, in clear-cut, scientific terms.
In fact, in most instances the work of scientists like Howard, Kervran, Baranger, and Hauschka echoes these Vedic conclusions. Howard, for example, simply rediscovered ancient, biologically sound, and ecologically balanced agrarian practices based upon Vedic principles. And Hauschka's assertion that life is not a combination of elements, that instead it "precedes" matter and "originates in a preexistent spiritual cosmos," tells us what the Vedic literatures said thousands of years ago. The Bhagavad-gita, the essence of the Vedas, verifies that individual life is never created or destroyed, but that it is moving (transmigrating) among temporary bodies sustained by God, the original life.
A God-centered farming conception is relevant because it forms the basis for a workable agricultural life-style which includes a strict consideration of the ecological balance between humans, animals, the land, and God. Although sophisticated modern farmers might concede that the success of their endeavors, including their use of innovative machinery, depends in the end on "acts of Providence or God," or at least upon chance, the Isavasya (God-centered) farmer considers that long-range production and ecological balance require actual God consciousness. Therefore, even today in many parts of India, farmers make a point of gratefully offering God a portion of the crop in the form of prasada, or vegetarian food preparations. These offerings are often part of community celebrations in which the members of the community or village meet, especially in the morning and evening, to chant God's holy names and dance.
This God-centered attitude does not reflect a "primitive" agrarian culture or mentality of a distant Indian sect, but about a life-style that's in real harmony with the ideals of sustainable living. In fact, some of the most successful of the modern farm communities are based expressly upon isavasya principles.
Members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) say that farm communities of theirs don't use technological prowess to try to outwit natural laws. Rather, community members try to do their work in a God-conscious way. "Success cannot come by working at your own risk," says one follower, "You may get good results for a while, but lasting success depends on how conscious you are of your relationship with the actual proprietor of nature."
Gradually, we have to become aware that God is always present— in every place and at every moment. As we learn this art of being conscious of God's presence, we will naturally develop a devotional, serving attitude toward everyone, including humans, plants, and animals. Then we will see all living beings as spiritually equal, because all living beings are equally related with God. Thus, in one sense, returning to the land, to vegetarianism, to nonviolence, to herbal medicine, and to ecological concern—returning to nature-- necessitates returning to God consciousness, our natural consciousness. The age-old Vedic literatures describe that consciousness, in clear-cut, scientific terms.
In fact, in most instances the work of scientists like Howard, Kervran, Baranger, and Hauschka echoes these Vedic conclusions. Howard, for example, simply rediscovered ancient, biologically sound, and ecologically balanced agrarian practices based upon Vedic principles. And Hauschka's assertion that life is not a combination of elements, that instead it "precedes" matter and "originates in a preexistent spiritual cosmos," tells us what the Vedic literatures said thousands of years ago. The Bhagavad-gita, the essence of the Vedas, verifies that individual life is never created or destroyed, but that it is moving (transmigrating) among temporary bodies sustained by God, the original life.
