When natural farming becomes a mission

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 26

Even when jobs in IT companies in Indonesia and then in Bangalore could not give satisfaction to this software engineer, Rahul Sharma (48), decided to turn his way towards nature. 

Sharma started doing natural farming a year ago after coming back to his ancestral village Mustafabad, Kapurthala, from Bangalore. 

He is now doing farming without using chemicals and pesticides in his fields where he is growing various crops including pulses, vegetables.

“What else can be more satisfying than knowing the fact that because of you, others are eating healthy food without any kind of chemical in it,” said Sharma who is farming on six-acre of land.

“I am giving food to others, so it is my duty to provide them food which is harmless and not adulterated,” he said. 

He said that he is in contact with the farmers who are into natural farming.

He also shared that since natural products like cow dung, jaggery and cow urine were being used because of the non- availability of the natural manures and fertilisers.  He said, earlier, he used to ask someone from Bangalore to send him cow urine.

“I cannot risk anyone’s life just because I don’t have a particular item.  That was the time when I decided to make it possible,” he said.

Retired bank manager

An elderly couple, Harjeet Singh Saggi (67) (a retired bank employee) with his wife Parminder Kaur, residing at their ancestral home since last year only, after a long period of thirty years. The couple was away from this home due to their jobs.

It was only after they married their son and both the daughters went out of city to study, the couple chose to stay away from noise of the city. They decided to do natural farming on their 1.5 hectare of land which was close to their home.

They talk about their journey from Mumbai to Kamalpur, a small village in Hoshiarpur district.

A journey from handling records of bank accounts of customers to cultivate crops using cow urine and dung has taken Saggi to a new world where he finds himself at peace as he says, ‘Naukri karke enna sukoon nahee miliya jinna ethe hai’(I have never found peace when I was in service, this has given me the peace which I had been looking  for my whole life.)

In 1977, HS Saggi, joined banking services in Mumbai and after that, during various transfers, he joined services in different districts of Punjab till 2009 until his retirement.

He said after retirement he has started his second innings. The couple has grown turmeric, green chilli, ground nuts, soya bean, pulses, and vegetables.

“I feel that I should have started it earlier, because I am earning more than the amount I would earn while service”, says Saggi while he shows his farm.

He further said the mixture of 10kg of cow urine, 10kg cow dung, 2kg jaggery and oil which he uses in his farm.

An athlete Baljit Singh Kang (40), a national level cross-country player after got himself injured while doing his graduation has now developed his love for ‘farming’ which he says is a ‘pure game’ for him.

Kang who is from village Dhahan in Banga started doing natural farming seven years ago, after trying hands in teaching and in a restaurant business. He said that he had an inclination towards farming since his childhood because his father and grandfather were also associated with the same profession.

“My forefathers were farmers, but they used chemicals and pesticides in their farming techniques. Since I am a player, I wanted to go for something that was original and could benefit others,” he said.“ I would recommend every farmer in the state to adopt natural farming,” he said