G Nammalvar, messiah of organic revolution
Ramasamy Selvam
Friday 31 January 2014
G Nammalvar
The history of organic farming movement in Tamil Nadu starts
with Nammalvar. He always said it is no use trying to teach a farmer. Instead,
one should make the farmer understand the issue. He never stopped learning from
them himself and had become a vast repository of farming practices and
knowledge that he shared with whoever was interested. He never pushed ideas
down anyone’s throat. Each farm is unique according to the farmers’ understanding
and the conditions, Nammalvar would say. He would keep experimenting with what
he learned from the farmers, refined this knowledge and then gave it back to
them.
One of his sayings was: “Farming is not a way of producing
crops to make money. It is a way of living, and a way of living that is
possible even in the 21st century.” He trained hundreds of farm youths as
trainers and helped many farmers to be master trainers—all this without
government support.
Nammalvar gave up his trousers and shirt and always dressed
in a simple way, wearing the same kind of clothes the farmers wore. Sometimes
when he would arrive, dirty with travel, someone would give him a new set of
clothes and get the old ones washed and ready for his next visit. He learned to
speak simply, too, so that he got his message across. Simple sentences with
Tamil proverbs, telling real stories that touched the heart of his listeners.
He could keep scientists and agriculture experts also spellbound. He travelled
extensively and spent most nights in buses. One evening Nammalvar suddenly
asked: “What would you like written on your graves?” All of us said different
things. When his turn came, he took a little time and then said: “This is what
I want written. ‘Here sleeps peacefully a man who disturbed some people’s
sleep’.” Yes, he now sleeps after rousing thousands from their sleep. He made
his whole life a mission of speaking about the ills of chemical farming and the
need for organic farming for nearly four decades.
Once a reporter asked, early in Nammalvar’s crusade, if he
was sure farmers would switch to or ganic. He replied: “I don’t mind if they do
not change now. My work is to tell the truth and sow the seeds. Some seeds
germinate quickly if the field is good. Others will take weeks and some will
take years. I am sure my seeds are good seeds and will germinate surely even
after decades.” That has happened. As a result, almost all the political
parties have listed support to organic farming in their election manifesto.
This silent revolution was sown by him.
The last time I met him was on December 29 at a book release
function in Thanjavur. He was very weak so we all pleaded with him not speak.
But he refused and said people were there to listen to me. He spoke for more
than an hour. After the meeting we urged him to rest for a few days. But he was
insistent on continuing his campaign against the gas project in the Cauvery
delta. He died the next day in a hamlet called Pisini near Atthipatti in
Pattukkotai block. He leaves a vacuum that none can fill.
Ramasamy Selvam is coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Organic
Farmers’ Federation
TAGS
Print Edition, Obituary, Tamil Nadu, Scientists, Organic
Farming, Methane, Farmers, Down To Earth, Cauvery, Agriculture, Agricultural
Research,
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