Ayurvedic gardening -- Ayurvijnan

[Guest guest]

In yesterda's post tiltled Food and Cancer, we saw how chemical

residues in food are propogating diseases such as cancer. The major

attack of chemicals on human beings results in loss of fertility or

intelligence/immune disfunction. Increase in assisted reproduction

(ART), perimenopause related problems can be attributed to cheical

induced CNS dysfunction. The reducing quantities of active ingredients in

ayurvedic herbs has also been an area of concern to this author. Though old

Vaidyas used to prepare medicines suited to each individual, the lack of

availability of herb parts rich in active ingredient forces Vaidyas to depend on

pharmacies supplying extracts or concentrates. And government is considering

encouraging ayurvedic farming on similar principles as food farming. Unless this

is done properly, we may be loosing original herbs, in the same manner as

original seeds are no more available in case of food grains.

 

In old days, Vaidyas used to bring the herbs from forests themselves,

with the special knowledge they had on which part and in what

condition to take. Some Vaidyas used to have medicinal plants in

their court yard. And almost every Hindu in India keeps Tulsi in his

house. Those suffering from bad breath can try five to eleven green

Tulsi leaves chewing after every food, and no medication will ever be

needed. Thus to gain health, some farming principles, science of how

herbs obtain their medicnal qualities by absorbing fundamental

elements (earth, water, fire, air) from environment is necessary.

Once we learn how herbs obtain their qualities from environment,

learning ayurveda becomes just one step further.

 

Ayurvvijnan or what western scientists term Biodynamics is the

science of life forces, a recognition of the basic principles

at work in nature. Bio means "life" and dynamics refers

to "energy". Hence Biodynamic agriculture suggests working with

the energies which create and maintain life.

 

There is not a single place on this planet, apart from a few very

remote areas which have not been contaminated with chemical

pesticides, or even with fertilisers. This has come about only in the

last fifty years. Most of the fertilisers - especially the urea

fertilisers - were developed during War time as explosives. Since

that time, they have been used extensively in agriculture. In fact,

the whole agriculture of this century has drawn upon natural reserves

of humus and soil, which have been accumulated by Nature through many

decades of natural vegetation growths.

 

Having produced those chemicals, and we know very little about their

consequent effects on the environment. Chemical fertilisers are very

soluble salts, which change the nature of the soil, waters, and

substantially alter the ecology of the plants.

 

Using chemical fertilisers is similar to a non-nutritious human diet.

Can plant nutrition be reduced to only a couple of minerals? The

approach is similar to our popping vitamin pills and supplements.

 

Fertiliser-based methods that reduce plant nutrition to a set of

minerals imply that one can disconnect the health of a plant from its

surrounding ecology, including insect pests. This approach is one

that treats illnesses according to symptoms and not the cause. In

this way it is similar to the modern allopathic method of treatment.

Many modern medicines are based on symptomatic treatment. The same

mode of thinking has been applied in agriculture: there is a pest and

the pest has to be killed, no matter what happens around it. It is

not realised, that often the pest has its origin in the malnutrition

of the soil. Improving the quality of the soil leads to stronger,

healthier plants which in turn are more disease and pest resistant.

This fact suggests that if plants were healthier, pesticides would

not be necessary. This philosophy is similar to the one applied by Dr

Reams to Humna health

 

In agriculture, a bad soil yields unhealthy vegetables, which are

prone to parasites, to rot, fungi, etc. Inside a human body, the same

applies. When the soil, i.e. the blood, the mineral and vitamin

status is bad, the blood and tissue become a place where the protits

(Enderlein) can't live anymore. They transform into pathogenic

microbes (viri, bacteria, molds, fungi, yeasts) and start to destroy

the host. At the same time, they try to create the perfect habitat by

excreting acids that make the soil even worse, so these microbes can

thrive inside the body.

 

Modern medicine assumes that these diseases as caused by invasive

microbes or because of an overactive immune system or a defective

immune system. Energy medicine tries to kill the

pathogenic materializations of the protits, but it doesn't change the

soil. Alternative medicine like homeopathy tries to relieve the

symptoms using interesting techniques. Low-carb approaches are also

quite nice, as it strarves the microbes and boosts immunity. Alas,

it's all not enough and it doesn't tackle the real problem: The soil

is still a perfect habitat for the pathogenic microbes.

 

The only real cure of any disease can be found when we start to focus

on the soil. More info on this theory can be obtained at:

http://www.newtreatments.org/reams

 

 

The earth is a living body. Whatever we do at this part of the planet

has consequences at another. Even the people living in the Arctic

have been tested positive for traces of chlorides and DDT in their

bodies, although there is no farming in those remote regions of the

planet. Why? Somebody in Africa is spraying DDT on his cotton crops.

The rains wash the pesticidine into the river which in turn carries

it into the ocean. Oceans are the circulation body of the earth; all

their currents reach to every corner of the globe including the

poles ... and the circle continues.

 

We need to change the way of farming, not only of medicinal plants

but also of our food, fruits and grains. Ayurvijnan recognises that

soil itself can be alive. In Hindu philosophy, earth is called

mother. If we enrich the soil with life-sustaining properties the

plants will carry those life forces. That, in turn, will give us life

as well. Therefore, one of Ayurvijnan fundamental efforts is to

build up stable humus in our soil through composting.

 

After using chemical fertilisers for nearly 40 years, in India,

more than 1000 farmers are now cultivating cotton in new way. Along

with cotton they cultivate a whole range of crops, such as wheat,

maize, peas, soya beans, bananas and sugar-cane. In South India,

these agricultural principles are used in an area of about 7000

acres. Also tea is cultivated organically. Likewise, these methods

are in use in some of the Darjeeling tea gardens.

 

Origin of Ayurvijnan Agriculture

 

Though Indian agriculture used these methods for millennium, this

ecological agricultural system was researched in the 1920s in Europe

and Australiya. It draws extensively on traditional agricultural

knowledge and wisdom which was present in the traditional farming

communities. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), an Austrian philosopher,

scientist, artist, educator, and the founder of antroposophy,

developed this agricultural system and gave the name Biodynamics.

Biodynamic cultivation has developed into a world-wide movement since

1922. The products from this type of agriculture are marketed in

Europe, the United States, Australia or New Zealand.

 

Informed consumers in the industrialised countries have now realised

the importance of organic and biodynamic food, and are willing to pay

a premium price for food that is 100% free from any pesticides.

 

Quality or Quantity

 

The main aim of natural cultivation is to improve the quality of

either food, fiber or medicinal plants. Of course, it also aims at

improving the yields but, most importantly, it concentrates on

quality.

 

In this century, more and more chemical fertilisers and genetically modified

seeds have been

developed to produce maximum yields. The main objective has been to

increase the yields. The reason is simple: bigger yields bring more

money. Most vegetable producers have been cheating the consumer by

selling them water for the price of vegetables. For example, dried

carrots which have been chemically fertilised show less weight than

organic carrots.

 

Adding fertilisers, which are salts, to plants, means that the

plants draw more water from the soil in order to balance the ratio of

fiber to salt inside. Consequently, as the plant cells expand and

swell with water, the ratio of proteins and even vitamins decreases,

and the essential oils, which have important medicinal properties,

deteriorate. It has been scientifically proven that the amount of

vitamins is less in chemically fertilised products. There is an

imbalance of vitamins because the fertilised plants draw only one

kind of nutrient and not all the trace elements. Hence, it does not

produce the entire range of vitamins, and its whole value changes.

 

Quality of Medicinal Plants

 

What we want to achieve in natural farming of medicinal plants, is

the cultivation of the inherent quality of the plant. That is the

very subtle active principle, which the plant has in very minute

quantities. Instead of substance, here we are dealing with essential

oils, which are almost not substantial, sometimes present only in

parts per million.

 

What is quality, and how can we provide quality in food or in

medicinal plants? What are the indicators for quality in medicinal

plants? Quality comprises certain active principles, such as taste,

juice, colour, seed content in the fruits, nutritional value, the

vitamin and protein content. The question is, do we know how to

evaluate subtle medicinal properties?

 

How do we define the taste, the aroma, the smell of flowers? How do

we increase the scent of a rose, and how do we make oranges more

sweet? How do we increase the content of active principles in

medicinal plants? Does science know how to produce the best quality

of food? Author question whether we know, for example, how to produce

maize with the best content of protein or vitamins. The answer is

perhaps no.

 

Modern agricultural sciences are based on how to work with yields.

We know how to produce quantity but we don't know how to produce

quality. We are facing the tragedy that roses don't have any smell

any more; oranges have lost their taste; tomatoes are not sweet any

more; carrots are bitter, and cultivated medicinal plants have less

active principles.

 

Characteristics of the Himalayan Flora and Fauna

 

Each plant develops in a particular ecological zone. Here in the

Darjeeling Hills we meet with this fantastic possibility of having

land from very low elevations up to very high summits. Additionally

the climate provides a lot of warmth and moisture. This combination

of moisture and warmth creates very specific kinds of chemicals in

the plants.

 

In high altitude mountains the principles are mainly dry and cold,

with a lot of light. In contrast, the valleys are full of moisture,

heat with a lot of vegetation and rather dark forests. Those extremes

produce substances that are very different from each other.

 

In the higher regions of the Himalayas plants grow on very dry

soils. These, in many cases, are sandy and not very fertile.

The cold climate limits the plants' growth. On lower elevations, the

plants produces a lot of leaf, and in higher altitude they prominent

with the flowers.

 

The post will be continued tomorrow.

Dr Bhate