G Nammalvar was one of a kind, a messiah of
farmers who was revered as a saint-teacher by his
followers. He was an
agriculture scientist, a graduate of Annamalai University, who left a
government job at the research station at Kovilpatti when he realised
that he could do nothing for the resource-poor farmers who depend on
rains to cultivate their parched land. Thus began an odyssey of half a
century when Nammalvar travelled across Tamil Nadu spreading the message
of organic farming in his gentle style of story-telling to make farmers
understand what is good for them. “By using chemical fertilisers,”
Nammalvar said early on, “I found that farmers incurred only losses and
costs went up. I realised then that in order to get optimal results in
farming, farmers should rely minimally on external inputs like
fertilisers. This was a turning point in my life.”
Here, organic farmer
Ramasamy Selvam who first met
Nammalvar in 1993, talks about his association with this icon of
sustainable farming who passed away on December 30, 2013, while leading a
campaign against the plan to extract methane gas in Cauvery delta. He
was 75. Every politician of note in Tamil Nadu, from Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa to Vaiko of MDMK, mourned his death as “an irreparable
loss”.
G NammalvarThe
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
