255
Sustainable Yogic Agriculture
SYA superimposes a spiritual dimension onto standard organic practices, a dimension on which
it places great emphasis. As a meditation-focused farming system, it offers synergies with the
alternative agricultural movements, sharing common goals towards healthy food and community
well-being. Such movements claim to be holistic, but to date, many of them have avoided or underemphasised the mind–matter dimension that is brought to the fore with SYA. SYA has achieved
relatively good results at a local, national and international level in a very short (12 years) time
period, and interest could spread further afeld with the increased recognition and adoption of meditation practices originating from India. This study also highlights the psycho-social benefts of the
meditation practice, which are incurred frst by the farmer and then positively impact the entire
farming family and community. This increased peace of mind – and fewer suicides 1 – cannot be
overestimated in the context of the plight of small farmers in India and other regions of the world.
REFERENCES
Aikenhead, G. and Michell, H. (2011) Bridging Cultures: Indigenous and Scientifc Ways of Knowing Nature.
New York, ON: Pearson Canada Ltd. Don Mills.
Apffel-Marglin, F. (2012) Subversive Spiritualities: How Rituals Enact the World. Oxford Ritual Studies
Series. New York: Oxford University Press.
BBC (2015) India minister backs ‘yogic’ farming to ‘empower seeds’. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/
news/world-asia-india-34254964 [accessed September 5th, 2020].
Bellwood, P. (2005) First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Brahma Kumaris (ND). Introducing ourselves. Available at: http://brahmakumaristhane.com/ [accessed
August 10th, 2020].
Craven, J. and I’poyi, O. (2009) Indigenous epistemology and scientifc method. Presented at the 16th Congress
of the IUAES, Kunming, China July 26–31.
Dossey, L. (1998) Be Careful What You Pray for, You Just Might Get It: What We Can Do about the
Unintentional Effects of Our Thoughts, Prayers, and Wishes. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins.
Ducharme, L.J. (2007) The effects of intentional thought in close proximity or at a distance: Demonstrating
the relation between mind and matter on seed germination. Ph.D. Thesis, Missouri: Holos University.
http://www.holosuniversity.net/pdf/DuCharme_L_PDF%20(1).pdf.
Eisenstein, C. (2013) The more Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
Emoto, M. (2004) Healing with water. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 10(1): 19–24.
Erickson, D.L. (2016) Integrating body, mind and spirit: An essay reviewing the physiological, psychological,
and spiritual benefts of meditation. Journal of Transpersonal Research 8(2): 147–159.
IARC (2015) IARC monographs volume 112: Evaluation of fve organophosphate insecticides and herbicides.
Internal Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Rome: World Health Organization.
IPCC (2019) Global warming of 1.5°C: The intergovernmental panel on climate change. Available at: https://
www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [accessed August 8th, 2020].
Kebio EU (2016). Spirituality and organic farming. Available at: https://www.kebio.eu/en/news/yoga-andagriculture.html [accessed August 10th, 2020].
Kieft, H. (2006) Quantum agriculture: Bridging frontline physics and intuitive knowledge of nature. In:
Haverkort, B. and Reijntjes, C. (eds), Moving Worldviews, Reshaping Sciences, Policies and Practices
for Endogenous Sustainable Development, pp. 209–218. Leusden: ETC/Compas.
Loehr, F. (1959) The Power of Prayer on Plants and People. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Pandey, S.T., Verma, O., Kewalanand, Pandey, D.S., Gill, S., Patel, J.C., Patel, G.N., Patel, D.M., Patel, B.T.,
Patel, B.B., Patel, D.S., Patel, I.S., Patel, R.N., Singh, N.K., and Thakur, D.M. (2015) Yogic farming
through Brahma Kumaris Raja yoga meditation: An ancient technique for enhancing crop performance.
Asian Agri-History 19(2): 105–122.
Patel, B.T., Patel, I.S., and Patel, M.M. (2011) Visit report for Brahma Kumaris Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
SD Agriculture University. Available online: http://www.environment.brahmakumaris.org/images/
resources/Survey%20Report.pdf.
Pathath, A.W. (2017) Meditation: Techniques and benefts. International Journal of Current Research in
Medical Sciences 3(6): 162–168.
1 One Indian farmer commits suicide approximately every 42 minutes (Prasad, 2019).
Sustainable Yogic Agriculture
SYA superimposes a spiritual dimension onto standard organic practices, a dimension on which
it places great emphasis. As a meditation-focused farming system, it offers synergies with the
alternative agricultural movements, sharing common goals towards healthy food and community
well-being. Such movements claim to be holistic, but to date, many of them have avoided or underemphasised the mind–matter dimension that is brought to the fore with SYA. SYA has achieved
relatively good results at a local, national and international level in a very short (12 years) time
period, and interest could spread further afeld with the increased recognition and adoption of meditation practices originating from India. This study also highlights the psycho-social benefts of the
meditation practice, which are incurred frst by the farmer and then positively impact the entire
farming family and community. This increased peace of mind – and fewer suicides 1 – cannot be
overestimated in the context of the plight of small farmers in India and other regions of the world.
REFERENCES
Aikenhead, G. and Michell, H. (2011) Bridging Cultures: Indigenous and Scientifc Ways of Knowing Nature.
New York, ON: Pearson Canada Ltd. Don Mills.
Apffel-Marglin, F. (2012) Subversive Spiritualities: How Rituals Enact the World. Oxford Ritual Studies
Series. New York: Oxford University Press.
BBC (2015) India minister backs ‘yogic’ farming to ‘empower seeds’. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/
news/world-asia-india-34254964 [accessed September 5th, 2020].
Bellwood, P. (2005) First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Brahma Kumaris (ND). Introducing ourselves. Available at: http://brahmakumaristhane.com/ [accessed
August 10th, 2020].
Craven, J. and I’poyi, O. (2009) Indigenous epistemology and scientifc method. Presented at the 16th Congress
of the IUAES, Kunming, China July 26–31.
Dossey, L. (1998) Be Careful What You Pray for, You Just Might Get It: What We Can Do about the
Unintentional Effects of Our Thoughts, Prayers, and Wishes. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins.
Ducharme, L.J. (2007) The effects of intentional thought in close proximity or at a distance: Demonstrating
the relation between mind and matter on seed germination. Ph.D. Thesis, Missouri: Holos University.
http://www.holosuniversity.net/pdf/DuCharme_L_PDF%20(1).pdf.
Eisenstein, C. (2013) The more Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
Emoto, M. (2004) Healing with water. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 10(1): 19–24.
Erickson, D.L. (2016) Integrating body, mind and spirit: An essay reviewing the physiological, psychological,
and spiritual benefts of meditation. Journal of Transpersonal Research 8(2): 147–159.
IARC (2015) IARC monographs volume 112: Evaluation of fve organophosphate insecticides and herbicides.
Internal Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Rome: World Health Organization.
IPCC (2019) Global warming of 1.5°C: The intergovernmental panel on climate change. Available at: https://
www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [accessed August 8th, 2020].
Kebio EU (2016). Spirituality and organic farming. Available at: https://www.kebio.eu/en/news/yoga-andagriculture.html [accessed August 10th, 2020].
Kieft, H. (2006) Quantum agriculture: Bridging frontline physics and intuitive knowledge of nature. In:
Haverkort, B. and Reijntjes, C. (eds), Moving Worldviews, Reshaping Sciences, Policies and Practices
for Endogenous Sustainable Development, pp. 209–218. Leusden: ETC/Compas.
Loehr, F. (1959) The Power of Prayer on Plants and People. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Pandey, S.T., Verma, O., Kewalanand, Pandey, D.S., Gill, S., Patel, J.C., Patel, G.N., Patel, D.M., Patel, B.T.,
Patel, B.B., Patel, D.S., Patel, I.S., Patel, R.N., Singh, N.K., and Thakur, D.M. (2015) Yogic farming
through Brahma Kumaris Raja yoga meditation: An ancient technique for enhancing crop performance.
Asian Agri-History 19(2): 105–122.
Patel, B.T., Patel, I.S., and Patel, M.M. (2011) Visit report for Brahma Kumaris Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
SD Agriculture University. Available online: http://www.environment.brahmakumaris.org/images/
resources/Survey%20Report.pdf.
Pathath, A.W. (2017) Meditation: Techniques and benefts. International Journal of Current Research in
Medical Sciences 3(6): 162–168.
1 One Indian farmer commits suicide approximately every 42 minutes (Prasad, 2019).