German Lad Leon on a Mission to Learn about Indian Organic Farming
German Lad Leon Wiesemann from Bonn-Germany on a Mission to Learn about Indian Organic Farming- he arrived here in the month of August 2017 and will go back in the month of June 2018.
Mangaluru: A group of 50 youth from Germany had landed in India in August 2017, of which 40 of them took up a mission working and learning about NGO/Ashrams in India, while the other ten, are on a mission to learn about the Organic Farming in India- and one among them is 18-year-old Leon Wiesemann, hailing from Bonn-Germany. Leon’s father, Andreas Wiesemann is a professor at a University in Bonn, while his mother, Gabrielle is an architect- Leon has a sister named Simona, who is in High school.
Leon will be in Karnataka for 11 months, during which he will be touring various villages in the State learning about the organic farming. The objectives behind the mission is to learn about the best practises and have organically grown produce free from pesticide residues in their own backyard. According to Leon, a young researcher in organic farming, that due to numerous health-related issues, Germans are now switching over to organic farming.
Leon Wiesemann seen with Kumareshwara (Treasurer) and Hareesh Yadav (Secretary) of SINDS
After browsing through Internet Leon got in contact with a Bengaluru based Non-Government Organization (NGO) Field Services Limited (FSL), who have placed Leon and his friend Sebastian Muller in a farmhouse in Mandarthi near Udupi, under the guidance of Social Infrastructure Development Society (SINDS). Leon and his friend are very happy due to the courteous and kind hospitality shown by the SINDS members, among who are Kumareshwara Bhat-the Treasurer and Hareesh Yadav A-the Secretary of the organization. Being a Non-Governmental Organization, Social Infrastructure Development Society (SINDS) works for the development of the villages.
For over the last 5 years in the State, SINDS has been contributing immensely to the development of the communities including farmers, women, youth and children in the field of Environment, health, education and livelihood. SINDS works for the development of villages with a Goal- “By utilizing rustic and local resources to a maximum level, creating a stable development and side by side helps to entertain the vulnerable group into a mainstream of the society”. They are committed to provide quality services to our target groups, the current proposed activities under various projects aims at socio-economic development of the people in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada Districts.
The Aims and Objectives of SINDS is -To support the women folk of Unorganized sector and family empowerment; To make an integrated development of little bread earners and destitute; To provide basic infrastructure to village community; To influence the government by organizing unorganized sectors’ labourers; To maintain and manage the youth’s social and emotional feelings by stress coping mechanisms from counseling and guidance; To conduct integrated training programmes in order to motivate village youngster’s skills as well as abilities; and To emphasize value based education in Education System; To support value based political education and village leadership; To establish and lead Training Centers to accelerate the skills and professionalism of teams those are active in Developmental field; To analyze, evaluate, social review and follow-up of already implemented projects; To assist Developmental Projects by fetching technical, extra-technical supports;- and with the support and encouragement from Kumareshwara and Hareesh, Leon is learning many different ways and culture of Indian farming and village lifestyle.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Leon said that presently Germany uses fertilizers and pesticides for growing its vegetables. “The produce laced with pesticide residues are causing numerous health-related problems among Germans, so many of them have opt for organic farming. Indian style of organic farming has fired the imagination of Germans. My focus during my 11 months stay here is to focus on studying Indian approach to grow vegetables and other produce organically- by this method there will be a control on health related issues” added Leon.
“In Germany presently Organic foodstuffs are in great demand. Even discounters are responding to the trend. There are certainly a lot of positive things about Organic Farming: It forgoes pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and as such does not pollute the groundwater, it does a lot for species protection and keeps the soil fertile – and it also impacts positively on climate protection. Conventional farming, on the other hand, consumes a lot of fossil energy. Indeed, it takes more than a litre of crude oil to produce a kilogram of nitrogen for artificial fertilizers. Organic farming, on the other hand, uses solar energy for natural fertilizing with nitrogen-fixing plants. Increasing numbers of German farmers are relying on organic production, with 7.5 percent of all arable land now cultivated ecologically” added Leon.
Leon further said, “Organic farming has established itself alongside conventional agriculture as an important pillar of the German agriculture and food industry. However, that the government was still far from achieving its goal of increasing the share of organic farming to 20 percent of the total agricultural area. No specific date has yet been given for its implementation. Germany is the largest organic market in Europe, but the scarcity of land available for organic farming could threaten its long-term development. But here in India I see lot of scope for organic farming, and the farmers around the Southern part of India are very much interested in organic farming than traditional farming.”
Kumareshwara speaking to Team Mangalorean said that there is a growing interest among foreigners towards organic farming practices in India. ” The increase in number of visits of such research teams to organic farmers in and around coastal districts are ample indications. And looking at Leon he is very eager and very much committed in learning about the organic farming concept here. He is getting along good with the villagers whenever he visits the farms- and he has also learned quite a bit of Kannada- and during spare time I teach him some basic Kannada, so that he could communicate with the villagers. His favorite Indian food is Parota, Pulav, Chicken Tandoori and Biriyani- he has made Udupi just like home away from his home in Bonn”.
Hareesh speaking said, ” I am really overwhelmed by the unwavering enthusiasm shown by Leon and other Germans towards studying organic farming. Looking at Leon and other Germans, I have a feeling that Germany will be having organically grown produce in no time. Indian model of organic farming has become just as popular as Ayurveda”
