May 31, 2008

Free health is base of protection

"Man has been facing many problems, both of the body and mind, as he has moved away from nature. Going back to natural living is the best way to avoid disease and stress," Azadi Bachao Andolan convenor Rajiv Dikshit said on Thursday.
A simple and natural lifestyle that consists of consuming organic food and occasional use of Ayurvedic medicines was the safest and cheapest way to maintain good health, he said.
He was speaking at a youth conference organised by the Hyderabad-Karnataka Development Wing (HKDW) of the Kottala Basaveshwara Indian Education Society in Anadur in Bidar taluk.
He urged the people to get to know the ancient knowledge and use herbal medicines.
"Ayurveda offers cure to many diseases. We should develop an interest in it and use the medicines in the right way."
Otherwise, scientists in other countries would take advantage of it. Already, many western nations had tried to patent the properties and usages of indigenous herbs and animals.
Some U.S. companies had succeeded in getting patents on certain uses of turmeric, neem, cow's urine and even potato peel, he said.
Mr. Dikshit claimed that Ayurvedic doctors at Sevagram in Uttar Pradesh had treated many cases of chikungunya using neem juice and other herbal medicines.
He criticised the use of chemicals in farming, saying it was costly, non-remunerative and had destructive consequences on the soil.
Organic and natural farming, on the other hand, were low cost and high yielding and mad the soil rich.
Hybrid seeds
"We need to start a movement to popularise these methods," he said.
Mr. Dikshit pointed out that farmers had developed the practice of sowing hybrid seeds to such an extent that very few farmers in the country had pure breed seeds of the native variety now. Farmers were now using only native breeds of sugarcane seeds.
The day was not far when they too would start using hybrid seeds for sugarcane, he said.
Mr. Dikshit urged farmers not to neglect native breeds of cows and buffaloes.
Research had proved that native breeds of cattle had very high resistance power and other positive characteristics.
"We should realise that exotic breeds are high yielding, but their maintenance costs are high. They are also more prone to diseases," he said.
Schemes
District convener of HKDW Revana Siddappa Jalade said they had taken up many welfare schemes in Bidar and other districts in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
"We have started tailoring training centres, English-speaking courses, computer literacy programmes and farmer training sessions. We have also started giving scholarships to meritorious students in schools and colleges in the district.
The Infosys Foundation and the Sarojini Damodar Trust of Bangalore are helping us," he said.
Promoter of organic farming B.S. Kudre, leaders such as Shantareddy Kalburgi, Sangamesh Nasigar, Dhoolappa Suralli and Nagendra were present.

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