In yet another controversial remark on the farmers' crisis in the country, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has said that 'yogic farming' can help empower seeds through positive thinking.
"The idea behind Yogic farming is to empower the seeds with the help of positive thinking. We should enhance the potency of seeds by rays of parmatma shakti," Singh said at a function for farmers and agriculturists in Delhi over the weekend, The Indian Express reported.
"Every day, farmers should give vibrations of peace, love and divinity to seeds and his farm land with the help of Rajyog, so that it will help increase growth and resistance power," the agriculture minister said, citing studies.
Radha Mohan Singh said that the BJP government has supported the idea of yogic farming.
"We are supporting organic farming and, along with it, the idea of Rajyog. Such exercise is accepted by my ministry essentially to enhance Indian farmers' confidence. Indian farmers have, over the years, lost confidence in the age-tested knowledge of farming," he said.
The agriculture minister had only recently faced flak for his comment on farmer suicides in the Parliament in July, when he had said that love affairs and impotency were among the reasons behind the high rate of farmer suicides in the country.
"According to the National Crime Records Bureau, causes of (farmer) suicides include family problems, illness, drugs... dowry, love affairs and impotency," Singh had said in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier this year, another BJP leader, Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar called farmers committing suicides as "cowards".
More than 1,400 farmers have committed suicide this year alone due to crop failure across the country.
Last year, 5,650 farmers had committed suicide mainly due to bankruptcy and indebtedness.
