The life of Tarachand Belji, a farmer from Kanai, a small village in the Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh, is an inspiration to millions of farmers across the country. Starting his career as a small farmer, Tarachand Belji has now gained national and international fame as an agricultural scientist, having developed a successful model of natural-organic farming. Despite having no formal degree or diploma in agriculture, his passion for this field has equipped over 200,000 farmers in India and abroad with valuable skills. However, his journey was far from easy.
A significant influence on Belji’s success was Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh. Belji’s life took a transformative turn after meeting Nanaji. While working on his farm, Belji noticed that the prevailing models of natural-organic farming were not entirely effective. He found that cow dung manure did not provide complete nutrition to plants, resulting in suboptimal yields and increased vulnerability to pests. To address this, Belji delved into the agricultural practices of ancient India and applied this knowledge practically. He believes that chemical farming has depleted essential elements from the soil, rendering it infertile. According to Belji, by balancing the five elements in the soil, farming can be successfully undertaken without chemical fertilizers.
Contrary to the common belief that natural organic farming reduces production and income, Belji holds a different perspective. He developed innovative fertilizer technologies and achieved impressive yields through experiments on 38 different crops. He advocates that performing Agnihotra in the fields at specific times in the morning and evening helps balance the five elements in the soil.
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Belji also introduced 3G and 4G technologies to enhance vegetable production. He discovered that fruits only grow on the third branch of any plant, where only female flowers bloom. The first and second branches produce only male flowers. By cutting the first and second branches, he ensured that fruits would grow on the third branch. Using his 3G and 4G techniques, Belji claims that one gourd plant can produce up to one thousand gourds.
Tarachand Belji’s transition from a small farmer to an agricultural scientist has garnered international attention. His experiments have been validated by Bhilai IIT, which plans to establish an international-level laboratory to further work based on Belji’s model.
