Another initiative of the Art of Living that is making a profound contribution to the cause of environment sustainability is its campaign to promote and popularise chemical free farming. It has launched awareness programmes to encourage people to return to traditional methods of organic farming and eliminate the use of harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Chemical free farming is seen as the only way to check degradation of soil quality. Excessive use of fertilisers have pensioned the soil, not only reducing yield but also making produce grown on them poisonous for human consumption. Also chemical free farming is complementary to environment sustainability as it reduces the demand on natural resources such as water. Several studies have also shown that natural farming (without fertilizers and pesticides) not only leads to enhanced yield, but also supports healthy lifestyles.
To spread this practice, the Art of Living has trained thousands of farmers in India and abroad. It also runs an internship programme at its Canadian Centre to educate youth about natural farming.
