Ladakh Wisdom Forum organises a seminar on the importance of organic farming and agriculture on 25th at Sheynam Community Hall. People from all walks participated in the event. 

The participant and the speakers discussed to revert back to traditional methods as the consequences of Western agriculture have begun to negatively impact the region's food, water supply, & the health of its people. They also discussed the rising rate of cancer in Ladakh due to the use of chemical fertilizers.

Advocate, Otsal Wangdus welcoming the guest said that Ladakh Wisdom Forum is an organisation of Japan which they have started from the last three years. He said that this year they have focussed the Farmers. “The main focus will be on the changing trend related to Farmers,” said Advocate Otsal.

   

The main speaker of the event was Rebecca Sweetman from Canada, Executive Director of Paradigm Shift. Rebecca spoke about the different scenario in the world. Over the last fifteen years, she has been travelling to different parts of the world to learn from the local communities. She shares her experiences citing the example of Indonesia where they grow Hybrid Rice which lacks nutrients and proteins and how harmful it is for farmers, health and economy.

“In the late 1970’s Indonesia was facing an extreme crisis due to the spike in the price of oil globally which lead to a radical increase in food and daily living cost for Indonesians. With the use of chemical fertilizers and herbicides now cancer rates and birth defects are highest among the community. The pesticides and herbicides have killed all the natural predators and pests. It also kills all the vitality & microorganisms in the soil which means that every crop degrades the soil making it less viable for the next crop.”

She added, “Today the scenario is that people want a future where food sources are healthy and sustainable for the producers, consumers & the environment. So let's choose this new vision of globalisation, a vision of global solidarity where we co-create a conscious and caring world that supports us and mother earth equally.  I feel like Ladakh is one of the important global energy centres from which change will revolve.”

Rebecca said, “I am really happy and honoured that I could participate in the Ladakh Wisdom Forum and it’s such an honour to get to hear the wisdom of local communities. I have been working with local communities from all over the world at different grass root movements and certainly the information that was shared here today is worthy of a global forum.”  

Yumiko another speaker from Japan talks about the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She spoke about the people who were exposed to radiation or other stress factors resulting from the accident, and who are consequently at potential risk from both long and short-term consequences.

“The management of nuclear waste is increasingly burdensome and the cost of decommissioning plants is escalating. The subsequent accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster. It was a profoundly manmade disaster—that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.”

Skarma Gurmet said, "With this Ladakh Wisdom Forum organises the seminar in Ladakh for the third time. The main aim is to create a platform to share the wisdom locally and globally. We still can think about where we want to head. Next year we are also planning to organise such event.”  

The audience was divided into four groups to find the problems and solution related to Organic Farming. 

Later, all the four groups gave a presentation & discussed how to tackle it.