The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

production is again being advocated. They are saying there will even besubsidies. But it is not enough to grow traditional winter grains for acouple of years and then to abandon them again. A sound agriculturalpolicy must be established. Because the Ministry of Agriculture has noclear idea of what should be grown in the first place, and because it doesnot understand the connection between what is grown in the fields andthe people's diet, a consistent agricultural policy remains animpossibility.If the Ministry's staff were to go to the mountains and meadows,gather the seven herbs of spring, and the seven herbs of autumn [Chinesebell flower, arrowroot (kudzu), thoroughwort (a boneset), valerianacea,bush clover, wild fringed pink, and Japanese pampas grass] and tastethem, they would learn what the source of human nourishment is. If theywould investigate further they would see that you can live quite well ontraditional domestic crops such as rice, barley, rye, buckwheat, andvegetables, and they could decide simply that this is all Japaneseagriculture needs to grow. If that is all the farmers have to grow, farmingbecomes very easyUntil now the line of thought among modern economists has beenthat small scale, self-sufficient farming is wrong- that this is a primitivekind of agriculture- one that should be eliminated as quickly as possible.It is being said that the area of each field must be expanded to handle thechangeover to large-scale, American-style agriculture. This way ofthinking does not apply only to agriculture- developments in all areas aremoving in this direction.The goal is to have only a few people in farming. The agriculturalauthorities say that fewer people, using large, modern machinery can getgreater yields from the same acreage. This is considered agriculturalprogress. After the War, between 70% and 80% of the108