Mumbai/Hyderabad, 9 September 2024: Heartfulness in association with the Govt. of India, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Dr. Reddy’s Foundation, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticulture University organised a two-day (6-7 Oct) National Conference of Vice Chancellors of Agricultural Universities at Kanha Shanti Vanam – the headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The event was presided over by Dr. Himanshu Pathak – Secretary, DARE & Director General ICAR and Dr. R.C. Agrawal – Deputy Director General, Agricultural Education ICAR in the Divine Presence of Rev. Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. 62 vice chancellors and 11 senior officers and scientists from ICAR participated in the event.

Dr. R. C. Agrawal – Deputy Director General (Agriculture Education ) ICAR in his address said, “I am thankful to Rev. Daaji for signing the MoU with ICAR. With support of his volunteers for offering Heartfulness meditation to our students, there is a lot of change in terms of concentration, focus, output of the students and our teachers. The latest statistics suggest that 2% youth in vocational training, 93% unorganised work sectors. We need to have a roadmap on how we can train the youth for the next five years and the best way to provide certificate programmes, visit to ICAR institutes, double the intake at agri universities (growing from the existing 10% increase in the numbers of agri seats) and to identify and overcome the constraints for implementation on plan. We want to discuss the guidelines of PPP from valuable inputs of our Vice Chancellors, reformulate and restructure policy for internships and work, discuss the salient features of Dean’s committee.”

Dr. Himanshu Pathak – Secretary, DARE & Director General ICAR in his keynote address said, “Agriculture, nature, progress and peace are interlinked. Viksit Bharat will come with Viksit Krishi and Viksit Krishni will stem from Viksit Shikha. Without this you cannot increase productivity and profitability and sustainability of agriculture. While discussing the education system of ICAR we must remember that Indian agriculture must be friendly on 5 grounds: 1. Nature-friendly 2. Technology-friendly 3. Market-friendly to identify what farmers and markets need and what other countries need for sustainability and profitability 4. Gender friendly 5. Agri must be culture-friendly. Agri is also our heritage. Change will come from agricultural universities and NGOs as Heartfulness. My humble gratitude to Rev. Daaji.”

Rev. Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission said, “My special thanks to Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji who could not be here today and to our hon’ble guests. Without agriculture, there is no life. The role of universities is to make agriculture more ‘sakshritik’ with less efforts, high production, more efficiency. Over the years I have been watching what is happening to the upper crust of our earth which contains nutrients. Spraying microdose of sea-water on crops can work wonders. Make agriculture fascinating and interesting. Meditation has a positive impact on farms with increase in productivity. Students can also be taught how lovingly you can play with seeds worshipfully. Before planting there used to be rituals. That culture has to be brought back. Material life and spiritual life have to go together. Please add spiritual component to agri, teach farmers to be more reverential, grains will have positive impact, thoughts will also change when we partake of that food.”

Rev. Daaji led a group meditation session followed by his address. The event also witnessed a discussion on the Job Opportunities for Agri-students (Dr S K Sharma, ADG, HRM and Bimlesh Mann, ADG, EP& HS) as part of the ICAR initiative. This was followed by a visit to Water Harvesting Site and Nursery and on-site discussion with Heartfulness Institute regarding prospects for water harvesting by agricultural universities. A presentation by RRF team (regional facilitators, state in-charge representatives of Heartfulness all over India and representatives of universities and Heartful campus programs team) followed this visit.

The Day 2 of the conference hosted a panel discussion on public-private partnership in higher agricultural education with Dr. S K Sharma, ADG, HRM; discussion on the 6th Deans Reports by Dr. A S Yada, ADG, EQ&R; discussion on Dual degree in higher agricultural education by Dr Bimlesh Mann, ADG, EP& HS; an interaction of Vice Chancellors and ICAR staff with the Heartfulness institute and volunteers regarding the agriculture initiatives to be followed by a tour to the state-of-the-art Tissue Culture lab housed at Kanha and a closing ceremony with a musical cultural programme.

The conference was centered around enhancing the well-being of individuals in the agricultural sector, particularly farmers and agricultural scientists through an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICAR and Heartfulness. The MoU comprises integrating meditation, wellness, and holistic practices into the lives of farmers and professionals working in agriculture.

Over 10,000+ students have begun practicing Heartfulness Meditation, with more than 100 events conducted in agricultural colleges across India. Additionally, 5 Agro youth seminars have been organized at Kanha Shanti Vanam, and 8 internships have been offered to agricultural students for various Agro initiatives. Mental Health Support, Capacity Building and Training; Promoting Sustainable Practices; Research Collaboration are the core objectives being achieved through the ICAR-Heartfulness MoU. This collaboration signifies a unique blend of modern agricultural science and ancient wellness practices, aimed at uplifting the overall well-being of the agricultural community in India.