Vrkshayurveda वृक्षायुर्वेदः - what is this - a simple introduction - लघुपरिचयः ।

Originally shared by Krishnamurthi CG

Vrkshayurveda वृक्षायुर्वेदः - what is this - a simple introduction - लघुपरिचयः ।
- Vrkshayurveda (or Vrikshayurveda) also known as Krishi shaastram - is not a single book but a branch of ancient Shastra.
- Vrkshayurveda was very alive and was widely in practice till 19th Century or till British introduced their method of agriculture in India and later almost disappeared due to the onslaught by the Chemical agriculture practices (green revolution etc.)
- Vrkshayurveda is a combined science of ABE (Agriculture, Botany and Ecology) - because each of these are tightly interconnected with each other and one can't study them separately from one another
- Right from Bhoomi (Land selection), Agricultural field preparation, Soil fertility management, Animal husbandry, Seed preparation, Planting, Bio-fertilizers, Insect and weed control, Plant disease prevention, Water body management, Rain making & water harvesting, Plant growth, Time /Season management, Harvest, Hybridization, Ecology, etc. are covered in detail as part of many Vrkshayurveda texts.
- Currently there are 3 distinct Organic farming methods in the world - No tilling farming (Masanobu Fukuoka), Permaculture (Bill Mollison) and Agro forestry (Inter crops /Mix crops). However all these three methods are less than 100 years old and also not practiced widely. In comparison, Vrkshayurveda contains the principles of all these three methods and also was practiced for centuries in Bharatam under different weather, topographic and soil conditions. It is to be noted that we have historical proof of great yields from our agricultural practices with excellent biodiversity.
- Similar to Ayurveda where Acharya Charaka and Acharya Sushruta are the two giants, in Vrkshayurveda Maharishi Kaashyapa (probably Maharishi Kanva) and Maharishi Parashara are the 2 giants - one way or the other all Vrkshayurveda texts offer their salutations to these 2 Maharishis.
- There are over 10 Original texts exclusively dedicated to Vrkshayurveda and there are about 10 other ancient texts in which parts are dedicated to Vrkshayurveda.
- The 2 major fertilizer formulations of Vrkshayurveda are 1). Panchagavyam and 2). Kunapajalam.
- The major complaint of Organic agriculture in India is that the "final yield" or "agricultural output" is always lower in comparison with Chemical agriculture. This particular problem can effectively be overcome by following Vrkshayurveda methods.
- Finally as a shastra "Vrkshayurveda" gives us a method for "moksha" through agriculture
- I am a formal researcher and practitioner on Vrkshayurveda