Courtesy The Times (UK)

The government of the Indian state of Goa is promoting cosmic farming” to channel spiritual energy into the soil.

Vijai Sardesai, the agriculture minister, said that local farmers should sit and meditate in their fields, chanting Vedic prayers as a holistic alternative to chemical fertilisers.

Promotional videos from the state government have gone viral on WhatsApp in rural communities.

The state government, led by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has also employed the Hindu guru Avdhoot Baba Shivanand, who is known as Babaji”, to host workshops on meditation for farmers.

Mr Shivanand has described the technique as tapping the cosmic shakti through the third eye”. He said that 20 minutes of intensive meditation after seeds are sown can accelerate their bond with the soil and increase yields. His videos encourage farmers to drown out negative destructive sounds around the field” and push the universe’s positive vibrations towards healthier seed germination”.

Mr Sardesai said that he had been convinced to try the unusual method by his wife, who tested cosmic farming on the orchid flowers on their porch.

I was sceptical at first too but it’s not magic,” Mr Sardesai told the newspaper Indian Express. There are studies backing this method. After meeting Babaji and reading his studies I am also convinced. The general thrust is to focus the energy into the soil, be less dependent on fertilisers.”

The prime minister, Mr Modi, and his Hindu nationalist government have promoted a resurgence of traditional Indian knowledge and techniques in many elements of society. Religion has assumed greater prominence and the BJP has promoted yoga and traditional Hindu medicine, known as ayurveda.

Farming has been a key focus, with Mr Modi urging a return to traditional methods, including the use of cow dung as a fertiliser. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides have been widely used in Indian agriculture since the 1960s but there have been concerns for years that heavy, unregulated use was damaging human health as these chemicals entered the food chain and contaminated water supplies.

Several states have begun to promote organic farming and the northeastern region of Sikkim banned chemical pesticides altogether in 2014.

Farmers are also a key constituency ahead of national polls next year, when Mr Modi will seek re-election. Rural communities were hit hard by the prime minister’s bombshell demonetisation” scheme in 2016 and the botched rollout of a new tax code last year. Both the government and the opposition have targeted farming regions as battleground constituencies as early campaigning gets under way.