This year residents of the eco-village Visnyeszéplak and people from the homestead region of Ópusztaszer have also participated in the harvesting festival of Krishna Valley. Mostly the mower pulled by oxen attracted the people of other eco-villages. Therefore, besides the scythe one could also get some experience how oxen and men work together.

The two groups of Ópusztaszer and Visnyeszéplak did the best scything; the stubble they left behind was the nicest.

This year’s drought was really severe in Somogyvámos and its vicinity. In the middle of July, according to statistics only 100 mm rainfall fell in the past half-year, which is merely one fourth or one fifth of the average precipitation.

Nonetheless, grounds of bread-grains, especially wheat, gave an outstanding yield. Obviously, the reason for this is the fact that the fall-winter and spring-summer rainfalls this year were very much alike of what we find in the homeland of wheat, Anatolia.

In Krishna Valley about 3 hectares of land is used to produce sufficient grains for the community, which is continuously cultivated by oxen and manpower, without the use of petrol and machines.

During the already traditional harvesting festival of Krishna Valley young and old alike march to the field and as a community harvest the crop, bind the sheaves, pile them on the ox cart and thrash some of them, meanwhile doing all that in a jolly mood. They grind the first thrashed seeds in a hand mill and from that they prepare the very first bread as well.

The residents and guests together ate this bread there, right next to the field, while everyone was singing joyfully.

Collective work and feasting as well as joint celebration make the harvesting festival of Krishna Valley uplifting and unforgettable.

The aim of the programme is to help further the functions within, and to introduce the technologies used to a wider audience. There are more international and local research facilities with similar experiences, with them there is a need for further effort to be made for relationship building.