'Praise be to Allah, To Whom belong all things In the heavens and on earth; To Him be praise In the hereafter. And He is full of wisdom, Acquainted with all things. He knows all that goes Into the earth, and all that comes out thereof, all that comes down from the sky And all that ascends thereto; And He is Most Merciful, The oft forgiving. '

Our agricultural policy goes beyond simply promoting organic farming. It is now well known that the vast array of chemical sprays in the modern farmer's armory is poisoning the earth and water. Further, the growing of one crop or the grazing of one species on the same land year after year causes a reduction in soil fertility as well as a lack of natural resistance to disease, leading to ever higher applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The present Ministry of Agriculture here in Britain and the various ministries and departments around Europe are the servants of the agro-chemical multinational companies. In spite of all the evidence, dangerous and unnecessary chemicals are used every year. If a substance is too obviously toxic and has to be banned, then it can be sold safely in India, Nigeria or some other place. Plainly then, a ministry of agriculture not subservient to the agro-chemical industry is needed before anything in the way of a change can be brought about.

Today in Britain much of the arable land is owned by large concerns, whether it be Birds-Eye type food-giants, or T.G.W.U Assurance groups growing wheat and barley for the well subsidized grain mountain. The British people must have access to their land again. Many unemployed persons could usefully be employed on the land.

As the great ecologist Schurnacher said: "In the modern world, during the last hundred years or so, there has been an enormous and historically unique shift: away from self-reliance and towards organization. As a result people are becoming less self-reliant and more dependent than has ever been seen in history. They may claim to be more highly educated than any generation before them; but the fact remains that they cannot really do anything for themselves. They depend on vastly complex organizations, on fantastic machinery, on larger and larger money incomes. What if there is a hold-up, a breakdown, a strike, or unemployment? Does the state provide all that is needed? In some cases, yes; in other cases, no. Many people fall through the meshes of the safety net; and what then? They suffer, they become dispirited, even despondent. Why can't they help themselves? Generally, the answer is only too obvious: they would not know how to; they have never done it before and would not even know where to begin."

The vast, chemically saturated prairies will have to go. Let those who own them keep them, but let the land be rented out to people and the real cure for unemployment - the small farm - come back again. Like all the policies of the Islamic Party, the agricultural policy cannot avoid tackling the international usury domination of resources. We propose a five acre plan.

A man and his family can take five acres of flat dry land or fifteen acres of hilly grazing, get his house, tools and stock, after which he is on his own save that he pays a certain percentage of his crop to the state. He must live and work on his land, otherwise it is retaken.

The modern and steadily improving technology and husbandry of the various "alternative" and "green" groups (e.g.. The Soil Association) would be consulted in order to constantly improve farming techniques.

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