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This booklet has been created as a policy note on agro-ecologicalapproaches in Indian agriculture, based on good practices andstrategies adopted by different policies and programmes forpromoting organic farming in India. The booklet dwells onpolicy and legislative measures that have helped some stategovernments to take forward a strong agenda of promotion oforganic farming.

It is hoped that this compilation will be useful as a policy toolwith ready-to-replicate ideas and practices to be picked up andimplemented by state governments all over the country. It alsomakes a case for why organic farming is an imperative and nota choice any more, and the various benefits that can be expectedfrom large scale promotion of organic farming. This bookletwill also be useful for civil society actors for use in promotingand advocating organic farming in the country.

Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS) is a public charitable trustregistered in India in 2010, but active as network of NGOs,grassroots activists, academics, researchers and policymakers since2005. KICS provides a platform for promoting dialogues on scienceand society issues in India through workshops, research studies,publications and specialized documentation efforts towards apeople-centric science and technology policy. KICS functions as anetwork of over 120+ organizations and individuals and as suchis coordinated by a core group of academics, activists and policyspecialists, and a Board of five trustees.

Centre for World Solidarity (CWS) strives to promote a humandignity based, gendered and eco-sustainable approach that willadvance people-centred governance, livelihoods and managementof natural resources. This will be achieved through partnering,nurturing and collaborating with civil society organisations andother stakeholders at various levels. It adds value through itspartnership in promoting good governance, effective systems andalso gains in enhancing its relevance through regular engagementwith its partners, networks and fellows, functioning from six states,who bring to CWS the grassroots reality, tribulations andchallenges.

Organic Farming &Agro-ecological Approaches:

Ready-to-replicate BestPractices From Around India

Knowledge in Civil SocietyKnowledge in Civil SocietyKnowledge in Civil SocietyKnowledge in Civil SocietyKnowledge in Civil Society

Centre for World SolidarityCentre for World SolidarityCentre for World SolidarityCentre for World SolidarityCentre for World Solidarity

Solar feeders - an attractive alternative for agriculture pumpsets inSolar feeders - an attractive alternative for agriculture pumpsets inSolar feeders - an attractive alternative for agriculture pumpsets inSolar feeders - an attractive alternative for agriculture pumpsets inSolar feeders - an attractive alternative for agriculture pumpsets inTelangana and Andhra PradeshTelangana and Andhra PradeshTelangana and Andhra PradeshTelangana and Andhra PradeshTelangana and Andhra Pradesh

A Discussion PaperA Discussion PaperA Discussion PaperA Discussion PaperA Discussion Paper

Published by Knowledge In Civil Societywith support fromCentre for World Solidarity, Prayas (Energy Group), People’s MonitoringGroup for Electricity Regulation, SWAPNAM

Authors:Sreekumar N- Trustee (KICS) and Member, Prayas (Energy Group)M Thimma Reddy– Convenor, People’s Monitoring Group for ElectricityRegulationBN Prabhakar –President,SWAPNAM an NGO working on water andpower related issues

About Knowledge In Civil SocietyStarted in 2005 as a network to connect, share and discuss science,technology and society (STS) topics, KICS has been registered as a PublicTrust in 2010. The Board has Trustees who are from academic and civilsociety organizations with rich experience in policy and practice in differentsectors. It is supported by professional staff competent in STS work.

Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)# 12-13-437, Street No: 1Tarnaka, Secunderabad - 500 017IndiaWeb: www.kicsforum.netEmail: [email protected]

March 2016

Organic Farming & Agro-ecological Approaches:Ready-to-replicate Best Practices From Around India

Published by Knowledge In Civil Societywith support from Centre for World Solidarity

© Copyright: Any part of this paper can reproduced for non-commercial use.We will be happy if you acknowledge KICS and drop us an email.

Authors:Kavitha Kuruganti - Trustee (KICS) and Member (ASHA)Indhubala Kesavan - Intern (KICS) and Student (University of Hyderabad)

About Knowledge In Civil SocietyStarted in 2005 as a network to connect, share and discuss science, technologyand society (STS) topics, KICS has been registered as a Public Trust in 2010.The Board has Trustees who are from academic and civil society organizationswith rich experience in policy and practice in different sectors. It is supportedby professional staff competent in STS work.

Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS)# 12-13-437, Street No: 1Tarnaka, Secunderabad - 500 017, IndiaWeb: www.kicsforum.netEmail: [email protected]

March 2016

Printed at :Charita Impressions, Azamabad, Hyderabad-20, Ph: 040-27678411

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis booklet has been created as a Policy Note related to Agro-Ecologicalapproaches in Indian agriculture, based on good practices and strategies adoptedby different policies and programmes related to organic farming in India. Wehope that such a compilation will be useful as a booklet with ready-to-replicateideas and practices to be picked up and implemented by governments all overthe country. The booklet dwells on policy and legislative measures that havehelped some state governments to take forward a strong agenda of promotionof organic farming. It also makes a case for why organic farming is an imperativeand not a choice any more, and the various benefits that can be expected fromlarge scale promotion of organic farming.

The booklet has been created from information culled out of secondary sourcesand did not include any field visits for the purpose of putting together thecompilation. Some of the information presented here might need updating,and we have relied mostly on policy articulations by state governments incompiling this document.

We would like to thank Kavitha Kuruganti of Alliance for Sustainable & HolisticAgriculture (ASHA) for sharing a presentation that she created on the subject,based on which this booklet was prepared. We are also grateful to IndhubalaKesavan of University of Hyderabad for compiling and drafting this booklet.

We hope that civil society actors would make use of this booklet too, for theiradvocacy efforts.

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Organic Farming : Best Practices

TitleTitleTitleTitleTitle Page No.Page No.Page No.Page No.Page No.

Acronyms And Abbreviations 5

Introduction 7

1. Why Organic Farming????? 9

2. Women And Organic Farming 12

3. Smallholders And Organic Farming 13

4. General Apprehensions About Organic Farming 14

5. Scientific Evidence Related To Ecological Agriculture 16

6. Current Status of Organic Farming in India 19

7. State Wise Organic Farming Initiatives 21

(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiaves 21

(ii) Kerala : Organic revolution in the making 24

(iii) Sikkim : The first completely organic state in India 27

(iv) Madhya Pradesh’s State Policy on organic farming 30

(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture 33

8. Schemes of Government of India to Promote Organic Farming 35

9. In Closing 37

Contents

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Acronyms and AbbreviationsANGRAU Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University

APEDA Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development AuthorityASHA Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture

ASSOCHAM Associated Chambers of Commerce of India

CCB Central Cooperative Bank

CMSA Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture

CRPs Community Resource Persons

DBT Direct Benefit Transfer

DRCSC Development Research Communications & Services Centre

EM Effective Microorganisms

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

FC Farmers’ Company

FYM Farm Yard Manure

GM Genetic Modification

GMOs Genetically Modified Organisms

GPS Global Positioning System

GRACE Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment

HRD Human Resources Development

ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research

ICCOA International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture

ICDS Integrated Child Development Services Scheme

ICSS Improvement of Crop Statistics Scheme

ICS Internal Control System

IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

IISS Indian Institute of Soil Science

ITK Indigenous Technical Knowledge

KAU Kerala Agricultural University

KVK Krishi Vigyan Kendra

MFI Micro Finance Institution

MDMS Mid Day Meal Scheme

MKSP Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana

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mn ha Million HectaresMP Madhya Pradesh

MT Metric Ton

NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

NAPCC National Action Plan on Climate ChangeNARS National Agricultural Research System

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCOF National Centre of Organic Farming

NePOF Network Project on Organic FarmingNHM National Horticulture Mission (now renamed into MIDH: Mission for

Integrated Development of Horticulture)

NMSA National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

NPK Nitrogen, Phosporus and Potassium

NPM Non Pesticidal Management

NPOF National Project on Organic Farming

NREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

NRLM National Rural Livelihoods Mission

NSC National Seeds Corporation

NSOP National Standards for Organic Products

ODPs Organic Farming Development Programs

OFVP Organic Farming Village Programme

PDS Public Distribution System

PGS Participatory Guarantee System

PKVY Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

POP Poorest of the Poor

R & D Research and DevelopmentRKVY Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

RRB Regional Rural Bank

SHGs Self Help Groups

SIMFED Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation ltdSOM Sikkim Organic Mission

t ha-1 tonne per hectare

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IntroductionAgriculture as an occupation and a way of life had many unique characteristicsin India, including the Nature-Culture-Community-Agriculture continuum it usedto be embedded in, during ancient times. The Green Revolution based on anexternal-inputs driven paradigm, was introduced in the late 1960s ostensibly toaddress food security issues in the country. This paradigm was based on intensivewater use, chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides, monocropping and seedsthat are not farm-saved or diversity-based. While the Green Revolution managedto increase production of a few grains in certain well-endowed, well-investedpockets of India, in its food security model that sought to distribute these fewtypes of grains to all parts of the country from these heartlands of GreenRevolution, it also created vast tracts of Indian farming that were structurallyand systemically neglected. This meant neglect of many rainfed parts of India,and farmers in these regions. Several decades later, the aftermath of the GreenRevolution started showing up as severe environmental and adverse health relatedimpacts in states like Punjab and Haryana. The one-size-fits-all approach aroundGreen Revolution technologies that started permeating other regions in India,without any accountability towards environmental and other impacts, meantthat this paradigm ended up eroding the viability of farming in the country.More and more inputs were needed for maintaining production levels whichalso meant more and more out of pocket expenses for farmers. This also meantan increasing debt burden given that most Indian farmers are not well-coveredby institutional credit and risk insurance. The fact that these realities of chemicalagriculture started manifesting themselves at a time when free trade pacts werebeing implemented in a globalised world meant that farmers ended up spendinga lot on their farming without concomitant returns at the market end. This is thecrux of the crisis that Indian farmers are facing.

Even as Indian agriculture is passing through an acute agrarian distress at thispoint of time, it is clear that the future of farm livelihoods is closely connectedto the economic viability of farming as well as environmental sustainability ofnatural resources. While the overall macro-economic “development” paradigmin India places emphasis on farmers moving out of agriculture to urban centres

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and into other sectors of the economy, it is apparent that this development pathway is not easy totraverse in India. For one thing, the number of people to be displaced from agriculture in this developmentparadigm is very high; for another, other sectors are posting job-less growth in India and these displacedagriculturists have no opportunities concomitant to their displacement rates.

It is here that a discussion on the role of organic farming or ecological agriculture approaches in thefuture of Indian agriculture and farm livelihoods becomes critical, to sustain farm livelihoods.

Ecological sustainability in farming is not an exotic environmental concept – it is directly related to thesustainability of farm livelihoods. Any degradation to the farming resources has direct impact on farmlivelihoods. The various consequences of such ecological damage includes decline of soil health andfertility; poisoning of water sources; erosion of crop diversity, increased risks due to climate change,pests and diseases, soil health reduction as well as food and nutrition insecurity for farm households;and depletion of groundwater creating extensive dark zones. The downward spiral set off by resourcedegradation takes farmers onto a chemical treadmill from which it is difficult to get off, despite a cognitiveunderstanding of the hazards of such chemicals.

The other issue is the pesticide poisoning that is killing thousands of farmers every year in terms of acutepoisoning, and also due to chronic impacts like cancer, birth defects, premature deliveries, impotency,kidney problems etc. Synthetic pesticides in our agriculture cause multiple problems to the environmentand also manifest themselves as environmental health related problems. Very similar to the chemicaltechnologies and promoted by the same business entities as the agri-chemical inputs, is the matter ofGenetically Modified (GM) crops. There is a great push to promote transgenic crops in Indian agriculture,without an appreciation that the science and technology of transgenics is not dissimilar to agri-chemicals.In fact, this is more hazardous in some ways given that it is a living technology which is uncontrollableand cannot be recalled, once released into the environment. It is important to assess the need, thealternatives available, bio-safety, political rights of farmers and trade security in the release of GM cropsinto the environment as it would be a disaster for farmers, consumers and our environment. The releaseof GM crops received criticism from the public and many state governments took a negative positionover it. The health concerns with GM food crops are increasing. GMOs are not compatible with organicfarming, both in terms of regulatory standards, and agro-ecological approaches of organic farming.Therefore, there is an essential need for a more ecologically sustainable model of agriculture replacingthe current Indian agricultural practices and such a reorientation will bring positive changes in the statusof environment, farmers and consumers.

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Why Organic Farming?Organic farming is considered a significant alternative approach to agriculture,compared to the current chemical paradigm which is highly commercialised/corporatised and degrading to environmental resources. Over-usage of chemicalpesticides has created a wide range of harmful effects. The degraded state ofenvironmental resources has adverse consequences on farm livelihoods asdiscussed earlier. The other adverse effects include acute as well as chronichealth impacts of agricultural chemicals, in addition to the impacts on otherliving organisms. Organic farming will also reduce out-of-pocket investments inagriculture, and thereby indebtedness for cultivation purposes (institutional creditcoverage is very low for more than 3 crore sub-marginal landholding agriculturalhouseholds as per the NSSO 70th Round survey findings, for example). Inaddition, both mitigation and adaptation potential of organic farming in thecontext of climate change are highest. It is a model with lower risk and is moreresilient. Organic farming ensures higher standards of food safety to consumerswhich is residue-free and may be even more nutritious.

According to the data provided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, 44mn ha (million hectares) out of net cultivated area of 142 mn ha is degraded dueto salinity, alkalinity, acidity and water-logging. The varying degrees and types ofdegradation stem mainly from unsustainable use and inappropriate landmanagement practices. It is also recorded that direct consequences of agriculturaldevelopment on the environment arise from intensive farming activities, whichhave contributed to soil erosion, land salination and loss of nutrients. Theintroduction of Green Revolution in the country has been accompanied by over-exploitation of land and water resources and excessive usage of fertilizers andpesticides1. The report reiterates that the prevalence of widespread hunger isnot due to non-availability of food but the lack of adequate purchasing poweramongst the poor, which in turn is due to insufficient opportunities for gainfulemployment. The report then recommends that one of the measures to secure

1. Government of India, State of Environment Report. Ministry of Environment and Forests,2009. http://www.envfor.nic.in/mef/State%20of%20Environment%20Report_2009.pdf

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food security is through promotion of organic farming, a solution to ensure “economically sustainableagriculture”.

The situation pertaining to the state of water resources is no better than that of land. NASA’s GravityRecovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) had found that the groundwater beneath Northern Indiahas been receding by as much as one foot per year over the past decade. Around 29% of India’sgroundwater blocks are semi-critical, critical or over-exploited2. According to the State of the EnvironmentReport 2009, most of India’s surface water is polluted. The overall damage to biodiversity includingagro-diversity due to rapid spread of mono-cropping to more areas has serious livelihood implicationsincluding health and nutrition security along with environmental harm. Moreover, there is a decelerationin agricultural growth due to technology fatigue and greater environmental stress in the irrigated regionswith their chemical farming. The Planning Commission’s Report on ‘Agriculture Strategy for EleventhPlan: Some critical issues’ states that ‘nearly 2/3rds of our farmlands are in some way either degraded orsick and only about 1/3rds are in good health’3. The approach to the eleventh plan states that agricultureis not only an important driver of macro-economic performance but is also an essential element of thestrategy for inclusive growth.

The degraded state of our environmental resources in India needs no further elaboration. This in turngives a hard call for innovative methods of farming and use of post-modern technology in agriculture.There is also the issue of increasing public financing burden as the demand of inputs like chemicalfertilisers in the current paradigm is projected to increase tremendously. In 2009-10, total fertilizerconsumption in India was 26.5 million tonnes and is projected to be 41.5 mn tonnes by 20204.

Ecological/Organic farming appears to be a solid imperative in this context, given its ability to amelioratethe current agrarian distress, improve livelihoods and regenerate productive resources, as well as reducethe public financing burden on the government.

As per IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements), “Organic agriculture is aproduction system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes,biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects.Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment andpromote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved”. According to IFOAM, organicagriculture is based on the following5:

1.1.1.1.1. Principle of health:Principle of health:Principle of health:Principle of health:Principle of health: Organic Agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal,human and planet as one and indivisible.

2. The World Bank. 2010.Deep Wells And Prudence: Towards Pragmatic Action For Addressing Groundwater Overexploitation In India.Washington, D.C.h t t p : / / s i t e r e s o u r c e s . w o r l d b a n k . o r g / I N D I A E X T N / R e s o u r c e s / 2 9 5 5 8 3 - 1 2 6 8 1 9 0 1 3 7 1 9 5 /DeepWellsGroundWaterMarch2010.pdf

3. Agriculture Strategy for Eleventh Plan: Some Critical Issues. Planning Commission 2007.http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/speech/spemsa/AgricultureStrategy.pdf

4. Vijay Paul Sharma and Hrima Thaker (2011): Demand for fertilizer in India-Determinants and Outlook for 2020.Working Paper No. 2011-04-01. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

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2.2.2.2.2. Principle of ecology:Principle of ecology:Principle of ecology:Principle of ecology:Principle of ecology: Organic Agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles,work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.

3.3.3.3.3. Principle of fairness:Principle of fairness:Principle of fairness:Principle of fairness:Principle of fairness: Organic Agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness withregard to the common environment and life opportunities

4.4.4.4.4. Principle of care:Principle of care:Principle of care:Principle of care:Principle of care: Organic Agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsiblemanner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.

It is evident that organic farming is holistic in terms of being an ecologically sustainable, healthy andincome-secure approach.

Advocates of organic farming further elaborate on the key approaches of organic farming in the followingmanner.

• Livelihoods Approach Livelihoods Approach Livelihoods Approach Livelihoods Approach Livelihoods Approach – This means focus on the reduction of risks as well as costs in farming byreducing the dependency on purchased external inputs (this includes even bio-inputs since organicfarming emphasises on internalising all inputs into the farming system). This results in increase innet incomes through three routes: reduction in cost, stability of production and premium pricefetched in the market.

• Food Safety Approach Food Safety Approach Food Safety Approach Food Safety Approach Food Safety Approach – Here, organic food is not meant only for export markets, but for allIndians, and specifically to malnourished citizens by making safe food affordable for them.

• Social Equity Approach Social Equity Approach Social Equity Approach Social Equity Approach Social Equity Approach – Organic farming allows for a win-win approach especially with marginalisedsections like smallholder farmers, women farmers, agricultural workers, Adivasi farmers etc.However, this requires significant investments by the state on all these farmers and their ability/inclination to adopt organic farming.

5. http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/principles/index.html

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Women andOrganic Farming

The intensive agriculture paradigm, which involves commercial agriculture withmarket integration at the input and output end, has ended up marginalisingwomen from decision-making roles in farming, given the existing gender-basedasymmetries in society. This trend could be broadly classified as “masculinisation”of agriculture. Elsewhere, women are handling more responsibilities in farmingthan ever before, with another trend called as “feminisation” of agriculture, wheremen find opportunities outside agriculture and are migrating. While womenenjoy greater autonomy, they are also expected to do farming without supportthat is on par with male farmers. A shift to organic farming will support womenfarmers, since it has been seen that greater dependence on nature and its commonresources have ensured greater autonomy for women in various contexts.

More recent analysis by various United Nations’ agencies shows very clearlythat unless women are given a central role in agriculture, other developmentagendas including empowerment of women themselves will not create impact.Organic farming is an excellent approach to empower women, which gives themmore household level autonomy and ensures that their farming is viable.

Given the gendered nature of household level food and nutrition securityresponsibilities, women have greater interest in healthy food. Organic farmingeases out this role of women. Other gendered roles thrust on women are alsobetter fulfilled through organic farming (fodder, fuel, healthcare etc.) and theirwork burden is lessened largely. Women’s traditional knowledge is an importantfactor in the agro-ecological approach that relies significantly on the existingskills and knowledge in farming rather than mainly inducing external scientifictechnologies. In practice, it has been seen that most large scale organic farmingexamples around the country have been led by women farmers. This isdemonstrated in the case of Deccan Development Society in Telangana,Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture in undivided Andhra Pradesh,Kudumbashree in Kerala, Green Foundation in Karnataka, DRCSC in WestBengal etc. Many state governments use SHGs as their primary platform to takeforward organic farming.

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Smallholders andOrganic Farming

Organic farming in terms of its positivity to smallholders once again includesthe reduction in the need for external investments/debt. Since organic farmingreduces the external monetary needs, smallholders become less vulnerable toexploitation as they are ones who have least access to institutional credit andborrow at exorbitant terms.

Smallholder organic farming is possible since the family of the smallholder reliesmostly on family labour or exchange labour systems thereby meeting theincreased labour demands that come with organic farming initially. This is notalways acceptable or possible for large holders, however, who tend to opt formono-cropping and mechanisation with lesser chances for organic farmingpractices to be adopted. Organic farming and smallholders thus form a symbioticrelationship, as organic farming needs smallholders and smallholders benefitsignificantly from organic farming. Processes of collectivisation and aggregationbecome important however for obtaining economies of scale. There are somespecific models of organic integrated farming systems that are meant for ½-acrefarmers like Dabholkar Model/20-gunta model and others. Such specific modelscan be created into schemes and implemented for the benefit of the poorest ofthe poor. Such innovative schemes are currently missing, however.

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General apprehensionsabout Organic Farming

Even though there is much evidence on the productivity and profitability aspectsof organic farming which should make any policy-maker opt for a large scalepromotion of this approach there are still numerous misconceived apprehensionsexpressed around organic farming. These centre around production declinesand food security questions, availability of biomass for large scale promotion oforganic farming, affordability of organic produce and so on. Here, we seek toaddress some of these oft-posed questions.

Will we have food production deficits with organic farming?Will we have food production deficits with organic farming?Will we have food production deficits with organic farming?Will we have food production deficits with organic farming?Will we have food production deficits with organic farming?An international conference organised by the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organisation mulled over this question extensively in 20071. Itconcluded that sustainable intensification in developing countries through organicpractices would increase production by 56 per cent and that conversion of globalagriculture to organic management, without converting wild lands to agricultureand using N-fertilizers, would result in a global agricultural supply of 2 640 to 4380 kcal/person/day2. Organic yields on average are comparable to conventionalyields, although yields do decline initially when converting from high-inputsystems and almost double when converting from low-input systems. Given thisreality, it appears that the question around food security is misplaced, and it isonly a matter of planning incremental shifts strategically for different kinds ofgrowing conditions. While that is the global picture from FAO, Indian NARSdata shows nothing to fear on yield losses either. A presentation (July 2015) byInstitute for Integrated Farming Systems Research (IIFSR, Modipuram), anICAR body, shows that organic farming yielded an increase of around 7 percent on an average, in major crops like rice, maize, green gram, chickpea,soybean, cotton, tomato etc. In this presentation, IIFSR shows that in majorfood crops, on-station yields today indicate that there should be no majorproblems in food production with 100 per cent organic in crops like rice and

1. http://www.fao.org/organicag/ofs/index_en.htm2. Report of the International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security, Rome,

May 3-5 2007, FAO.ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/012/J9918E.pdf

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maize, other than wheat. Sikkim, being a fully organic state, is posting yield increases in food grains.

Is there enough biomass for organic farming?Is there enough biomass for organic farming?Is there enough biomass for organic farming?Is there enough biomass for organic farming?Is there enough biomass for organic farming?This oft-discussed question assumes the same mode of functioning of organic inputs, as in the linearparadigm adopted in crop nutrient management in chemical agriculture. Organic farming is a combinationof various practices which integrate and generate the biomass required for the approach, and with inputsthat improve soil biological constitution and activity. Organic farming is a shift from soil chemistry to soilbiology that also addresses soil physical characteristics. Therefore, looking at chemical equivalent ofNPK in FYM is not right in this approach. Further, a combination of organic inputs is found to be betterthan application of a single source, and such combinations are quite feasible.

Isn’t organic expensive – can consumers afford it?Isn’t organic expensive – can consumers afford it?Isn’t organic expensive – can consumers afford it?Isn’t organic expensive – can consumers afford it?Isn’t organic expensive – can consumers afford it?This is again one of the most oft-heard questions about organic. It is indeed true that organic food isunaffordable in the market place for most today; however, this need not be so, if organic farming receivesgreater state support and becomes the more prevalent model of agriculture in India. One of the primaryreasons is the lack of integrated supply chains, with the supply chains being dispersed and low in volume.Certification for the organic food products also adds to the cost. With an area-based/cluster approach,based on diversified cropping systems approach and localised markets, organic need not be expensive.If government steps in to support certification and marketing of organic produce, costs will decline.There are also many innovative replicable models of affordable organic farming that can be drawn as anexample. The answer therefore is that organic need not remain unaffordable for most citizens, especiallythe poorest who need to consume safe food more than others!

What (new) public financing needs might be there?What (new) public financing needs might be there?What (new) public financing needs might be there?What (new) public financing needs might be there?What (new) public financing needs might be there?We are mostly talking about “re-casting” or diversion of existing public investments which are on achemical agriculture paradigm. If we can adopt highly decentralised models of organic farming both forinputs and for outputs, very little investments are needed to promote organic farming. At present, modelsof state-supported organic farming range from Rs.25,000/- per acre to a meagre Rs. 175/- per acre.

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Scientific Evidence related toEcological Agriculture

A compilation of the scientific evidence within the National Agricultural ResearchSystem (NARS) in India related to ecological agriculture has been printed as abook for free dissemination by Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture(ASHA) comprising of results obtained from hundreds of scientific studiesconducted all over the country. The publication brings to the fore the undeniableecological, social and economic benefits of organic farming/ecological agriculture,breaking the myth that organic farming is unprofitable, less productive or evenunscientific. The results from various studies present sufficient substantiationfor the practice of organic farming in the country. The book says, “What ismissing however is committed extension that takes the message tofarmers...organic farming is not to be equated with only traditional farming as isoften done, but is a scientific approach that effectively uses nature’s processesand products for sustainable management of productive resources for viabilityand profitability”1. The following data is presented in the study with regard toyields.

1. Yields/Production of Organic Farming:1. Yields/Production of Organic Farming:1. Yields/Production of Organic Farming:1. Yields/Production of Organic Farming:1. Yields/Production of Organic Farming:According to Vision 2030, the report of the Project Directorate for FarmingSystems Research, Modipuram, published in 2011 by the Indian Council forAgricultural Research, based on the All India Network Project on OrganicFarming, during 3-4 years of conversion period, crop yields under organic farmingwere recorded to be comparable with conventional (chemical) farming in manyregions. Some of these crops and their percent improvement in yield with organicfarming are: coarse rice (+2%), garlic (+20.4%), maize (+22.8%), turmeric(+51.5%), fodder crops (+14.4 to 89.9%) and basmati rice (-6%) at Ludhiana;kharif French bean (+19.0%), vegetable pea (+62.1%), cabbage (+9.5%), garlic(+7.0%) and kharif cauliflower (-4.6%) at Bajaura; fodder berseem (+6.5%),chickpea (+1.5%), soybean (-2.3%) and mustard (-6.6%) at Raipur; Rice (+12.9%),Wheat (+24.4%), Potato (+7.3%), mustard (+9.6%) and lentil (+2.5%) at Ranchi;

1. http://www.kisanswaraj.in/wp-content/uploads/scientific-evidence-on-eco-farming-in-india.pdf

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groundnut (+6.9%), rabi sorghum (+15.8%), soybean (+9.5%), durum wheat (+32.4%), chilli (+18.8%),cotton (+35.5%), potato (+3.3%), chickpea (+3.2%) and maize (-1.1%) at Dharwad.

The book published by ASHA has other studies reporting similar results. It is reported that organicfarming (20.34 t ha-1) produced significantly higher yield over conventional practice (18.64 t ha-1). All thespecies responded well to organic management, which lowered the bulk density and particle densityslightly and improved the water holding capacity (by 15%) of soil2. There is a general apprehension thatorganic system is a poor yielder. However, findings show that in the initial developmental stage of organicsystem, there may be lower yields by 20-30%. But after 2- 3 years, once the system develops, the yieldlevels are comparable to the conventional system. In another study, in the third year, yield of sesame wasrecorded at 886 kg/ha, cluster bean at 630 kg/ha, cumin at 516 kg/ha and psyllium at 808 kg/ha – this iscomparable to the average yield in conventional system3.

2. Validation of Organic Farming practices:2. Validation of Organic Farming practices:2. Validation of Organic Farming practices:2. Validation of Organic Farming practices:2. Validation of Organic Farming practices:Many scientific studies have been conducted to verify whether the practices adopted by organic farmershave a scientific basis. Such studies reaffirmed the benefits of organic as the most sustainable in terms ofquality, productivity, ecological advantages, health benefits and economic profitability. Use of organicliquid preparations has been an age old practice in India. As an alternative, number of organic farmersdevised organic boosters/inoculants based on local experiences and gave specific names such as Amritpani,Panchagavya, Beejamrita, Jiwamrita etc. Review of available literature with ‘bio-enhancers’ indicates thatthere is immense scope for their promotion in agriculture4.

One more example would assert the constructive assessment of organic compounds in the increase ofrice production. An experiment notes rice blast caused by Pyricularia grisea cav. continues to be a majorconstraint in rice production. Since the existing chemical control measures are costly and may favourdevelopment of resistance in pathogens, the potential alternative methods have been explored in theexperiment. Five plant parts extract namely Neem seed kernel extract, Neem oil, Asafoetida spp. andPongamia spp. extracts and Panchagavya were evaluated for their efficacy against blast of rice in vitroconditions. The results concluded that the neem seed kernel showed a significantly more mean suppressionvalue5. Several such results go to prove that many organic farming practices have indeed been scientificallyvalidated already, and there is an urgent need to take the results to farmers for adoption.

3. Environmental benefits of Organic Farming:3. Environmental benefits of Organic Farming:3. Environmental benefits of Organic Farming:3. Environmental benefits of Organic Farming:3. Environmental benefits of Organic Farming:The most important argument of organic farming proponents is that it is more sustainable thanconventional agriculture. Intensive cropping with limited nutrient management options will haveagricultural sustainability problems in future. A better understanding of soil variables as influenced bylong-term nutrient amendments could lead to the identification of more precise indicators to monitor

2. Suja G. and J. Sreekumar (2014). Implications of organic management on yield, tuber quality and soil health in yams inthe humid tropics. International Journal of Plant Production 8, no. 3.

3. Outcome of Experiments at Model Organic Farm, CAZRI http://www.cazri.res.in/org_farm.php, accessed in June2014

4. Pathak RK and RA Ram. (2013). “Bio-enhancers: A potential tool to improve soil fertility, plant health in organicproduction of horticultural crops.” Progressive Horticulture 45, no. 2: 237-254.

5. Sireesha O and N Venkateswarlu (2013). In-vitro evaluation of botanicals and panchagavya against leaf blast fungusPyricularia grisea. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research 6, no. 5.

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soil fertility that would promote sustainability. A long-term nutrient experiment in semi-arid Alfisol atCoimbatore, India was investigated in two successive years, 2009 and 2010 to assess the enduring effectsof organic (OM) and inorganic (IC) nutrient managements on soil variables. The organic amendmentsinduced higher microbial population and enzyme activity compared to IC and control soils6.

Another study states that organic farming, as an adaptation strategy to climate change and variability, is aconcrete and sustainable option and has additional potential as a mitigation strategy. The carefulmanagement of nutrients and carbon sequestration in soils are significant contributors in adaptation andmitigation to climate change and variability in several climate zones and under a wide range of specificlocal conditions. Organic farming as a systematic approach for sustained biological diversity and climatechange adaptation through production management, minimizing energy randomisation of non-renewableresources and carbon sequestration is a viable alternative7.

The listing of benefits of organic farming will remain incomplete without a mention of its potential toregenerate and conserve natural resources as several studies prove.

4. Socio-economic benefits of Organic Farming:4. Socio-economic benefits of Organic Farming:4. Socio-economic benefits of Organic Farming:4. Socio-economic benefits of Organic Farming:4. Socio-economic benefits of Organic Farming:Farmers in developing countries like India are realizing the great potential for organic markets andpremium prices. Globally, the largest numbers of farmers benefiting from the exponentially-growingorganic markets are from India. It is seen that such farm economics from organic improve with processingadded to production. A study was undertaken with the specific objective to study the nutritive value oforganic finger millet and efforts to enhance rural livelihood through organic finger millet production andprocessing. The study highlights the importance of finger millet, (locally called nagli or ragi) as a majorfood grain crop especially of the tribals, other than being an excellent fodder for cattle. It containsimportant Vitamins viz. Thiamine, Riboflavin and Niacin. Through the intervention of a local KVK, thewomen SHGs have started the production of different finger millet products for income generation.This has contributed towards their sustainable livelihood8.

All such scientific studies give a bright view of organic farming for a sustainable future with a successfulshift from the conventional farming bringing overall benefits in terms of livelihood security, economicviability and moreover an effective alternative farming method to revitalize natural resources in thecontext of the ecological degradation they have been subjected to.

6. Chinnadurai C, G Gopalaswamy and D Balachandar. (2014). “Impact of long-term organic and inorganic nutrientmanagements on the biological properties and eubacterial community diversity of the Indian semi-arid Alfisol.” Archivesof Agronomy and Soil Science 60, no. 4: 531-548.

7. Wani Sartaj A, Chand Subhash, Najar GR and Teli MA (2013). Organic Farming as a Climate Change Adaptation andMitigation Strategy. Current Agriculture Research Journal. Vol 1 (1): 45-50.

8. Kharde PB, SS Patil and MC Ahir. (2010). Livelihood Security Through Organic Finger Millet Production AndProcessing. Ind J of Ext Edu and Rural Dev. No. 17-18: 17-20.

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Current Status ofOrganic Farming in India

There is no data system in place for presenting accurate and reliable data relatedto organic farming in India. Official data put out by APEDA of certified organicarea or value of produce does not match with numbers of state governmentsand others. There is a dire need for putting into place real time accurate data onorganic farming, by beginning with a comprehensive one-time survey all overIndia and updating the same periodically.

However, some data is available with regard to the organic farming industry inIndia. Certified organic farming area has increased 17-fold in the past one decade(year ending 2015). Organic industry has been growing impressively, and isexpected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of over 25% in the nextfive years. Total market size in 2015 is about Rs 1000 crores, according to marketresearch firms’ data. Currently, India ranks tenth among the top countries whosecultivable land is under organic certification. However, half of the world’s organicfarmers are estimated to be in India. In 2013-14, total area under organiccertification was 47.2 lakh hectares. A vast majority of this was forest and wildarea, and only about 7.23 lakh hectares is certified cultivated area. The productionis estimated to be around 12.4 lakh Metric Tonnes (MT) of certified organicproducts in the year 2013-14. In 2013-14, export volume was 1.9 lakh MT oforganic products, worth US$403 million. Oil seeds (Soybean at 70% withinthat) lead among the products exported, followed by Cereals & Millets otherthan Basmati (6%), Processed food products (5%), Basmati Rice (4%), Sugar(3%), Tea (2%), Pulses and Lentils (1%), Dry fruits (1%), Spices (1%) and others.Some organic brands have witnessed 5-8 fold increase in turnover in just thepast five years or so. Cities like Bangalore have more than 100 organic retailoutlets, and around 7-8 fully organic restaurants. All of this gives a good glimpseof the rapid growth in this sector in India.

The production of organic products is not limited to edible foods but also organiccotton fiber, functional food products etc. Among all the states, MadhyaPradesh has the largest area under organic certification, followed by HimachalPradesh and Rajasthan. India exported 135 products in 2013-14 with the totalvolume of 194,088 MT including 163,22 MT organic textiles. Organic products

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are exported to US, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asiancountries, Middle East, South Africa etc. The National Programme for Organic Production providesfor standards for organic production, systems, criteria and procedure for accreditation of CertificationBodies, the National (India Organic) Logo and the regulations governing its use. The standards andprocedures have been formulated in harmony with other international standards regulating import andexport of organic products1.

Official and market research figures have not been able to capture the real situation in entirety though.Organic has been growing despite the lack of government support – for instance, only around 2% of theoutlays under RKVY have gone into organic farming projects. Similarly, the outlays are very low acrossmost of the schemes related to organic farming. The overwhelming extension messages are aroundchemical based agricultural practice, wherein, organic farming adoption is like swimming against thetide.

The condition of organic farming differs from state to state in relation with the positive efforts taken bysubjective state governments. Karnataka (2004-05), Kerala (2008), Sikkim (2003), Madhya Pradesh(2010), Himachal Pradesh (2011), Nagaland (2007), Gujarat (2015) etc. have their own organic farmingpolicies adopted. Mizoram has a Mizoram Organic Farming Act 2004 which bans agri-chemicals innotified areas. Uttarakhand’s Agriculture Policy (2011) has a specific chapter on creating an “organicstate”. Similarly, in the state of Odisha, the agriculture policy has an extra thrust placed on organicfarming. However, India’s organic area declined in the recent past after the advent and spread of Btcotton due to GM contamination.

1. http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/organic/Organic_Products.htm

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1. http://www.savayavakrishipariwar.org/resources/govt-policies/

State Wise OrganicFarming Initiatives

(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiaves(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiaves(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiaves(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiaves(i) Karnataka’s organic farming initiavesThe Government of India launched the National Programme for OrganicProduction and Standards and Accreditation in 2000 (NPOP). Subsequently,the state government of Karnataka, in the year 2004, formulated its policy onorganic farming called Karnataka State Policy on Organic Farming. The policycovered a range of topics including the objectives of the policy, introduction tothe strategies including coordination, promotion, support, production andcommercialization; conversion; increase of biomass production, biodiversity,mixed farming, soil and water conservation and land regeneration, inputproduction and supply, value addition, processing, marketing, credit facility,export promotion, research, development, training and education1.

The policy had a holistic and integrated approach towards the implementationof organic farming in the state by involving many state bodies like the AgricultureDepartment, Education Department, Horticulture Department, WatershedDepartment, Animal Husbandry Department, Sericulture Department andseveral others. Further, allocation of funds to promote organic farming on alarge scale began with the adoption of the policy. The policy is inclusive as itinvolved women through Self Help Groups and also other marginalised farmersby providing for an action plan starting from provision for credit to marketingand exports of products from organic farming. There was wide publicity anddemonstration of political will by the Chief Minister spending a night in anorganic farmer’s house every month in the initial years of the deployment of thepolicy. The state government spent an amount of Rs. 215 crore over the past 12years for more than one lakh hectares of land to be brought under organicfarming through the policy.

One of the key features of the promotion of organic farming in Karnataka is theintroduction of a new scheme called the Organic Village scheme - the government

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developed a novel idea of an “organic village” in every taluk, aimed at making the whole village asorganic. Under this, in the initial phase, one village per district and later, one village per hobli (cluster)were picked up for focused interventions. Organic Village Scheme integrates extension, training, soil,seed, livestock, and marketing related initiatives as its comprehensive focus. Free (group) certification isa key component of the programme.

Institutionally, Karnataka created an Organic Farming Mission at the state level in addition to creating aseparate Organic Farming Cell within the Department of Agriculture. Right now, even though the Missionhas been dismantled, Karnataka Government is busy creating organic farmers’ cooperatives andfederations of cooperatives from hobli upwards for supporting marketing of organic produce, along thelines of dairy cooperatives.

The other institutionalised steps for promotion of organic farming include sophisticated labs for residuetesting in the “bio-centre” of the horticulture department, and separate organic Processing Centre set upin Nelamangala (using RKVY funding) outside Bangalore for Jaivik Krishik Society. The quasi-governmental set up in the form of Jaivik Krishik Society with its supply to organic outlets in Bangalore,under the Department of Horticulture, is an interesting institutional innovation to promote organicfarming in Karnataka. It is a healthy combination of expertise from government and non-governmentsectors.

Another important feature in Karnataka government’s promotion of organic farming is the flexibledesign in implementation – at the grassroots level, programme fund is handled after village level planningthrough a joint account operated by the designated functionary of the NGO, State Department ofAgriculture (with designated officials of the department) and organic farmers’ collective. Karnataka isone of the first states to have started a Regional Institute for Organic Farming in the State University ofAgricultural Sciences which focuses on systematic research related to organic farming.

Other highlights of Karnataka’s Organic Farming Policy2 :

Formation of Farmer’s Company (FC)

The State Government would facilitate creation of ‘Farmer’s Companies’ (FC), a business platform “ofthe producers, by the producers and for the producers”. This will be a corporate structure as perAmendment IX A of the Companies Act of December 2002. All the members of a Farmer’s Companyhave one vote each, so that interests of small and marginal farmers may be protected. Farmer’s Companyshall be given financial assistance to create value addition facilities, packing and labelling facilities, internalcontrol systems and take on the responsibility of ensuring national & international marketing linkages.

Area approach/commodity/crop approach:

The shift from the present way of cultivating crops to that of organic cultivation should be attemptedgradually so that the available resources with the State Government could be effectively utilized forpromotion of organic farming. In this direction initially it is proposed to select certain areas in the State.Apart from this, atleast one village in each hobli comprising 200- 500 acres will be converted to Organicvillage in a phased manner.

2. The policy highlights are extracted from Karnataka government’s policy on organic farming.http://raitamitra.kar.nic.in/kda_booklet.pdf

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Mixed farming:

Mixed farming is an insurance against natural calamities and a pre-requisite for Organic Farming. Asthere is need for continuous recycling of nutrients, the best system that ensures this is mixed cropping -the livestock component would be mandatory under mixed farming. In fact, livestock comprising cows,buffaloes, piggery, poultry etc., act as the agents of recycling of farm by-products/ waste produces withvalue addition. This system alone can keep the farmers active and provide employment throughout theyear. Above all, this is a self-sustaining system for production of organic manures on-farm, needed fororganic cultivation.

Assistance for organic produce processing industry:

Organic produce processing units would be supported for development of infrastructure facilities. Theywould also be provided with tax rebates as applicable to the cottage industries. Organic ProcessingIndustry shall be declared as seasonal industry for the purpose of Labour Act. Similarly, Organic ProcessingIndustries would be exempted from payment of electricity tax.

Marketing of Organic Produce:

The existing channels of marketing of Agriculture/Horticulture produces like SAFAL/ APMC/HOPCOMS/NCS/KAPPEC/KVIB shall create separate markets/facilities for Organic Producemarketing. However, a separate space/ accommodation with requisite storage facility would be createdexclusively for organic products so that the contamination with conventional produce is avoided. Inaddition, direct marketing of organic produce from Farmers’ Associations/ Farmers Clubs/ Farmer’sCo-operatives/ Farmers’ Companies/SHGs/NGOs to buyers shall be supported.

Assistance for Conversion and Certification:

Certification of organic farms by the authorized agency is an important feature of organic farming. Forcertification, a systematic record keeping of all the activities carried out on the farm is essential. Governmentshall provide service providers for record keeping. Government would bear a part of certification chargesduring initial three years. In case of Small and Marginal farmers group certification shall be encouraged.The existing NSOP and IFOAM standards would be adopted for certification apart from recognizingagencies for certification. Government would take suitable steps to create more number of inspectionand certification agencies and trained inspectors to take up certification of organic farms. Financialassistance shall be provided for establishment of domestic certification agencies.

Export Promotion:

(Karnataka) State with its diverse agro climatic conditions and existence of traditional agricultural practicescan be a major producer of variety of organic products, which could be exported with commercialadvantage. Government shall provide information on export potential of different products in theinternational market. Assistance for processing, packing and storage as per international standards shallbe provided for export purposes.

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(ii) Kerala: Organic Farming Revolution in the making(ii) Kerala: Organic Farming Revolution in the making(ii) Kerala: Organic Farming Revolution in the making(ii) Kerala: Organic Farming Revolution in the making(ii) Kerala: Organic Farming Revolution in the makingThe organic farming policy of Kerala government aims to convert the whole state into an organic farmingstate, like Sikkim. This was initiated in the year 2008 and the policy implementation started in 2010 withan ambitious target of transforming the whole state to organic. The Kerala policy mentions that the stateis in a relatively better position for such a revolutionary change because of the fact that inorganic farmingpractices are not too intensely used. While the national average consumption of fertilizers and pesticidesduring 2002-2003 was 90kg/ha and 288g/ha respectively, it was only 60kg/ha and 224g/ha respectively inKerala. This points to the positive side of agriculture in Kerala in terms of the already low levels ofconsumption of hazardous chemicals and, therefore, chances of converting farmers to organic agricultureare quite high3.

The policy mentions 24 strategic points in order to implement its organic mission in the state. Itacknowledges the growing demand amongst consumers who are choosing healthier options and indicatesthe change in direction amongst the farmers, favouring organic farming due to its viability. The government,realising the ground realities, pushed the Department of Agriculture to commence organic farmingpromotional activities since 2002-03. Subsequently, the Department set up a cell for Promotion ofSustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming and launched two brands, namely ‘Kerala Organic’ and‘Kerala Naturals’ to market organic farm products.

The government also invested on wide publicity and the agriculture minister personally appeared in(radio and other) advertisements, urging citizens to opt for organic food products. The mission of thestate is to focus on potential crops and areas in a phased and compact manner with the aim of convertinga minimum of 10% of the cultivable land into organic every year and thus achieving the target within fiveto ten years. It was also stated that once in three years, an expert committee will do a comprehensiveassessment of the policy implementation on the ground. The policy makes a mention of the need forstrict regulation of pesticides and permanent cancellation of licenses to certain pesticides. As can beexpected in a state like Kerala, there is a strong integration of local bodies like Panchayats into theorganic farming promotion envisaged by the policy, in addition to a key role for institutions likeKudumbashree. There is also a thrust on organic farming in schools. The policy clearly rejects GeneticallyModified (GM) crops and lays down a prohibition of transgenic crops.

3. http://keralabiodiversity.org/images/pdf/organicfarmingpolicyenglish.pdf

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In Kerala, organic farming is promoted through an active involvement of agriculture university, departmentof agriculture, agriculture cooperative societies, Panchayats and women’s SHGs, in addition to civilsociety organisations.

In terms of implementation, the thrust was on Kasaragod district for a while. This is the epi-centre of theendosulfan-related environmental health tragedy that caused a major change in Kerala’s views with regardto chemical agriculture.

In terms of crops, the main thrust was laid on vegetables in the policy. Since the ambitious targets cannotbe met by government agencies alone, interested private parties were invited to apply for adoption andcertification for organic farming at Rs. 5 lakhs per cluster of 50 hectares, while farmers are supportedunder National Horticulture Mission (NHM) for maximum of 4 Ha per beneficiary for 3 years forvarious NHM-mandated horticultural crops. The contracted agencies were meant to facilitate buybackarrangement also. About Rs. 10 crore was allotted for organic farming and “safe to eat food” productionscheme during 2014-15. Additionally, Panchayats are also investing their funds on promotion of organicfarming. However, there is no estimate of the money spent from the Panchayats. Anecdotal evidenceindicates that some Panchayats are spending upto 50 lakh rupees for organic farming investments. In theAgriculture Department, 1 out of 5 Deputy Directors under the Principal Agriculture Officer in eachdistrict is designated to work exclusively on organic farming right now.

Policy highlights from Kerala state Organic Farming Policy

Some strategies of the Kerala State Policy on Organic Farming, amongst its 24 action plan strategieslisted for implementation, are worth mentioning here.

There is a thrust on ensuring seed sovereignty of farmers by establishing ‘seed villages’ exclusively fororganic farming; here, programmes for production of seeds, seedlings, planting materials and traditionalanimal breeds would be initiated at the Panchayat level, so as to become self-sufficient in the availabilityof good quality local seeds, both indigenous and breeder seeds developed by the Kerala AgriculturalUniversity and other institutions of agricultural research. In addition, the policy marks the need forinvolving farming groups in creating seed banks and seed cooperatives to produce, store, share andsupply good quality seeds, including those, which are traditional, and location specific. Moreover,development of participatory seed production programmes along with the KAU and other institutionsof agricultural research are mentioned.

Another area of intervention is strengthening of soil and ensuring of water conservation measures bydeclaring the existing sacred groves, ponds and mangroves as protected areas and ensure their conservation.

According to the action plan, the state has to ensure organic farming approach in all the watersheddevelopment areas and should extend its support including capacity building and financial assistance forsoil and water conservation measures through ongoing watershed development programmes. This includescapacity building opportunities for farmers, implementing officers, agencies, and local self-governmentmembers, orientation, trainings and exposure visit programmes.

A group of 10-20 unemployed youth in each Panchayat (50% women) in the model of Kudumbashreewould be designated as “Karshaka Sevakar”, trained in all facets of organic farm management supportedthrough the programmes of the Panchayat to assist farmers in organic farming.

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The action plan also specifies the need to ensure availability of adequate nutritious food for tribals,whose traditional agriculture has been degraded. The policy commits itself to specific programmes forthe rejuvenation of their traditional agriculture and knowledge protection.

There is also a plan included for organising a simple certification process in the State for all organicfarmers. NGOs accredited by the PGS Council of India shall be authorised to help implement andmonitor the PGS system in the State. Moreover, the State will develop an Organic Kerala Certificationand “Jaiva Keralam” shall be developed as a brand with a logo.

The policy provides for financial incentives for the farmers to promote organic farming with interest-freeloans to organic farmers, especially small and marginal farmers. Credit linked to banks shall be subsidizedthrough Central/State Governments. The policy also includes the introduction of a state led insurancescheme for small and marginal organic farmers and to introduce pension for organic farmers.

Further, the use of renewable energy sources is encouraged and the action plan notes that assistance interms of expertise and finances should be given for use of biogas plants, solar energy and wind energyunits wherever feasible to reduce dependence on external energy sources. In addition, aid should begiven to develop appropriate small farm machinery for reducing energy, cost and drudgery.

Another strategy in the Kerala policy centres around introduction of organic farming in educationinstitutions, prisons and juvenile homes, through academic inputs. A specific campaign shall be startedamong students to ensure that they take organically grown food. The plan includes setting up a system inall schools in Kerala to have organic vegetable and fruit gardens as well as paddy cultivation in potentialregions, as part of inculcating among the children the love for organic farming and biodiversity conservationand, perpetuation in their households.

The policy specifies that KAU shall develop package of practices and model demonstration farms fororganic farming in different agro-ecological zones.

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(iii) Sikkim: The first completely organic state of India(iii) Sikkim: The first completely organic state of India(iii) Sikkim: The first completely organic state of India(iii) Sikkim: The first completely organic state of India(iii) Sikkim: The first completely organic state of IndiaOrganic Farming policy in Sikkim was launched ahead of all the states in the country, in 2003 itself andserious implementation in a Mission Mode started in the year 2010 with the creation of Sikkim OrganicMission (SOM). The apex committee, “Sikkim Organic Mission”, is headed by the Chief Minister andthe plan was to bring 58,000 hectares of land under certified organic cultivation by 2015, which the stateachieved by January 2016 when it was formally declared as a fully certified organic state. According toSikkim Organic Mission, “we follow two steps before claiming a farm(er) to be organic. First is InternalControl System which takes approximately 3 years to complete. Here, data pertaining to the farmer andfarming practices are meticulously recorded and maintained. The farmer undergoes training and learnsabout organic farming methods. Based on the documentation, an external agency would conduct asurvey to evaluate training of the farmers, data collection and maintenance, check for the standardquality and based on the examination, the committee gives the certification that is called as C 1. Thesame process is conducted again a year later, final certification is given, and the complete process takestwo years”.

Sikkim state government engaged some innovative farmers and civil society organizations in the policyplanning process. It can be said to have spearheaded the organic revolution being taken up in manyother states of the country.

The state approached organic farming with a multi-dimensional focus of ensuring the general well-beingof the population, health, prosperity, Gross Happiness Index, and was motivated to include organicfarms of the state as part of Eco-Tourism and specifically, “Organic Tourism”. The state is raisingrevenues through “Organic / Nature Tourism”. Strict regulation of agricultural chemicals was imposedby not issuing licenses for the sales of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the state. It is also essential tonote that Sikkim has its own strengths and natural resources, which enables the conversion processeasier and adoptable. Given the average fertiliser consumption of just 7 kgs/hectare in the state, it can besaid that soil has not absorbed much chemicals to begin with. There was also negligible pesticideconsumption. This aided a more rapid transformation towards organic.

The extension system was completely re-oriented towards organic advisories. Livelihood Schools wereset up for training farmers and rural youth on organic farming. The development of “Bio-Villages” as apivotal project intensified the whole plan. Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federationltd. (SIMFED) procures from certified organic producers through 170 multipurpose cooperative societies,and supplies to other states or international markets. The organic products from the state are getting

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international recognition and the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICCOA(International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture) that deals with organic research on fivemajor export oriented crops from the state4. Organic agriculture curriculum is introduced at school levelalong with HRD Department from class fifth to seventh.

Data related to yields during the conversion period of Sikkim towards organic shows no drop inproductivity of food grains in the state, allaying the fears of sceptics5.

Some highlights of Sikkim’s transition to organic farming:

Some of the significant measures undertaken by the state are as follows:

1. Development of Internal Control Systems (ICS) is one of the key steps undertaken with the help ofservice providers, prior to inspection and certification. The process involves many activities likeconducting village meetings, awareness programmes, baseline survey, identification of clusters,registration of farmers and agreements with all farmers, farmers’ diary maintenance and GPS datarecording of each farm. Subsequently, farmers’ meetings and orientation programmes areundertaken, followed by internal inspection and online registration in Tracenet (Tracenet is aninternet based service offered by APEDA to stakeholders in organic commerce for facilitatingtraceability and certification that aids export of organic products from India which comply with theNPOP or NOP standards). Submission of Tracenet data to certification agencies will facilitateexternal inspection and audit, followed by issue of organic certification by the certification agencies.

2. Immediately after the framing of an Action Plan in 2003, two government farms at Nazitam (EastSikkim) and Mellidara (South Sikkim) were converted to “Centres of Excellence for OrganicFarming” and necessary research and adaptive trials were started to work out appropriate packageof organic practices.

3. Taking the help of consultancy services offered by International Competence Centre forOrganic Agriculture (ICCOA) Bangalore, and FiBL, Switzerland, from the year 2010, organicresearch was taken up. The main task was to ensure availability of locally-adapted high-quality seedsand this led to indigenous seed production being promoted through ‘Seed Village Scheme’. Thisstep made the quantity of locally produced seed increase from 297q in 2004-05 to 945q in 2008-09.Moreover, a MoU was signed with National Seeds Corporation (NSC) and Zuari Seed Company toproduce hybrid seeds of maize in the Seed Production Farms of the State. The state made intensiveefforts to create adequate mechanization infrastructure for post-harvest operations such as threshing,processing, packaging and storage etc.

4. The State was well equipped with soil testing facility with an annual capacity of 10,000 soil samplesanalysed. During 2003-2009 more than 46,993 soil samples were analysed and more than 46,000soil health cards were issued. Two mobile soil-testing vans equipped with latest instruments are alsooperating in the state.

4. http://sikkimnews.blogspot.in/2009/11/sikkims-organic-products-showcased-in.html5. http://www.sikkimorganicmission.gov.in/towards-organic-sikkim/achievements/

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5. The manure production infrastructure was strengthened in the state. Since 2005, intensive effortsare underway to make agriculture in Sikkim self-sustaining and self-sufficient by mobilizing effectiveutilization of on-farm waste. Necessary infrastructure for on-farm generation of vermicompost,enriched compost and liquid manure was installed. Farmers were supported for construction of on-farm vermicompost production units and rural Compost-cum-Urine pit. Along with that, eightvermiculture hatcheries were also established to ensure steady availability of live earthworms forvermicomposting.

6. In the approach of Bio-Villages, the main step was the initiation of using EM (effective micro-organism) technology. This began in 2003-04 and by 2009-10, the Department of Food Securityand Agriculture Development adopted 396 villages as bio-villages in collaboration with a privateagency. Important soil enrichment and plant-protection formulations demonstrated under thestrategy were EM-compost, EM-Bokashi, EM-FPE and EM-56.

7. The Department of Agriculture has been promoting use of improved agricultural and horticulturaltools and equipments, and farm machinery, wherein assistance in the form of subsidy is providedto farmers for the purchase of equipments.

8. The possibility of participatory guarantee system (PGS) of certification is being explored andaccordingly, a PGS model for Sikkim will be developed for implementation in future. The ICARSikkim Centre has standardised organic technology and has come out with a book titled, “Handbookof organic crop production in Sikkim”

9. Farmers are encouraged to produce organic seeds of maize, paddy, buck wheat, urad, soyabean,mustard, rajma etc and planting materials of cardamom, Sikkim mandarin ginger, turmeric etcwithin the state. These are then procured from the farmers at a premium price for distribution toother farmers under various Departmental schemes. Efforts are also underway to produce theorganic seeds of open pollinated varieties of vegetables crops within the State7.

6. The details furnished are from the official site of the Sikkim state.http://www.sikkimorganicmission.gov.in/towards-organic-sikkim/develop-bio-villages/

7. http://www.sikkimorganicmission.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Comprehensive-report.pdf

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(iv) State Policy on Organic Farming in Madhya Pradesh(iv) State Policy on Organic Farming in Madhya Pradesh(iv) State Policy on Organic Farming in Madhya Pradesh(iv) State Policy on Organic Farming in Madhya Pradesh(iv) State Policy on Organic Farming in Madhya PradeshWhen it comes to the area under certified organic farming, Madhya Pradesh is one of the key playersamongst all Indian states. Madhya Pradesh adopted the concept of bio-villages many years ago, throughwhich it supported ecological agriculture. It was first implemented in 1565 villages selected from 313blocks of 48 districts in the state. A survey conducted in Central Madhya Pradesh by the Indian Instituteof Soil Science (IISS-ICAR), Bhopal revealed that the major crops grown under organic farming aresoybean, wheat, lentil, safed musli, maize, pigeon pea, vegetables and sugarcane. According to the survey,organic farming is mostly taken up by large and middle range of farmers in terms of area rather than thesmall farmers. The average area under organic farming varied from 0.80 ha in terms of small farmers to5.00 ha with large farmers8.

According to the Madhya Pradesh policy on organic farming, the initiation of organic farming is a pushtowards a more sustainable agriculture as a remedial measure to recharge ground water and prevent soillosses. The programme has other aims like reviving profitability in agriculture and assuring quality foodproducts for a healthy population. The policy on organic farming was released in 2010 with a “three-foldobjective, considering cross-sectoral, temporal and spatial factors across the contours of productivityenhancement from the low production potential regions, threats of climate change, markets and aboveall holistic development paradigm especially encompassing agrarian communities in the hinterlands9”.

The Department of Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Department is the nodal department forimplementation of the policy. Madhya Pradesh is considered significant because around 32-40% ofIndia’s certified organic area is in this state. The policy however says that this is still in a nascent stage.Most of the regions, districts, blocks, and Gram Panchayats in the state use only 50 – 60 % of the stateaverage in terms of external inputs like fertilisers and pesticides. The policy targets these areas as primaryniches for promoting organic farming. In terms of social groups, the policy prioritises tribal communitiesfor the spread of organic farming. Currently, the focus is on 18 districts with low fertiliser consumption/tribal districts.

The state employs a cluster based approach under “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” (PKVY). JaivikKheti Gaon (BioVillage) is also being created (5 villages per block). MP has set up a separate certificationagency called MPOFCA with 3 years’ subsidy provided for farmers for certification. According to the

8. https://www.nabard.org/english/musli1.aspx9. http://www.mpkrishi.org/krishinet/hindisite/pdfs/javikneeti_eng.pdf

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recent reports by the central government, Madhya Pradesh has a certified area of 2.32 lakh hectaresunder organic farming out of a total 7.23 lakh hectares of organic farming in India10.

The state government transfers funds from the central government scheme directly into the beneficiaryorganic farmer’s account, for purchase and use of organic inputs in a novel system of DBT (DirectBenefit Transfer). A Regional Research Station (RRS) of a state Agricultural University in Jabalpur(JNKVV) has been converted into an exclusive organic farming RRS in Mandla, which is a tribal area.Another recent initiative has been the effort to set up a separate marketing agency with about Rs. 50crore annual outlay for organic farming. ASSOCHAM’s 2012 study estimated the potential for wealthaccumulation of Rs.23,000 crores, 60 lakh employment days and exports worth Rs.600 crores withorganic farming in Madhya Pradesh. An April 2015 ASSOCHAM report claims that 26 lakh hectares ofland is under certified organic in 2014 in the state, with certified farmland area remaining at just 1.48lakh hectares, with the remaining being forest area. The state policy adopts a no-transgenics approachsince GMOs are found to be incompatible with organic farming goals and approaches.

Policy Highlights of Madhya Pradesh’s State Policy on Organic Farming:

The State Organic Farming Policy 2010 defines the scope of organic farming to be promoted to includeall field food and non-food crops especially emphasising the crops grown in the low external inputregimes of fertilizers and agro chemicals, and crops and varieties of the point of origin. Since the statehas a vast range of forest area, the plan recognises the importance of marketing forest products throughthe organic route to optimise the underutilized potential.

In its institutional outreach, the policy seeks to cover Department of Farmers’ Welfare and AgricultureDevelopment’s farms, state seed farms, KVK farms, state horticulture farms, sericulture farms, fishfarms, state agriculture university farms, farms managed by corporate bodies, large private farms, animalhusbandry farms managed and/or owned by civil society organizations involved in agriculture and ruraldevelopment, Gaushala farms, Kanji-house farms owned by public charities and trusts, to encouragethem to become organic farms11. These farms are to be made into model farms that will serve as institutesof research, training, learning and development. The other significant practices of the state in the field oforganic farming are as follows:

1. The state has taken initiatives to create Organic Hubs managed by primary producers’ institutions,producers of the organic inputs, processors, marketers of the certified organic produce, trade andindustry and corporations interested in dealing and promoting organic farming in the state. Thehubs would be the nodal points of produce aggregation, besides being “One – Stop – Shop” for arange of organic products.

2. Grower Group Certification is the internal quality control system that shall apply to small holdingfarmer groups, farmers’ cooperatives, contract production and small scale processing units. Thesegroups are a collection of producers with a common element like similar geographical or socialbackground and their crops are marketed collectively. These groups should establish and put intopractice their own system of Internal Control, supervision and documentation of production practices,and by this way ensuring organic farming certification procedures.

10. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04-24/news/61493996_1_rashtriya-krishi-vikas-yojana-certified-organic-farming-national-mission

11. http://www.mpkrishi.org/krishinet/hindisite/pdfs/javikneeti_eng.pdf

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3. Recent media reports indicate an increased thrust on production of organic seeds12. According toan article, “Madhya Pradesh will soon be able to meet the demand of organic seeds in the country.An organic seed production programme will be implemented on 8 farms owned by Department ofAgriculture and two owned by Madhya Pradesh Seeds Development Corporation. So far, morethan 26,000 farmers have registered themselves as organic farmers. Their details including, village,land holding, production, manures used by them etc. will be available online for interested tradingorganizations”.

4. The state aims to bring its peri-urban areas into the organic fold for which, it taps the neglectedperi–urban agriculture fields by setting forth niche areas to strengthen organic farming aroundurban conglomerates. Projects on urban dairy hubs, fruit and flower cultivation farms are beingplanned wherein urban population may work on the principle of “own a cow for fresh milk”philosophy and such projects will have easy access to the urban markets.

5. The policy emphasises the need to emancipate primary producers from the control of unproductiveand unfriendly channels of markets through forward and backward linkages. Here, knowledge andfinancial institutions are expected to provide end–to–end interventions. As the policy states, “Thecertification to qualify for organic standards, collection, aggregation, bulking, sorting, grading, packingand other operations necessary to place these products in the hyper markets requires specializedoperations, hence new policy pays due emphasis to build such “organic producers’ collectives” toestablish and strengthen back–end operations of the organic value chain”. Moreover, the ForwardLinkages are with Local, Regional, National and International Markets. The state’s policy recognizesthe technology needs of scientific organic farming and seeks to build linkages between primaryproducers and R & D institutions. Financial Linkages between the primary producers and instituteslike CCB, nationalized banks, RRBs, MFIs, NABARD and other institutions would be encouraged,the policy states.

6. The policy is aimed at providing local, regional and state level facilities to impart short-term trainingcourses for skill building. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) and the Farmers’ Training Centres ofthe department would be encouraged to start Organic Farming Development Programs (ODPs) forrural youth to take up organic farming as a key economic activity for their future vocation. ContinuousCapacity Building for all stakeholders and inclusion of organic farming in the syllabi of secondaryeducation are listed in the policy propositions of the state. Along with that, sponsorships to rural youthfor higher learning in the field of organic farming is also proposed to promote organic farming.

7. The state commits itself to provide all incentives under the provisions of MP State Food ProcessingPolicy 2008 to be extended to primary producers, processors, marketers, R&D agencies and othersengaged in Organic Farming in the state. “These provisions would be dovetailed with new the MPState Organic Farming Policy 2010 for the purpose of avoiding duplication on one hand andencouraging organic farming in the state on the other hand”.

8. According to the obligation of providing healthcare to all its citizens, emphasis is laid on consumerawareness about organic products and the MP policy encourages consumers to use more and moreorganics. Such a state campaign through electronic and digital media would provide broader platformfor organic products inside and outside the state13, as per the policy.

12. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/good-governance/madhya-pradesh/Madhya-Pradesh-to-launch-organic-seed-production-programme/articleshow/47211177.cms

13. http://www.mpkrishi.org/krishinet/hindisite/pdfs/javikneeti_eng.pdf

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(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed Sustainable(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed Sustainable(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed Sustainable(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed Sustainable(v) Andhra Pradesh & Telangana : Community Managed SustainableAgricultureAgricultureAgricultureAgricultureAgricultureThough not strictly an organic farming scheme or project, it is important to allude to another importantlarge scale programme related to agro-ecological approaches in this booklet, and glean out the goodpractices adopted in that programme for replication elsewhere. This is with regard to the CommunityManaged Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA) project of the Rural Development Department of undividedstate of Andhra Pradesh which was dubbed by the local media as the world’s largest state-supportedecological agriculture programme. This programme was aimed at bringing sustainability to agriculture-based livelihoods, with a special focus on marginalised and women farmers. The programme got initiatedwhen women’s federations (federations of Self Help Groups of Women) realised that what they weresaving with great difficulty was manifold lesser than what they were giving away to agri-chemical industrywhen they spend on purchase of chemical pesticides (and often, by borrowing at high interest rates!).They also started connecting the dots between the use of pesticides and disruption in the ecologicalbalance in their farms, pest resistance build up etc. They were also deeply concerned about the healthimpacts of these chemicals on themselves and members of their families. There were already some NonGovernmental Organisations like Centre for World Solidarity, with its sister organisations like Centrefor Sustainable Agriculture and WASSAN, with the pioneering work of agriculture scientists like Dr MS Chari, which were promoting non-pesticidal management (NPM) of crops with other partnerorganisations. A project to control red hairy caterpillar in redgram crop was highly successful whentaken up by these organisations, and a newly-evolved pesticides-free village called Punukula in Khammamdistrict provided additional confidence to everyone. This provided the inspiration for shaping a largescale intervention to scale up NPM.

The programme was effectively implemented through the SHG platforms. Society for Elimination ofRural Poverty (SERP), an autonomous GO-NGO (quasi-governmental agency) initiated CommunityManaged Sustainable Agriculture in 2004, to teach farmers how to do farming without the use of chemicalpesticides. Instead, homemade concoctions like those made from neem, garlic, chillies, plant and herbextracts, cow dung and cow urine are used along with other traditional methods of pest control. Afterinitial successes tasted by the participating farmers, where costs were reduced significantly with yieldsremaining unaffected, there was a rapid spread of the programme in all the 23 districts of then undividedAndhra Pradesh.

SERP (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty) took the programme forward with aid from the WorldBank and the Central Government. The society started NPM (Non Pesticidal Management) on a 162-

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hectare land in 200414 and scaled it up to 35 lakh hectares. According to India Rural DevelopmentReport 2012-2013, about two million farmers in Andhra Pradesh adopted community managedsustainable agriculture (CMSA). This led to a massive reduction in the cost of cultivation, even as itsustained or even increased yields for farmers.

Villages experienced a shift from conventional “external-input-driven” agriculture to “knowledge, skill-based and local natural resource” resting on Extension System innovations in the form of Farmer FieldSchools (FFS) with facilitation support from Community Resource Persons (CRPs). Best practicing farmersare made the frontline cadre of the extension system and weekly group meetings in the fields for reviewing,researching, trouble shooting and capacity building were conducted. Extension workers’ salaries were directlydeposited into women’s federations’ accounts and this ensured downward accountability towards farmersparticipating in the programme. The whole set of process brought organic science into every agriculturalhouseholds of the village and science was demystified in the agricultural fields.

Very often, it is said that government departments know how to handle distribution of inputs but cannotdeal with knowledge-centric processes. NPM scaling up programme was one such challenge where noinputs were being provided to farmers in any physical sense; however, capacity building, knowledgedissemination and monitoring were key elements of the processes on which the programme rested. Thismeant newer ways of monitoring the work of functionaries had to be evolved.

Technology was used here in the form of video conferencing not just for reviewing and planning, butalso trainings and capacity building. Similarly, mobile technology and custom-made apps were used foreffective monitoring of work. Use of technology in the programme included television broadcasts ofrelevant information on sustainable farming. Circulation of pamphlet on program components alongwith audio conference on mobile phones connecting nearly 120 members was taken up. Group SMSsand alerts were sent through Way2SMS and video conferences were arranged every fortnight. All IndiaRadio, Doordarshan and CDs were made effective use of, by the SHG members. Information Technologyinitiatives played a vital role in successful spread of sustainable farming. Monitoring of the fields ofparticipating farmers was done with a mobile based application (Bluefrog) which allowed tracking offarmer wise adoption of various practices. Capacity building involved community video films by DigitalGreen. In addition, farmers were able to check and access better prices through Mobile Bazar (Intuit).The website of CMSA also has valuable information along with video clips on various practices like seedtreatment, preparation of various bio-inputs, etc.

Separate focus was ensured on the Poorest of the Poor (POP) households, with organic IntegratedFarming Systems models adopted in their small farms. This included multiple sources of income andinput production systems, in addition to water harvesting and support for marketing.

To establish a direct link between the organic farmers and the market, direct marketing platforms werecreated in some places. Moreover, NPM produce to an extent got integrated into the ‘Food SecurityCredit Line’ programme of SERP.

An evaluation of the programme by Government of India reports that there is no decline in yields of thecrops under the agro-ecological approach promoted and actually highlights the increases of yields incertain crops. CMSA programme is an example that organic farming promotion need not cause anyadditional public financing burden on the government – it was estimated that this programme costedonly about Rs. 175/- per acre per year on an average.

14. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/andhra-to-promote-chemical-free-cultivation—33529

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Schemes of Governmentof India to Promote

Organic FarmingNational Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) was a national initiative started inthe Tenth Five Year Plan, in 2004, by the Ministry of Agriculture under theDepartment of Agriculture and Cooperation. Subsequently, in the Twelfth Plan,the scheme was subsumed under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture(NMSA). Meanwhile, 14 States have formulated schemes/policies to supportorganic farming in their states1.

Certain important aims and objectives of National Project on Organic Farmingare encouraging organic processes, products and components in agriculture,quality control in the use of bio-fertilizers, regulation and database maintenanceas a control mechanism, supply of bio-fertilizers, teaching, training and researchin organic farming. The agenda also includes appropriate use of informationand technology, effective institutionalization, use of media and communicationto promote and disseminate information, evaluation of various central and stategovernment schemes.

It is interesting to note that one of the main Ministries that had promoted organicfarming over several decades, on a small scale, is the Ministry of Commerce.That is because organic farming was mainly seen as an export revenue earnerfor the country. The National Programme for Organic Farming (NPOP) wastherefore devised under the Ministry of Commerce. The other ministry that isat present getting active in promoting organic farming is the Ministry of Agriculturethrough National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF). National Centre forOrganic Farming (NCOF) along with its 7 Regional Centres of Organic Farmingwas set up under NPOF. There was also a Network Project on Organic Farming(NePOF) initiated under ICAR.

The implementation of NPOF includes the extended, decentralised institutionallinkages promoted by both central and state governments. NPOF has been ableto contribute to some extent to the expansion of land under organic farming,

1. http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/Estimates/16_Estimates_9.pdf

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increase in the production of bio-fertilizers, improvement in the area of soil testing and soil healthmanagement, increase in the export value for Indian organic products etc. All of these were noted by theParliamentary Committee on Estimates 2015-16 in its 9th report which was on National Project onOrganic Farming. According to the Committee Report, developed countries and major urban centres inIndia increasingly prefer organic produce. The global trade is currently USD 60 billion (Rs. 3,60,000crore) and is predicted to touch USD 100 billion (Rs. 6,00,000 crore) in a few years’ time. In addition,trade within India may reach Rs. 5000- 6000 crore, which is about 1% of the global trade. Domesticmarket growth is in fact showing 100% increase year on year in the recent past.

Paramparagat Krishi Paramparagat Krishi Paramparagat Krishi Paramparagat Krishi Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)Vikas Yojana (PKVY)Vikas Yojana (PKVY)Vikas Yojana (PKVY)Vikas Yojana (PKVY)Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana is part of the Soil Health Management (SHM) component of theNational Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA). For the first time in India, Government of Indiastarted an exclusive scheme with sizeable investments when it initiated the PKVY. Additionally, a newscheme has been initiated with an outlay of Rs. 400 crores in 2015-16, that is called as “Organic ValueChain Development” for North Eastern states of India. While it remains somewhat incongruous thatthe flagship PKVY is under an INM (Integrated Nutrient Management) programme of the SHM, withthe official in-charge of India’s main organic farming scheme also being the official who looks at it withinan INM framework (SHM aims at promoting INM through judicious use of chemical fertilizers includingsecondary and micro nutrients in conjunction with organic manures and biofertilizers for improving soilhealth and its productivity; upgradation of skill and knowledge of soil testing laboratory staff, extensionstaff and farmers through training and demonstrations), PKVY itself has been designed as a verycomprehensive scheme to promote organic farming.

PKVY adopts a cluster approach for promotion of organic farming, accompanied by PGS certification.The important outcomes that are expected out of PKVY are to promote commercial organic productionthrough certificated organic farming; production of pesticide residue free food products and to improvethe health of consumer; raise farmer’s income and create potential market for traders; motivating thefarmers for natural resource mobilization for input production. The activities under PKVY comprise ofmobilisation of farmers to form clusters for undertaking organic farming, training the local farmers onPGS certification, capacity building, soil testing and health management, inspections of the fields,certification regulation, procurement of organic seed and other bio inputs, help in vermicompost,transportation and marketing arrangements2. There is also a component for testing of organic produceto ensure adherence to norms and standards laid down.

2. http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/NMSA_GDL.pdf

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In Closing…While this booklet gives glimpses of various programmatic and scheme-basedinnovations that have been used to promote organic farming in different partsof India, it is also worth noting that the current thrust on organic farming inIndia is minuscule, compared to the support that the mainstream chemical andintensive agriculture approaches receive. This situation needs to be remediedurgently given the environmental and economic crises unfolding in Indianfarming. The following are the recommendations from advocates of organicfarming towards a more comprehensive approach to organic farming, withadequate investments.

• It appears that there are a few pre-requisites for success, and large scaleawareness campaigns with both producers and consumers are a keycomponent to be invested upon. Here, all possible media should bedeployed and the messages should be around the ill effects of chemicalagriculture as well as the benefits of organic farming.

• There should be immediate and adequate investments on extension support,which should consist of right advisories from the right people at all timeswhen a farmer is shifting towards organic farming and for a while after thetransition too. The best form of extension is through practising organicfarmers who become trainers and extension personnel for other farmerswhen appointed as Community Resource Persons as the last mile extensionpersonnel in the agriculture department.

• A good sum of investment is needed in the capacity building process whereinofficials and scientists of agricultural departments should be involved.

• The process must be more focused towards including women farmers andsmallholders for a more rapid spread.

• It is important that certain principles are adopted in any programme thatseeks to expand organic farming area in India. Internalisation of all inputsat the farm or at least at the community level is important. Such a systemwhich generates inputs required for the local set of farmers through locallyavailable free natural resources and also utilises nano-scale production by

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local enterprises set up by women’s SHGs or village youth groups etc., will also reduce the burdenof quality regulation on the government, even as it reduces cost of inputs for farmers and gives moreemployment opportunities to local people. Similarly, localisation and decentralisation are importantprinciples to adopt. In the extension system, thrust on agro-ecological principles and not rigidpackage of practices will allow innovation to emerge.

• The state has to focus on addressing marketing constraints of organic farmers with as much investmentand attention as on expanding organic production. Support at the production end and marketingend should receive equal thrust simultaneously and cannot be addressed sequentially. Creatinglocalised markets with direct marketing avenues created (melas, haats, weekly bazaars), is one strategy– this will mean that consumers and farmers will get onto a direct platform of interaction, and thisreduces the need for certification processes. Nevertheless, wherever the certification is needed, itshould be fully subsidised from the government.

• Utilising various existing food schemes of the government, ready local markets can be created fororganic producer collectives.

• Along with the promotion of organic farming, focus must be laid on the regulation of chemicals inagriculture and of Genetically Modified crops.

• Any policy commitment should be formulated along with adequate and appropriate financial outlays.

The other areas that need to be addressed to promote organic farming include:

• focus on organic seed breeding and revival of traditional seed varieties

• integration of livestock component and other components in an Integrated Farming Systemsapproach.

• Integrating food schemes of the government, especially for children, with organic producer collectives(MDMS/ICDS/PDS) will also be a significant incentive for spreading organic farming, even as itensures safe food for the poorest in the country.

• Various schemes like NREGS/NRLM/MKSP/PKVY should lay extra thrust on working with womenfarmers’ collectives for promotion of organic farming.

• Setting up organic market yards with grading, processing and value addition facilities for traders toprocure from certified organic producers, and retailers to in turn procure from the yard will beimportant. Outlays in schemes like RKVY can be used for the same.

• Organising food festivals and consumer awareness campaigns should be facilitated to increase demandfor organic from consumers and to support farmers to participate in melas.

• Allocations have to be increased under all schemes with an earmarked proportion of at least 30%going for organic farming, starting from agricultural research funds.

• Incentivising organic farmers by extending insurance for transition to organic farming during theinitial five years will be very useful in the promotion of organic farming in the country.

• Payment for Ecosystem Services should be extended to all organic farmers based on some objectiveand scientific parameters of assessment and verification, for more rapid adoption and spread oforganic farming in the country.

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Cover Image AttributionsCover Image AttributionsCover Image AttributionsCover Image AttributionsCover Image Attributions

(1) ‘Yercaud’ Green Valley Blue Sky Rural India 2012By Thangaraj Kumaravel (Flickr: Green Valley & Blue Sky) [CC BY 2.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(2) NP Himachal Pradesh 68By CIAT (NP Himachal Pradesh 68 Uploaded by mrjohncummings) [CC BY-SA 2.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(3) A millet crop ready for harvest rural farm IndiaBy J’ram DJ from Chennai, India (Farm Field) [CC BY 2.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(4) An organic Manure (Vermi Compost)By Thamizhpparithi Maari (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(5) Manual harvest in TirumayamBy Claude Renault (frame removed by uploader)(http://www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/239052439/) [CC BY 2.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(6) Paddy CollectionSahridayan at Malayalam Wikipedia [CC BY 3.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(7) “Cereals and Millet at a Bazaar in Nizampet, Hyderabad”By Adityamadhav83 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

This booklet has been created as a policy note on agro-ecologicalapproaches in Indian agriculture, based on good practices andstrategies adopted by different policies and programmes forpromoting organic farming in India. The booklet dwells onpolicy and legislative measures that have helped some stategovernments to take forward a strong agenda of promotion oforganic farming.

It is hoped that this compilation will be useful as a policy toolwith ready-to-replicate ideas and practices to be picked up andimplemented by state governments all over the country. It alsomakes a case for why organic farming is an imperative and nota choice any more, and the various benefits that can be expectedfrom large scale promotion of organic farming. This bookletwill also be useful for civil society actors for use in promotingand advocating organic farming in the country.

Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS) is a public charitable trustregistered in India in 2010, but active as network of NGOs,grassroots activists, academics, researchers and policymakers since2005. KICS provides a platform for promoting dialogues on scienceand society issues in India through workshops, research studies,publications and specialized documentation efforts towards apeople-centric science and technology policy. KICS functions as anetwork of over 120+ organizations and individuals and as suchis coordinated by a core group of academics, activists and policyspecialists, and a Board of five trustees.

Centre for World Solidarity (CWS) strives to promote a humandignity based, gendered and eco-sustainable approach that willadvance people-centred governance, livelihoods and managementof natural resources. This will be achieved through partnering,nurturing and collaborating with civil society organisations andother stakeholders at various levels. It adds value through itspartnership in promoting good governance, effective systems andalso gains in enhancing its relevance through regular engagementwith its partners, networks and fellows, functioning from six states,who bring to CWS the grassroots reality, tribulations andchallenges.

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