public policy for shift towards organic/natural farming

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AgroEcological approaches gaining momentum

• Organic farming is gaining momentum recognizing the problems associated with chemical agriculture, increasing costs of cultivation and its impact on environment and health.

• It is now accepted that Organic/Ecological/ natural farming methods can bring in ecological and economic sustainability in farming

• The consumers’ fears trigged by food scares and technological developments such as genetic modification and food irradiation have been translated into serious concern about food safety and quality

Shift in public policy framework

• A shift to diversified, biological resource integrated models of agriculture is required to correct inappropriate resource use.

• shift to intercropping, multiple cropping systems, appropriate crop rotations and integration of crops and animals.

• Land use and farming systems need to be planned consciously by paying attention to the challenges of ecological intensification.

• Shift in the support systems (prices, subsidies, research, institutions) should be reconfigured from current subsidies on external inputs to support to ecosystem services

• Maintaining ecosystem specific agronomic diversity is essential.For example, the wetlands, rainfed areas, hill regions etc need support to practice appropriate farming systems

• Centralised, monoculture based current unsustainable models of agriculture has to be stopped. Instead diverse and safe food like millets, pulses, oilseeds and various locally grown fruits and vegetables should be promoted.

• Restrictions should be imposed to regulate and control the use of inappropriate technologies like agro chemicals, GMOs and other technologies that have biosafety implications.

• The emerging crisis impacting pollinators and the consequent deleterious impact on the productivity and yields of several crops has to be recognised and dealt with utmost urgency

• Appropriate spaces for non formal knowledge systems has to be provided

Strategies needed

• Focused approach

• Institutional Mechanisms

• Programmatic approach and incentives to farmers

• Support Systems

Public Policy: Increase right investments in agriculture

• Budgetary allocations to 10-15% • increase more informed choices to farmers than

driven by captive institutions• Support to farmers own labor, resources and

knowledge• Support for Ecosystem services

– Common ecosystem services what an ecological farm needs

– Ecosystem services what an ecological farm contributes

• Infrastructure support

Price YieldX = Income

PRESENT MODEL

NEW MODEL

Income f

Yield

Water conservation

Carbon Sequestration

Ecological farming

PracticesPrice

+

designing a scheme that involves moving away from the present practice of passing all risk to the farmer through the operation of the market mechanism. Cushioning some of the risk will be integral to the functioning of any new system

At the same time, moving towards a system where a farming community can be incentivised to move towards ecological farming

Valuing Ecosystem Services

Ensuring income security

• Price compensation and decoupled income support

• Farmers Income Commission: statutory commission of balancing decisions effecting

– Costs of Production

– Subsidies and support

– Costs of living

– Prices

Farmer Producer Organizations

• Taxation: 30% is very unviable– Organic Cooperatives can be exempted for 3-5 years

• Access credit and working capital– Soft loans for cooperatives which have more than 80%

members from small and marginal farmers

• Encourage different models across the country rather than thrusting on Producer Company model

• Revival of PACS and removing political interference

Agricultural Research• Agricultural research needs to adopt an agro ecological

perspective while setting the research and training agenda

• Researchers should shift towards participatory approaches involving practicing farmers and farm workers and develop appropriate technologies to suit their needs

• Collective, location specific approaches to extension have to be followed to restore the health of agro-eco systems

• Increased investments in agro ecological research needs to be made

• Agricultural research performance should be redefined to include the criteria of sustainability and ecosystem health

• Low volume and long shelf life of the bio products

Agriculture Extension

• Confidence of the last link is extremely important

• Ideally block level down should be converted into community managed extension

• Shift from information based to knowledge based system

• Use experienced farmers as resource persons.

Other support systems and regulations

• Effective handling of waste– Composting of biowaste– Safe disposal of toxic waste to prevent heavy metal

accumulation in soils

• Encourage fodder/grazing based live stock systems

• Declare diversity rich, ecologically sensitive areas as chemical free

• No Genetic Modification in crops for which India is centre of origin/diversity and /or have strategic business interests.

Supporting marketing

• Form state level Commodity Board which can help FPOs with– Technical support– Quality management (PGS/Third party)– Access to finances– Access to markets

• Infrastructure support in terms of storage/processing units

• #KnowYourFood campaign with consumers• Insist on super markets to abide by the minimum

standards

Centre for sustainable agricultureHead office: 12-13-485/5, Nagarjuna Nagar, Tarnaka,

Secunderabad, Telanagana- 500 017Contacts: http://www.csa-india.org, email: [email protected],

ph. 040-27017735

http://www.csa-india.org/

mailto:[email protected]