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Jaitu, a sleepy town in Faridkot district, is in the heart of Punjab’s cancer belt, where experts believe the extensive use of fertilisers and pesticides has impacted the health of generations. One person waging a personal war against this man-made nightmare is Umendra Dutt, founder-member and the executive director of Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM). In the past two decades, Dutt has motivated 20,000-odd small and marginal landholders, landless labourers and even kitchen gardeners to shift to organic farming—about 15,000 acres in all. Running his fingers through his flowing beard, Dutt walks us through an organic millet farm with lush-green crop on the verge of harvest, and acquaints us with the issues farmers face as they contemplate the shift. The first two queries he receives in his workshops are fairly existential for a small farmer: how much will the yield be? Who will buy the crop? Those who hope to make quick money quit instantly, he says. Only those shaken by the health nightmare of Jaitu stay committed, but even they can’t shrug off the basic economics.
Jaitu, a sleepy town in Faridkot district, is in the heart of Punjab’s cancer belt, where experts believe the extensive use of fertilisers and pesticides has impacted the health of generations. One person waging a personal war against this man-made nightmare is Umendra Dutt, founder-member and the executive director of Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM). In the past two decades, Dutt has motivated 20,000-odd small and marginal landholders, landless labourers and even kitchen gardeners to shift to organic farming—about 15,000 acres in all. Running his fingers through his flowing beard, Dutt walks us through an organic millet farm with lush-green crop on the verge of harvest, and acquaints us with the issues farmers face as they contemplate the shift. The first two queries he receives in his workshops are fairly existential for a small farmer: how much will the yield be? Who will buy the crop? Those who hope to make quick money quit instantly, he says. Only those shaken by the health nightmare of Jaitu stay committed, but even they can’t shrug off the basic economics.
Dutt was part of the National Task Force on Organic Farming & Chemical-Free Farming that the Union agriculture ministry constituted soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his first term. The panel recommended that at least Rs 12,500 crore a year be allocated to expand the sector, laying the foundation for the push in organic farming. But amid all the real-world exigencies, the money—and the sowing—haven’t kept pace with the intentions. In the last fiscal, for instance, the Narendra Tomar-led agriculture ministry couldn’t even spend the Rs 687 crore earmarked for organic farming.
As a result, the sector remains stuck at a nascent stage. About 2.78 million hectare (mha) of Indian farmland was under organic cultivation as of March 2020, but it constituted only 2 per cent of the 140.1 mha of the country’s net sown area and was a drop in the ocean for the world’s fifth-largest country with the largest number of farmers—29 per cent of the world’s total. India’s organic food market totalled Rs 11,400 crore, including Rs 7,040 crore in exports, as of March 2021. How does one scale up from here?
In this year’s budget, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid out the blueprint for chemical-free farming on both sides of the Ganga in five states, creating an organic/ natural corridor totalling 1.23 mha and dedicated to growing fruits, vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants. The states involved—Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal—could tap into the annual Rs 20,000 crore budget for the National Mission for Clean Ganga. Officials say Rs 120.49 crore has already been released for 6,181 clusters. PM Modi had in December called upon the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to scientifically validate natural farming and promote it as a mass movement. He also called on farmers to experiment in their fields, initially on small patches, eventually expanding to their entire holding. On cue, ICAR has started developing course content for natural farming and allied organic techniques.
The agriculture ministry is setting smaller, achievable targets. Officials say their focus is on promoting chemical-free agriculture in tribal, hilly and agro-forestry areas. The hilly terrain of smaller states like Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Goa have some 10 per cent of their farmland dedicated to organic cultivation. Sikkim tops the list with a determined 100 per cent. Uttarakhand made some effort in 2019, passing legislation to declare 10 blocks—Dunda, Pratapnagar, Jaiharikhal, Jakholi, Agustmuni, Ukhimath, Dewal, Salt, Betalghat and Munsiyari—completely organic. It has also criminalised the sale and purchase of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in these blocks. However, it is the bigger states that have to do the catching up: their figures for organic farming are embarrassingly small. MP has 4.9 per cent, Rajasthan 2 per cent and Maharashtra just 1.6 per cent of their farms dedicated to organic produce. Upping these figures will require establishing mechanisms to assist farmers in various aspects, be it production, certification or access to marketing networks—all work in progress.
Punjab is a story by itself, with some plot elements specific to it. Some 85 per cent of its crops—paddy, wheat and cotton—are procured by central agencies such as the Food Corporation of India and Cotton Corporation of India. Most of its farmers focus on growing crops that have this guaranteed procurement safety net. That’s also an incentive to grow more, which is why they put all their effort into volumes. The result? A suffocating reliance on pesticides and fertilisers that naturally leaches into the soil, groundwater and, eventually, people’s bloodstreams. In fact, fertiliser consumption has gone up substantially across India. Increasing from 12.4 kg per ha. in 1969, and growing at roughly 6 per cent every year, it has touched nearly 190 kg per ha. today. Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Telangana have consistently consumed over 200 kg per ha. in the past decade.
At its core, the problem is basic: switching to organic farming is expensive. Ajay Kakra, practice leader, food and agriculture, PwC India, says farmers are hesitant to leave their land fallow for the mandated three years to ensure chemical residue is washed out before they switch to organic farming. “It is relatively easier for bigger farmers to leave some patch of their land fallow to gradually shift to organic farming,” he adds. Most state governments look to the Centre for some mechanism to compensate farmers for this additional cost. Charanjit Channi, as Punjab’s chief minister, had asked the Centre to consider offering assured MSP for organic produce. “Production falls when farmers switch to organic produce, so there has to be a new MSP mechanism for organic farmers,” he said. His successor, Bhagwant Mann, is yet to offer his agriculture vision.
Certification is another vexed issue. Akash Badave, who runs the Bhoomgaadi Organic Farmer Producer Organisation in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada, says: “It’s very difficult for tribals or smaller farmers to get a formal stamp certifying that their produce is organic.” Badave works with 10,000-odd farmers who grow traditional varieties of paddy, millets, turmeric, pulses etc. and sell it to supermarkets in west and north India, under the brand name Aadim.
Another curious problem farmers face is that organic and natural produce, which they have to try and peg at a higher price, is often visually less appealing in shape and colour. “Local markets don’t respond well to that,” says Vijay Singh, an organic farmer from Sonepat. According to him, farmers can make money only if they circumvent the conventional supply chain and create a unique identity for their produce. In the past three years, several states have amended their respective Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee laws, allowing contract farming and marketing of produce directly to the consumers. In this respect, the recent repeal of the three farm laws has probably hit organic farmers the most: they would have opened up those avenues.
Since the full complement of organic farming is a daunting task and entails heavy input cost, an alternative that carries many of the benefits is under active consideration: natural farming. In its fundamentals, it overlaps with organic farming in adopting a zero-chemical approach, but comes with some distinctions (see The Green Glossary), especially in reducing the reliance on bulk organic manure. Some efforts have borne fruit in the past five years. States depend on central schemes to promote natural and organic farming—these include the ambitious Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeastern Region (MOVCDNER), the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), the National Project on Organic Farming, the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture. Since last year, MOVCDNER outlays have increased to Rs 200 crore, from Rs 134 crore in its inception. From 2016 to 2021, some 74,880 ha. has become chemical-free in the eight northeastern states, and the Centre is targeting the conversion of another 0.1 mha by the end of 2024.
PKVY funds have so far helped clear 0.4 mha for organic farming in nine states; state-specific programmes in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh added nearly 1 mha to that. Other states, too, are taking steps. Chhattisgarh has launched the Godhan Nyay Scheme, where it buys cattle dung at Rs 2/ kg and provides farmers with vermicompost for Rs 8/ kg. Odisha has come out with its own organic policy, which envisions 30 model organic clusters in five districts. Seven districts are already in the game via integrated nutrient management and climate-resilient irrigation projects—the state has already linked millets produced via natural farming by tribals to its PDS (public distribution system). State nutrition programmes, ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services), mid-day meals…it touches all of that.
Meanwhile, agriculture ministry officials are working on a plan to create one cluster of natural farming in each block in the country. They believe it may work as almost 52 per cent of agriculture takes place in rain-fed areas where the reliance on chemical fertilisers is already relatively lower,. Fertilisers, chemical or organic, are key to the debate since they add to input costs. Most organic farmers crib that they cannot command the differential pricing that can justify making the switch from chemical to organic fertilisers. “If we go to local markets, we don’t get anything extra. We have to look for private buyers or corporate houses,” says Suresh Desai, who runs an organic farmers’ club at Bedkihal, in Karnataka’s Belgaum district.
There are other pitfalls, too, on the organic farmer’s freeway. Since September 2017, no one is allowed to manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market or distribute or import any organic food unless they follow the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulation. Several organic farmers india today spoke to said they don’t trust their state governments’ certification processes. Several farmers, they allege, blend organic with chemical farming but manage to clear traces of synthetic chemicals before inspection. The government is trying to convince farmers to undergo these certifications—it funds the initial certification, but expects the farmer to bear the high cost of renewal. “Several farmers have dropped out after the initial period,” says Rajdeo V., an organic farmer from Karnataka’s Belavadi region. The state was among the first to usher in an organic farming policy, aiming to convert at least 10 per cent of its cultivable area by 2022. But at 0.2 mha, it has covered a mere 1.2 per cent of its net sown area. Desai, who is helping farmers in Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Maharashtra to grow organic sugarcane, says the mandatory certification is discriminatory. “Producers of chemical-laced food products are allowed to come to the market without any certification. And farmers who are determined to go eco-friendly have to undergo this.”
If India is to plough these fields in a more determined manner, the solutions must also answer the needs of the farmers—naturally. Many countries refuse Indian exports citing heavy chemical residue. Scoring better on the exports front, reducing the heavy subsidy burden that fertilisers entail, improving farm earnings, and doing all that while revitalising the soil and offering an overall ecologically sustainable model—these are the challenges organic/ natural farming has to surmount.
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