Organic Farming in India

WHY IN NEWS?

• About 14000 hectare area in Andaman and Nicobar has been certified as organic under the Large Area Certification (LAC) Scheme of the Participatory Guarantee System certification programme.

BACKGROUND

• Organic farming has been identified as a viable option promising safe and chemical residue-free food and long-term sustainability of food production systems.
• COVID-19 pandemic has further augmented the importance, need and demand.
• World over the demand for organic food is growing and India is no exception.

WHAT IS ORGANIC FARMING?

• Organic farming is a sustainable agriculture system that excludes the use of synthetic inputs in farming and relies on on-farm inputs such as crop residues, farmyard manure, enriched composts, vermi-compost, oil cakes, bio-fertilizers etc for nutrient management of crops.
• Similarly, pests and diseases are managed by eco-friendly farming practices of crop rotation, trap crops, bio-pesticides like neem-based formulations, bio control agents, mechanical traps, stale seed bed etc.

STATISTICS:

• India now has more than 30 lakh ha area registered under organic certification
• As per the international survey report (2021) India ranks at 5th place in terms of area and is at the top in terms of total number of producers (base year 2019)
• The demand of organic farming has increased in domestic market during last few years
  • According to ASSOCHAM, the domestic organic market is growing at 17% and the projected demand of organic food market is likely to cross 87.1 crore by 2021 from the Rs. 53.3 crore in 2016

BENEFITS:

• Health benefits:
  • Food grown organically are rich in nutrients
    • Organically grown fruits, vegetables, and grains are rich in nutrients such as Vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, with less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues
  • Reduce public health risks
    • Organic products reduce public health risks to farm workers, their families, and consumers by minimizing their exposure to toxic and persistent chemicals on the farm and in food
• Efficient use of resources:
  • Improved water management:
    • Improving water infiltration and retention capacity through high levels of organic matter reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation.
  • Lower input costs:
    • Biofertilizers and pesticides can be produced locally, so yearly inputs invested by the farmers are also low
  • Lower energy Use:
    • Many popular crops such as corn require nitrogen rich soil which is a high energy use.
    • Organic farming achieves the nitrogen rich soil, instead, by using composted manure and the use of cover crops.
• Ecological benefits:
  • Improvement in soil quality:
    • It sustains healthy soils by maintaining and building a fertile living soil through the application of organic matter inputs like green manures and by implementing low soil disturbance tillage.
  • Adapting and mitigating climate change:
    • Production process and usage of many chemical fertilizers many of those productions involves global warming potential
    • Organic farming ensures avoidance of chemical fertilizers many of those productions involves global warming potential >> Hence it helps in climate change adaptation and mitigation.
  • Reduced pollution:
    • Due to healthier soil and absence of harmful pesticide and fertilizer, organic farming reduces water and air pollutants.
  • Low incidence of pests:
    • It has been observed that if the soil is healthy, the pest problem is negligible as compared to soil where agrochemicals are used or where there is low organic matter in the soil
• Economic benefits:
  • Eco-tourism:
    • Eco-tourism is increasingly becoming popular and organic farms have turned into such favourite spots in many countries like Italy.
    • Organic farming adds to the beauty of the fields and provides protection to the ecosystem, flora, fauna with increased biodiversity and the resulting benefits to all human and living beings.
  • Increased agricultural productivity:
    • Organic farming has the potential of increased productivity in the long term due to better soil conditions and ecosystems.
  • Employment opportunities:
    • According to many studies, organic farming requires more labour input than the conventional farming system.
    • Thus, it will provide employment opportunities especially for countries like India.
  • Reduced food wastage:
    • Organic food has a longer shelf life than conventional foods due to lesser nitrates and greater antioxidants.
    • Nitrates hasten food spoilage, whereas antioxidants help to enhance the shelf life of foods
  • Increasing market:
    • Consumers world over are largely preferring organic foods in the concept that organic foods have more nutritional values, have lesser or no additive contaminants, and sustainably grown
    • For instances, the consumption of organic crops has doubled in the USA since 1997.

SCOPE FOR PROMOTING ORGANIC FARMING IN INDIA:

• India is endowed with large natural and human resources.
• In the field of agriculture India has dominance in the production certain items like tea, some spices, rice, ayurvedic herbs etc.
• Traditionally Indian economy is an agrarian economy and the farm practices were environment friendly.
• Later the Green Revolution had replaced the traditional farming practices and lead to rapid rise in pesticide and chemical fertilizer use.
• The rise in use of chemical inputs has created adverse environmental and health impacts.
• The extensive use of pesticides has also resulted in pesticide resistance in pests and adverse effects to beneficial natural predators and parasites.
• The adverse effect of the modern fertilizer based farming compelled large number of farmers to adopt organic farming.
• India being a country with strong agrarian basis and culture, still has great opportunity to promote organic farming by providing effective training, and marketing services to organic farmers.

CHALLENGES:

• Lack of awareness:
  • The most important constraint in the progress of organic farming is the lack of awareness among farmers about the organic farming and its potential benefits.
• Shortage of biomass:
  • Required quantities of nutrients cannot be made available by the organic materials.
• Low coverage:
  • About 2.78 million hectares of farmland was under organic cultivation as of March 2020, which is only two per cent of the 140.1 million ha net sown area in the country.
• High input costs:
  • The costs of the organic inputs are higher than those of industrially produced chemical fertilizers and pesticides including other inputs used in the conventional farming system.
  • An organic product typically costs 10%–40% more than the similar conventionally crops
• Lack of subsidies
  • Lack of subsidies on organics in India, unlike chemical inputs
• Inadequate certification framework:
  • There is a lack of unique, well known and third party certified policy or framework for selling organic food products in India, which creates trust issues among the customers
• High price of organic produce:
  • The final prices of organic produce are mostly higher than conventional products which impact the organic produce market in India.
• Inappropriate marketing of organic input:
  • Supplies do not match the demand for organic products in the country and the absence of proper links between the two has been pointed out for the tardy growth of organic farming in the country.

STEPS TAKEN TO PROMOTE ORGANIC FARMING:

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):
  • PKVY is a sub-component of Soil Health Management(SHM) scheme under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture(NMSA)
  • It aims at development of sustainable models of organic farming through a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science
  • PKVY aims at empowering farmers through institutional development through clusters approach
  • Participatory Gurantee System under PGS-India programme will be the key approach for quality assurances under the PKVY.
• Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region:
  • It is a Central Sector Scheme, a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
  • The scheme aims to development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification, to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing and brand building initiative.
• Certification Systems
  • National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP)
    • NPOP grants organic farming certification through a process of third party certification.
    • It involves the accreditation programme for certification bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming etc.
    • It is implemented by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
  • Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS):
    • PGS is also a process of certifying organic products, which ensures that their production takes place in accordance with laid-down quality standards.
    • PGS operates outside the framework of third-party certification.
    • The certification is in the form of a documented logo or a statement.
  • Large Area Certification (LAC) scheme
    • Under the scheme, each village is considered as one cluster or group.
    • The farmers have to adhere to the standard requirements without the need to undergo a conversion period to get certified.
    • This was launched under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana.
• National networking
  • The National Centre of Organic Farming is bringing all PGS groups in India under national networking with well-defined policies and guidelines and undertakes surveillance through field monitoring and product testing for residues.
• Agri-export Policy 2018:
  • It focuses on marketing and promotion of organic agriculture products foods to aid organic farming in India.
• Zero Budget Natural Farming:
  • Government is actively promoting Zero budget natural farming. It is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.
• Soil Health Card Scheme:
  • The scheme aims at promoting soil test based and balanced use of fertilisers to enable farmers to realise higher yields
  • It has led to a decline of 8-10% in the use of chemical fertilizers and raised productivity by 5-6%

WAY FORWARD:

• Crop identification:
  • Identification of crops for cultivation on the organic farms is important.
  • For example, soyabean in Madhya Pradesh and cotton in the rainfed areas has great potential.
• Market development:
  • Market development for the organic products is a crucial factor to promote domestic sales.
• Participation
  • Participation of all stakeholders (producers, consumers, retailers, traders and others such as NGOs) are promoting organic farming
• Need for awareness campaigns:
  • There is a need of holistic and community-driven approach, similar to the “Swachh Bharat” for “Swachh Food” needs to be undertaken.

BEST PRACTICE:

• Sikkim’s State Policy on Organic Farming:
  • Sikkim is the first state in the world that is 100% organic
  • All of its farmland is certified organic.
  • The policy implemented a phase-out of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and achieved a total ban on sale and use of chemical pesticides in the state
  • Sikkim’s approach reaches beyond organic production and its design involves socioeconomic aspects such as consumption and market expansion, cultural aspects as well as health, education, rural development and sustainable tourism.
  • Sikkim's tourism sector, for instance, benefited greatly from the new organic image >> between 2014 and 2017, the number of tourists increased by over 50 per cent.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. “Encouraging organic farming in India can build a nutritionally, ecologically, and economically healthy nation in near future”. Discuss