Organic boost

Farmer producer organisations can help organic farming initiatives overcome marketing hindrances

-  ABHAY KUMAR SINGH AND NOOPUR SHARMA

THE CONTRADICTION defies logic. Organic farming is highly productive, cost-effective and sustainable. Its multiple benefits on human health and the environment are also well established (see 'Natural option', Down To Earth, 16-28 February, 2022). Yet, data with the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare shows that as of 2018-19, only 2 per cent of the country's 140 million hectares (ha) of net sown area is under organic farming. A September 2020 report titled "State of Organic and Natural Farming in India: Challenges and Possibilities", published by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), says only 1.3 per cent of 146 million farmers in the country practise it.

The Union and state governments have for two decades promoted organic farming through various schemes and policy incentives. This includes certification of organic produce through the National Programme for Organic Production or NPOP (since 2000) and the Participatory Guarantee System or PGS (since 2015). But CSE's recent analysis shows farmers still hesitate to take it up due to an ineffective marketing mechanism.

Santuram Netam, small farmer in Ulera village, Khadgaon district, Chhattisgarh, shifted to organic farming in 2012. “Even after diligently following organic practices and obtaining the PGS certification, I was unable to get better prices for my organic rice and black gram," he says. Netam has now reverted to conventional farming. Vinod Gajananad Kshirsagar, a farmer from Vivra village in Akola district, Maharashtra, faces similar obstacles. "Interstate retailers do not recognise my fruits and vegetables as organic because they are not aware of PGS certification and only trust NPOP.”