STATUS OF ORGANIC FARMING IN INDIA
India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. The total area under organic certification process (registered under National Programme for Organic Production) is 3.67 million Hectare (2019-20). Among all the states, Madhya Pradesh has covered largest area under organic certification followed by Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
In 2016, Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets.
OPPORTUNITIES
- High demand for organic farming food products fetches higher prices for farmers.
- Healthy Foods without any pesticide and insecticide residue.
- Improvement in Soil Quality due to enhanced microbial activity under organic farming
- Increased Crop Productivity and Income
- Low Incidence of Pests due to adoption of bio-control methods.
- Organic farming requires more labour input than the conventional farming system and thus promote more employment opportunities.
- Under severe drought conditions, organically managed farms have frequently been shown to produce higher yields than conventionally managed farms due to the higher water-holding capacity of organically farmed soils.
- Indirect Benefits: Eco-tourism, protection of the ecosystem, flora, fauna and increased biodiversity
INITIATIVES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE ORGANIC FARMING
Standards for Organic Foods: Any organic food manufactured, sold and marketed is regulated as per the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations, 2017.
India has adopted two Organic Certification:
- National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for Exports. Under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. NPOP certification is facilitated by Agriculture Processed Food and Export Development Authority (APEDA).
- Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for Domestic and Local markets. Under the Ministry of Agriculture. Implemented by Ministry of Agriculture with National Centre for Organic Farming (NCOF) acting as its secretariat.
Note: The Jaivik Bharat logo for Organic Food is an identity mark to distinguish organic products from non-organic ones.
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): The scheme promotes cluster based organic farming with Participatory Guarantee System(PGS certification). Cluster formation, training, certification and marketing are supported under the scheme.
Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER): Development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers. It provides support for the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification and creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing and brand building initiative.
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Even though India accounts for 30% of global organic producers, it accounts for only around 2.5% of the of global area under organic cultivation. Some of the reasons for poor coverage of organic farming include:
- Poor Awareness: Use of bio-fertilizers and bio pesticides requires awareness. Farmers lack knowledge of compost making using the modern techniques and its application.
- Shortage of Biomass: The crop residues are mainly used as fodder and fuel. The small and marginal cultivators have difficulties in getting the organic manures compared to the chemical fertilizers.
- Inadequate Supporting Infrastructure: Poor Certification of Organic products; absence of market for organic products; higher prices of organic products etc.
- Higher Input Costs: Costs of the organic inputs are higher than those of industrially produced chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Neem cake, vermi-compost, cow dung etc. which are applied as organic manure are increasingly becoming costly making them unaffordable to the small cultivators.
- Transition period: When a farmer shifts to organic farming from conventional farming, yields have been shown to have significant drop. However, yields tend to increase with the number of years under organic management as farmers gain experience and soil improves.
- Lack of quality seeds supporting organic agriculture: Hybrid seeds are designed to respond to fertilizers and chemicals.
- Inability to meet the export demand: Indian organic exports face different constraints such as high price expectations in relation to quality, chemical residues, time consuming and complicated paperwork etc.
WAY FORWARD
- Supply of sufficient nutrient through organic management, Promotion of Green manures, vermi-composting
- Promotion of strategies such as Integrated Organic Farming Systems, Multiple Cropping and crop rotation, Hedge row/alley cropping
- Biological pest management and biological weed management strategies need to be promoted.
- Making it easier for farmers to certify their food products and market them.