The experiment conducted in six districts of Vidarbha state, which had seen a series of farmer suicides following agricultural hardship, is now being extended to the rest of the State following its success. | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Neighboring Maharashtra has attracted the attention of the country’s agricultural experts with its innovative program that has shown that organic farming can be used as a tool to deal with the agricultural crisis.
The experiment conducted in six districts of Vidarbha state, which had seen a series of farmer suicides following agricultural hardship, is now being extended to the rest of the State following its success.
“We have registered 9,600 farmers from Vidarbha region under the organic farming program that started in 2020. Not even a single suicide related to agricultural problems has been reported so far in the families of these farmers as this program has turned farming into a profitable business. At the same time, suicides continued among other farmers who continued with normal farming and were not part of the project,” Arif Shah, Superintending Agriculture Officer in Maharashtra, told. A Hindu in Bengaluru.
Mr. Shah made a presentation on organic farming at the national biodynamics conference in Bengaluru on October 23.
Although some farmers were working in agriculture before the start of this project, that did not have a big impact as there were no joint efforts, said Mr. Shah. He said this idea was established in 2018 and this program started in 2020.
The experiment conducted in six districts of Vidarbha state, which had seen a series of farmer suicides following agricultural hardship, is now being extended to the rest of the State following its success. | Photo Credit: special arrangement
It is called “Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Jaivik Kheti Mission”, which later became “Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Naisraghik Kheti Mission”, a total of 12 lakh hectares of land has been brought under organic farming.
Many options
Farmers are free to choose any organic method of their choice from a list of options including organic farming, organic farming, bare organic farming, biodynamics etc. However, composting is the main theme of the project.
What stands out about this project is that the government has not only brought together farmers in different groups, but also guides them without improving their skills through training programs, he said. There will be one farm inspector for each of the 60 farmers and one chief trainer for each Farmers Producers Association, he explained.
The trainers were first taught about organic farming and trained the farmers. The government not only supports farmers in purchasing and managing inputs, but also helps in marketing by providing them with subsidies to build market counters and buy mobile vans. Each farmer-member paid a share of R4.000 under the capital.
Joint measures
“Due to effective and integrated measures, input costs have decreased, product quality has improved, and farmers are getting premium prices for placing their produce as premium,” Mr. Shah.
In fact, there is an option to go for mass marketing or wholesale depending on the choice of the farmers and the price situation, he pointed out.
Although the organic certification system has also been introduced to increase the value of the product, the farmers themselves have started to produce pesticides in the farms built under the project, he explained.
In the next phase, the Maharashtra government plans to expand the scope of this project to 25 lakh hectares by 2028.
Karnataka’s power
A Karnataka official who participated in the event noted that the State has the potential to attempt such an experiment given the high demand for the organic product, especially in Bengaluru. The city has more than 600 stores of natural products.
Published – November 04, 2024 07:00 am IST
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