Section VIII - Sustainable Agriculture is not just about Organic / Natural Farming. It is about Mainstreaming

Sustainable Agriculture is NOT JUST about Organic / Natural Farming

Even though it has been proven beyond doubt most of us convinced that Organic / Natural Farming is the way to go if the present crisis in agriculture has to be overcome and to move towards sustainable agriculture just the technique of Organic farming is not enough. It still needs an Entrepreneurial Farmer to convert himself / herself into an organic farmer. We have had the best of the innovators in India in Organic / Natural Farming from Solapur to Shimoga and from Yavatmal to Kashipur but the neighbouring chemical farmer is not ready to convert to Organic farming due to lack of incentives to shift to Organic farming. Organic farming is also associated with a lot of "perceived" and "real" problems. I would just mention some of them

1. Organic farming has a gestation period between 2-3 years for "Optimal" yield ( please note the word Optimal and not maximal). This is also true in certain aspects as there are specific techniques to be followed which need certain amount of time to fructify and yield best results. So a subsistence farmer would not have the patience to wait for 2-3 yrs as this is percieved as a loss of income/food for him/her for those number of years even though in the long run it is very beneficial as the amount of inputs needed over time becomes lesser and lesser

2. The second problem is the issue of "Optimal" yield and not that of "maximal" yield. There is a perception that organic farming yields less when compared with chemical farming. Even though this is true in some way it is not completely the truth. There have been enough innovators who have proven that they can match the output of the chemical farming. Also it is beyond doubt established that in the long run the inputs would be very minimal and hence the overall balance in terms of profits would improve, whereas in Chemical farming there is the law of diminishing returns with the increase in the inputeach year to compensate for the loss of soil nutrition

3. The Third Problem is the "Niche" nature of the Organic Market. The Successful organic farmers / organisations have indulged in a sort of Niche marketing of Organic farmers which has resulted in high prices of the produce to the buyer ( we have some outlets in Bangalore selling Ragi for Rs. 34 a Kg and the chemical Ragi is available for Rs. 8!!). So even though people want to go Organic there isn't much incentive in terms of cost to the buyer. Hence you have only a small "converted" crowd who are totally sold to the idea of going organic buying it in a specialised local market or the big organic growers exporting it to the other countries. This is also partly taking off from the Myth mentioned in Item 2 in terms of lower yield (not productivity)

4. The fourth Real problem is the problem of High Labour that is needed in the initial years for this type of farming. Organic Farming is not as dimple as ploughing with a tractor, putting seeds, apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides and take rest till the crop comes up. It also has some amount of optimisation techniques, combination crops for pest management, soil preparation etc., This coupled with the perceived lower yield is a huge disincentive for the farmers to convert themselves to Organic

5. The other problem is influenced by the external agencies like Media, Universities etc., Organic farming is badly marketed by these agencies as something which takes people back in ages with the words like we are romanticising the age of kerosene lamps and we dont need development etc.,

6. The neighbouring farmer also considers the organic farmer as having had some backup in terms of money either as pre-earned money outside the country or being funded externally ( which is also true in some sense as most of the organic initiatives are funded or has an NRI from a software background taking to organic farming, even though the latter case is because of the increased awareness) and hence says it is not for mainstream farmers like him/her

As can be seen from section VII sustainable agriculture does not mean just by looking at agriculture as yield and profits but looking at it in a much more holistic manner. It doesnt help at all if you have the best land but no water, land with water but not skilled labour, best land with water and skilled labour but with dependence on electricity to pump the water. Hence sustainability has to be redefined in its much more broader sense than the narrow definition of yield and profits.

I think a time has come for us to stop jumping from one Organic farming project to another as there is nothing more needs to be proven with the technology as such. There have been enough models from Timbaktu Collective to Yavatmal for people to learn the innovations. A time has come when we need to start learning from these innovations and move towards Programmatic Mode. Organic Farming today is still happening with farmers having the enterprise to try out new things, but not the mainstream farmer. It is still needing a farmer's entrepreneurial qualities to go Organic. So what we need today isn't creation of one more entrepreneurial / philantropic farmer or supporting one more organisation wanting to take up organic farming with external inputs (however well meaning this could be, it would still hinder the mainstreaming process as explained in point 6). IT IS ALSO NOT ABOUT BUYING SOME PIECE OF LAND TO AGAIN PROVE ORGANIC FARMING BUT ABOUT CONVERTING THE OTHER CHEMICAL FARMERS INTO ORGANIC FARMERS (MAINSTREAMING). IT IS ALSO ABOUT CREATING SOME ASSETS AND CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE RESOURCE POOR AS WELL....

Evidently the common understanding among members of the partnership is to use concessional credit and employment assistance to achieve productivity of land, efficiency of water use, sustainability of diversified agriculture and to build the bio-resource base. The ultimate goal being to create household food security and provide energy and infrastructure for everybody to realise a high quality life.