KOCHI: Organic farming, slowly spreading in the coastal areas of Kochi and elsewhere, is awaiting support from the government. While organic farmers are struggling to keep up with the growing demand for their products, officials in the agriculture department say that farmers in the area are losing interest in organic farming owing to lack of premium pricing and marketing facilities.“Although organic farming is native to the coastal areas in Kochi, especially rice and prawn farming, farmers are opting for rampant commercial farming methods because of the high yield and higher profit. Also, for labelling a product as organic, it has to be certified by the agencies concerned. The process not only demands a huge amount, but also needs a conversion period of three years. Even after all this, organic products fail to produce satisfactory profits, noted an official of the principal agriculture office, Ernakulam.But private organic farm owners have a different opinion, “It is utter foolishness to say that organic farming does not yield good results. I’ve been in this field for over 18 years and the yield from my farms are very good,” said Ambrose Kooliyath, who co-owns Lumiere Organic Farm, who grow vegetables organically. He also owns a chain of organic restaurants.His partner Manjunath P R said, “As for the transition period, it is required for the soil to regain its natural balance again. We cannot expect overnight success while converting a farmland into organic one. We have to slowly reduce the input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides while increasing the use of organic manure.”Supporters of organic farming methods points out that the lackadaisical attitude of the government as the reason for the reluctance on the farmers’ side. “The major threat faced by the organic farming sector in Kerala is that the government does not give priority to the sector and fails to give sufficient support and subsidies to farmers,” noted Ambrose. “If private organic farms are able to earn good profits by creating their own marketing strategies, why can’t government provide a platform for all farmers to start organic farming? Why doesn’t the government fix a minimum support price for organic food produce just as it does for the commercially-produced ones?” he asked.“Creating a market especially for organic food products might sound easy but we need people to buy these products which cost more than their commercially produced counterparts,” opined an officer at the Ernakulam agriculture office.However, according to A R S Vadhyar, founder of Yasoram Charitable trust and a pioneer in the field of small-scale organic farming in Kochi, there is high demand for these products.“I sell only organic vegetables in my supermarket and I just cannot seem to cope with the demand. Kochiites are becoming more aware about the harmful effects of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides and hence are increasingly opting for organic produce,” he said.Manjunath said that to adopt a completely organic diet, a family of four might only have to spend a maximum of Rs 1000 more than what they usually spend on food per month.“I feel that the extra cost would be an investment towards our health considering the amount we would have to spend on hospital bills otherwise.” In the opinion of Ambrose, “Returning to organic farming techniques is the need of the hour. The government cannot keep ignoring it for long.”
Comments
0 comment