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Public policy for shift towards organic farming
1. Public Policy for Shift towards
Organic/Natural Farming
Ramanjaneyulu
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Andhra Pradesh | Telangana | Maharashtra | Punjab |Sikkim | Tripura
5. AgroEcological approaches gaining momentum
• Organic farming is gaining momentum recognizing the
problems associated with chemical agriculture, increasing
costs of cultivation and its impact on environment and health.
• It is now accepted that Organic/Ecological/ natural farming
methods can bring in ecological and economic sustainability in
farming
• The consumers’ fears trigged by food scares and technological
developments such as genetic modification and food
irradiation have been translated into serious concern about
food safety and quality
6. Shift in public policy framework
• A shift to diversified, biological resource integrated models of
agriculture is required to correct inappropriate resource use.
• shift to intercropping, multiple cropping systems, appropriate crop
rotations and integration of crops and animals.
• Land use and farming systems need to be planned consciously by
paying attention to the challenges of ecological intensification.
• Shift in the support systems (prices, subsidies, research,
institutions) should be reconfigured from current subsidies on
external inputs to support to ecosystem services
• Maintaining ecosystem specific agronomic diversity is essential.
For example, the wetlands, rainfed areas, hill regions etc need
support to practice appropriate farming systems
7. • Centralised, monoculture based current unsustainable models of
agriculture has to be stopped. Instead diverse and safe food like
millets, pulses, oilseeds and various locally grown fruits and
vegetables should be promoted.
• Restrictions should be imposed to regulate and control the use of
inappropriate technologies like agro chemicals, GMOs and other
technologies that have biosafety implications.
• The emerging crisis impacting pollinators and the consequent
deleterious impact on the productivity and yields of several crops
has to be recognised and dealt with utmost urgency
• Appropriate spaces for non formal knowledge systems has to be
provided
8. Strategies needed
• Focused approach
• Institutional Mechanisms
• Programmatic approach and incentives to
farmers
• Support Systems
9. Public Policy: Increase right
investments in agriculture
• Budgetary allocations to 10-15%
• increase more informed choices to farmers than
driven by captive institutions
• Support to farmers own labor, resources and
knowledge
• Support for Ecosystem services
– Common ecosystem services what an ecological farm
needs
– Ecosystem services what an ecological farm
contributes
• Infrastructure support
10. Price Yield
X = Income
PRESENT MODEL
NEW MODEL
Income f
Yield
Water
conservation
Carbon
Sequestration
Ecological
farming
Practices
Price
+
designing a scheme
that involves moving
away from the present
practice of passing all
risk to the farmer
through the operation
of the market
mechanism.
Cushioning some of
the risk will be integral
to the functioning of
any new system
At the same time,
moving towards a
system where a
farming community can
be incentivised to
Valuing Ecosystem Services
11. Ensuring income security
• Price compensation and decoupled income
support
• Farmers Income Commission: statutory
commission of balancing decisions effecting
– Costs of Production
– Subsidies and support
– Costs of living
– Prices
12. Farmer Producer Organizations
• Taxation: 30% is very unviable
– Organic Cooperatives can be exempted for 3-5 years
• Access credit and working capital
– Soft loans for cooperatives which have more than 80%
members from small and marginal farmers
• Encourage different models across the country
rather than thrusting on Producer Company
model
• Revival of PACS and removing political
interference
13. Agricultural Research
• Agricultural research needs to adopt an agro ecological
perspective while setting the research and training agenda
• Researchers should shift towards participatory approaches
involving practicing farmers and farm workers and develop
appropriate technologies to suit their needs
• Collective, location specific approaches to extension have to
be followed to restore the health of agro-eco systems
• Increased investments in agro ecological research needs to be
made
• Agricultural research performance should be redefined to
include the criteria of sustainability and ecosystem health
• Low volume and long shelf life of the bio products
14. Agriculture Extension
• Confidence of the last link is extremely
important
• Ideally block level down should be converted
into community managed extension
• Shift from information based to knowledge
based system
• Use experienced farmers as resource persons.
15. Other support systems and regulations
• Effective handling of waste
– Composting of biowaste
– Safe disposal of toxic waste to prevent heavy metal
accumulation in soils
• Encourage fodder/grazing based live stock
systems
• Declare diversity rich, ecologically sensitive areas
as chemical free
• No Genetic Modification in crops for which India
is centre of origin/diversity and /or have strategic
business interests.
16. Supporting marketing
• Form state level Commodity Board which can
help FPOs with
– Technical support
– Quality management (PGS/Third party)
– Access to finances
– Access to markets
• Infrastructure support in terms of
storage/processing units
• #KnowYourFood campaign with consumers
• Insist on super markets to abide by the minimum
standards
17. Centre for sustainable agriculture
Head office: 12-13-485/5, Nagarjuna Nagar, Tarnaka,
Secunderabad, Telanagana- 500 017
Contacts: http://www.csa-india.org, email: csa@csa-india.org,
ph. 040-27017735
