The State government is not making any efforts to promote organic farming, C. Nadrendranat, an Indocert-certified organic farmer at Perumkulam, near Kottarakara, has said.
(Indocert, or the Indian Organic Certification Agency, is a nationally and internationally operating certification body established in India. It is accredited by the National Accreditation Body, Government of India, as per the National Programme for Organic Production).
The many declarations of the government declare the ‘intention’ of the government to help people reduce dependency on farm products grown using chemicals nourishments. The fact is that there is very little encouragement for organic farming, Mr. Nadrendranat says.
The organic farm districts, mandalams, and panchayats announced by the government are only on paper. “So far, there is no Krishi Bhavan in the State which encourages organic farming. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is on the rise,” he says.
“Now, only export-based organic farming is profitable. If the produce is for the domestic market, the farmer sustains huge losses,” Mr. Narendranat says.
Mr. Narendranat once tried tapping the domestic market by ‘becoming’ a roadside vendor once a week near the Kollam civil station complex. Repeated pleas to the authorities to allocate a bunk were turned down. He now sells organic products from his house at Perumkulam and has a handful of regular customers.
Mr. Narendranat nurses an unadulterated interest in promoting organic farming in the State. “It is the cost factor which discourages people from buying such products,” he says.
Special schemes sought
Farmers of organic products cannot even attain breakeven and this is where the government should intervene. Special schemes and packages are required, he says.
But Mr. Nadendranat is committed to promoting organic farming and he singularly does all work on his one-hectare farm.
He also religiously gets his farm organically certified every year.
“Not even 75 per cent of the cost is gained from the harvest, but organic farming is my obsession,” he says.
Narendranat, an Indocert-certified farmer, seeks earnest action on part of the State to promote organic farming.