Organic farming in Haryana

The government of Haryana has decided to introduce organic farming in the state. Under this project, the government will encourage farmers to use bio-fertilisers, bio-pesticides, vermin compost, and green manure. Farmers will be given incentives, apart from instruction in organic farming.

The agriculture department of the state has chosen one village from each of 19 districts to carry out organic farming. It has identified 200 acres of land in each village for this purpose.

While discussing the project with Business Standard in Chandigarh, Agriculture Director Rajiv Arora said: "Haryana is already a surplus state in foodgrain; so we want to shift the focus from quantity to quality."

There was a huge demand for organically produced food in Europe and most of the developed countries, he added. Market research shows a farmer can get a 25""30 per cent higher remuneration through organic farming.

So the state government had taken the initiative to introduce the Haryana farmer to the international market by adopting traditional methods relevant in the modern context, Arora said.

Some farmers in the districts of Sirsa and Sonepat were exporting their organic produce with international certificates, he added.

Arora said the most serious constraint in the implementation of the project was the size of landholdings. About 65 per cent of the landowners in the state are small and marginal farmers. The fragmented landholdings limited the scope of organic farming, he said.

Another hiccup would be changing the mindset of farmers. It would take some time to convince them of the benefits of organic farming.

Besides this, the farmers might face the problem of certification, said Arora, as most of them were not aware of international agencies.

So the state has approached the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) to either authorise the agricultural university of the state or some NGO to certify the organic crops.

The government has offered farmers a 25 per cent subsidy for vermin composting. Cow dung, farm waste, and earthworms are used as ingredients to prepare manure. The earthworms catalyse the process and the manure is prepared speedily.

In the intervening period, Dhaincha will be cultivated. This is not harvested but crushed in the field to provide the soil green manure. The cost of green manure does not exceed Rs 100 per acre.

The scope of organic farming is greater for horticulture crops, vegetables, and basmati rice. A source in the agriculture department told Business Standard fruits and vegetables available in the market could be washed with chemicals in order to keep them fresh longer.