Organic farming has been trending in Kerala for sometime now with many people rooting for cultivating veggies in their backyards and terraces. However, even as Kerala is making the most of organic farming revolution, allegations are being raised against many products that are being sold as ‘organic’. Is organic farming commercially viable? Can it hold on its own against conventional agriculture practices?
Who best to answer these queries than students of the College of Agriculture, Vellayani? One aspect they all stress upon unanimously is that it is not easy, especially if you take large farms into account. “Organic cultivation needs to be promoted, but it is not a commercially viable option for large scale cultivation in the present scenario. That’s the reason why majority of them are reluctant to stick to organic farming alone,” says Hima Parvathy A., a final year student of BSc (Hons.) Agriculture.
She adds: “The land holding per person in Kerala is 0.13 hectares. All want maximum output from this small area and that is not possible if you stick to organic cultivation alone. That is why many choose integrated farming, where they adopt both organic and inorganic methods.”
Sreelakshmi E. S., doing her diploma in organic agriculture, draws our attention to the processes involved in this cultivation. “The toughest part is obtaining the organic accreditation certificate from the concerned agency for the farm.” Her classmates Sidhardh A. S. and Alja K. Xavier also emphasise the same point.
Muhammed Ashik Shah, a student of B.Sc (Hons.) Agriculture, gives an example why not all farmers might not want to go in for organic farming. “Take the nitrogen content in soil. When you use organic manure, it has very small percentage of nitrogen compared to the quantity present in inorganic manure like urea. So farmers would prefer the latter to get better yield at the earliest,” he says. In fact, the final year undergraduate students who get to interact with farmers as part of their Rural Agricultural Work Experience programme have come to understand that the farmers aren’t fully aware of how to go about organic farming, says Unniravisankar P.
Reaping a good harvest is all that a farmer wants for which organic farming is far from sufficient, especially in the case of rice and fruits. “Take spices for example. Kerala is a leader in exporting spices and adopting organic farming alone wouldn’t give a large yield in the present scenario,” says Om J. Nath of B.Sc (Hons.) Agriculture. Pricing is another factor. Farmers are forced to sell organic produce at higher rates if they are to get any profit for the money they invested. “It is often found that many take up organic cultivation with high hopes and when they fail to get the desired result they speak against it,” says Akhil Hari, a second year student of BSc. (Hons.) Agriculture.
However, they all root for organic farming in homes and on small plots. “Terrace farming is where you can completely rely on organic mode,” says Kavya S.R., pursuing her final year in BSc (Hons.) Agriculture. And it is always better to integrate organic farming with cattle rearing and poultry farming, says Shilpa Sivaraj, a diploma student of organic agriculture.
The students also mentioned new developments and research that have been going on. Amiya Thalakkattu, doing her Integrated MSc in Biotechnology talked about “research in microbial technology to develop a wide range of bio-fertilisers and bio-control agents to improve production in organic farms.” Sunila Raj U.S., pursuing her undergraduation, talks about a machine the college has developed, Suchitha, that converts biodegradable waste in large quantities to organic manure within an hour.
Vishnu R., pursuing his second year of graduate studies, mentions ‘Operation Jiva’ under which all the seven colleges at the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) will undertake organic farming on 15 cents of land. “We plan to harvest the vegetables by Vishu,” he says. Cibin J. Das, another student of the batch who has organic vegetables at his home in Neyyattinkara, hopes that the initiative is followed by other colleges.
Ammu Sajeev, another undergraduate student, winds up the discussion with a message. “You are actually preserving the fertility of soil through organic farming. So feed the soil to feed the plant,” she says.
(A monthly column on views from the campus)
