The Hindu Business Line : Consumers' shift to organic rice pushes up demand

Rice farmers of Kerala's granary, Kuttanad, find organic paddy cultivation a viable proposition given the strong demand for organic rice from health conscious consumers, while its supply is very much limited.

Organic paddy cultivation in Kuttanad, having an estimated 53,000 hectares of paddy fields lying below MSL and spreading over the low-lying areas of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Alapuzha districts of the State, is slowly becoming an attractive proposition for paddy growers in the region.

Currently, 20 hectares are under organic paddy, which is estimated to go up to 54 hectares next year, Father Thomas Peelianickal, Executive Director, Kuttanad Vikasana Samithy, told Business Line.

He said the vision of Dr M.S. Swaminathan, was to convert this rice bowl of the State into a "new Kuttanad" growing only "organic rice and organic scampi", as it would fetch farmers good returns for their investments and efforts every year and that in turn would make agriculture in Kuttanad an attractive vocation, he said.

Unlike in other parts of the State, here the farmers undertake organic paddy cultivation strictly according to the conditions set by the certifying agency, he said. Paddy is grown after harvesting of scampi. The entire waste from scampi and paddy farming is left in the field, which becomes manure. After the scampi harvesting, all wastes such as scampi molten, feeds etc are left in the farm, which also become organic manure for the paddy. Thus, natural and cyclical bio-manure forms part of the soil after each cultivation.

However, in most cases there used to be a deficiency of potash and this after testing the soil is made available through organic means, said some of the organic farmers including Mr Joseph Kora who is one of the very few who ventured into organic nine years ago. Now there are 35 farmers. All the farms are certified by the agency Indocert, he said.

According to Fr Thomas, organic rice fetches 40-50 per cent premium over the minimum support price of Rs 1,100 a quintal and there are buyers at this rate in the domestic market.

"We sell at Rs 35 a kg in retail," he said. "There is strong demand and our current production falls far short of it. The productivity, at present, is 5 tonne from a hectare and thus it comes to 100 tonne now, and that is expected to increase to 250 tonne next year," he said. All the organic farmers do both scampi and paddy. Majority of the paddy growers are not ready to experiment with organic farming as normally the yield would be less in the initial two to three years, they said. Besides, it has to bear the brunt of unfavourable weather conditions and pest attacks. "Normally, it takes five years for the soil health to build up. During this period, the growers who volunteer to take up organic farming should be given some risk allowance by the Government as a promotional exercise and that, in turn, would motivate more and more farmers to switch over to organic paddy and scampi cultivation," Father Thomas said. Such a move would expand the availability of organic rice for consumers, while farmers would also be benefited by remunerative prices, he said.

Overseas markets

He said Kuttanad organic paddy growers would not have to look for overseas markets as there was strong demand from the domestic consumers. Therefore, the Centre's ban on export of all varieties of rice except that of basmati will not have any impact on the farmers here, he said.

The Union Government has banned the export of non-basmati rice from April 1 last to rein in inflation, which had surged to over eight per cent then. According to official estimates, the country's demand for rice will touch 128 million tonnes by 2012, which will require a productivity of three tonnes a hectare, as against the present average yield of 1.930 tonne.

Currently, India ranks 33rd in terms of total land under organic cultivation and is in the 88th position for agriculture land under organic crops to total farming area. The cultivated land under certification is around 2.8 million ha (2007-08). This includes 1 million hectare under cultivation and the rest is under forest area (wild collection), according to official sources.

India produced around 3,96,997 tonnes of certified organic products, which includes all varieties of food products namely basmati rice, pulses, honey, tea, spices, coffee, oil seeds, fruits, processed food, cereals, herbal medicines and value-added products. Production is not limited to the edible sector but also includes organic cotton fibre, garments, cosmetics, functional food products, body care products, etc.

India exported 86 items in 2007-08 with the total volume of 37,533 tonnes. Export realisation was around $100.4 million registering a 30 per cent growth over the previous year. Organic products are mainly exported to EU, the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa and West Asia. Cotton leads among the products exported with 16,503 tonnes, APEDA sources said.

The latest statistics show that worldwide 32.2 million hectares were certified according to organic standards in 2007, which was 1.5 million hectares more than the previous year, said a report from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.

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