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— R. Shivaji Rao

Papayas grown under organic farming in Thanjavur.

M. J. Prabu

Velucamy Naicker of Rasapalayam village in Tamil Nadu is a worried man these days. Hailing from a family of farmers, Veluchamy has about 15 acres as inherited property. Right from his schooldays he had been helping his father in the field, and even after his marriage and having four children (three daughters and a son) the income from his land was sufficient to marry off his daughters and send his son for engineering in the city.

The cause of his worry now is not about his family but about his land. The land has always been fertile and has supported him even during the worst droughts. But now things have become difficult for him as he is not able to get the required amount of fertilisers for his land.

Without fertilisers he feels his crops will fail and he might have to sell some of his land to avoid running into debt. The thought of becoming a debtor has made him lose sleep. This constant worry of his has got his wife worried too, more because of the fear that her husband might fall sick.

In a desperate attempt to encourage him, she tells him that fertiliser shortage is just a temporary problem. But after some weeks she also realises that the situation is not going to pass that easily and decides to speak to her brother Anjiah, a successful organic farmer in another village.

Anjiah decides to visit his brother-in-law.

“How are you? I heard that you have not been keeping good health for some time, what happened?” he enquired

“Yes it is true. Though I am in good health, mentally I am not okay. Shortage of fertilisers is worrying me, as my crop yields may suffer otherwise. I am really desperate, but don’t know what to do,” Veluchamy lamented.

Hearing Veluchamy’s reason for worry, Mr Anjiah couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

“Oh! If this is the reason, there is nothing to worry because crops don’t need these fertilisers, which are nothing but toxic chemicals.”

“What! toxic chemicals? You mean to say that the fertilisers which I have been using all these years are chemicals?” exclaimed Veluchamy

“Yes. Toxic chemicals have penetrated into the soil, air and environment and also into the food you eat,” said Anjiah.

“What do you mean?” asked Veluchamy, rather perplexed. Can you elaborate, I cannot understand what you are saying.”

“What I mean is that the fertilisers which you have been applying to your crops are basically toxic chemicals. These chemicals seep into the soil, make it less productive and even contaminate the groundwater. In addition, the harvested produce contain traces of these toxic substances. And such produce when eaten can lead to diseases such as colon cancer, duodenal ulcer, etc.,” Anjiah explained.

“But I am not doing something new. All farmers use only these chemicals for their crops,” Veluchamy pointed out.

“No, not all farmers. Today many of them have realised the harm these chemicals cause to the ecosystem and have turned to organic practices,” Anjiah clarified.

“What are the organic practices? Are they akin to what we have been doing so long?” asked Veluchamy, raising his eyebrows.

“Definitely, in fact organic farming is safe for both the environment and humans…, everybody benefits. It is a low-budget form of farming, wherein one need not invest huge amounts of money nor borrow from moneylenders or banks,” Anjiah elaborated

“What? I am now getting interested in this, please don’t stop, tell me more about it,” Veluchamy said excitedly.

Sensing the excitement in his brother-in-law’s tone, Anjiah continued.

“Organic farming is low budget and farmer-friendly. It is enough if a farmer has one or two cattle. Even if he does not have cattle it does not matter. Dung and urine of cattle (particularly cows) is basic for any form of organic farming. The dung is converted into verimicompost and the urine is diluted in water and used as spray to control infestations and pests in crops.

“Also the investment required for an acre of farming is quite low. For example, if you are going to cultivate paddy in, say, about one acre, the cost of cultivating comes to Rs 3,500-4,000 if one were to use chemical pesticides. If the same paddy is organically cultivated then the cost works out to only Rs 1,300-1,500 (which includes labour for weeding and harvesting), as you have all the necessary inputs in the farm for making your own manure.

“Please continue,” Veluchamy said rather impatiently.

“There are different types of organic practices followed by farmers. Though the practices may differ according to the region and the crop, the basic input — cow dung and cow urine — does not change.

“Organic farmers see their land as multi-tier rather than just a flat piece of surface. No external input is introduced into the land. Everything what the farmer needs is there in the field itself,” Anjiah explained.

“Really! I have always thought that my land was flat piece on the ground of property,” said Veluchamy

“Organic farmers don’t have to worry about having to face fertiliser shortage. They make their own organic fertilisers called manure, from cow dung and other dried leaves and farm wastes. They make their own herbal extracts from easily available plants on the roadside and control infestations. In short, an organic farm is a complete cycle where one thing is dependent on the other.

“A farmer needs to spend only Rs 200-400 for making any of these organic inputs. Compare this with chemicals where one has to spend Rs 3,500-4,000 to buy urea, potash, etc., Rs 2,500-3,000 for sprays to prevent pest and insect attacks and Rs 1,000-1,500 for labour during harvest.

“So, if a farmer cultivates paddy using chemical fertilisers, he nearly spends Rs 10,000 on an acre. He gets about 18 bags of paddy (75 kg) and sells them for Rs 450. His total income works out to Rs 8,000-8,500, which turns out to be a loss. But if he had resorted to organic farming, the input costs, such as fertilisers and sprays, would have been much lower.

“His only major expenditure would be on labour,” Anjiah elaborated.

“But how does the farmer market his produce?” asked Veluchamy.

“There is no difficulty in marketing the produce. Organic produces fetch a better price compared to chemically grown crops. There are different organic associations and networks which buy the produce from the farmer,” assured Anjiah.

“It was really informative Anjiah, I need your assistance now to help me embark on organic methods of farming,” said Veluchamy.

More Stories on : Agriculture | Cultivation | Racy Cases

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