SUMMARY OF THE 3-DAY, 5TH NATIONAL ORGANIC
FARMING CONVENTION
More than 2200 people participated in this largest
congregation of organic farmers anywhere ever in the world, during the 3-day, 5th
National Organic Farming Convention that took place in Chandigarh on Feb. 28th,
March 1st and 2nd. This Convention was mostly
crowd-funded, with the participants themselves contributing nearly one-fourth
of the financial requirement, with others like the Haryana Government, Punjab
Government and Chandigarh administration in addition to NABARD stepping forward
to support this.
The Convention had several specialized session on both
technical and policy fronts. A brief summary of these sessions -
SOIL: This is the International Year of Soils and this
Convention also paid great attention to this aspect of farming and natural
resource management. Scientific and experiential experience of farmers were
shared over 4 sessions related to soil health and participants felt that
adoption of various techniques and recipes presented here would save the
exchequer huge amounts of public funds. Good practices that are being promoted
by state governments in particular were highlighted, and the same demanded to
be adopted elsewhere.
PLANT PROTECTION: The convention’s proceedings reiterated
time and again the need to phase out pesticides soonest, particularly in Punjab
and Haryana which have suffered heavily due to agri-chemicals. Various ways of
natural pest management were shared and discussed by participants. The emphasis
was on imparting knowledge about insects including identification of
“vegetarian” and “non-vegetarian” insects. The success story of undivided
Andhra Pradesh in promoting NPM on a large scale was heard to be discussed in
various sessions of the convention.
SEEDS: The convention spent a substantial part of its
proceedings as well as set up a fantastic biodiversity festival, to emphasise
the importance of agro-diversity in organic farming. Seed breeders and seed
savers shared experiences of breeding and characterization of traditional
germplasm. Policy sessions emphasized that seed conservation is indeed a
political statement since it pertains to our national sovereignty as well as
farmer-level sovereignty and livelihoods. It was felt that biopiracy needs to
be stopped as well as any laws and policies that violate farmers’ apriori
rights to seeds. Good practices of farmer seed varieties being distributed by
agriculture departments were emphasized. Participants also discussed a
pragmatic proposal to adopt a traditional variety each so that between all of
us in the organic farming movement, thousands of varieties can be conserved.
GMOs: GMOs was a matter of great concern to the
participants, and in the parallel session that dwelled on this issue, a large
crowd of participants presented their arguments around why they reject GMOs in
our food, farming and environment. Experts shared scientific evidence on the
subject and the current ongoing debate on open air field trials were discussed,
and opposed. There was a consensus that the recommendations of various credible
committees that recommended against open air field trials should be adopted,
including the majority report of the Supreme Court TEC. Ms Maneka Gandhi, Union
WCD Minister pointed out the lies of the Bt cotton industry in saying that with
this technology, pesticide use will come down, while one of the deadliest class
of pesticides called neo-nicotinoid pesticides are needed for Bt cotton, and
that has become the basis of continuing with this deadly chemical.
LIVESTOCK: A lot of information was shared by participants
who were rearing and conserving traditional livestock breeders. It was
acknowledged that almost 75% of livestock management is done by women in this
country. Deep concern was expressed about loss of traditional varieties and
people acknowledged the various benefits of these breeds. The developing
markets for various cow-based products all over the world and India were
emphasized.
There were many policy sessions that debated issues around
certification and marketing, adivasi agriculture, women and organic farming,
smallholders and organic farming as well as environmental health matters.
ADIVASI AGRICULTURE: It was acknowledged that in the case of
adivasis the debate is not just about organic vs chemicals, but about ownership
of natural resources and the large scale dispossession and alienation underway.
It was noted that wherever there is a large scale entry of modern agriculture,
it also meant dispossession of adivasis, with control over resources moving
into the hands of outsiders whether it is local traders or corporations.
WOMEN & ORGANIC FARMING: The positive experiences from
different states of women farmers’ cooperatives shifting to organic farming on
a large scale and also exploring marketing avenues were shared in this session.
While the social benefits related health and new found recognition and role for
women due to organic farming exist, the question of finding methods by which drudgery
burden on women can be reduced was also highlighted.
SMALLHOLDERS & ORGANIC FARMING: It was noted that
smallholder livelihoods can improve only with ecological agriculture which is
less risky and meets basic livelihood needs, while ecological agriculture can
spread mainly with smallholders. The issue of credit was discussed, and
innovative approaches for this were discussed. Building trust amongst consumers
so that smallholder organic farmers can find good marketing avenues was
emphasized. The experience of Belgaum Organic Food Club was shared, where
direct marketing avenues were created by a group of smallholders who
collectivized themselves and linked up directly with consumers. The techniques
by which a family can survive even with just 25 cents of land were shared.
ORGANIC FARMING POLICIES & IMPLEMENTATION: Farmer
speakers in this session emphasized upon government neglect of organic farming,
and how chemical agriculture receives various kinds of support. Marketing
support for organic farming as well as value addition, including easy
certification mechanisms were discussed. The need for special incentives to
organic agriculture, and support during transition were emphasized. The fact that south Indian states are moving
ahead much more rapidly in scaling up organic farming was brought up. The need
for quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the policies decalred was also
emphasized. Jathedar Tota Singh, Agriculture Minister of Punjab, shared that he
also grows organic food and pointed out that the need for organic farming at
this point of time was being felt on all fronts.
ORGANIC FOOD MARKETING: The discussion on organic food
marketing was one of the most active and well attended one. The organic food
marketing discussion centered on the issues of both certification and also on
the issue of fair prices for organic farmers. One of the outcomes towards which
people agreed on was to have a grid of organic food marketing agencies across
the country.
BIODIVERSITY: Industry’s forceful acquisition of land is
affecting biodiversity in addition to alienation of land. Commercial
cultivation is also depleting water resources while deforestation is also a
major factor.
WATER: Chemical run-off into water resources is a major
problem and the need for organic was emphasized in this context. Non-regulation
of industry and prioritization of their needs is affecting water availability
in various parts of the country, it was noted.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Impact of pesticides and fertilizers,
particularly on Punjab was discussed extensively here. The myth of the
indispensability of chemicals for food security was discussed, while 40% of
food gets wasted in the supply chain.
The Convention also had 22 farmer’s stalls from different
states with display and selling of their produce at the Kisaan haat and over 50
farmer groups that participated and shared seeds in the seed festival as part
of the Biodiversity festival. There were organic food from over 10 states that
were served during the organic food festival, cultural programmes saw the
farmers from other parts of the country being exposed to some Punjabi music and
also share their agriculture music and dance, the Green Film Festival had some
green films being shown, there was a launch of many important publications and
digital publication of video and materials in several languages during the
convention.
The Chief Minister of Haryana during the inaugural session
of the Convention had set a target of 10% land under cultivation to be
converted into organic in a phased manner and also proposed to set-up an
advisory panel and make budgetary allocation towards the guidance and implementation
of the same.
