Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
I was under the impression that concept of organic farming is only being discussed in social and mainstream media and at policy level Government is least bothered to make this a reality. After my thorough research,I was stunned that during 2015 winter session of parliament alone more than two dozen Members of Parliament raised this issue inside Lok sabha as well as Rajya sabha. The 16 Members of Parliament (MPs) , sought detailed answer from the Government about organic farming and steps being taken this direction.
According to the data provided by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) total certified organic produce under National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) during the year 2014-15 is 1095754.14 Metric Tons (MT). Government of India provides financial assistance to State Governments under Paramparagat KrishiVikasYojna (PKVY) to promote marketing facilities for organic produce.Following support is given to farmers by Govt of India for promotion of organic farming :
(i) Procuring packaging material, preparation of labels, holograms, printing and branding of organic produce @ Rs. 2500/ acre. (ii) For transportation of organic produce to market places, financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 120,000 for one cluster of 50 acre is also provided. (iii) To motivate and support marketing facilities financial assistance given @ Rs. 36330 per cluster for organizing organic fair to meet the expenses of arranging stalls, rent and labour charges, publicity material and management of event.
Promotional Schemes
Government of India is promoting organic farming across the country under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes .
The details of these schemes are as under :
National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana (PKVY)
RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana (RKVY)
National Mission on Oil Seed and Oil Palm (NMOOP)
Network Project on Organic Farming of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)
National Programme on Organic Production(NPOP) of Agricultural &Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) . These schemes are meant for for the benefit of all farmers which includes small and marginal farmers as well.
During the year 2015-16 under ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana (PKVY) funds to the tune of Rs.179 crore were released to the State Governments for promotion of Organic Farming. Jammu & Kashmir state got Rs 2.17 Crore under PKVY in financial year 2017-18. National Centre of Organic Farming, Ghaziabad and its six Regional Centres are conducting various extension and publicity activities like exhibitions, radio talks, TV programmes, distribution of literature on organic inputs/organic farming etc. Authorities do admit that chemical fertilizers and pesticides are damaging our environment, soil and human health but when it comes to creating mass awareness on organic farming , the officials of Agriculture and Horticulture department seem to be helpless as they do not have a clear blueprint before them. At Government level there is no concrete policy towards introducing organic farming in J&K
Organic Fertilizer units :
Several scientific studies show that without a diverse solid food web our gardens and agriculture fields gravitate toward being a desert. The soil food-web refers to the organisms living in and on the soil. This includes plants and animals, especially the microorganism. The chemical fertilizers directly attack these micro organisms. Why cannot we create such centres where we can produce large quantity of organic fertilizer or compost ?As already mentioned in my previous columns ,Parimpora fruit mandi in Srinagar alone produces 25 metric tons of organic waste daily , but not even 1 % of this waste is processed by Agriculture or Horticulture Department. This organic waste is lifted by Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) & then dumped unscientifically at Achan landfill site where it emits pungent smell. For lifting this waste Government spends Rs 3 lakhs every month , while as same amount could have been utilized for processing of compost inside the mandi premises. This would not only treat the waste locally but would generate livelihood for many people plus revenue. Above all the Achan landfill site would get rid of 25 metric tons of waste that is dumped there on daily basis in an unscientific manner.
In Jammu’s Narwalmandi more than 30 metric tons of organic waste gets accumulated daily during unloading of fruit and vegetable trucks . This waste is alsodumped by local Mandi workers , Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) at different locations , water bodies , forests, landfill sites wherefrom it emits terrible smell and creates lot of in-convenience for people . We are destroying our wealth by not processing our organic waste . Imagine if we have two organic fertilizer units established at Parimpora and Narwal mandis in Srinagar how much waste we will convert into wealth on daily basis ? I have brought this matter into the notice of Horticulture Minister Syed Basharat Bukhari and former Secretary Horticulture M S Malik who now holds charge of Floriculture Department. Both seem to be very much optimistic about the waste management in Mandis. I am also in touch with Agriculture Minister MrGhulamNabiHanjoora who along with his team of officers is also very keen about this issue.
Pilot project in Budgam :
I have been impressing upon Government to create organic fertilizer units across state especially in towns , villages , Fruit and Vegetables markets (mandis). I got inclined towards this work after I along with some local youth of Srinagar and Budgam went to Indore in 2015 where a social enterprise namely BASIX is treating segregated municipal waste by making compost out of it. Founder of BASIX Mr Vijay Mahajan asked me to replicate the model in J&K. Infact Mahajan sahib had a very good meeting with the J& K Chief Minister in May 2016 , but the project could not go ahead due to summer agitation of 2016. Finally with the help of Directorate of Urban Local Bodies we did a pilot study in Budgam town from November 2016 for a period of 8 months (4 months each) in association with local Municipal Committee. The same team which was with me in Indore for several months started collecting segregated waste from each household in 5 wards of the town on daily basis for a period of 8 months. The household organic waste was converted into compost by our volunteers. For this work the volunteers charged Rs 55 / house hold from the local Municipality.
When the compost was taken out from the specially designed compost pits after 4 months, it was tested at Government run Horticulture Soil testing Laboratory Rajbagh Srinagar. The results were beyond imagination. The lab report showed high quality Nitrogen , Phosphorous & Potassium. Unfortunately this work is not being replicated in other towns of our state nor is the work extended to more wards of Budgam town. I have impressed upon Irrigation and Flood control department Jammu as well to make its canals waste free and during this process the biodegradable waste like temple flowers / household waste can be converted into compost as is done in Kanpur where a social enterprise namely Help us Green processes flower waste which is collected by them from river Ganga.
Conclusion :
Government of India in order to promote organic farming provides Rs 2 crores as grant to state Governments for setting up of mechanized Fruit/Vegetable market waste/ Agro waste compost production unit. For setting up of State of art liquid/ carrier based Bio-fertilizer/ Bio-pesticide units, 100 % assistance is given to state Governments. Such plants can be run by local entrepreneurs and will help to create more skills and jobs in waste management sector which is still an un explored sector in J&K.
Under Param Parag at Krishi VikasYojna (PKVY) – Fifty or more farmers will form a cluster and their 50 acres of land will be brought under Organic Farming. In order to facilitate this , the ceiling of subsidy that a farmer is eligible shall be a maximum of one hectare and the total financial assistance eligible for a 50 acre cluster shall be a maximum of Rs. 10 lakh for farmer members and Rs. 4.95 lakh for mobilization and Participatry Guarantee System (PGS) Certification.Managing waste as per Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 will not only help our state look cleaner, but it will help to generate more jobs , skills and above all create an atmosphere for shifting towards organic farming. Let us join hands to create this kind of atmosphere in nook and corner of Jammu & Kashmir.
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