Where Lies The Lacuna: Push so far has been on production, but not much has been done to create better mrkt
Organic farmers in the state need to come together to tap markets for their products if they are to succeed was what experts and farmers said at a function organised by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme to recognise such farmers in the state.
Experts pointed out how the push so far has been on the production of organic produce but not much has been done to create better markets for such products. Many farmers rued that despite their products being organic and free of chemicals, they ended up getting the same rate as non-organic produce.
Many back out citing the size of the farm, pointed out Sukhpal Singh, chairperson of the Centre for Management in Agriculture at IIMA. "We need to get rid of this mentality. Size of the farm does not matter but how you farm matters.
Irrespective of the size of land holding it is possible to increase the income of the farmers," said Singh. To achieve that a farmer needs to do either of the three — increase output, reduce cost of input or get a better price for their produce, he added.
"We need to focus on high-value crops and pre and post-production aggregation too," said Singh.
Sanjay Prasad, additional chief secretary agriculture said that there is a need to encourage more Farmer Producer Organisations to ensure better markets and pricing, particularly for organic produce.
Satish Jha, an organic farmer from Bihar said that after he switched to organic farming, his output did not reduce contrary to the widespread belief that it yields less. "We are growing crops sans poisonous chemicals, yet the price is on par with non-organic produce. We need to ensure that farmers get more for their organic produce if we want to encourage more people to embrace the concept," said Jha.
Tajabne Vasava, a member of the Lilotri Farmers Producer Organisation that won an award for its work said that initially, it was difficult to find a market. "Then we started sending our products to a company in Hyderabad who did the marketing for us. Since then we are getting a good market. Now we have taken to producing vegetables too, and most of our output is sold in and around the district," said Vasava.
Other farmers also rued that lack of warehouse and infrastructure has also forced the farmers to sell their produce at lower rates instead of waiting for a better price.
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