Case Study on the Experiences of Organic Producers in Telengana and Andhra Pradesh

Case Study on the experiences of organic producers in Telengana and Andhra Pradesh

Context

Research carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in 2012 has demonstrated that urban populations are being exposed to organophosphate (OP) pesticides through the vegetables that they consume. In vegetables, along with fruits and juices, it is reported that pesticide residues remain in particularly high levels. Despite this, pesticide and other chemical residues can be found in all types of high input food crops, such as rice, maize and groundnut. In addition to affecting the flavour of our foods, chemical contamination can damage human health, environmental health and farmer livelihoods.

Health threats to consumers and producers are alarming. There are many pieces of research which point to a plethora of different health concerns associated with synthetic inputs, for example an association has been shown between childhood leukaemia and parental exposure to pesticides (Leiss and Savitz 1995). Other studies have demonstrated that the risks of cancer and infertility among agricultural workers exposed to pesticides were higher than average (Horrigan, Lawrence and Walker 2002). Even at low levels of exposure, OP pesticides have been linked with increased chances of Alzheimer’s Disease (Hayden et al 2010) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children (Bourchard et al 2010).

While only around 2% of sprayed insecticides and 5% of herbicides hit their target organisms (Kutting 2010), the remainder of these toxic chemicals are leached into the surrounding soil, air, water systems, flora and fauna of the area. These chemicals can be passed through entire food chains, causing extensive damage to the ecology of any given field and its surrounding area. In addition, the pesticide residues reduce soil fertility in the long term by killing microbes and by blocking chemical signals of nitrogen fixing bacteria, thus reducing nitrogen levels in the soil, and leading to a need for more fertilizers (Fox et al 2007).

The aforementioned soil degradation due to chemical usage is financially damaging for farmers in two interlinked ways. First, as the soil’s ability to fix nitrogen and microbe levels decrease, crops yields may become smaller or even fail. This in turn forces farmers to buy more fertilizers to achieve the same yields, decreasing their net profits on a yearly basis.

In spite of the concerns outlined above, we can still see large amounts of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers being subsidized by the Indian government, and being used by the majority of producers, arguably in the name of “modernized” agriculture, where high productivity is the bottom line (Ramanjaneyulu 2015). While in some cases this may produce higher yields, the costly inputs make farmers vulnerable if the crop fails, which has undeniable links to indebtedness and the associated suicides that have plagued Indian agriculture since the Green Revolution of the 1960s.

With the above factors in mind, there are many dedicated farmers who are striving to pursue organic agriculture throughout India. This movement is gaining momentum, especially with such newsworthy events as Sikkim becoming India’s first fully organic state. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards 2016, “Organic agriculture is a system of farm design and management to create an ecosystem, which can achieve sustainable productivity without the use of synthetic external inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and synthetic hormones”. The study will address the experiences of farmers involved in the organic movement in three different regions. The first area of interest, Mulugu, is part of the Medak District in Telengana. Medak is one of the main vegetable producing districts in the state, and in those districts within close proximity to Hyderabad, it was the largest producer of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber and onions (along with Mahboobnagar) in 2004-2005 (CSA 2007). The second area of interest is the villages surrounding Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, where a wide variety of crops such as paddy, bengalgram, groundnut, sunflower and rice are grown. Lastly, the farming community surrounding Kadiri, also in Andhra Pradesh will be focused on. Farmers predominantly grow crops such as groundnut and bengalgram due to the low rainfall in this region (560mm/year compared to Kurnool’s 670mm/year and Medak’s 1001mm/year) (Agricoop 2011), although some irrigated paddy can also be seen.

The case study aims to discover the farmers’ concerns, their feelings towards the success of their endeavours in terms of productivity, financial reward and health, as well as their experiences of being involved with the CSA, cooperatives, and governmental agencies.

Methodology

The method of research adopted was a case study; which can be seen as an empirical enquiry; investigating phenomenon that are contemporary, within real life context, in order to gain in depth insights (Yin 2009). The “case”, or phenomenon in this study is organic farming in three different regions, while the embedded units of analysis were each of the individual farms/farmers. It is worth noting that whilst case studies are often seen as qualitative research, some numerical data concerning costs of production and net profits was collected (Table 1). Qualitative data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews in order to gain a holistic insight into the feelings and experiences of farmers.

Discussion

Within the three areas of study there are both location specific and common themes that emerged. Firstly, and arguably most important, all farmers said that since they began farming organic the quality of life for them and their family improved. This was generally said to be due to the improved nutrition and general wellbeing, as much as any financial improvements. The table below gives some indication of the costs and earnings of the farmers. Where information is missing it was either not applicable, for example some farmers didn’t have to buy manure, or the figures were not available.

Farm Main Land Manure Seed Intercultu harvesti Net location & crops preparatio cost cost ral ng profit size n cost operation s cost Advimasjid, Paddy, 17,000/sea 25,000- - - 6000- 1 lakh/2 Mulugu tomato , son 30,000 8000 acres 1 hectare brinjal, per maize , hectare redgram Kshera coxinea, 3000/seaso 20,000/a 2500 (all - - - Sagar, brinjal, n cre per hybrid) Mulugu redgram season 1 hectare

Jepthisingaip tomato, 10,000/sea - 1000- 1000- - 1 lakh alli, Mulugu brinjal, son 2000 2000 4 acres beans, hybrid uses a cabbage, seeds one cauliflow wheel er, manual pumpkin tiller to and save sweetcor money n

Mudimala, paddy, - 30,000 10,000 15,000 7000 1 lakh Kurnool banana, (just for 1 District carrot hectare) 3 hectares and onion Rangapuram Paddy, 20,000- - 10,000 16,000 8000 120,000 , Kurnool groundn 25,000 just for peracre District ut, cotton – 3 hectares jowar, no bajra, hybrids redgram Rangapuram Groundn 4000-5000 2000- Groundn 30,000- Manual - , Kurnool ut, onion per acre 3000 per ut 40,000 around District and acre 5000/ac 7,000/a Nearly 10 chillies re. Total cre hectares almost using 30,000 harveste r 2500/ac re Gollapalla mango, 2000/acre - Only 3000/acr - 50,000 Thander, groundn buys in e net profit Kadiri ut, groundn on District 12 horsegra ut; groundn hectares m, 10,000 ut alone greengra m, paddy, redgram, foxtail millet Interview 8 Seed and 5000/acre 7000/acr All own - 5000/ac 30,000/a need name grain e seeds re cre producer , mainly paddy, groundn ut, greengra m

In some cases the economic benefits of farming organic were only small at this stage, and this occurred for a number of interlinking reasons. Farmers in all regions agreed that there was a serious need for better marketing of their organic produce. The frameworks to assist organic farmers varied spatially, with disparities in accessibility of marketing facilities, cooperatives and services. Having said this, all farmers reported savings in terms of how much they were spending on inputs.

Organic Inputs

Costly chemical inputs can be seen as one of the many reasons why so many conventional farmers are becoming indebted. Organic farmers protect themselves from this by producing their own inputs from organic matter. A variety of different methods can be used such as cow urine mixed with neem leaves (see figure 1). When applied to crops this mixture works in much the same way as a chemical pesticide; all three farmers interviewed in the Mulugu area reported that the bio pesticides had been effective pest controls, while not damaging their soil. Boddu Narsimulu, a farmer from Kshera Sagar reported a 50% saving on inputs since he stopped using chemical pesticides. This indicates the significant financial benefits of such techniques. When asked whether non-pesticidal management had been effective, Babu Miya of Advimasjid village, Medak District replied:

Mostly, yes. The thing is that it [biopesticides] doesn’t cost me any money. Sometimes we lose some market price, sometimes we lose some produce. But it is worth it, see my mother, she is 85, she is able to see properly, able to hear properly. She is very healthy, and I think that this is connected to our organic produce

Similarly, he compared his current 30,000 rupee expenditure on manure to nearly 50,000 rupees that he was spending on chemical fertilizers prior to 2007 when he started organic. He went on to explain that despite spending more on chemical inputs, his yields were smaller, and that this is what we can see with chemical agriculture at present.

People think that farming is like a machine; the more [chemicals] they put into the machine then the more will come out. They treat land and nature like a machine. Nobody is telling or educating about the organic techniques. In contrast to Babu Miya’s observations, Marappa of Mudimala village observed that his paddy yield reduced by 50% during his first year, due to the residual damage that chemical inputs had caused to his soil. He also noted that he still gets slightly smaller yields than a chemical farmer, but that the difference is only minor.

Barriers to Participation

So given the financial and environmental benefits moving to organic can bring, and the ongoing problems in Indian agriculture, it is somewhat surprising that there has not been a wider adoption of these techniques. Ni Srinivas Reddy, president of Mulugu’s farmer cooperative outlined a lack of patience within the farming community. This thought was common throughout the different areas, and Bala Gangadhar Naik from Kadiri said:

Farmers are now not interested in working. They want immediate effect; in organic it is a slow process. We have to climb the tree, we have to collect the leaves, we have to collect the fruit and we have to make the kashaya. We have to spend so much time, in chemical they don’t want to spend the time. They can spray everything in half an hour

He also said that there had been a loss of knowledge, and that not enough people were raising cows, making organic inputs costly. He felt that government need to provide input subsidies as well as knowledge provision and encouragement. From the three different areas, it appeared that government support, and access to NGOs for organic was most limited in the Medak District when compared to Kurnool and particularly Kadiri.

Accessibility of support

Spatial disparities in terms of the cost of using NPM existed across the 3 regions, due to different access to support frameworks and services. For example, in Rangapuram, Kurnool District one farmer reported having to get neem oil bio pesticides from 200 km away; this is too far for such a simple and crucial product to be transported. While she was saying this we were sat under a neem tree. The fact that there was no processing facilities near to the village meant that it had to be brought in from outside, cutting down on the profits of organic farmers, and acting as a deterrent to more farmers starting organic in the area. In contrast to this, cultivators in Pamidi, Anantapur were able to get neem powder cheaply and easily with the help of the Rural and Environmental Development Agency (REDS), which has a neem pulveriser on site. REDS is an NGO that not only supports local organic farmers, but is involved in all kinds of community problems such as domestic abuse. These types of organizations are highly valuable to agriculture and rural areas as a whole. Wider distribution of such services would be conducive to growth in the organic sector.

Access to NGOs was crucial to farmers taking an interest in, or even knowing about organic farming. For example in the villages of Mudimala and Rangapuram in the Kurnool District it was only due to CSA’s help during the flooding experienced in 2009 that farmers had contact with NGOs; CSA then encouraged and helped farmers to pursue organic

We didn’t know which land belonged to who. Then CSA came here to clean the sands away. They helped clean almost 200 acres; we brought it back to cultivatable land using 3 JCBs and 10 tractors working through the night. This gave us much trust in the CSA, after this they arranged group meetings, community meetings, farmer meetings and from there they helped to start organic farming in the area.

In the three interviews conducted within this area, a similar message was reflected that it was due to the help provided during the floods that made farmers build up a trusting relationship with the CSA, and farmers began using organic techniques; from here they developed a farmer resource centre where they can discuss ongoing ideas and issues (Figure 2).

While it is a positive outcome from the disastrous flooding event, it is necessary for the CSA and other agencies to continue their work towards reaching marginal farming communities and helping them to utilize organic techniques under normal circumstances. Farmers felt that this could be achieved by the targeting of certain areas where the use of chemicals was high, then to encourage and educate farmers both through collaboration with local NGOs as well as directly working with producers. On several occasions farmers raised concerns about Central Government’s subsidy allocation as a barrier to wider adoption of agro-ecological farming techniques; current subsidies to chemical input producers keep the cost relatively low for chemical farming. The problem with this of course, is that such chemicals damage human and environmental health, and damage the very soil it is being applied to.

Subsidies should be banned for fertilizers... They [Central Government] should be giving these subsidies to the farmers for using compost, green manure and other techniques… Scientists and politicians should become more farmer friendly. The above exert was from an interview with Bala Gangadhar Naik, an agricultural producer from the Kadiri area. He was benefitting from CSA’s advisory support, as well as financial support from the Rural Development Trust (RDT). The RDT provides financial support to mango growers to purchase solar panels; hence achieving a double environmental benefit: encouraging the planting of more trees, and reducing the reliance on unclean energy sources. With this scheme, mango growers were able to get solar power installed for only 15,000 rupees, rather than the 5-6 lakhs that is the actual cost. The solar power was used to pump water throughout the farm, irrigating crops using water collected in open wells that were also financed by the NGO. Such support is not evenly distributed and was only available in one of the three locations of this study, but it is evident how well farmers are able to utilise the facilities that are available to them. Bala explained that the RDT had done a lot to change the lives of backward class farmers in the area through financial support, and the CSA had provided support in terms of motivating and providing practical guidance, how to make kashaya. In addition to this there was some government support available to Kadiri farmers through the Watershed programme, which provides a full subsidy for farm ponds; this is available to many farmers throughout Andhra Pradesh.

Farmers in all of the three areas felt that more needed to be done in terms of marketing; while organic produce was able to be sold at a premium rate – 10 to 20% higher than the regular market price, there was not enough market demand for organic produce. Only between 10 and 30% of produce was sold as organic, and the rest was sold in the regular market. Six out of the eight farmers interviewed said that marketing was the one area that CSA should put most focus on improving marketing and finding new retailers to sell produce to. Producers in Kurnool were also calling for an organic outlet to be established in the town in order to sell more organic produce locally.

Conclusion

Organic farming is a beneficial activity for those that pursue it. With reduced expenditures on inputs, farmers in the three areas experienced increases in income relative to what they were experiencing with regular farming. To some extent this was supplemented by premium rates for organic produce over the standard market price, however few farmers were able to sell more than 20% of their produce under organic. Farmers agreed that this was due to poor marketing facilities, and this is something that government, as well as NGOs need to improve upon. Some farmers thought that their yields had increased since using organic, although some said this was not the case in the first year, where yields dropped by as much as 50%.

Despite this, farmers were proud of the work they were doing, and felt that the quality of life they experienced was improved due to organic practises. Many spoke about the health benefits of their produce.

Most felt that government subsidy allocation was skewed in favour of chemical agriculture, which was a barrier to increased participation. Others felt that the main reason for most farmers still using chemicals was due to the simplicity and ease of such techniques. Having said this, overall the interviewees felt that the transition towards organic practise was well underway, and that in time we will see more and more farmers joining the movement.

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