The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sizeable funds sought for organic farming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 08, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sizeable funds sought for organic farming

Staff Reporter

`India Organic 2006' to begin in Bangalore on Thursday

TAPPING POTENTIAL: Mukesh Gupta, executive director of M.R. Moraka Rural Research Foundation (right), addressing the press regarding India Organic-2006 in Bangalore on Tuesday. Tej Pratap (left), executive director of International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture; and Jurgen Serr, chief executive officer of Herb Services, Germany, are seen. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The organic farming sector has proposed to the Planning Commission that Rs. 2,500 crore be allocated to it in the 11th Five-Year Plan. The sector also believes that private players would supplement government spending by investing up to Rs. 10,000 crore in the field.

Revealing this at the curtain raiser of "India Organic 2006," Tej Pratap, executive director of the International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) and chairman of the Subcommittee on Organic Farming for the 11th Five-Year Plan, said government investment could be used to develop the market for organic farming in the country.

Currently, most organic products are exported but with enough support to organic farming, 80 per cent of the products could be used in the domestic market, Dr. Pratap said. At present Rs. 128 crore worth of certified organic products are being exported, he added.

Tremendous growth

Before 2001, only about 5,000 hectares of land was under organic farming in India. But between 2001 and 2006 it has risen to at least 2,75,000 hectares and three lakh farmers are into organic farming, Dr. Pratap said.

The 10th Plan had allocated Rs.70 crore for organic farming, a method of farming that calls for an end to use of chemicals in agriculture.

Organic farming could be the answer to increasing farmer suicides in the country, as the method requires no inputs in terms of fertilizers and pesticides. This reduces investment by the farmer at the same time not affecting the output, said Mukesh Gupta, executive director of Morarka Organic, one of the organisers of the fair.

The four-day trade fair, starting from November 9 at Palace Grounds, will have more than 250 exhibitors. The seven north-eastern States are also participating in the event. A seminar series will be held from November 10 to 12. Mr. Gupta said the fair would also have an Organic Food festival where 250 food items prepared using organic ingredients would be on display.

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