By Ananya Nair
Abstract
The article explores the evolution of India’s agricultural practices, focusing on the Green
Revolution and its long-term impacts, such as soil degradation and groundwater depletion. It
highlights the shift toward sustainable agriculture, particularly organic farming, as a
response to these challenges. The piece underscores India’s leadership in organic farming,
using Sikkim’s transition to an organic state as a case study. It also discusses the growing
market for organic products, despite obstacles like high costs and consumer trust issues, and
emphasizes the need for governmental support and policy changes to promote sustainable
farming practices.
The Green Revolution: A Double-Edged Sword
In the 1950s and 1960s, a newly independent India needed to become self-sufficient in terms
of food production, and the Green Revolution was the obvious solution. While it did provide
a quick boost in performance, it also had some negative long-term effects that we did not
want. The Green Revolution was a breath of fresh air for a nation recovering from the
ravages of colonial control, starvation, and a lack of self-sufficiency in food production.
High-yielding seed varieties were introduced, advanced irrigation and agricultural methods
were adopted, and financing options for farmers were established. In addition, the repeal of
taxes on digging wells and abolitions of the zamindari system acted as a catalyst for the
Green Revolution. Consequently, through the 1960s and the 1970s, the production of cereals
and grains surged. But as the years passed the cost of this revolution slowly became apparent.
Experts say that the excessive use of chemical fertilizers over time has degraded soil fertility
in India. The use of electric tube wells has depleted groundwater tables in several states. For
instance, evidence indicates that India’s groundwater resources are diminishing quickly, with
a NASA study estimating the pace of depletion at one meter every three years. India currently
utilizes 232–250 cubic kilometers of groundwater annually, which is far more than what the
US and China use combined. More than 60% of irrigated agriculture depends on
groundwater, and its declining level severely threatens future food security. India produced
more than 250 million tonnes of food grain in 2016, but there is still a long way to go until
India is self-sufficient. Falling groundwater levels and decreasing arable land in a nation with
a young and growing population support the need for more sustainable agricultural practices.
Sustainable Agriculture: A Return to Tradition
While sustainable agriculture has become a modern-day buzzword, it’s not a new concept. In
many ways, it’s just a return to conventional methods without the use of chemicals.
Geographical and climatic diversity across the country creates an environment that is suitable for various agricultural farming, especially in terms of type (food crops including cereals,
pulses, and oilseeds, horticulture, floriculture, medicinal and aromatic plants, apiculture, and
sericulture), variety, and those. A key element of sustainable agriculture, which is necessary
for organic farming, is multi-cropping. Organic farming is a broad concept that involves the
use of natural fertilizers and methods of crop and weed control as opposed to chemical and
synthetic products. It is an approach that India needs to adopt for a sustainable future.
Organic farming is frequently criticized for being unprofitable economically and for having
trouble scaling operations to produce enough food for everyone. The government plays a vital
role in this situation. India must switch from chemical and mono-crop farming to sustainable
agricultural practices, such as multi-cropping, to ensure food security. However, bringing
such techniques back into the mainstream necessitates governmental funding and
modifications in the policy.
India’s Leadership in Organic Farming
Fun Fact! Did you know that India is home to the largest number of organic food producers
worldwide? With people becoming more health aware and nature friendly and due to its
rising demand at domestic and international levels, the Government at federal and state levels
initiated focusing on organic farming for sustainable farming practices by further updating
technology, quality, and agro infrastructure. It has frequently been hailed as the solution to
the world’s agricultural problems. Despite this, the global organic agricultural business is still
in its infancy. The first thing to note is that roughly 50.9 million hectares of land are
designated as organic agricultural land. Just over 1.1% of the world’s agricultural land is
represented by that. While India claims to have approximately 1.2 million hectares of organic
farmland, this only makes up about 0.7% of all the country’s arable land. In reality, Sikkim
was only recently proclaimed India’s first organic state, in the year 2016. It’s something that
prompted states like Kerala, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh to pick up the pace. It all
started in 2003 when Sikkim officially adopted the plan of organic farming to achieve long-
term sustainability, soil fertility, protection of the environment and ecology, and healthy
living. They gradually banned chemical fertilizers and pesticides, with support and incentives
to build a holistic transformation.
The Growing Market and Its Challenges
According to data, India produces 1.24 million tonnes of organic food with approximately 0.6
million organic producers, the biggest number globally. What market are these producers
attempting to capture then? Over the past 15 years, sales of organic food and beverages have
risen from about 18 billion U.S. dollars to approximately 82 billion U.S. dollars worldwide.
The market share of Asian countries like China for organic food items is growing, even if the
U.S. and Europe continue to be the two most important markets. In India meanwhile, the size
of the organic food market is still small, roughly 0.36 billion U.S. dollars. Despite, that it’s a
market that is growing at a rate of nearly 25-30% offering a host of new opportunities. Nearly
half of India’s workforce works in agriculture, and many of these farmers have small land holdings. So, even though organic farming increases our chances of having a sustainable
future, it can be difficult and expensive for a small-scale farmer to switch from conventional
agricultural practices to organic farming. The majority of Indian farmers continue to use
conventional farming methods, relying on pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and monocropping
to get higher yields despite the country having the most organic farming worldwide. This,
according to proponents of organic farming, is not sustainable. They contend that switching
to organic farming can lower input costs, fetch higher prices for produce, and increase soil
fertility. But switching from conventional to organic is not so simple. For instance, farmers
frequently have to wait three years before their products are classified as organic. Given that
the market for organic foods in India is still tiny, this puts a significant strain on them in the
short term. However, this is what Sikkim did. The state government initially adopted 100
villages, commonly referred to as “bio-villages,” where the farmers received instruction on
how to manufacture organic fertilizers using cow manure, food waste, and earthworms.
Biofertilizers are the result of all of this. Around 10,000 farmers had switched to organic
farming by 2009. To make Sikkim an organic state under the National Programme of Organic
Production (NPOP) guidelines, the Sikkim Organic Mission, a three-phase execution plan,
was launched in 2010. This was only achievable in Sikkim because of the clever plans that
the state and the federal government came up with. Some of them are:
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), in this center-state collaboration
program, organic farmers were given financial support of INR 50,000 per hectare
during the three-year process of converting from conventional farming areas to
organic farming land. - The Mission Organic Value Chain Development for north-eastern regions
(MOVCDNER), this support is given for cluster development, input production, seed
and planting material supply, infrastructure setup, construction of integrated
processing units, refrigerated transportation, cold storage chamber, branding label
packing, and establishment of integrated processing units.
The state government also identified four important cash crops: cardamom, ginger,
buckwheat, and turmeric, which have the potential to fetch high prices in international
markets. Today, Sikkim produces the majority of the cardamom used in India, although
hardly any chemical input has been employed in its growth. The state government established
the Sikkim State Organic Certificate Agency (SSOCA) in 2015 to certify organic products
and assist farmers in obtaining the international certificate. The state government highlighted
that organic farming reduced production costs by 25–30% in its organic policy plan. The
population of bees and other wildlife has also increased as a result of this. In addition to the
fact that farming soils are now more productive than before, organic farming is also bringing
in a lot of tourists to the state who come to view its lush, green farms, pure, organic agro
products, and meals produced with fresh vegetables. This shows that organic farming brings
in sustainable farming since it benefits the environment as well as livelihood. The Future
Policy Award recognized the state’s leadership and political will to lead by example.
Conclusion: The Path Forward for Organic Farming in India
As time passes by, more and more people are understanding the health benefits of organic
food, and thereby the demand is rising. But for the organic market in the country to gather
steam, there is an urgent need to enhance consumer awareness and competitive pricing. The
increasing demand for organic food is a result of people gradually becoming more health
conscious. However, the cost of selling organic food is one of the main obstacles. In
comparison to normal groceries, organic products cost on average 40% more. Since organic
food is more expensive, not everyone can buy it. Labeling is another issue. Label trust is
frequently a challenge for consumers. India’s organic food and beverage market has expanded
at a rate of 20–30% during the last few years. If this has to be spurred further the solutions are
simple. Sellers need to win consumer confidence, build trust, and ensure competitive pricing.
Organic farming balances the intricate agroecosystem, reducing long-term environmental,
soil-related, and other biological issues. For the state to improve its socioeconomic
conditions, its return in terms of money and glory will be sufficient. Any obstruction must be
handled carefully, especially one that prevents the supply of the materials required for organic
farming and the agricultural and transportation infrastructure. Any supply-side issue
necessitates a complete process rebuild, which delays and incurs a large cost in achieving
state objectives. In due course, organic farming has changed in both shapes and focuses to
advance market, health, and agricultural development.
About the author
Ananya Nair is a first-year LLB student at Jindal Global Law School. Her interests lie in the fields of environmental law and policies, climate justice, and human rights.
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