Organic Agriculture: "Towards Organic India"
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Organic Agriculture: "Towards Organic India"
New Delhi, 3 rd October: The First National Conference on
Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for Organic Agriculture is being
held at Indian Social Institute in New Delhi between 3rd and 4th
October'07, with an aim to exchange knowledge on the experiences in
implementation of PGS, to define the role of civil society,
government, and key stakeholders in promoting PGS at a wider scale
with the involvement of small farmers and to facilitate local markets
for the organic produce of the small and marginal farmers.
The conference was attended by government representatives, NGOs, other
development organizations, and farmer groups across the country. The
conference resulted in the network of individuals and organizations
with a shared development goal.
Organic agriculture holds the key for rural transformation and
sustainable development in our country. This practice of agriculture
involves preservation of natural bio-diversity and effective
management of biological and natural resources to improve farm
productivity and pest management without the use of any external
inputs such as chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and
Genetically Modified (GM) inputs. With organic farming practices, the
country will be less dependent on unsustainable inputs which would
simultaneously enhance local environmental resources and national food
security, while contributing towards rural livelihood opportunities.
Though there are obvious benefits of organic cultivation and
consumption, the small and marginal farmers face a challenge to
guarantee their produce as organic in local and domestic markets. The
third party certification process to guarantee organic produce
involves exhaustive documentation and high costs which are beyond the
capacity of the small farmers As an alternative, a community based
certification with local standards was pioneered by Dr. Alexander
Daniel of Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD),
Aurangabad and implemented in Paithan Taluka of Maharashtra since
1998. This system called as Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)
involves the farmers themselves in guaranteeing their produce as
organic as per the norms and standards defined by the local group of
farmers. The marketing of such produce is based on mutual trust and
cooperation between consumers and producers and thus is more
applicable for local and domestic marketing. This system is being
implemented in different parts of the country as an alternative to the
formal third party certification which benefits the small and marginal
farmers.
Dr. Daniel Gustafson,resident Representative,FAO( Food & Agriculture
Organisation) India said " Indian context is different fron the west
market. Unlike other peoples Indian people have more spiritual
connection between food and health. So organic culture can be easily
correlated with Indian context. But here people are not much aware of
the organic food and its culture .Even Indian Supermarkets is not
differentiable between organic and non organic food and there is no
brand separation too." He emphasized on the PGS certification to a
national system which should be uniform all over the country.
Dr. Suman Sahai, President, Gene campaign said "There should be a
rational standard which ensure the food safety across the country. Its
became a challenge to the farmers and the policy makers to standardize
the products used for the farming, pesticides, water etc. Now new
technology of genetic engineering seeds became a threat to the farming
in India." According to her Organic farming is more affordable than
the other form of agriculture.
Ms Daniel, President of IIRD has awakened the Indian farmers to bring
bask the glory of farming through Organic Agriculture which will
definitely opens the various opportunity of branding.
About PGS:
Participatory Guarantee Systems share a common goal with change to
third party certification systems in providing a credible guarantee
for consumers seeking organic produce. The difference is in approach.
As the name suggests, direct participation of farmers and even
consumers in the certification process is not only encouraged but may
be required. Such involvement is entirely realistic in the context of
the small farms and local, direct markets that PGS systems are most
likely to serve. Active participation on the part of the stakeholders
results in greater empowerment but also greater responsibility. This
requires PGS programs to place a high priority on knowledge and
capacity building -not only for producers but for consumers as well.
This direct involvement allows PGS programs to be less onerous in
terms of paperwork and record-keeping requirements -an important
element, since PGS systems seek to be absolutely inclusive in bringing
small farmers into an organic system of production. In stark contrast
to existing certification programs that start with the idea that
farmers must prove they are in compliance to be certified, PGS
programs use an integrity based approach that starts with a foundation
of trust. It builds from there with an unparalleled transparency and
openness, maintained in an environment that minimizes hierarchies and
administrative levels.
IIRD,The Organisers
Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD) is a premier
development organization founded by late Dr.Alexander Daniel, in
Maharashtra State in India, promoting development alternatives through
the initiatives of groups of rural poor for over two decades. IIRD
involves in promoting organic agriculture as one of its main agenda
and has promoted organic agriculture through awareness programmes,
training of farmers, community action programmes on organic
agriculture, networking with like minded organizations and lobbying
nationally and internationally for organic agriculture. For its
outstanding contribution to eco-centered development, IIRD received
the international Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD)
award.
IIRD and its partner organisations are presently implementing a
national programme for domestic marketing of organic produce of small
farmers, through innovative marketing structures "organic bazaars".
The organic bazaar movement initiated in 1998 with the establishment
of the organic bazaar in Aurangabad, has now spread to 13 locations in
different parts of India empowering thousands of small organic farmers
through alternative marketing systems that create partnerships between
consumers and producers. A National Coordinating Committee (NCC) has
been constituted for implementing this programme. IIRD along with the
NCC is organizing the conference