THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 29 September 2007 — Kerala’s policymakers have come out with an ambitious road map to convert 20 percent of the state’s total cultivable area to organic farming every year utilizing bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides so as to achieve total conversion in five years.

The draft Kerala Organic Farming Policy (KOFP) released here at a brainstorming session on organic farming also proposes to set up an Organic Agriculture Authority of Kerala (OAAK) to promote organic farming with village level “Seed Banks.”

The OAAK will liaison with national and international bodies and also access and generate funds or grants and support the implementation of the strategies enshrined in the policy.

The authority will have a governing council headed by a chairman elected by the organic farmers. Other members will include government officials, scientists, NGOs promoting organic farming and representatives of farmers’ organizations.

“While presenting the policy, we would also declare 100 villages as Jaiva Panchayats (organic villages). By next year, an entire district will be declared as an organic farming zone,” Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran said.

The government plans the official launch of the project called Jaiva Keralam or organic Kerala on Nov. 1, as a gift to the people on the state’s 51st birthday. “The requirement of organic farming policy is not for the farmers or for the state but to prevent our children from consuming toxic food contaminated by pesticides.” The OAAK will oversee the district and village level committees formed in a similar way. At the village level, Organic Farmer Interest Groups (OFIGs) will be formed with a group of about 20 unemployed youth in each village including 50 percent women designated as “Karshaka Sevakar” trained in all facets of organic farm management supported through programs to assist farmers.

Currently, about 7000 farmers in the state are engaged in organic farming covering a land area of 5,750 hectares. “The policy will ensure that the organic sustainability is restored through the use of harmless bio-pesticides like neem and through the use of organic manure,” the minister said.

The existing chemical farming through heavy inputs of chemical pesticides will be done away with as it has led to the depletion of soil, resulting in harmful effects on crops and polluting water tables.

“Organic farming is natural and suited to the biodiversity of Kerala for it can only help in retaining the ecological balance. Cutting across the political divide, legislators will stand united on the decision to finalize Kerala’s organic farming policy,” Ratnakaran said.

The state will also develop an Organic Kerala Certificate and logo with “Jaiva Keralam” brand. Kerala which commenced organic farming promotional activities in 2002 has already launched two brands Kerala Organic and Kerala Naturals to market organic farmers produce.

“We have a vision for a pesticide-free Kerala in the next five years,” said Dr. V.S. Vijayan, chairman of the Kerala Biodiversity Board. “Our motto is pesticide-free air, water, soil and food. We have a fine tradition of indigenous organic farming practices such as Pokkali, considered one of the best form in the world, practiced in the coastal areas of Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts where rice farming and prawn breeding are carried out in alternative seasons. However, Pokkali farmlands are shrinking despite government efforts,” he added.

The document moots a participatory approach for capacity-building, storage, transportation, processing, value-addition and marketing of organic produce. It also outlines strategies to make farming sustainable and remunerative. One of the major proposals is to create and ensure domestic market for organic products.

The plan involves ban on sale and use of pesticides, declaration of ecologically-sensitive areas as chemical pesticide and fertilizer-free zones, periodic analysis of water, soil, milk and crops at the district level to analyze the level of chemical residues.

It also contains proposals to restore agricultural biodiversity and ensure seed and food sovereignty. Quality control in inorganic inputs and agricultural produce is one of the thrust areas of the policy.

Crop rotation, tree crops, cover crops, leguminous crops and green manure to ensure the availability of biomass in organic farms, promotion of vermin-composting, biogas plants and livestock farming to supplement organic manure are some of the proposals.