Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
farming must be having the mentality that [farming] should not affect
the earth.”
Throughout my interview with Dayal, he insisted that a statewide con-
version to organic farming would only come about through a change in
farmers' mindsets, which was unlikely if farmers cultivated for export.
“So there has to be a mental change?” I asked, hoping he would expand
on these thoughts.
He answered, “I have
. . . declared that . . . organic farming can be im-
plemented if you can put [an] idea in the mind first.”
“Do you think it is in the mind of those doing farming for export?” I
prompted.
“No, no, no,” he said. “They, those who are in the organic farming
movement for export,
. . . their mind has not changed. W henever they get
the chance, they will put chemical pesticides or chemicals, whenever they
can, whenever they are in a problem.”
Dayal then provided an anecdote to elucidate his position. “There is an
organic farmer in Idukki [District]—he's doing organic farming in carda-
mom. But when the price [for conventionally grown cardamom] has gone
up, he has introduced pesticides—because of that money, that money
he gets.” He paused, and then explained, “He didn't care about organic
farming . . . [just] money from that product, which is not a change. The
human being has to be changed. The thinking has to be changed . . . the
'export variable thinking,' that by exporting so much, money will come.”
In other words, as soon as global prices made it possible, the farmer in
Dayal's story had abandoned organic farming practices to obtain higher
yields and a nicer-looking product, free of damage from pests. As Dayal
explained further, it was easier to export foodstuffs that were blemish
free, to beter appeal to the aesthetic tastes of foreign consumers.
He concluded his anecdote: “He cannot be considered as an organic
farmer. [Only] an organic man can do organic farming.”
Dayal's comments suggested that an organic farmer's practices on a
farm reflect his character—and a real organic farmer conducts agricul-
ture in a particular way.5 That way is not for export, and it does not in-
clude certification. As he specifically said, one who farms
certified
organic
