Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
sovereignty recognizes the interconnectedness of local communities
with other local communities across the world. By empowering people
to engage with these connections, food sovereignty can be a powerful
force that pushes back against the harmful effects of industrial agricul-
ture. Given Kerala's history of radical politics, a more concentrated focus
on food sovereignty by the state and its organic farming advocates is
possible
—and may present a way to mediate the divisions in its organic
movement.
Unfortunately, in spite of Kerala's progressive politics and strides
in its agricultural sector, several challenges still remain for the success-
ful implementation of its organic farming policy and its certified organic
farmers. Within the first few years of implementation of the state policy,
several farmers reported yield declines in their rice paddy fields. During
the irst year of the Padayeti pilot, many organic farmers also lost their
first rice crops to destructive weeds that sprouted up after an intense rain-
storm and then to an outbreak of mites; this led some farmers to resort to
herbicides and other chemical inputs during the pilot period. A few others
decided to grow ginger and cash crops. As a result, after 2009 the Bio-
diversity Board gave direct cash subsidies to pilot participants to incen-
tivize organic agricultural practices in rice production. With forces such
as climate change altering rain paterns and temperatures in Palakkad,
causing unpredictable seasons and affecting the lifecycles of pests, such
outbreaks might be a trend. Farmers may only continue to grow uneasy
with existing organic practices, rendering current government involve-
ment and subsidies insufficient for supporting organic agriculture.
Pesticide use also continues in the state, despite the Agriculture De-
partment's ban. Farmers have reported that endosulfan and other prohib-
ited red- and yellow-labeled pesticides are being smuggled into the state
from neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and are still being applied
in fields, facilitated by the department's failure to enforce the ban. More-
over, key and vocal industry and lobbying groups, including one repre-
senting pineapple growers, have claimed that the state's organic farming
efforts will depress their yields and export profits. They have threatened
to take various organic farming supporters to court as a result.26
