Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
IOFPCL bore a large amount of debt in 2010, and it failed to sell enough
of its members' organic products at a price premium to buyers both in
and outside of India. The organization's difficulties with marketing dis-
gruntled many farmers who hoped certification would provide them with
immediate competitive access to foreign markets. Chackochan himself
has taken out several loans to support fledgling certification projects in
Kerala. This situation indicates that voluntary certification alone can-
not be the only solution for alleviating poverty, encouraging sustainable
farming, and ending Kerala's agrarian crisis.27
The future and long-
term impact of Kerala's organic farming move-
ment has yet to be determined, given these challenges. How well the
state's organic farming policy will be enforced, how well it will succeed
in mitigating the effects of the agrarian crisis, and what relationship there
will be between the policy and certified organic farming, remain to be
seen. However, despite a change in the state government leadership in
2011, the new UDF-led state Assembly is maintaining a commitment to
organic farming. UDF leaders, including the new Agriculture Minister,
K. P. Mohanan, frequently herald the merits of organic agriculture at var-
ious public events.28
Additionally, while originally opposed to the organic farming policy,
Kerala's Agriculture Department and extension now publish promotional
materials on sustainable agriculture. Funds for organic farming also
continue to increase. Moreover, the policy has initiated and regularized
discussions of organic farming among local farmers, interlocking with
processes of decentralization already in place and further empowering
farmers in agricultural governance. At present, therefore, Kerala's govern-
ment remains commited to alternative agriculture and the 2010 organic
farming policy.
Despite their disagreements, both sides of Kerala's organic farming
movement share many long-term goals. To an extent, both sides advo-
cate for greater—albeit very particular forms of—government involve-
ment in developing and promoting organic farming in the state.29 For
example, P. A. Jose from the ICS Wayanad Social Services Society, which
assists farmers with third-party certification for export, told me that “gov-
