Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the capital of Kerala. Dr. R. V. Varma, who succeeded Vijayan's position
as chair of the Biodiversity Board when the ornithologist retired and
oversaw the finalization of the organic farming policy, once walked me
through a completed register for a northern district of
Kerala, Kasaragod.
“We have the Herculean task of preparing the Biodiversity Registers,” he
explained at the time. “W hat we are trying to do is empower.”14
Varma lipped through the register, a large, heavy topic with glossy
photos, pointing every now and then to the images of plants and amphib-
ians on the pages. “This has all been collected by the people,” he said
admiringly. “It is very hard work. This contains information about the
crops they grow, what they had earlier, what happened to them.”
“This is a lot of work,” I admited, in disbelief that ordinary people in
Kerala were actively documenting every animal and plant possible.
Varma repeatedly emphasized to me that the purpose of creating and
keeping the Biodiversity Registers was to empower local communities to
manage and protect their resources—goals that aligned with the LDF's
redistributive and participatory reforms. Most important, though, he ex-
plained, creating the registers allowed the Biodiversity Board staff to meet
with farmers, environmentalists, politicians, and community members
throughout the state. Through these interactions, the Biodiversity Board
developed relationships that strengthened its capacity to achieve its aims.
Indeed, given the task of creating Biodiversity Registers, the Biodiver-
sity Board quickly established partnerships with members of civil society,
from panchayat
s
(villages) to NGOs from across the state. Therefore, when
the chair at the time, Vijayan—moved by declining biodiversity, pesti-
cide use, and the disappearance of baya weavers in the Western Ghats—
decided to pursue a statewide organic farming policy, the board already
had access to networks of NGOs, farmers, and local politicians who were
concerned about conditions in the agricultural sector as well.
One such NGO was a Thiruvananthapuram-based environmental
group, Thanal, the same group I came across educating farmers about
panchagavayya in Palakkad. Since the early 2000s, it has been heavily in-
volved in anti-endosulfan and rice-saving campaigns throughout Kerala
and has developed partnerships with a variety of farmers. The organiza-
tion pioneered the creation of a weekly organic bazaar selling local pro-
