Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
media, and agricultural scientists and bureaucrats. The majority of the
last group had been trained at agricultural extension agencies and worked
in various branches of Kerala's Agriculture Department (including the
department's local- level “agriculture houses” [ krishi bhavan s]).
Sridhar explained one heated exchange that occurred between the
farmers and the scientists based at both K AU and the Agriculture De-
partment: “At one point, one of these persons [a scientist] . . . got up and
said that it is impossible to convert Kerala into organic.” This scientist's
opinion infuriated Sridhar and several organic farmers, who became con-
frontational. “So then I got up . . . and said, 'Tell us the crop, and we will
give the answer now. . . . You tell us a crop, tell us, tell us your problem,
and . . . our farmers are here who can tell you the solutions.'”
K. V. Dayal, an organic farmer, stood up next, to defend organic farm-
ing and to challenge the Agriculture Department. “We have been doing
this for so many years!” he shouted back at the scientists, agreeing with
Sridhar. “We've been experimenting. We know how to trap our pests.
. . . And all of the experiments have been in the farmer's field!” He added:
“W hen farmers are suicidal, when they're not geting enough income,
when their land is spoiled, when their crops are becoming destroyed,
when the climate [is] impacting them, if nothing is bothering you, then
why should we have you?”
Why should we have you? Dayal's question was a common one among
farmers, who were beginning to wonder whether they should continue
to embrace information coming from the Agriculture Department and
K AU about agriculture, given the terrible situation they found themselves
in. This exchange and the many later debates pivoted around issues of
expertise—whether farmers knew enough about farming practices to
farm without the scientific and technical aid of agricultural bureaucrats
and scientists, the majority of whom were trained at K AU in Green Revo-
lution methodologies.
Many of the Agriculture Department officials and agricultural exten-
sion scientists who atended the two-day workshop did not favor organic
agriculture. They did not believe that Kerala's farmers could success-
fully cultivate their crops without chemical inputs, and certainly not
without the expertise of the agricultural scientists and bureaucrats. For
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