Organic farming in Uttarakhand :

Organic farming is a way of farming which excludes the use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides etc. and is primarily based on the principles of use of natural organic inputs and biological plant protection measures. Properly managed organic farming reduces or eliminates water pollution and helps conserve water and soil on the farm thereby enhances sustainability and agro-biodiversity.

Organic farming has become popular in many western countries. There are two major driving forces behind this phenomenon: growing global market for organic agricultural produce due to increased health consciousness; and premium price on organic produce fetched by the producers.

India has comparative advantage over many other countries because of the vast cultivated area, which has remained free of contamination from chemicals, spread over distinctly varying agro-climatic conditions. For example, large areas in north-east region, northern hills and rainfed regions with very low or nil use of agro-chemicals to organic farming.

In India, a National Programme for Organic Production is being implemented by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). Ministry of Commerce, with major responsibility for developing standards for organic farming and regulatory mechanism for export purposes.

Organic Uttarakhand -  A Success Story :

The Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB), a nodal agency of the Government of Uttarakhand for promotion of organic farming, was registered under the Societies Act in May, 2003. A project called Center for Organic Farming (COF), "Himotthan Pariyojna", funded by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust was anchored with in the Board for providing technical and marketing expertise for product development, supply chain management, market linkages, certification etc.

Crop certification is being facilitated under the internal control system supported by COF, Regular training is being provided by the field staff available with different programmes. The certification is done by a team of field staff, internal inspectors and Quality Managers in coordination with an External Certification Agency.

Initially, a pilot programme of demonstration of certain technologies was taken up in 16 villages of Uttarakhand. Later, it was expanded to 212 villages. The term bio-village has evolved along with the development of demonstration villages to 100 per cent saturation villages where commodity production, certification and market linkage has been established. Presently, 1,200 bio villages are covered under the organic programme and 20,000 farmers have been sensitized.

The tangible results are export of 100 tonnes of organic rice to Germany and a product expansion plan for 400 tonnes of commodities like kidney beans, lentils, buckwheat and millets. An increase of 35-40 per cent in unit price has been realized for the farmers. The groups logged domestic market sales to the tune of Rs. 35 lakh in 2004. Organic producer groups have been trained to semi-process and package the products at the village level itself. A total of 40 organic commodities have been developed, including organic detergents.

Example of Bio villages in State are :

Srikot village a role model for bio-village in Pauri Garhwal:

A minion village called Srikot in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand has emerged as a surfeit bio-village. It all started with a project in which the farmers were educated about the harmful effects of the chemical fertilizers and the advantages of using biofertilizers. About 18 demonstrations were done on EM (Effective Microorganisms) Heap, BD Heap, CPP (Cow Pat Pit) and NADEP was also organized in Sirkot Village. NADEP is a process to make compost. It involves placing layers of different types of compostable materials in a simple, mud-sealed structure designed with brick and mud water. The system permits conversion of approximately 1 kg of animal dung into 40 kg of rich compost which can be applied directly to the field. The farmers who were not associated with this project also started producing their own NADEP compost.

Dhanpur Village in Kalsi block of Dehradun was termed as a bio-village in 2001:

In 2001, a tiny hamlet called Dhanpur in Kalsi block of Dehradun district was identified as a bio-village. The village consumed a total of 146 quintals of D.A.P. (Diammonium phosphate). When this village was selected as a bio-village, it reduced the use of chemical fertilizers to 10 quintals. Each household of this village now produces compost and bio-pesticide for their farmlands using cow urine.

The women of Danpur have also come up as a strong pillar for making their village a complete bio-village. Durga Mahila Swayam Sahayata Samuh, a Women Self Hep Group leads the village. The women of this group make baby pillows made out of millet husk and other organic produce such as organic ginger, organic turmeric etc.

Village Mankandpur of Ramnagar block in Nainital has become a fully saturated bio-village:

Mankandpur Village of Ramnagar in Nainital has become a fully saturated bio-village. The farmers of this village are producing a different kind of compost called ‘Matka-Khad’, a vermin-compost which is beneficial for the crops. The villagers are also using cow dung to make compost and are selling their organic wheat at Rs. 1,400 per quintal.

A number of farmer groups are actively engaged in exploring organic opportunities and some NGOs are also active in linking farmers with health food activities.