Abstract
With the conclusion of the Paris climate deal under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change forum to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, the world is increasingly becoming sensitive to the requirement of sustainable economic activities, including cultivation. India, being an advanced developing country, is also expected to undertake time-bound commitments to fulfil its responsibilities accordingly. Agriculture in India since the Green Revolution period has witnessed a steady rise in chemical intensity, through increased application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The associated deterioration in soil quality and other forms of biological magnification on one hand have created far-reaching environmental consequences at home. On the external front, Indian agro-based export consignments at times have been rejected by the United States and other countries on the basis of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, for example, trace of chemical residue beyond permissible limits or presence of banned chemicals. In this context, the recent volume by Mukherjee et al., focusing on various aspects of organic farming in India, is a major contribution to the ongoing policy debate.
The volume is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter outlines the evolving demand in the developed countries towards organic produce during 1960s. However, developing countries like India and Mexico, where food security concerns dominated environmental sustainability perspective, enhanced the usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in a bid to boost productivity. Growing awareness on global best practices, coupled with realisation of price premium, has facilitated a gradual move towards organic cultivation in developing countries in the recent period. The discussion underlines the diverging definitions and practices of organic farming and produce across countries, which makes arriving at a global definition and standard for organic agriculture difficult. Interestingly, India has come out with only export regulations on organic produce, National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) as of now, rather than creating codes for both domestic and international markets. Subsequently, schemes like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana have contributed to boosting the scope of organic farming across states. With declaration of Sikkim as a fully organic state in 2016, several other states are also moving in that direction.
The retail sales of organic food and drinks have increased from US$15.2 to US$81.6 billion from 1999 to 2015. A double-digit growth of the sector has been predicted by several estimates. The United States, Germany and France are the biggest organic produce markets with a size of US$39, 11.2 and 6.7 billion, respectively. The second chapter analyses the recent trends in organic food production across the globe. Land under organic cultivation has increased from 11 million hectares in 1999 to 50.9 million hectares in 2015, signifying a major transformation. In 2015, the global land share under organic cultivation in Oceania, Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America stood at 45, 25, 13, 8 and 6 per cent, respectively. With organic cultivation in around 1.2 million hectares of land, India presently ranks ninth in the global order. However, part reflecting the relatively smaller farm size, in terms of organic producers (585,200 in 2015), India ranks first in the world. In terms of the number of organic food exporters, India (669) is only behind China (1,198) and Germany (775). Global trade of organic produce is further facilitated by unilateral and bilateral equivalence programmes as well as the inclusion of specific provisions under regional trade agreements. Given the global trade dynamics, the future concerns for countries like India include possible stress on bilateral equivalence, which requires a comprehensive policy covering both exports and imports.
The third chapter narrates the organic cultivation scenario in India, given the growing food quality-related awareness of consumers both in the country and across the globe. Before 1960s, the cultivation method and practices in India were ‘default organic’. As hilly regions and tribal belts of India (e.g., Northeast India) did not adopt the chemical inputs, they largely remained ‘default organic’. The deepened chemical intensity post Green Revolution has led to several rejection and loss of faith in the quality of Indian agriculture and processed food products. It has been observed in the Indian context that a switch to organic cultivation is beneficial for farmers as lower yield is more than compensated by lower input costs and high price premium. Though organic farming has flourished in India both in terms of area and yield, two crucial problems need mention. First, the absence of a single nodal agency for organic agriculture creates a policy confusion. Second, there is a dearth of the availability of time-series data on organic cultivation and export, impeding informed policy formulation process. Regulations for organic produce in India is, however, based on Codex Alimentarius and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements guidelines, making Indian produce globally acceptable. However, exports are only possible by the third-party certified exporters. Obtaining equivalence for Indian organic processed food products in partner markets also remains a concern area.
Indian organic export potential is largely dependent on compliance with relevant standards by the exporting firms. The results of a firm-level survey conducted among companies engaged in organic business are noted in the fourth chapter. While the challenges for the organic firms include addressing the pest infection, lower yields, shortage of certified organic seeds, limited reach within India, etc., expanding market size with growing consumer awareness is a major advantage. The operational limitations, however, include an absence of a single nodal agency for organic products, lack of clear understanding about the policy, absence of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guideline for organic produce, absence of domestic regulation leading to incomplete audit and checks, possible contaminations in supply chains, lower trade and investment confidence by international players after EU’s withdrawal of equivalence of processed organic products from India in 2014 and so on. It is felt that Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority must push for a bilateral equivalence for organic products in key markets, as in future, India’s potential of getting a unilateral equivalence is getting thinner.
Apart from the compliance at the firm-level, the farm-level measures are no less important. The fifth chapter presents the results of a farm-level survey conducted among farmers engaged in organic cultivation. Around 69 per cent of the surveyed farmers were either NPOP certified or in the process of receiving it. While the average yield of organic farms was found to be lower in the initial phase, it is expected to increase in the long run. Almost fifty per cent of the surveyed farmers were not selling their products under any brand, signifying limited recognition of Indian organic produce yet. The cost of organic seeds, bio-fertilisers and organic pesticides were found to be much higher for NPOP-certified farmers, as compared to default organic cultivators. Interestingly, 98.6 per cent of the surveyed farmers lacked any water purification facilities to remove chemicals, and hence groundwater quality is of particular importance. The prime challenges for the farmers include lack of several basic supporting frameworks (viz., a well-developed market, organic supply chain and organic inputs and consumer awareness), high manpower requirement and cost, risk or contamination from surrounding farms, water, etc.
Last but not the least, the presence of a streamlined policy environment and quality testing-certification network is of crucial importance. The results of the survey covering policymakers, certification bodies, laboratories and regional councils are outlined in the sixth chapter. There is a considerable variation across Indian states in terms of policy depth, for example, among Maharashtra (which formally adopted organic cultivation practices) and Rajasthan (which is in the planning stage). It emerges from the survey that the practical problems in propelling the system further include absence of a single nodal agency, need for a legal framework to punish fraudulent practices, limited awareness among the producers on global norms like good agricultural practices, insufficient training among farmers on soil and crop protection, devolution of agricultural subsidies to conventional farming, poor rank of default organic northeastern states in the Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index of Niti Aayog, prevalence of poor agri-infrastructure (e.g., cold storages) in several parts of the country, lack of organic input certification framework, high cost of third-party certification, absence of root cause analysis for export consignment rejection, absence of proper guidelines and so on.
The final chapter summarises the conclusions and policy recommendations. It underlines the need to arrive at a definition of ‘organic agriculture’ and ‘organic food products’ in India, creation of a nodal agency for domestic markets and trade, strengthening of the punitive framework, enabling all the FSSAI accredited to test organic produce and issue certification, importance of increased targeted and need-based government support (e.g., compensation for yield loss, seed, technology and equipment adoption), development of a robust data collection and processing system on product-wise organic cultivation and so on. Once all the required policy changes are introduced, the country should actively go for bilateral equivalence agreements with major organic produce-importing countries.
The global agricultural trade is witnessing a continuously rising stringency in product standards, reflected in gradual lowering of maximum residue limits in food products, periodic banning of chemicals with fresh scientific evidence in developed countries and so on. Imposition of high trade standard is not merely a developed country phenomenon, as even a least-developed country like Bhutan has recently rejected export of green chilies from India citing chemical residue. Therefore, it makes sense to focus on organic cultivation, which given the high price premium, potentially promises higher income growth for Indian farmers. However, unless the deep policy reforms are complete, India is not likely to emerge as a leading player in the sphere. Therefore, the present volume, which extensively discusses the advantages and challenges associated with organic cultivation, is a must-read reference to the academicians, policymakers, multilateral body office-bearers and academic researchers who have a keen interest in this area.