The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tribal cotton growers go organic in Adilabad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 08, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tribal cotton growers go organic in Adilabad

By Ravi Reddy

A cotton plantation raised by using organic farming methods.

HYDERABAD, NOV. 7. Two sleepy tribal villages in interior Kerameri mandal of backward Adilabad district are turning a new leaf by switching over to organic farming.

Thanks to the initiative of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) or `Velugu' as is popularly known, the tribal farmers of Surdhapur and Chowpanguda villages have taken to organic farming that was hitherto the prerogative of rich farmers.

On a pilot basis, 200 acres have been brought under organic farming. Society for Transfer of Economy with Enterprise (STEER), the partnership cell of `Velugu,' has linked up with a range of fair trade partners to facilitate the Gond farmers to go organic.

Kerameri, the predominantly tribal mandal has about a 4,900-acre stretch, where the Gonds have been growing cotton in rain-fed conditions. They have marginal landholdings ranging between two and five acres. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fertilizers and high interest rates charged by the moneylenders used to be a burden for the farmers.

Velugu initiative

The `Velugu' officials first broached the idea with the tribals and it found instant acceptance. Impressed by the prospects of good crop yield, the tribals formed an Organic Cotton Growers Association (OCGrA) to implement the new farming practice. Besides cotton, other crops like jowar, redgram and blackgram were taken up as inter cropping.

Solidaridad, Netherlands -- a fair trade organisation through the ETC India, a Netherland-based consultancy organisation, have joined hands with `Velugu' and Basix, a non-governmental organisation, to provide hands-on training in the `Farmers Field School' (FFS) by adopting the Food and Agriculture Organisation model of intensive training throughout the cotton season.

Role models

These farmers in turn are to become role models and train other groups in the area. Solidaridad is providing the initial funds to help the farmers. The Mahila Samakhya of Kerameri is handling the funds given by Solidaridad for the FFS, salaries and initial organic certification done by Skal, a certification agency from the Netherlands.

The State Project Head, Partnerships and Communications, SERP, Meera Shenoy, said a comprehensive strategy was planned for organic cotton. By next year about 1,000 acres are to be converted to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. Thereafter, the lands would be switched over to organic farming, she added.

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