Govt to convince 10,000 more farmers to go organic

Panaji: Paving the way for organic farming in the state, the government is planning to convince 10,000 additional farmers to cultivate agricultural products without the use of synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, antibiotics or hormones.

Presently, 12,944 farmers are undergoing training in organic certification towards fulfilling the goal of making Goa an organic state.

“Goan agriculture is steadily moving towards becoming organic. There are 45,000 registered farmers in the state of which 50 per cent will become organically certified. The results of the transformation will start showing from March 2023 when the first batch of 12,944 farmers receive their certification,” said Neville Alphonso, director, directorate of agriculture, Tonca.

He explained that the state was allotted the first 500 organic clusters in April 2020 under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) scheme, which is a three-year project.

“The existing 500 organic clusters are located in all the 12 farming talukas. The clusters include produce such as paddy, coconut, areca nut, banana, spices, mango and cashew. The department has appointed support agencies and set up a regional council to do the hand-holding and provide training. The inspection of the training process at the end of the first year has concluded satisfactorily,” said the director.

“Goan farmers are by default organic because they do not use chemical fertilisers and practice traditional methods of cultivation. However, they do not get access to the booming organic food market of the country because they are not certified,” said Santosh Gaonkar, agriculture officer, Krishi Bhavan. He said organic certification is expected to help local farmers get premium price for their produce. It will also promote agri-exports from the state.

The state so far does not have any farmer, who is organically certified.

Under the PKVY scheme, the state was disbursed Rs 50 crore for the development of the first 500 organic clusters. The announcement of the additional 500 organic clusters by the Centre was made on October 21.  “The formal approval from the Ministry of Agriculture for the next 500 clusters is expected shortly,” said Alphonso. 

It takes three years for a farmer to be certified as an organic producer. Certifying agencies test samples of the produce and soil at the end of the second and third years. “If the chemical residue is beyond the permissible limit, then the certification is withdrawn and the farmer has to begin the process once again,” said Gaonkar.

He said that for an organic cluster to be formed, it needs to have at least 20 farmers with minimum 20 hectares of land. The PKVY scheme provides financial assistance to the farmers by way of reimbursement of the cost of certification. Of the total amount, the Centre-state contribution is in 60:40 ratio.

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