Farm Tales - The beginning The origin of Morarka Foundation?

s field activities from Nawalgarh, a semi-arid region on the periphery of the Thar Desert in India, has been a blessing in disguise. Extreme climates, very high temperatures, less than 500mm annual rainfall with only about 20 rainy days in a year, undulating lands, sandy soils and very little water for irrigation offered perfect conditions for testing the new technologies and methodologies for organic management. Anything which could succeed here would have a very high success potential elsewhere, and this has been amply evident in the overall success achieved in last 10 years. Beginning with just about 500 farmers about 10 years ago, today there are now over 1,00,000 farmers spread all over India cultivating over 2,50,000 acres land under organic management. These farmers are producing over 300 different crops, out of which over 100 crops have already been brought under the organic value chain management. Agriculture in Nawalgarh has not been remunerative enough due to monsoon failures every five years completely eroding the capacity to invest in agriculture. Most farmers would cultivate few cereals, pulses and oil seed crops, with only about 15-20 percent of the area under irrigation during winter cropping. The best asset was the availability of milk from animals on all the farms, though a large portion of animal dung was diverted for household fuel needs. In such a situation, addressing the fertility management issues and promotion of economical water use was very important. The first breakthrough was development of Vermiculture Technology. After experimenting with the process at the lab-scale, within about six months there were about 500 farmers who joined the experiments at the field level. In just one and a half year this technology was found successful and adopted by over 10,000 farmers, forming the basis for the introduction of one of the largest organic agricultural programme anywhere in India. Subsequently, it also got recognized as a successful model for replication in many other places in India. Morarka Organic was quick to identify farmers for whom organic cultivation was an opportunity. Conversion to organic could not be the best option for every farmer in every place. Based on its experimentations at Nawalgarh, Morarka Organic identified the most suitable farmers, meeting the following criteria: An average of 5-7 acres of farmland. Partial irrigation facilities ie up to 20-40 percent land area under irrigationduring Kharif crops and about 20-30 percent area during Rabi crops. Family farm unit, ie mostly managed by the family. So that incremental labor could be provided by the family members. Farms having integrated operations ie the combination of crops and animals. The animal feed to dung being the most potent method for ensuring the recycling of crop residues. Reasonably diversified crop portfolio ie an average of 4-5 crops being cultivated in a year, so that suitable crop rotation could be maintained. Morarka Organic identified that a farmer with the above profile would have the least constraints to convert to organic. In fact a farmer in this category will immensely benefit through this conversion.

In the initial stages most of the farmers were motivated to join organic programmes for its ability to reduce the cost of cultivation. In many cases the cost of cultivation has been going up, due to: Bullocks were replaced with tractors. Seeds were bought from the market. Chemical Fertilizers were purchased and used. Use of chemical fertilizers increased pest management problems. After 6 months of research, over 50 demo farms were set up. The biological fertility management approach, i.e., complete recycling of farm waste assisted through proper microbial cultures and earthworms provided all the nutrients required by the crops. As a result of this technology farmers realized that their grain size was bigger and the taste of the crops improved. Furthermore the soil was softer after ploughing, and softer soil meant that roots spread better. Less water was used for irrigation as the compost increased humidity in the soil. A portion of the seeds are conserved, so that the farmer does not need to buy seeds anymore. Under the guidance of Morarka Organic, a farmer could now use his own farm inputs. They were made to carry out their traditional crop patterns and use their indigenous knowledge base. As a result there was a 10 to 25% reduction in the cost of cultivation. There was a 10-20% increase in the price realization for the produce in the market because of quality. Biological fertility management reduced the incidence of pests. Overall the farmer made an extra 30% profit in the first year itself. Farm Tales - Spread of Farms in India Encouraged by the success achieved, many state agencies also got interested in this model. With their support, the vermiculture know-how was disseminated through local entrepreneurs expanding this program to over 300 villages in many parts of Rajasthan. This program was also dovetailed with the Watershed Development Program, to enroll over 25,000 farmers in just two years. Subsequently, Morarka Organic got another major collaborator, in the form of funding support from the Department of Bio-Technology (DBT), Government of India. Beginning from Rajasthan to increase the production of wheat, DBT invited Morarka Organic immediately after the earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat, and thus, one of the largest growing areas for certified organic fruits like Papaya, Guava, Mango, Banana, etc. was created in India. By this time Morarka Organic was also able to establish the business linkages for some certified organic crops. The buyers/exporters started demanding more crops and some crops in larger quantities. At this stage the new approach to build the complete kitchen food basket for an Indian home was adopted. This required introduction and implementation of this model in many other parts of the country suitable to deliver specific crops. In all, about 30 new projects were launched across the country, and for almost all of them there was either a state agency or private sector company/exporter, which provided partial funding support and local acceptance.

Most of the certified organic cereals like Wheat, Corn, Millets and pulses like Moong bean, Black gram, Horse gram, Moth, etc. and oilseeds like Mustard, Groundnut, Til, and spices like Cumin, Coriander, Fennel, etc. are the outcome of these initiatives. The major initiatives being: In Himachal Pradesh (HP) over 10,000 farm units were covered through a joint initiative with the Department of Agriculture, to create a certified organic production base for fruits like Apple, Cherry, Peach, Plum, Almond, etc. and off-season vegetables like Cauliflower, Cabbage, Peas, Beans, etc. In Maharashtra, about 6,500 farm units were enrolled through funding support from DBT, cultivating Cotton, Pulses, Soybean, Chili, Turmeric, Banana, Sugarcane, Orange, etc. This programme got subsequently further expanded to cover many more areas through private sector marketing tie-ups. In Rajasthan, successful business linkages motivated the Department of Horticulture, Government of Rajasthan, to introduce the Organic Program in many phases focused on horticulture crops, mostly seed spices, fruits and vegetables. In four phases till now over 7,000 farm units have been brought under organic management. With increasing demand for more specialized products and the enthusiasm of government agencies, organic initiatives were also launched in the North-east region of the country. The initiative began in Sikkim, supported by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. More farmers being funded by the Department of Horticulture in Sikkim, and about 6,500 farm units have been covered to produce Organic Ginger, a major commodity traded out of India. Now many more states in the region like Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, have come forward to expand the scope of this programme to cover more crops and more farmers. During this period, collaborations have also been established with small NGOs, Farmers Groups, and private entrepreneurs in many other parts of the country to increase the overall basket of organic offerings. One of the most challenging assignments for the past three years has been the conversion of the paddy / wheat producing area in Haryana. It has been taken up in joint collaboration with HAFED, the state agriculture marketing agency, and covers about 1,300 farmers. Rapid expansion on the strength of outreach services being managed through the entrepreneurial model, Easy, simple and effective technologies, and assured market linkages have been increasing the number of project areas every year.