Sometimes, one decision is all it takes to change life forever. For 48-year-old Omnath Chaurasiya, a farmer in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district, choosing to leave Kanpur city to move to Harnoo village in order to train in organic farming was such a decision. Not long after, he began to reap the benefits of that choice. Not only did he begin to earn better prices for his organically produced vegetables, but his investments—in chemicals and fertilizers—also turned almost nil, increasing his overall earning by a considerable margin.
Chaurasiya grows a wide variety of produce on his four acre-land. “I grow potato, mustard, and wheat. And in the vegetable garden I grow spinach, cauliflower, tomato, cucumber, fenugreek, and brinjal,” he said. Admittedly, Chaurasiya was not aware of organic farming until the community was mobilised by WaterAid, with the support of Water.org, and the training was imparted by Shramaik Bharati, a local organization.
Slowly, Chaurasiya and the other farmers who underwent the training realised the benefits of using organic manure. “Compared to the market price of the manure that had been used earlier, the organic manure was not at all expensive,” he said, “We can either buy or make the organic manure at home itself, so the total investment on the vegetables is about INR 100-200 and the yield is good too. Earlier, with chemicals and fertilisers, the investment was INR 10,000. So now our investment has gone down and the yield has improved.”
Chemical fertilisers, he said, cost INR 500-1000 per packet, while organic manure cost INR10 per kilo. This makes a difference to the overall earning after selling the produce.
Not just that. Chaurasiya also understands the health implications of using too many chemicals in food production. “Using chemicals in food production can make us sick and cost us heavily in-hospital treatment. Organic manure is safe and it also keeps the soil health good,” he said. Chaurasiya said that he can see the difference in the quality of his produce as well—“my potatoes also taste better now”.
The local organisation that trained farmers like Chaurasiya also helps them sell their produce. “When we sell our produce like potatoes in the market we get INR 10 per kilo. But when they sell in accordance with the organic vegetable rate, it is INR 20-25 per kilo. So all farmers give their produce to them to sell it. We earn better profit as a result,” he said.
Happy at the way things have turned out to be, Chaurasiya now believes that organic farming should be the way ahead—for sake of farmers’ sustainability, soil enrichment and everyone’s good health.
