Organic Farming In Odisha, How To Start – Atilla Ayyıldız & Biz

Introduction to starting organic farming in Odisha: Odisha is one of the largest agricultural states in India. About 70% of its population of 41 million is dependent on agriculture and allied activities. Being environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, organic farming holds great promise for the comprehensive and sustainable economic development of the state. Organic farming relies on non-chemical methods of crop production and relies heavily on “On-farm input”, which reduces production costs. Soil health and sustainable management of natural resources are unique features of organic farming. Therefore, the application of scientific organic technology will go a long way in developing a sustainable farming system in Odisha. Profitable marketing of organic produce in the domestic and export markets will increase the profits of farmers moving to certified organic produce. The area under organic farming in Odisha is 95,740 hectares.

Organic farming is suitable for Odisha for many reasons;

Low use of fertilizers (57 kg per hectare) compared to the national average (123 kg per hectare)
Less use of pesticides than the national average
92% of total farmers are small and marginal farmers or landless farmers
Large parts of the states are still dependent on rainfall for cultivation.

A guide to starting organic farming in Odisha, facts, crops, schemes, and certification

Organic farms are generally more profitable and environmentally friendly, as they use fewer chemicals and the residues are relatively less chemical. It provides many environmental benefits and provides nutritious food. As agriculture plays an important role in the economy and livelihood of the majority of the people, the Odisha government is giving priority to farms and allied sectors to provide opportunities to young entrepreneurs.

Objectives of organic farming in Odisha

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Organic Sunflower Farming in Odisha — Organic Sunflower (pic credit: pixabay)

Organic farming is defined as a system of management of aggregate food production, which promotes and enhances the health of the agricultural ecosystem, including biodiversity, the biological cycle, and the biological activity of the soil. Regional conditions require a locally adapted system to accomplish a specific task within the system using agricultural, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to the use of synthetic materials is done. Certification of organic farming can change the destiny of Odisha farmers and create huge employment opportunities. Considering the facts, it is clear that there is a lot of scope for increasing coverage under organic farming.

The government is currently pushing for the promotion of organic farming in the state of Odisha with the following objectives;

Introduce an agroecological framework for farming in the state.

Improve soil fertility and productivity.
Farmers rely less on input and cultivate crops with available local resources and thus reduce the cost of farming to make it profitable.
To make reasonable use of water which is very valuable.
Improving rainfed soils in the rain-affected areas through the addition of organic manure to make the input accountable and to perform better in drought conditions.
To reduce the need for farmers’ credit and make them sustainable.
To enable farmers to meet the challenges posed by the WTO through quality production to improve farmers’ incomes.
Facilitate self-help groups among farmers to meet their needs. To make the environment safe and free from pollution and to protect the health of humans and animals.
Make some appropriate institutional changes in research on organic farming.

According to state policy, various interventions are being carried out to reactivate the organic process and bring sustainability to the farm sector.

Information about organic farming in Odisha

The Odisha government plans to introduce a set of new operational guidelines for organic farming to prevent the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and genetically modified organisms.
Rayagada, Gajapati, Nayagarh, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, and Keonjhar are the districts selected for organic farming in Odisha. An area of 250 hectares will be allocated for farming in each district.
The horticulture directorate said that the draft operational guideline for organic farming was implemented under the state plan. The scheme will be implemented from 2019-20 to 2025-26 and the state has proposed to spend Rs 178 crore over the next five years. However, till the approval of the guideline, it has been decided to implement the program in a cluster approach under the Progressive Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
Cluster formation, training, and exhibition visits for the farming group will be promoted through the service and providers will be selected transparently.
Selected service providers will include key resource persons, organic production will be packaging and licensing, organizing fairs and publicity in addition to local marketing initiatives. Of form and on-farm input subsidies will be issued to farmers’ accounts in DBT mode for nursery growth, organic input procurement, and vermin composting.
Suggestions have been sought from interested agencies. Last year, the government introduced the Odisha Organic Farming Policy to make the agricultural climate more flexible, reduce the risks to farmers and increase their income. The policy is designed to promote organic farming and market the product.

Crops are grown under organic farming in Odisha

Mangoes, Pomegranates, and Bananas cultivate some seasonal vegetables and fruits using a variety of organic methods in Odisha.

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Organic Tomato Farming In Odisha — Organic Tomatoes (pic source: pixabay)

Growing vegetables such as Cabbage, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Coriander, and Onions in abundance, farmers have also grown Sunflower, Maize, and Millet using only environmentally friendly manures and not any chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Farmers make manure from animal waste such as cow dung, and compost with lemons and Karanja leaves. That the demand for organically grown products is high and the quality of production is better than the products grown using fertilizers.

Despite all this, farmers seem to be suffering from a shortage of water for irrigation and other purposes, which is an obstacle to good farming in the region. They believe that if they are provided with water, they can get more organic produce. It is defined as the process that involves cultivating crops without the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. It mainly relies on environmentally balanced agricultural principles like crop rotation, green manure, organic waste, and biological pest control. Organic farming has various important benefits such as soil fertility, soil texture, biodiversity, and reduction of erosion.

Organic practices are bringing a good opportunity in terms of productivity as well as economic efficiency. Under the Mohana block of the Gajapati district, some farmers of Liligada and Merapalli panchayats are now leading such a change to show how it can improve its nutritional value by adding more flavor and soil. From maintaining health to earning more, organic farming is just a sustainable way.

Focus areas for organic farming in Odisha

The four strategic focus areas for this purpose are as follows;

Stream 1) Default organic areas of the state – Accelerate agro-ecological perspectives in default organic areas including natural agro-environmental benefits (and ecologically sensitive) should be converted into large-scale organic farming areas to improve the environment and increase growth and livelihoods while improving the ecology. Strategic interventions under stream 1 will be designed for strategic interventions in the state’s agro-ecologically well-off tribal areas with limited access to chemical technologies.

Stream 2) Areas – where the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides is moderate and INM methods are being promoted: promote an agro-ecological approach to restore soil health ii chemicals pest management without the use of These efforts will help reduce the chemical load on large-scale consumer food containers.

Stream 3) Areas where organic certification continues targeting organic export markets and specific markets: Certified organic areas and products for exports or specific markets will be supported by the government. Farmers’ collectives, start-ups, NGOs, businessmen, and some others who intend to develop commercial organic farms will be facilitated.

Stream 4) Areas where the use of chemical fertilizers, herbs, and pesticides is high: In these areas, every effort will be made with an awareness campaign to encourage farmers to stay away from the methods of chemical farming. For these four different series, implementation strategies will be developed according to local needs.

Odisha Organic Farming Policy

The Odisha government intends to take benefit of natural agro-ecological and biodiversity to harness the potential for sustainable organic farming development. Over the next five years, the state plans to bring 2.0 million hectares of agricultural land (including horticulture and forestry) to identification, mapping, and organic farming.

Within the 5-year timeline, Odisha’s Organic Agriculture Policy aims to achieve the following;

Provide healthy, diverse, nutritious, and chemical-free food for local use in rural and urban areas.
Significantly reduce input costs and enhance environmental services to promote healthy soils and viable farms with an agro-ecological approach to agriculture.
To promote and utilize the potential for growth of organic markets. Both internal and external.

Organic farming has great potential in food grains, oilseeds, vegetables, plantation crops, spices, agro-forestry products, medicinal and aromatic plants, horticultural crops, livestock products, and fisheries. This potential can be used for agricultural development and livelihood development.

This policy document provides a wide range of state policies on promoting organic farming in Odisha. It is envisaged that a detailed and timely program with institutional mechanisms and budget will be prepared within 2 months from the formal notification of state policy. The Odisha Organic Farming Policy is designed to make farming climate-resilient, reduce farmers’ risks and increase farm incomes. It is planned to promote healthy soil in an environmentally friendly manner, reduce input costs and provide a market for organic products developed in consultation with all stakeholders.

The policy aims to promote organic farming in the state, soil health management, production and supply of quality indigenous seeds, maintenance of biodiversity in crop systems including livestock and fisheries, availability of agricultural credit, proper farm mechanization. The aim is to promote organic farming in the state. Promote market development and export of organic products with post-harvest management and regulatory framework of organic production.

OOM (Odisha Organic Mission) will be promoted to develop organic farming practices. The mission will also be responsible for developing the necessary programs and operational mechanisms for implementing various policies and programs under organic farming. Some institutional arrangements to support the OOM are the State Level Implementation, State Level Steering Committee, and Oversight Committee.

Under organic farming, a target has been set to cover approximately 2 lakh hectares of land through a combination of activities in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and pasture lands within 5 years. The pattern of aid proposed to promote organic farming is Rs. 10.00 lakh for a 50-acre patch, which may change from time to time. It will be funded through PKVY, RKVY, MGNREGA, and state planning budget exchanges. Organic farming will be promoted as a sustainable and economically viable alternative for Odisha farmers.

Schemes for organic farming in Odisha

Due to climate change, organic farming has become an important place in the world. under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), the Government of India through various schemes for promoting organic farming. In Odisha, the government has introduced Advanced Paramparagat Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Organic Value-Added Development (OVCDNER) schemes under NMSA to promote organic farming.

To increase farmers’ incomes, organic farming will be given priority in mountainous, tribal, and rainfed areas. However, it has been decided to implement the program in a cluster approach under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) till the guideline is approved.

The directorate has invited proposals from interested agencies for certification of organic farming under the Mission for Integrated Horticulture Development Mission (MIDH). The government introduced the Odisha Organic Farming Policy to make the agricultural climate more flexible. Reduce farmers’ risks and increase their income. This policy is designed to promote organic farming and market the product.

Realizing the necessity and potential of organic farming, the Government of India (GoI) started promoting various aspects of organic farming through various initiatives such as National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), National Program for Organic Production (NPOP), and Prampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – To achieve 4% annual growth in the agricultural sector during the 11th Plan, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched in 2007 as an umbrella scheme to enable the states to develop their agriculture and allied sectors. To ensure the overall development of agriculture and allied sectors by allowing the selection of activities according to district/state agricultural plan.

Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India (BGREI) – The BGREI scheme aims is;

To increase rice production by adopting the latest crop production technology at 5.00 Qntls per hectare.
Promoting cultivation in fallow rice areas to increase crop intensity and farmers’ income.
Efficient use of water storage infrastructure and water capacity.
Promote post-harvest technology and marketing support.

Prampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) – Organic agriculture is the production of chemical and pesticide residue-free agricultural products by adopting environmentally friendly low-cost technologies. Is a detailed component of SHM. Organic farming is promoted through cluster approach and adoption of the organic village through PGS certification under PKVY.

Scheme Concept;

Through certified organic farming, encouraging commercial organic production.
The product will be pesticide-free and will help improve consumer health.
PKVY will increase the income of farmers and create a potential market for traders.
Also, this will encourage farmers to mobilize natural resources for input production.

Implementation of the program;

Farmers’ groups will be encouraged to start organic farming under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). 50 or more farmers will form a cluster of 50 acres of land for organic farming under the PKVY scheme. Thus, 10,000 clusters will be formed over three years which will come under organic farming on an area of 5.0 lakh acres. Farmers will not be liable for the cost of certification, Rs.1000 will be provided to each farmer will be Rs. 20,000 per acre in three years for harvesting and bringing products to market. It will be promoted using organic products that will be linked to the market. This will increase the certification of organic production by involving farmers.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) – Agricultural risks and uncertainties such as droughts, dry spells, floods, pests and diseases, natural fires, Storms, Hailstorm, Cyclone, thunderstorms & unseasonal rains during harvesting. Therefore, farmers are coming into the mainstream of the government to protect their crops from natural disasters and to ensure their creditworthiness for the next season’s policy for obtaining crop insurance.

Soil health management – Soil health management is very important for organic farming. 3-M Framework (Moisture, Soil Organic Matter and Microbes), will form the basic strategy. Combining local scientific knowledge and farmers’ knowledge, the focus will be on an integrated site-specific and decentralized approach to soil health. Appropriate incentive structures will be developed to promote soil health. Restoring soil health through situational measures to increase organic matter will be a top priority. Soil organic matter is key to soil productivity and is a basic requirement for organic farming, in addition to soil and moisture conservation measures, in measures of these conditions, promotion of biomass on farms, diversification, and soil Enhancing crop systems and rotation composting on-field residues and composting at home. The focus will be on encouraging farmers / local SHGs / local businesses to produce organic fertilizer using locally available materials. Appropriate measures to integrate livestock with the farming system will be considered to promote low-yield measures. As part of the policy, the integration of beekeeping, silk farming, and other related activities will also be promoted.

Marketing of organic products in Odisha

Marketing of organic products requires special focus. To reduce marketing constraints, develop appropriate platforms, including investment in supply chains, certification, packaging, and e-markets, etc. Separate branding strategies & tagging shall be promoted for the organic products. Efforts for Geographic Indication (GI) will be made for products that have a specific geographical origin and their characteristics or reputation due to that origin. This will make for more value addition. Incentives will be made available to supply chain actors in the establishment of storage, processing, logistics, and marketing facilities.

For organic production, concessional outlets will be provided for the establishment of retail market outlets, especially in urban areas. Events such as organic markets and consumer awareness campaigns will be launched by the state to promote the definition of organic products. Regular buyer-seller meets will also be held to promote links. Celebration and promote local organic food related to local biodiversity through food festivals will be taken up. A publicity campaign will be launched to create awareness about the importance of quality, nutritious and safe food, clean environment, nature conservation to meet the demand for organic produce. Regulatory mechanisms will be strengthened to determine the quality of organic inputs such as seeds and bio-fertilizers and organic products.

Get an organic agriculture product certificate in Odisha

Orissa State Organic Certification Agency – This procedure explains the various methods of obtaining an Organic Agriculture Product Certificate in Bhubaneswar.

Process;

A person (farmer/farmer group/processor) who is looking for an organic farming certificate for his agricultural produce ensures that his form is from the National Organic Production Program (NPOP) complies with established standards for organic crop production.
Anyone wishing to avail of the services of Orissa State Organic Certification Agency (OSOCA) (an individual/farmer/company / a society etc. which is called an operator here) should submit a written application for organic certification of their produce/processing detailing the requirement.
The operator will be provided with an OSOCA brochure, application form, organic standards, and fee structure for written application in the OSOCA office.
The operator will submit a fully completed application form to OSOCA for organic certification.
Upon receipt of the completed application, OSOCA authorized personnel will investigate various aspects of the operator’s organic management. If approved; OSOCA will notify the operator to collect the fee and sign the contract. 50% of the estimated fee must be paid during the contract.
The operator must enter into an agreement with OSOCA for organic certification.
Organic certification requires an annual inspection. In addition, unannounced or more detailed inspections will be conducted at irregular intervals or in response to concerns about possible breaches of standards.
The cost of such additional inspection will be charged to the operator only if there are significant discrepancies. For very large operations or operations with a particular risk, a second annual inspection will be performed as usual and will be included in the offer.
Generally, inspectors in OSOCA will inspect organic projects under the NPOP and prepare an inspection report. The operator will co-operate with the inspector and the inspector will sign the required inspection documents. A copy of the inspection report will be made available to the operator. The OSOCA inspector will submit the inspection report to the inspection manager and submit the report to the evaluator who will review the operator’s organic management system based on the inspection manager’s inspection report and submit it to the quality manager. Its remarks and quality managers will put it before the certification committee. The certification committee will decide on the certification and the operator will be notified.
Based on the decision of the Certification Committee, the certificate will be issued to the operator after his written application and submission of the remaining 50% fees.
When OSOCA receives a written complaint against its operations (against inspectors) or certified operators, the complaint will be dealt with promptly.
The steps for organic farming practices are available at the OSOCA website link that is provided in OSOCA (Orrisa State Organic Products Certification Agency). For the use of the Certification Agency logo / India Organic logo, the operator should send an application to the office which will be sent to the operator under the NSOP after the approval of the Certification Committee. Then, the draft labels must be sent to the certification agency’s office for verification.

Eligibility – To obtain the qualification certification, the product needs to be attached with authenticity for two to three years. The soil must meet the basic requirements of being free from the use of prohibited substances (synthetic chemicals, etc.) for many years for the first-time certification. A traditional farm must adhere to organic standards for this period.

Odisha Organic Mission

The Odisha Organic Mission (00M) will be responsible for developing programs for implementing policies under organic farming.

It will develop the necessary administrative structure with appropriate monitoring ways at the state and district levels to achieve some functions;

Three types of niche areas with high potential for organic farming (Streams 1, 2, and 3).
OOM also provides some necessary guidelines for declaring organic zones at the village, GP, block, and district levels.
Coordinate efforts to promote and strengthen organic farmers’ associations, including and support resource organizations, individual entrepreneurs, start-ups, NGOs, and others.

Approval of annual budget provisions and programs. Provide guidance and direction on interdepartmental coordination and convergence issues. Support the time-bound action plan for identification, and organic farming of about 2.0 lakh hectares of land over the next 5 years. Funding for the OOM through the conversion of funds from PKVY, RKVY, MNREGS, and the state plan.