Four years ago, the illness and death of an agricultural worker spraying pesticide on cotton grower Ashok Jain’s farm made Jain contemplate a move towards organic cultivation. Today, he is part of a growing band of farmers in north Maharashtra’s Dhule district who have permanently altered their practice of agriculture: Official figures show that 26,000 of Dhule’s 5.5 lakh hectares of farm land are currently witnessing only organic cultivation.

District Agricultural Officer Prahlad Sonawane, who mentored the move, says the administration was keen to reduce input costs and counter the adverse long-term impact of chemicals on soil, but also ensure that the individual farmer makes money.

Sonawane says, “The department and the Dhule Agricultural University devised a programme of Integrated Pest Management that included inter-cropping—for example, maize with cowpea—as well as growing plants that would attract pest-repellent insects.’’

Officials and the university, in consultation with farmers, discussed ways of preparing eco-pesticides from crop waste, which farmers traditionally burnt in giant heaps at the end of the harvesting season. Now, it is systematically composted in large pits.

“For a year, we held field schools with farmers in various villages to build their skills and awareness. Inputs such as eggs of friendly insects like tricogramma were distributed to farmers, and they were asked to observe the effect of organic practices over several months,’’ says Sonawane.

It is a trend which National Commission for Farmers head M S Swaminathan welcomes, to the extent of suggesting that suicide-prone Vidarbha be made into an organic farming zone. “Organic farming betters the farmer’s coping capacity with calamities since reliance on expensive chemical inputs is less. Since it is healthy, organic produce could also attract a better price in the markets for farmers,’’ he says.

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