Organic is the way

“All I was doing was making money. I was like a machine. One day I gave up everything and decided to grow crops, naturally,” he says.

“It has been a drastic change from my desk job in an air-conditioned swanky office, but I love every moment of it,” he says.

The health hazards of conventional farming and excessive and unchecked use of chemical pesticides have changed the mindset of many like Gaurav. “Organic farming is the most sustainable form of agriculture. It is eco-friendly and safe,” says Gaurav, who started farming on a one-acre farm a few months ago, but plans to expand to three acres. “I want to adopt natural farming as my full-time profession,” he says.

Gaurav started by sowing vegetables on a friend’s farm in Landran, for he himself did not own any land. Chalking out plans to market his produce in the tri-city of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, he says he will foray into producing exotic vegetables, fruits and wheat among other crops.

Harpal Singh Grewal, who has brought his 40-hectare farm in Sirsa under organic farming, claims that as per a Massachusetts University study, natural farming has the capacity to produce a yield three times higher than the chemical methods. Sixty-two-year-old Grewal claims he also exports his produce to the USA and Canada. Worried over the unchecked use of chemical sprays, he says, “I wonder why they call it agriculture. It should be termed as chemiculture.”

It was the fear of eating poisonous vegetables that were grown on the banks of Buddha Nullah that made Jaskirat Singh, a 31-year-old mechanical engineer-turned-software expert, to go organic.

“When I read about the toxic contents in the vegetables that we were eating, I decided to start organic farming at a small-scale,” says Jaskirat, who took on lease three acres of land near Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College. “Selling software is my bread and butter. But growing organic crops is a way of life. I am not doing it for commercial gains. I want to produce it on a large-scale. At present, we have no choice but to buy the products that are being sold in the market.”

But it was not an easy ride for Jaskirat. “First, I needed organic seeds for my crop which were provided by Jaitu-based Kheti Virasat Mission. The first year of experiment yielded crop with which I could feed my family. This year the rains destroyed everything but I have replanted the fields,” he says. Jaskirat, who is growing maize and a few vegetables, says, “This winter I want organic saag and organic makki ki roti on my dinning table.”

Farmers, who do not have grand degrees, are also going the organic way. For Bir Davinder of Dabri Khana village, non-organic wheat is poisonous. “Zeher wali kanak de rate de mukable saadi kanak (organic wheat) da mul dugna hai (As compared to the ‘poisonous wheat’, our wheat fetches double price),” says Bir Davinder. “I have been doing it for the last three years and the results are remarkable,” he says.

Amarjit Sharma of Chaina village is also part of the organic club.

“I have sown organic cotton for the third time and will be sowing wheat for the fourth time,” says Sharma, who has turned his five acres organic. “With this, there has been a considerable decrease in the input costs,” tells Sharma.

According to Umendra Dutt, executive director of Jaitu-based Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), an NGO that pioneered organic farming in the region, educated youths have taken a shine to the concept. “From less than 1,000 acres last year, the farmers associated with us have increased the area under cultivation to 2,000 acres this year,” claims Dutt, adding that KVM has also been promoting city farming culture, where people are encouraged to grow vegetables and other crops on small-scale in their houses. “We have advocates, doctors, engineers and people from other walks of life doing city farming in Chandigarh and Ludhiana,” Dutt says.