“Now that we have the EU certification we are free to export to Europe”, Dheeraj Wakode said triumphantly. He was beaming with confidence. “We” in this case referred to about 100 Vidarbha farmers that his organisation had persuaded to follow the prescribed practice that would ensure certification for their farm products. These were hardly very fancy products — moong, udid and soyabeans — crops they have always grown, as there are few other choices under these conditions. Yet, the Europeans were prepared to pay premium prices for the produce that could be certified as “organic”. “It suited us just fine”, explained Dheeraj. “We had no money or credit to buy all these fertilisers and pesticides anyway. Now we have to be extra careful, but the payoff is good.” “I have been posted in Akola to arrange for the supply of organically grown cotton from the area. My job is to ensure that farmers who have contracted to produce it use practices that constitute ‘organic’ farming”, explained Pramod Awatade. His employer — Arvind Mills of Ahmedabad has targeted the European market where consumers are prepared to pay a premium for textiles made from organically grown cotton. Most of the contract farmers are small dry land farmers. “We gain and they gain”, he explained further. Himmatrao Tuppey boasted that the whole village of Kothari had gone in for orange orchards following his own example. Traders come from distant markets like Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi to truck the produce away. The signs of prosperity are visible even among farmers holding one or two acres. “I am now thinking of guavas. I have heard that it is an even more lucrative fruit”, Himmatrao added. He hardly seemed like a hopeless Vidarbha farmer lacking in initiative.

... contd.