Risk and Reward for Organic and GM Farmers: A Tale of Two Villages ` Posted by Andrew Flachs in Explorers Journal In a place where population growth is moving incredibly fast, added pressure on farmers in India in the wake of crushing debt and failed crops calls for a new agricultural approach. Genetic modification and organic farming present promising solutions. Young Explorer Andrew Flachs will investigate the effect of both growing strategies by interviewing farmers in Southern India. After seven villages and close to 400 randomly chosen farmers, people’s stories start to meld into a bigger picture. As an anthropologist, this can actually be a problem for me as I have a responsibility to take each interview, each farm, each cup of tea in each thatched roof house sincerely, as if it were my first day on the job. Local flavors emerge in each village and while research is ultimately about connecting those dots I also zero in on the specifics that make a difference in these people’s lives. In one village, which I’ll call Matenjerapet, it’s the worst of times. Ravaged by a disease locally called erra bommadi (red disease), farmers watched as their cotton plants turned red, stopped fruiting, and littered the field with their wilted leaves. Pesticide sprays didn’t have an effect this year, and both shops and farmers are out of ideas. Even more than the other villages I work in, Matenjerapet has a problem with information – farmers have difficulty remembering which of the over 1000 approved hybrid cotton seeds they planted from year to year (some of which are actually the same plant marketed by different companies), and the nearest pesticide shops are 30 kilometers away, as much as an hour on rural roads. To make matters worse, unseasonal rains have hit this region just as the cotton and rice are fruiting, potentially ruining the crop. What can you do when these problems come, I ask? Em ledu, the farmers tell me – not a thing. 60 kilometers away it may not exactly be the spring of hope, but it’s certainly not the winter of despair. A village I’ll call Daggiravi (for the sake of scientific anonymity) has declared itself to be organic and chemical free, and has adopted a series of series of low-cost methods to maintain soil health, kill bugs, and keep their agriculture flexible enough to withstand the unexpected problems endemic to farming. Most important in their toolbox is the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that’s working tirelessly to keep farmers trained, supply them with access to materials, and publicize their efforts to people who are willing to pay a little extra for chemical-free food or cotton. And publicize they do: more than 10,000 people have visited this village of 50 households since they declared their organic intentions. Want to buy some rice, I was asked my first day in town? Marketing and training assistance make a big difference, and the NGO benefits alongside the farmers. More press means more visitors, more grants, more state support, and more resources to help build the organization and attract more farmers with more programs. To be sure, farming is hard for both organic and GM farmers but the organic farmers have traded a small measure of freedom in technique for an extra safety net to help with difficult problems and provide security in the face of crop failure. Here in India, sometimes it’s not the farm, but the forces behind it that make all the difference.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 08:01:41 +0000
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