What cost for organic farmers to conserve nature?

Last January, we conducted an interaction in Chitwan with agriculture officers from local bodies in the district and organic farmers. During the discussion, an officer from Bharatpur municipality showed the list of farmers, who had written to the municipal office seeking organic fertilizers at subsidized rates. She also brought a list of farmers, who had received subsidies from the Agriculture Development Office (ADO). Some farmers had even approached both the bodies asking for subsidized fertilizers. She said, “I am going to remove the names of the farmers, who have already received a subsidy from another source.” 

In response, an organic farmer stood up and said, “Yes, it is right, we received a subsidy from the ADO, but the amount of manure we got is too little compared to our fields. We can get as much subsidized chemical fertilizers as we need. Then, what is wrong with getting subsidies for organic fertilizers as per our need? We need fertilizer for use, not for sale.” 

The officer explained that the municipality has a policy against double subsidies. The disappointment on the farmer’s face was evident. This situation was of the year when the government ensured to facilitate and provide the vermi-compost and organic fertilizers within the community, and to offer subsidies to organic farmers based on their production.  

Discrimination 

This situation highlights broader issues. All tiers of government promote similar kinds of discriminatory practices year after year. In the preceding fiscal year, half of the budget in the agriculture sector has gone toward subsidizing chemical fertilizers, whereas the budget for the promotion of organic agriculture is minimal—less than one percent—though the government’s policies and programs vow to promote organic farming to minimize soil acidity and increase productivity.

Every year, plans and policies mention equal subsidies for organic fertilizer as chemical fertilizer, but this disappears in the budget. In the last fiscal year, the government allocated Rs 1bn for building an organic fertilizer factory, but in the end, the entire budget got transferred to other topics. The Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) aims to increase soil carbon to four percent by the end of 2035. The 16th periodic plan aims to increase soil carbon to 2.6 percent by the end of 2029. However, organic farmers, who are increasing their soil carbon levels and conserving soil for the future, are disappointed with the government's subsidy policy. Government set the moisture limit for different organic manures and demand for the vat bill for subsidy. Due to which farmers aren’t able to get subsidies on their own to produce organic manure. Quite impractical and awful, isn’t it? 

No marketing plans 

The marketing of organic produce is also not easy. Last year, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chitwan, organized a Chitwan Mahotsav to promote tourism and trade in local products. The District Organic Federation, Chitwan had a stall of organic and indigenous products. Rajkumar Tamang, one of the leading certified organic farmers from Chitwan, brought a good harvest of cassava for display and sale. Every time, he had to explain that he didn’t use chemicals to get a good harvest. Even certified organic producers need to explain in detail how to sell their products as organic. “We save the environment; we save human health. In return, we have to explain every time that we never use chemicals. At the same time, agrovets can easily sell poison by calling it medicine, and the vendor can sell products brought from across the border as organic products without hesitation,” one of the leading organic farmers, Chandra Prasad Adhikari, lamented.

The National Agriculture Policy, 2061, mentions the promotion of organic farming and ensures the involvement of local bodies in food quality determination and certification. However, the certification process is still centralized, lengthy and costly. The Ministry of Agriculture published the guidelines for the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification, but these are still far from the reach of smallholders and marginalized farmers in Nepal without government initiation and subsidy. The government does not have any separate plan for the marketing of organic products. Neither the federal nor provincial nor local governments facilitate the development of organic marketplaces, resulting in organic products being sold alongside chemical products without identity. 

Organic products are not as visibly attractive as chemically-treated products, which leads consumers to avoid purchasing them despite their taste and health benefits. The increasing cases of non-communicable diseases are largely due to harmful food products and poor eating habits. Organic produce offers non-toxic food and original taste, but these products often do not receive recognition in many places because of their lack of visual appeal.

Burden of research

For the current fiscal (2024/25), the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), an autonomous research body dedicated to Nepali agriculture, received only six percent of the agricultural budget. Of this modest share, one percent is used for capital expenditure, with the remainder meant for carrying on with the current operation. Research on regenerative, natural and organic farming has never been the priority of NARC as data show. For example, a negligible amount (0.34 percent) of NARC’s budget is allocated for research, in the topic of ‘forest and environmental conservation’. Agricultural educational institutions also give emphasis to chemicals-based farming practices and encourage students to focus their research in this direction. As a result, all too often, farmers have no option but to conduct research independently, which raises their production costs and sometimes results in crop failures.

Last year, Mahendra Poudel, one of the leading organic farmers from Kalika municipality in Chitwan, and his friends planned to do organic farming on two hectares of previously inorganic land. They planted bananas from tissue culture in most of the area, banana bulbs in some areas and maize in the remaining parcels. The tissue-cultured bananas and maize failed due to a prolonged winter drought. Poudel and his team visited all of the government and research institutions in search of seeds and seedlings, but no one advised them against planting tissue-cultured bananas and maize in the predicted unfavorable conditions. The banana bulbs were successful. This year, the group planted banana bulbs and sunflowers, ensuring the availability of water. They are now aware of what to plant and what not to. However, they lost one harvest due to a lack of research and extension services from the government.

Modernization and increasing productivity in agriculture are some of the main aims of the government’s plans and policies. However, the descriptions and implementations of modernization and increasing productivity do not address regenerative and organic agriculture. All investment, research, and technology (whether developed or imported) are targeted at chemicals-based farming. As a result, organic farmers are unable to access appropriate seeds, technology, manure and insights from previous cultivation experiences. Organic producers must conduct trial-and-error research on their own, which increases the risk of crop failure and production costs, leading to demotivation among organic farmers. Some CSOs, government offices and activists are now promoting organic products and appreciating the hard labor of organic producers, but that is not enough.

The world is beleaguered by climate-related crises. Soil and human health are deteriorating, and Nepal is facing an increasing number of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Farming is becoming labor- and input-intensive, and the cost of farming is rising. Meanwhile, land productivity is decreasing. In this situation, regenerative agriculture is the only way forward. We should appreciate the pioneers of regenerative agriculture and promote organic products. However, organic producers and products in Nepal face discrimination at every step, despite their efforts to save nature and human health.

The author is an agroecology researcher at Forestaction Nepal