A group of agriculturists in this small village of Mankulam has joined a select club of premium farmers by earning 30 per cent more for their produce, mainly pepper, grown under organic farming norms set by the Germany-based LACON GmbH.
If the cost of one kg of pepper is Rs 400 kg in the market, these farmers are getting `520 per kg for their produce. The reason is simple as they are getting the premium price for their produce from European countries which import only organically farmed crops, grown without using chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Perched amid thick forests of Western Ghats in Idukki district, Mankulam village has around 3,000-odd farmers, of which 728 farmers have gone fully ‘organic’. Buoyed by this, the remaining are toiling hard to adopt organic farming.
To graduate as ‘organic’ farmers, a total of 361 farmers have already enrolled in a three-year programme to qualify the ‘organic’ examination conducted by LACON GmbH. But the road to become an organic farmer is bumpy and with full of challenges. Only successful completion of the programme would fetch them the ‘organic’ certificate.
The farmers are closely monitored by the internal control system of the Government of India in its mission to bid good bye to chemical fertilisers and pesticides. “The Kerala Agricultural Development Society (KADS) keep a close watch on the farmers,” P J Sebastian, executive director (Mankulam), KADS, told Express.
LACON GmbH has assigned Lacon Quality Certification (India) Pvt Ltd to ensure that the inspection conducted by KADS is foolproof. Any farmer deviating from the track will be disqualified from the programme. The details of the ‘organic’ certificate holders are updated on the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority’s website. It is based on this report that buyers approach the farmers by offering a premium price for their products, mainly pepper, he said. At present, the Hyderabad-based Sresta is involved in buying produce from the farmers. KADS had spotted Mankulam in 2007 after finding that its conditions were ideal for promoting organic farming.