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People’s forum demands subsidy for
Ecological Fertilization to ensure Food Security
Chitradurga, Karnataka, 27-Aug-2009: A multi
stakeholder gathering comprising of farmers, farmer union
representatives, government officials, civil groups,
agricultural scientists and women self help group members
today demanded the Central Government to provide subsidy
support for ecological/organic fertilization to ensure food
security. They were speaking at a public hearing organized
by Greenpeace India and Sustainable Organic Initiatives for
Livelihoods (SOIL), to gather grass root level responses to
the fertilizer subsidy reforms proposed by Government of
India.
Union Finance Minister during his budget speech expressed
concern over the declining response of agricultural
productivity to increased fertilizer usage in the country
and proposed reforms in the fertilizer subsidy sector to
solve the crisis. The Government is planning to adopt a
nutrient based direct subsidy regime instead of the current
product pricing regime. However this proposed reform is
being criticized by various stakeholders citing the fact
that this shift cannot solve the crisis as the soils are
degraded due to years of indiscriminate use of chemical
fertilizers and a shift to ecological fertilization is
inevitable to ensure food security. Every year Central
Government spends crores of rupees on chemical fertilizer
subsidies. The budget allocation for 2009-10 for fertilizer
subsidies is Rs 49,980 crores.
Dr Bharathesh Reddy, District President, Karnataka State
Organic Farming Mission who inaugurated the Public hearing
said that, “Generally, Organic farmers who contribute to
food security of the country with minimum damage to the
environment are kept out of the subsidy benefits. Karnataka
State Government has come up with a model to promote organic
farming. It is the only state in the country which is
providing subsidy for popularising organic farming. This
model can be adopted by the Central Government and can be
scaled up. ”
Dr Ganapathi, a soil scientist from Organic farming research
institute, Shimoga said, “Soil is the capital for the farmer
and this needs to be protected and saved through encouraging
eco-friendly agricultural practices. Over dependence on
chemical fertilizers should be avoided as it can jeopardise
food security of the country.”
“The degraded soils can be rejuvenated only through
ecological farming practices and addition of organic matter
in the soil. Tax payers’ money should be invested in a
meaningful way by providing support systems for ecological
fertilization, which is the only way to ensure soil health
and food security”, said P Srinivas, Secretary, SOIL.
Mr . Siddhaveerappa a farmer from Chitradurga talking in the
consultation opined that “time has come to slowly phase-out
the subsidies for chemical fertilisers and phase-in
alternatives”.
Earlier, Greenpeace India launched a report titled,
“Subsidising Food crisis” which provides scientific
evidences to prove that soils are degraded in intensive
agricultural areas due to excessive use of chemicals, and
even balanced application of chemical nutrients cannot
sustain yield under the present circumstances. The report
also dismisses the myth that enough organic materials are
not available to shift to ecological fertilization and finds
that amount of nitrogen that could be potentially recovered
in organic residues available in the country is similar to
the total amount of synthetic nitrogen applied to Indian
soils every year, 14 Mt. This highlights the potential
feasibility of a complete shift from synthetic to organic
nitrogen fertilisation.
The people’s forum came up with a people’s charter listing
all possible alternative eco-friendly fertilization
practices that can be supported through subsidy.
“We will be organizing similar public hearings in different
parts of the country. The ideas and suggestions generated
would be compiled and presented to the Central Government.
We sincerely hope that Government will give due recognition
to the suggestions from the real stakeholders at the grass
roots and adopt a policy that will restore soil health and
ensure food security ”, said Gopikrishna SR, Sustainable
Agriculture Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
For more information:
Gopikrishna SR, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner,
Greenpeace India,
Mob: +91 9900897341; email:
gkrishna@greenpeace.org
P Srinivas, Secretary, SOIL, Mob: +91 9945684306, email:
vasu.shrinivas@rediffmail.com
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