Directions (Q. 1–15)
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while
answering some of the questions.
Organic farming is either really expensive or really cheap, depending on where
you live and whether or not you are certified. Not only are the ‘natural’
pesticides and fertilizers increasingly marketed by agribusiness as costly as
or costlier than their chemical counterparts, but proving you are an organic
farmer requires certification, which is time-consuming and expensive.
In the USA, converting to organic agriculture is a huge undertaking for
commercial farmers, who have relied on chemical fertilizers and pesticides for
many decades, but in India, the conversion is no less arduous
and far more ironic. India’s farmers are still mostly practising organic
methods, passed down for millennia.
Organic fertilizer and natural pest control are the only tools available to
most of these farmers, who have always lacked the financial resources to
explore chemical solutions. But these farmers, whose produce is as organic as
they come, cannot afford to pay the fees required to gain official
certification.
As the international community adopts standards for organic agriculture, the
challenges faced by farmers in the USA versus farmers in India in order to
adapt are very different indeed. The danger is that the well-intentioned global
move towards organic standards will make small organic farmers in countries
like India, who have never done anything but organic farming, no longer able to
sell their crops.
In response to the $26 billion global market for organic foods, the Indian
Central Government set up a National Institute of Organic Farming in October
2003. The purpose of this institute is to formulate rules,
regulations and certification of organic farm products in
accordance with international standards.
The institute has its offices across the country and has appointed certifying
agencies for organic farm products for the domestic market. The certifying
agencies are accountable for confirming that any product sold with the new
‘India Organic’ logo is in accordance with international criteria, and launch
major awareness and marketing campaigns in India and abroad.
Organic farming has been identified as a major thrust area of the 10th plan of
the central government. 1 billion rupees have been allocated to the
aforementioned National Institute of Organic Farming alone for the 10th
five-year plan.
Despite this, most of India’s organic farms are not officially considered
organic. Most of India’s farms are ‘organic by default’. The irony and
difficulty of the new governmental push for organic agriculture is that 65% of
the country’s cropped area is ‘organic by default’, according to a study.
By this somewhat degrading term they mean that small farmers,
located mostly in the Eastern and North-Eastern regions of the country, have no
choice except to farm without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Though this is true in many cases, it is also true that a significant number of
them have chosen to farm organically, as their forefathers have done for
thousands of years. Many have seen for themselves the effects of chemical
farming—soil erosion and loss of soil nutrients, loss of nutrition in food and
human diseases resulting from the chemicals that inevitably
seep into the water table, all the reasons for the urgent demand for organic
foods and farming.
India currently has only 1,426 certified organic farms. This statistical
discrepancy reveals that the weak link in the organic/economic chain is
certification. Under current government policy, it takes four years for a farm
to be certified as organic.
The cost of preparing the report is a flat fee of Rs. 5,000 and the certificate
itself costs another Rs. 5,000. While these costs are bearable for the new
industrial organic greenhouses, they are equal to or more than an entire year’s
income for the average small farmer, if the costs of travel and inspection are
included.
In the United States, an organic farm plan or organic handling plan must be
submitted to a USDA accredited private or state certification program. The plan
must explain all current growing and handling methods, and any materials that
will be used—in the present and any future plans must be included as well.
Records for the last five years must be presented.
Land must be chemical free for three years prior to harvest, so a conventional
farmer cannot receive the organic label for the transitional
years. This will generally mean a decrease in income—crops may be less
plentiful than with conventional fertilizers and pesticides and yet the higher
price for organic products won’t yet be possible. Many farmers cannot afford
the transition, even if they want to.
One solution to the small farmer’s dilemma of how to both certify and survive
is that of community certification. In community certification, communities,
on a nonprofit basis, take charge of the certification process themselves.
They evaluate the farmer’s commitment to the stewardship of the soil and
examine from many angles whether the food is being grown in an environmentally
sensitive way or not, rather than technical standards.
While community certification may be a viable solution on the
local level, it is our opinion that, in the global market place, less than exact
technical standards will never be enough for today’s consumer and in today’s
largely poisoned environment, it shouldn’t be, either.
Furthermore, such ‘soft’ guidelines can easily backfire on the farmers
themselves, as a system not based on facts must be by definition subject to
local politics, bribery, favoritism, etc. India must find a way to keep the
strict international organic standards intact if it wants to compete in the
international market for organic foods, but is there a way to do it without
leaving small farmers out in the cold?
One obvious solution is for the government to subsidize these certification
fees enough to make it a viable option for ordinary farmers, not just for
neo-organic factory farms and greenhouses. Banks also could provide a more
level playing field for small farmers.
Currently, almost all bank loans are for pure crop farmers. While many of these
big-business farmers use harmful chemicals and processes, small farmers
fertilizing their soil with recycled organic wastes are usually ineligible for
insurance, much less state subsidies.
Directions (Q. 9–12): Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
Directions (Q. 13–15): Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
