CHITRADURGA, KARNATAKA, India — 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 further information, contact
Gopikrishna SR, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner, Greenpeace India,
Mob: +91 9900897341; email: 
P Srinivas, Secretary, SOIL, Mob: +91 9945684306, email: 
Notes to Editor
(1) Union Finance Minister’s budget speech can be accessed at http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10/bs/speecha.htm (Refer para. 34 in this page for his statement on fertilizer subsidies)
(2) PIB release dated 20 August 2009 on fertilizer subsidy reforms can be accessed at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51987
(3) Subsidising Food Crisis, a Greenpeace India report launched on 1 July 2009 can be downloaded from: http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/reports/subsidising-food-crisis