With prices twice as much, while organic production proudly associates itself with protecting environment and human health, in Nepal, taking it to the masses and producing it on a large scale could be a far-fetched dream.
Says Bhola Man Singh Basnet, principal scientist of agronomy, that there should be a “research push and market pull” before thinking of going on mass production.
“It has to be linked to the market if we’re talking about commercialization,” says Basnet, also the former director of planning and coordination at the Nepal Agriculture Research Council.
Looking at a niche market, especially in Kathmandu Valley, the demand for organic products, however, seems to be rising. Supermarkets are flooded with organic labels, there are weekly organic markets, and sellers of organic products claim that sales have been better.
Samir Newa, founder of five-year-old Organic Village, a chain of organic shops and an organic restaurant in the capital, says what started with about 600 clients in 2006 has now 13,000 clients visiting his stores. His annual sales has soared from Rs 1.9 million to Rs 14 million.
“Export has also increased. We’re [exporting] pinto beans for US$2.8 per kg,” says Newa who believes that if Nepal enhances the quality of organic production and sets standards, new economic outlets can flourish.
But Basnet says that going commercial doesn’t only mean exporting organic production and making money out of it. He says that the local market should be assured and then gradually developed. Also, before venturing out into
commercialization, standardized production aspects should also be considered.
While organic farming is a hot topic and people are denouncing the use of chemical fertilizers, no one seems to be discussing the alternatives. Chemical fertilizers provide 100 kgs of nitrogen, 60 kgs of phosphorus and 40 kgs of potash for one hectare of land along with other micronutrients. But when manure is used as a form of organic fertilizer, says agronomist Basnet, it only provides about 1% of nitrogen while urea in chemical fertilizer provides about 46%.
“So let’s be practical,” he says, adding, “Let’s think of how to minimize chemical fertilizers and not discard it completely. If so, farmers should be given an alternative. How will they fulfill the demand of nutrients to the soil and plants?”
On the outskirts of Kathmandu, close to Pharping in Khahare Chautara, Krishna Gurung thinks that biodynamic fertilizers could be a good alternative to chemical fertilizers. In his four ropanis of land, Gurung is trying to utilize local resources—local manpower, local waste as well as educating local people about the benefits of going organic. In his backyard, he produces his own compost fertilizers using dry leaves, green leaves, cow dung, limestone, and rock dust and egg shells. He also uses a cow pat pit, a form of concentrated compost preparation.
Also the founder of the Kevin Rohan Eco Foundation that promotes green production and living, Gurung says he produces citrus fruits and vegetables for self-consumption and sells the excess to sellers like Organic Village in Kathmandu.
While producers like Gurung are doing business on a small scale, he says it is possible to go large-scale.
“Once we go organic on large scale, it will be cheaper than conventional produces. The soil will start producing more because organic fertilizers will make it healthier. And there will be more production to support the demand,” Gurung, who is also an international visiting speaker at the University of Virginia, says.
But before producing on a large level, going to the mass and also exporting, there should be a concrete regulation for organic farming. Though the government introduced the Organic Farming Production and Processing Process National Technical Standard Guideline some four years ago and further amended it later, the vision and mission still remain unclear, says Dr Deepak Mani Pokhrel, Senior Horticulture Development Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. “We need to have a clear vision first,” he reiterates.
So far, the private sector and limited-interest groups have been pushing the organic sector. Though the government has been paying a subsidy of Rs 10 million annually for the export of organic products, it has not been able to secure any homeruns.
The government set aside Rs 1.8 million of subsidies for manure production and organic manure factory, but the amount was transferred to chemical fertilizers due to lack of proper implementation, Pokhrel says.
“There’s subsidy in manure production, but there’s no guarantee that all manure production will be used in organic farming,” he says. “And if the government is trying to give subsidy in manure production, it should make a strategy to promote organic agriculture alongside. There’s a big gap in this.”
And it is not only at the policy level that there is a gap. Even it terms of consumption, only a handful of people are into organic, and even those into it think that going 100% organic is still not an option due to higher prices.
Tsering Dolma Sherpa, outreach program manager at a non-governmental organization in Kathmandu, is a long-time user of organic products. But rather than buying most of the organic products in the market, she says her family prefers producing them in their backyard using compost fertilizers.
Sherpa believes that buying organic produces are expensive, and for anyone with a modest salary, it is rather impossible to go 100% organic. But at a time when organic and going green has turned out to be a buzz, especially in the metropolitan areas, Sherpa says it is more of a lifestyle choice for many.
“It’s about making a conscious choice and thinking of long-term benefits,” she says on the health and environmental aspects related to going organic. “But for many people [who can’t afford], it’s about survival [for they can’t go organic].”
While the fad for organic products is flourishing, organic production in Nepal, except for the ones that are exported, however, do not hold any certification. According to Pokhrel at the Ministry of Agriculture, “it’s an expensive process.” He further says that the “government has been thinking about [certification] and is moving forward.”
But on the ground, in the fields, Gurung thinks that most producers, while talking organic, have not really understood the mechanisms for going organic. He says people often ignore the dynamics—the vitality and rhythm of the soil. If given attention to this and with a proper planting calendar, he says organic farming can flourish on large scale.
In Pragati Nagar VDC of Nawalparasi, farmers are however taking the initial step—of learning the importance of going organic and its benefits. In coordination with the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief, 250 families have been involved in organic farming for more than a year in two farms spread in 1.5 bigha combined.
Keshab Prasad Bhattarai, country director of SOIR-IM, says that they are focusing more on education, the result of which has been a decrease in the use of chemical fertilizers by 90% in the village. In Pragati Nagar, there is an open class every Friday; it’s main objective to teach mechanisms and importance of organic production and taking it forward.
“So far, the production is consumed in the village,” Bhattarai says. “But it is possible to take it forward [large scale].”
On the other hand, Pokhrel thinks that if the agricultural sector is planning to go organic, it has to start from a particular part of the country and then spread out. But more than that, he says there needs to be integration of agriculture and the trade sector to benefit from the large-scale production.
Newa also agrees on the notion of integration—an integration of producers and sellers to meet market demand and supply.
Organic farming was highlighted to decrease the risks associated with the Green Revolution that empathized high productivity using hybrid seeds, synthetic and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. But in Nepal’s case, if the country is seeking to be organic, and if interested groups are pushing the concept of large-scale organic farming, experts say there would be a risk of low production.
At a time when Nepal stands as the second highest in South Asia after Pakistan in terms of food prices, according to the 2010 Asian Development Bank (ADB) indicator, the question that agronomist Banset puts forward is: “Should we be more principle-oriented or be practical?”
ADB’s Global Food Price Inflation and Developing Asia report published in 2011 estimates that a 10% increase in food prices will result in the number of poor people living below US$1.25 by 0.6 million in Nepal.
For a country where agriculture contributes 33% of its Gross Domestic Product, it would not be impossible to think about moving to the organic direction, produce it in large scale and export its products.
A recent news report in The Kathmandu Post cites a rise in organic production in Tehrathum. Outlets like the Organic Village and Kheti Bazaar, the latter an organic shop in Dilli Bazaar, are selling produces from places as far as Paanchthar, Chitwan, Rasuwa, Kavre, Nuwakot, and Makwanpur. And as it seems, Nepal can be a part of the US$54.9 billion organic market, as estimated by the World Organic Agriculture.
“We have the prospects for organic here,” Pokhrel from the Ministry of Agriculture says. “But leaders and experts should really focus and extensively think on how to implement it and make it financially gainful.”
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