Role of Institutions and Support Systems in Promoting Organic Farming - A Case of Organic Producer Groups in India

Abstract

Organic farming has started slowly making inroads into the Indian agriculture,due to increased cost of inputs of conventional agriculture coupled with environmental and health concerns associated with it. The present organic farming in the country is mostly export oriented. Catering the needs of the export market requires the producers to meet quality specifications. However, being small in nature, in terms of holding, they tend to lack collective action and their exposure to support systems is limited. Institutions are therefore required for aggregating their produce and enhancing the bargaining power. The paper is an attempt to understand the role of institutions and support systems to promote organic farming through a case of Organic Producer Groups (OPG's) in Uttarakhand. The study was done in Nainital district in Uttarakhand. Three OPG's in three villages were studied and compared with non organic producers. It is observed that, though the support systems were favouring the producer groups, there is a long way to go. Federating the OPG's into supply cooperative , for upscaling their activities, is an option.