Some good news earlier this week, as it was learned that proposals to the government agriculture department to construct greenhouses have gone up an amazing 700% this year.
It is expected that at least 40 new farming ventures will be established with state assistance in 2014, bringing close to 30,000 sq m newly under cover of "polyhouses" or greenhouses suitable for growing high-value "exotic" vegetables like red and yellow peppers (capsicum), lettuce and broccoli.
Most of these new ventures are rushing to capitalize on one of the highest-growth economic sectors in the world: organic food.
Even as much of the global economic scenario remains stagnant, organic agriculture continues to develop formidably in virtually every country. In India, huge fortunes are being made—the makers of popular Tulsi Tea saw their business mushroom from 25 crore in 2008 to 175 crore in 2013, the organic e-commerce site EcoTokri has been growing at 80% each year. This sector now rakes in more than 1,500 crore annually, and features an remarkable growth rate that is now climbing near 50%.
There is good reason for the demand. In our increasingly industrial world, all evidence indicates organic food contains significantly more antioxidants crucial to good health, along with far lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides.
A comprehensive scientific analysis released a few months ago in the British Journal of Nutrition (itself based on 343 peer-reviewed studies from around the world) produced categorical results—there are "statistically significant, meaningful" differences between organic and conventional fruits, vegetables and cereals, with antioxidants "substantially higher" in organics.
As climate change continues to impact traditional agriculture patterns altering expected yields on every continent, food security has become an increasingly problematic issue. Here in Goa, every household has felt the pinch as prices for even basic produce have soared, and continue to rise inexorably every season.
Part of the reason is the state's own agricultural sector has dramatically dwindled to near insignficance, and consumers are now trapped by a supply chain fed from across the state borders. Whatever they want to charge, they get away with it because there is no alternative.
So the tremendous demand for organic food in-state, across India and abroad comes as a terrific opportunity for Goa to regenerate its superb agricultural lands and orchards, and make farming cost-effective again. There is now unstoppable growth in ready-made markets like Bangalore and Mumbai (the two cities have nearly 200 organic food retail outlets between them), and huge foreign exchange potential as well. In 2012 alone, YES bank estimates India exported organic food products worth more than Rs 700 crore.
On Goa Liberation Day in December last year, chief minister Manohar Parrikar promised at least 6% growth in Goa's agriculture, saying "we are sure to achieve this target due to our concentrated efforts".
But that's not a particularly impressive goal compared to, say, Narendra Modi's Gujarat where agri-GDP has powered up consistently near 10% annually for almost two decades. Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkand have also far outperformed the Goa CM's benchmark for years on end. Why is Goa, with every possible natural advantage, aiming so very low?
The problem, as ever, is priorities. This Goa administration has a historic and unprecedented hotline to the Centre, and will clearly receive an unusually sympathetic ear to its requests for funds and assistance, but do its choices reflect the needs of future generations?
Finance minister Arun Jaitley's first budget, presented earlier this month was a clear indication of where Goa is heading. He expressed his commitment to revive the controversial SEZs, and iron ore mining as soon as possible and wants to build a new IIT in Goa, as well as a highly dubious giant convention centre. Contrast these largely disappointing plans with his commitment of Rs 100 crore to the North East states to develop organic farming to satisfy "growing global demand for organic food".
One of the most important events in world history took place in the 1960s when American and Indian agronomists ended centuries-long cycles of famine by adopting high-yield varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers and modern irrigation. Dr Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Prize for his work in aiding India to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains.
There are different problems today, but particularly in Goa it is clear that organic agriculture can be an essential part of several important solutions: food security, urban-rural balance, viability of agricultural lands, even demographic displacement. It should be a government priority of the highest order. The time is now for India's smallest state to experience its own green revolution.
(The writer is a widely published author and photographer) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Time-is-ripe-for-Goas-own-green-revolution/articleshow/39079981.cms
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