Sustainable Development and Organic Agriculture

In a move that likely has large agribusiness groaning in frustration the Indian state of Kerala, a narrow strip of land in Southern Indian roughly 360 miles long and 80 miles wide, is continuing its seven year transition towards going organic. The reasoning is varied. First, there is an increasing recognition that global issues - such as climate change and biodiversity loss - require local solutions. Secondly, there's a growing recognition that cultural adaptations that have been all but abandoned in favor of western technological solutions have strong ecological roots. For example, the traditional religious ritual of resting the land for three months after harvest has been found to be ecologically sound; it turns out that tilling during the monsoon season hastens soil erosion. This reality against the backdrop of India's perilous forays into global agriculture - thousands of Indian farmers have committed suicide after crop failures linked from switching from traditional seeds to genetically modified ones - makes Kerala's endeavor seem all the more logical.

Yet many people would argue that Kerala is embarking on a fools endeavor. There is no way, this line of thinking argues, for organic farming to feed a global populace of 6.7 billion and growing with organic farming. This fact belies the reality that current techniques leave 1.02 billion hungry according to the non-profit organization Bread for the World. Similarly, we've poisoned the planet with pesticides to achieve a yield on par with yield's prior to their introduction.

We know the path that chemical agriculture leads us on: tainted water supplies, dead zones in rivers, poisoned rivers and streams, soil erosion, large carbon footprint.

Isn't it time that we start experimenting with other forms of agriculture?

Considering that the Kerala plan currently has some 30,000 hectares under organic cultivation, and involves a 10-year roll out it seems a promising step in experimenting in implementing sustainable development.