Dr. Biraj Kumar Sarma
(birajsarma704@gmail.com)
Dr. Pallabi Thakuria
The Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given more emphasis to the progress and development of the North-Eastern region from the very first day of his office, and as a part of his Act East Policy, he has given more emphasis to making the North-Eastern region a role model of an organic hub. Nowadays, people are becoming more concerned about their diet and food habits. Everywhere, proper study and research are going on for the use of organic fertiliser for crop production, its advantages, etc. In its simplest form, organic fertiliser means the use of cow dung and vermin compost in agricultural fields to enhance the productivity of agricultural products instead of using chemical fertilisers like ammonia, superphosphate, potash, nitrogen, sodium, and other chemicals. Organic fertiliser is much safer than chemical fertilisers, which may have some detrimental effects on the human body and may act as a slow poison due to their residual effects. The alarming rise in renal failure patients and cancer patients in North-Eastern regions might be due to the residual effects of the different chemical agents used in agricultural fields and their products. Moreover, the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers targeting quick production in a shorter period of time has deteriorated the agricultural soil quality day by day. Keeping this point in mind, our government initiated a scheme in 2015 called the Soil Health Card Scheme to give relief to farmers from the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers.
In veterinary and animal husbandry, it has been observed that the main emphasis is basically given to management, disease diagnosis, income, and field work. But it should be noted that apart from these, emphasis should also be given to other relevant sectors, like how cattle and livestock production have played a pivotal role in the production of organic fertiliser, enhancing agricultural production, etc., for the benefit of our society. But it is unfortunate that till now we have fallen behind in proper study and policy for upgradation of this in a state like Assam, whose economy is primarily dependent on agriculture. It is unfortunate that our state is still behind in the benefits of organic fertiliser in comparison to some other states in India. Though in the year 2014, the then State Agricultural Minister announced the establishment of one organic farm in each legislative constituency of Assam, it is still in a docile state. In comparison to other parts of India, the soil of Assam is highly fertile, and we have the potential to produce good-quality agricultural products with less labour. It should be mentioned here that agriculture and animal husbandry have good relations with each other, and animal husbandry is an integral part of agriculture. According to the 20th livestock census 2019, the cattle population in Assam is 109.09 lakh, the buffalo population is 4.22 lakh, the sheep population is 3.32 lakh, and the goat population is 43.15 lakh. As we know that cow dung is good manure, these numbers of cattle and buffalo can produce about 5.0 crore tonnes of cow dung annually. By properly utilising this amount of cow dung for practical utility, we can easily bring a revolution to the field of agriculture—organic farming. But, even after knowing all these practical benefits of organic fertiliser, we are still dependent on the use of chemical fertiliser to enhance agricultural production. In other parts of the world, intellectuals and scientists have given more emphasis to organic farming after knowing the hazardous effects on our bodies of vegetables produced with the use of chemical fertilisers. On the contrary, organic fertiliser is safe to use and has little or no detrimental effects on the quality of the soil and agricultural products. Even countries like Brazil and some developing African countries can arrange international expos on organic farming and agriculture. At this stance, our negligence indicates our unawareness regarding the health hazard. A few years ago, an official of Yes Bank opined that the demand for organic food had increased by up to 20 percent in India. He also predicted that in the coming years, the demand for organic food products will increase. The global demand for organic food products will increase from US 57.2 billion dollars to US 104.5 billion dollars at a rate of 12.8 percent. In India, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa are the leading states in the production of Agricultural organic food products. In this regard, Rajasthan also places emphasis on the production of organic agricultural food and has taken all necessary measures. They have arranged various demonstration camps and extension programmes through electronic and print media to inform the people about organic farming, which will encourage the people of the entire country. Our neighbouring state, Sikkim, has also targeted the same and made all necessary arrangements to make it a totally organic state free from the use of chemicals and pesticides in agricultural fields. This initiative was started in 2003, and as part of this step, they banned the use of any kind of chemical fertiliser or pesticide in agricultural fields and agricultural products. So, when Sikkim can take this strong step, why not our Assam, even after having good fertile land and lots of potential?
In Assam, there are a few goshalas, and among these, the Maligaon and Chatribari goshalas formed by the Marowary community play a leading role and act as role models for organic production. In these two Goshalas, they have various small projects like the generation of gas as a bio-fuel for domestic use from cow dung, the production of organic fertiliser by the use of cow dung and processing it by vermicompost, the production of various medicines from the urine of cows, etc. By producing organic manure from cow dung, they supply this manure to different tea gardens in upper Assam.
I hope our Assam government will give more emphasis to this sector to make Assam an ideal state in the North-Eastern region as an organic hub. The Assam government can take on some smaller projects for the greater interest of society so that it can encourage our producers to come forward for organic production. If these initiatives can be taken, the untoward effects of chemicals and pesticides on the human body can be mitigated to some extent, and the soil will maintain its practical utility and productivity for a longer period of time without any hazardous effects. Every member of society should be equally involved in the organic production and use of organic products for a healthy life and ecosystem.