Click to play videoDorli (Maharashtra): In Vidarbha's killer cotton belt, not everything is grim. There are some farmers who are prospering and the secret behind their well-being is organic farming.
Om Prakash More is a cotton farmer of a different kind. He produces organic cotton without the use of fertilisers, pesticides or expensive seeds and the returns are much higher.
"With demands from all over the world, Europe and the US, we get a little higher price," More said.
In the suicide-hit killer cotton belt, More is one of the pioneers of organic farming and what started as a lonely journey now has 2,000 farmers in Vidharba itself and many of them are small-time farmers.
"I indulged in a kind of farming that was making losses. I too was on the verge of suicide and then I turned to organic farming and now I am doing well," an organic farmer, Subhas Sharma said.
Sharma grows vegetables in his 12-hectare farm every year, he makes a profit of Rs 7 lakh and the farm also supports 12 families.
Not using fertilisers and pesticides has not put him at any disadvantage. He said, "There were pest attack but we were patient and waited. Soon, many birds came to our farms and ate up the worms."
With the success rate seen in organic farming in the state, the Maharashtra government is now waking up to its profitability. The government is offering training in organic farming but farmers don't want any support from the government.
"We don't need any subsidies. We need the right kind of money for our produce," Sharma said.
With every patch of onions having its own unique smell. Perhaps, it's nature's way of saying that the natural way is the answer to the agricultural crisis in Vidarbha and not surprisingly many farmers smell a new opportunity too.
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