IT IS mid September and Tejpal Singh’s 12.1-hectare (ha) farmland is flush with paddy. “I have used over 4 tonnes of urea as fertiliser, and sprayed the crop once with pesticide,” says the farmer from Kakrala village in Punjab’s Patiala district. Adjacent to this field is a small plot that also has paddy, along with seasonal vegetables. “I grow crops on this 1.6-ha plot for my family’s consumption. It is all organic, since I use green manure, vermicompost and bio-fertilisers here. I sell whatever is left over,” he adds.
About three years ago, medical tests showed that Tejpal’s wife had increased uric acid levels. Around the same time, a relative was diagnosed with cancer. “These cases left me wondering about the quality of the food we eat,” says Tejpal. He got his crops tested and found high levels of urea, potash and pesticide residue. “I decided then that my family should only consume organic crops. Since we made the switch, my wife’s uric acid has been under control. The taste and quality of the food is also remarkably better,” he says.
Punjab tops the country in per unit use of fertilisers such as nitrogen, phosphate and potash. According to data shared by the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers in Rajya Sabha on August 6, 2024, the state consumed 103.1 kg of fertiliser per acre (247.61 kg per ha) during 2023-24. This is almost double the national average of 58.25 kg per acre (139.81 kg per ha). The use of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) fertilisers has also jumped by 180 per cent between 1980 and 2018—from 0.69 million tonnes to over 1.92 million tonnes—according to data with the Punjab government. While the state accounts for only 1.53 per cent of India’s area, it uses some 9 per cent of the total fertilisers applied.
The high incidence of cancer in the state is also well established. According to Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme data, shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Rajya Sabha on February 6, 2024, cancer cases in Punjab have risen from 39,521 in 2021 to 42,288 in 2024.
For farmers, there is a direct possible link: agricultural chem-icals and pesticides are known to cause cancer. Several of them, like Tejpal, have seen family members diagnosed with cancer or other conditions possibly brought on by consumption of food with fertiliser or pesticide residue. So to ensure their families’ health, they are turning to organic cultivation for self-consumption.
Take the case of Ravdeep Singh of Pharwahi village in Barnala district. In 2009, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. “While there may be several reasons for the disease, we cannot rule out the role of chemical-intensive agricultural practices,” he says. So in 2011 he turned to organic farming for both personal and commercial purposes. “You cannot even imagine the amount of pesticides, fungicides and urea I used while practising chemical farming, especially in vegetables,” says Ravdeep, the only farmer in his village to completely switch to organic farming.
But it has not been a simple shift. In 2011, when Ravdeep took up organic cultivation, the yield was normal. In 2012, it dropped drastically. “It has stabilised now, but not reached the level that I used to get with chemical fertilisers, especially in rice and wheat,” he says. For example, the average yield of wheat from 1 ha through chemical farming is 5 tonnes. But even after 13 years of organic farming, his yield is only 3.75 tonnes. “It started with 1.75-2 tonnes in 2011,” he says.
The prospect of lower yields deters several farmers from going fully organic. Says Jagtar Singh of Patti Khattar in Barnala district, “Without urea and other fertilisers, the yield will be lower and the crop will look weak and yellow.” He currently grows crops organically on 0.4 ha for personal consumption.
Farmers say fertiliser and pesticide overuse happened due to soil degradation that led to declining yields and pest attacks. “If we shift totally, the yields will drop drastically again, and take four to five years to stabilise. How will we meet our expenses during that time?” asks Sukhvinder Singh of Bhaini Mehraj village in Barnala. Sukhvinder and his extended family farm on 20.2 ha, of which 0.8 ha is for organic farming. “Chemical farming has affected human and soil health, but we cannot go fully organic even in 10 years,” he says.
Like Ravdeep, Gulab Singh from Tapa village in Barnala has tried to go fully organic. In 2014, shifted 0.6 ha from his 6 ha to organic farming. After two years, he expanded the practice to the entire 6 ha. But this resulted in a huge loss of R1 lakh per ha in 2018. “I could not even recover the production cost,” he says. That year, he reverted to chemical farming on 5.4 ha, keeping 0.6 ha under organic for self-consumption. “A lot of farmers have taken to organic farming in the last few years. But we have been able to think only about how we can eat better. We have not reached a stage where we can afford to make the country eat better,” says Gulab, who works with Kheti Virasat Mission, a Punjab-based non-profit promoting organic farming and straw management practices.
This was first published in the 1-15 October,2024 print edition of Down To Earth