Binod Saharia — 2019
As one is aware, cultivation of Opium has become an addiction for the public specially in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and greater parts of North East India. "Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (scientific name: Papaver somniferum)". So everything boils down to MONEY, MONEY & MONEY.
If a farmer gets more money by cultivating Opium why will he plant other crops? So let's give him something by which he can make more money and stop planting opium. So that he lives a respectable life in his community and people will stop calling him "kaniya" (opium addict).
This paper proves that it is possible to replace Opium by other cash crops like Organic Cashew, Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamom, Rice, Cinnamon, etc. The farmer wants Cash for his daily sustenance and thus he finds it easy to grow and sell opium at a good price. If he is given a chance to grow something better than opium where he can get the same price, the farmer would not like to grow opium because, opium is not good for his health and is addictive and is harmful for the health of his family and the entire community.
By practicing Sustainable Organic Farming a farmer does not loose crop and pests can be controlled easily. This will create biodiversity that will have many contributing factors – improve soils, reduce pest pressures, increase predators, etc. Farmers have been farming without chemicals for time immemorial. There is no reason to start using chemicals now.
In a state like Arunachal Pradesh where most of the mountains are covered by loose soils it is catastrophic to use Chemicals. They spoil the soil structure and disturb the micro and macro environment. This loosens the soil structure and thus we have erosion which in turn causes deforestation. This causes landslides. Using chemicals can be as devastating as cutting trees on the Himalayas. This is the main reason why states like Sikkim and Mizoram have turned to Organic farming.
States like Assam, W. Bengal and parts of these states like Dooars, Cachar and Darjeeling are gradually losing crop due to excessive use of chemicals. Arunachal is relatively new to tea and should stop use of chemicals so that its soil and environment remain pure and toxic free. Arunachal has a good chance of producing teas and replacing shortfall of tea crop of other states. We cannot let Arunachal go like rest of the tea growing states.
| Particulars | Organic Tea | Opium |
|---|---|---|
| Land Area | 1 hec | 1 hec |
| Net Income per hec | ₹6,00,000 | ₹5,00,000 |
| Income from other crops | ₹1,00,000 | — |
| Intercropping | Turmeric, Ginger, Vegetables, Medicinal Plants | — |
Investment is negligible because of cash income generated from intercropping.
A cluster of 5–10 farmers will get together and do tea plantations including intercropping. One farmer takes the lead and sets up a mini factory/processing unit; the rest sell green leaves to the factory.
Most farmers have a vegetable garden and along with that they can plant tea bushes. Plucking of the leaves can be done early morning which is the best time to make quality teas. Then the farmer is free to do other chores during the rest of the day.
Marketing: Each village can have one factory and sell teas from the factory or a kiosk in the village. After selling to villagers, surplus tea goes to neighbouring villages or towns. The rest can be sent to Tea Auction Guwahati. This saves lots of carbon fuel.
Being one of the first to start organic green tea production in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, we realized that people here eat non-oily food like the Chinese. Thus the taste of green tea goes very well with the palate of North Eastern States. The medicinal properties of Organic Green Teas are enormous, especially antioxidant properties. One of our organic green tea customers from the Caribbean wrote that she removes the boiled organic green tea leaves after brewing and eats them with vegetables.
Sustainable organic application for pest control and healthy growth of tea plants. It takes 3–4 hours to prepare, 4 hours to make ready for application. Spray at sunrise and sunset. This saves the farmer lots of money and time. He will produce quality crop and get better price realization.
Quality of ingredients: Specially Cow Urine should be collected under strict supervision. Most of the plants can be grown in your garden.
Timing: Paramount importance. Spray should start half hour before sunrise with the chirping of the birds. The sound of birds helps opening of the stomata of the leaves and that is the best time to feed the plants. Use Ultra Low Volume Spray 1 ltr/Hec. Smaller the droplets the faster they are absorbed by the plants.
Smoking: Sunrise and sunset smoking of the plants disturbs the pests in their habitat and their activity reduces.
Makhiyoti (Flemingia strobilifera): Flowering plant in the legume family; known as makhiyoti in Assam. Essential part of Bihu (গৰু বিহু) festival, during which cattle are washed and gently beaten with twigs of this plant.
Dighloti (Litsea salicifolia): Tree of the laurel family Lauraceae. Mosquito repellent properties corroborated by laboratory studies.
Belongini (Diplazium esculentum): Non-edible Dhekia. Insect repellent properties.
Karange (Pongamia pinnata): The neem of areas where water tables are high. Oil and residue are antiseptic and pest-resistant.
Please refer to the Training Manual Certification and Inspection Systems in Organic Farming in India, compiled by Dr. A.K. Yadav. The time for certification is required so that enough time is given to the soil to get rid of its chemicals. It also helps for the general farmers to get their product in the market under Organic Certification.
Conversion to Organic Farming: For over 5000 years humans have grown food organically. Only in last 100 years we have used chemicals for growing food. In last 50 years we have realized that use of chemicals has done much harm to our farm lands, livestock, farmers. Examples: daily Cancer train from Bhatinda to Bikaner.
To export organic products, our first challenge is to PRODUCE it. Second challenge is to meet our INTERNAL DEMAND before exporting it.
In case the Govt. wants to promote Organic Farming they should minimize the bureaucracy and give same amount of subsidy as chemical farmers. This will attract lot more farmers to organic farming and bring down the price.
Introduce Organic Farming classes with traditional knowledge in schools.
As per some studies only 2% of Indian produce is organic. I feel that this should be sold in India itself, so that we Indians get benefit of Organic Produce.
The Tea Board should recognize the small tea growers. AP Land Policy.
Farmers in clusters of 5, with one taking the lead to operate the factory, has proven to be most effective because it is easier to produce and easier to sell smaller quantities as opposed to one big farm.
Owner of Wakro Tea Farm at Wakro. One of the finest examples who has got a cluster of people and made their life economically successful. She has also helped all the other farmers to get the way from Opium Cultivation.
From Jia, Roing – Owner of Mishmi Hills Tea Company. Has helped small Organic Tea Planters.
Owner of Deobeel Organic Tea Company. Guided for sustainable organic plantation, lot of Turmeric has been planted by her in the villages which has helped the village people and getting extra income.
With the help of other Gurus, gardens in Assam and Bengal have been supported: Kanopather near Pingri in Assam, Borpather near Bokaghat, Hathikhuli near Kaziranga (owned by Tata Tea), Palasbari near Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
BINOD SAHARIA
Abali Organic Tea Estate
Old Abali, P.O. Roing 792110
Dist.: Lower Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh
Mobile: +91 96780 74023 | Office: 0373-2300495
binod57@yahoo.com