Case Study on Organic

Agriculture in India
Case Study on Organic Agriculture in West India:
Maharashtra (Sorghum, Wheat, and Cotton)

Much of Maharashtra’s Aurangabad region is considered to be very

poor. Agriculture is the main source of income and the area depends
on modest rainfall that is concentrated in the summer months. The
area is multicultural with a sizable Muslim minority comprising
approximately 35% of the total population.

The average farm holding is small, between 0.4 and 2 ha with the
largest farmers reaching 4 ha. Production methods in the region are
a mixture of traditional unconventional, but poverty levels have
dictated rather modest use of synthetic agro- chemical inputs.

The Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD) is a civic

organisation that has targeted women, and particularly destitute
women, for training needs and rural development activities. As a
result, 60% of its beneficiaries are women. Accordingly, it is also
women who facilitate and organise local groups.

These in turn are supported by technical staffs from IIRD who

provide the inputs and the training required. The current project
began with 400 farmers in 1992. Today, it has grown to over 1700
farmers. IIRD’s innovations and success have led it to develop
training programmes for other NGOs and for public officials.

Organic agriculture has taken an increasing role since the mid-

1990s. Although IIRD remains a central fulcrum, many of the
project activities are increasingly taken up by the layers of organised
farmers that have been developed as part of the project’s
empowerment and sustainability goals. IIRD continues to provide
on-farm support, certification and marketing services. The farmers
are not externally certified but they have an internal certification
system in place.
Food security was a predominant concern for a number of years and
the focus crops included cereals, legumes, oilseeds, and spices.
More recently, as food security has improved, marketing has
emerged as a prime concern. The main organic products grown are
wheat, sorghum, cotton, and pearl millet.

IIRD has established a weekly organic bazaar in the city of

Aurangabad to foster more direct linkages between producers and
consumers as well as providing a consistent platform for the
exchange of products and services related to organic farming. The
bazaar now sells approximately 40% of farmers’ marketable
surplus. The rest is sold to local traders and markets.