Why has organic farming failed to gain momentum in India?

By Prof. Hementkumar Shah 

Organic farming refers to cultivation without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. However, the buying and selling of bio-fertilizers is allowed in it. Natural farming means using inputs that are locally available. In India, the term “organic farming” is often used for “natural farming” as well.

In 2023-24, only around 2.5 to 3 percent of India’s total cultivated land — about 45 lakh hectares — was under organic farming. Out of nearly 15 crore farmers in the country, only around 40 lakh farmers practiced organic farming. The states with the largest areas under organic farming are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Sikkim, however, became a fully organic farming state in 2016. In 2023-24, production through organic farming was only about 36 lakh tonnes.

Organic farming is said to be essential for environmental protection and human health. However, it is also a fact that during the 1960s and 1970s, the Green Revolution significantly increased wheat and rice production, and by the 1980s India had become self-reliant in food grains. Many economists and scientists argue that without the increased use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the Green Revolution would not have succeeded and the country would have remained dependent on food imports.

A Negligible Budget

The Union Budget for 2026-27 shows that out of the government’s total budget of around Rs 54 lakh crore, only Rs 11,000 crore has been allocated for agricultural development, and merely Rs 750 crore for organic farming. It has been stated that this amount will be used to encourage one crore farmers to adopt organic farming. This means that, on average, each farmer would receive only about Rs 750 as support. It is difficult to understand how such a small amount can meaningfully promote organic farming across the country.

Organic produce is generally more expensive than conventional products, and therefore ordinary consumers are not easily attracted to it. The government also does not provide any subsidy to make such products affordable.

The Gujarat government too does not allocate any substantial budget for organic farming. Though much publicity is given to cow-based natural farming, the state government has allocated on average no more than Rs 250 crore annually over the last five years. Gujarat has around 53 lakh farmers. Can such an amount really be considered adequate support for organic farming? In the Gujarat government’s Rs 4.04 lakh crore budget for 2026-27, only Rs 150 crore has been allocated for cow-based natural farming.

A Natural Farming Science University was established in Gujarat in 2022, though its announcement had been made in the budget four years earlier. Overall, the government does not appear to be very serious about organic farming.

Massive Subsidies for Chemical Fertilizers

The central government itself provides subsidies on chemical fertilizers. In 2025-26, it is estimated to have provided subsidies worth Rs 1.67 lakh crore on chemical fertilizers. As a result, farmers receive fertilizers at cheaper rates and therefore use them extensively. The government subsidizes urea as well as other fertilizers. This policy is not new; it has continued since the launch of the Green Revolution during India’s Third Five-Year Plan (1961-66).

If the government truly wants organic farming to expand, it should end these subsidies and allow chemical fertilizers to be sold at market prices. However, this is not done because the government fears opposition from farmers. Thus, fertilizer subsidies are not merely an economic issue but also a political one.

Moreover, India imports chemical fertilizers, which requires spending dollars. Farmers are therefore advised to adopt organic farming in order to save foreign exchange. India is largely self-reliant in urea production, but DAP and MOP fertilizers are almost entirely imported. In 2025-26, India imported such fertilizers worth nearly 15 billion dollars. If saving dollars is genuinely the objective, then these imports should be stopped. Farmers would automatically move toward organic farming. But the government is unwilling to take such a risk.

In addition, around 14 public sector and cooperative companies manufacture chemical fertilizers. If the government sincerely wants organic farming to dominate agriculture, it should announce a phased plan to close these companies over the next ten years.

No Concrete Plan for Organic Farming

If the government is truly serious about organic farming, it should provide direct financial subsidies to farmers practicing it. Similarly, farmers who wish to stop using pesticides and chemical fertilizers and shift to organic farming should receive support for a transition period of around three years. At the same time, subsidies on chemical fertilizers should be reduced accordingly.

Many experts say that farmers shifting to organic farming suffer production losses during the initial three years. Only if the government compensates for these losses will farmers be genuinely encouraged to adopt organic farming.

The government has given the slogan of “Viksit Bharat,” but there is still no comprehensive plan for promoting organic farming in the country, nor any willingness to allocate large-scale funding for it.

At present, the global market for organic products is estimated at around 36 billion dollars. India’s organic market, however, is worth only about 2.5 billion dollars, or roughly Rs 23,000 crore. Organic produce exports from India amount to around Rs 5,400 crore. Unless both farmers and consumers are provided incentives to expand domestic and export markets, the organic farming sector is unlikely to grow significantly.

Government subsidies for organic farming should be viewed as expenditure for environmental protection, while the savings resulting from environmental conservation should also be recognized. However, it can also be argued that the lobby of companies producing and importing chemical fertilizers, along with their political connections, is preventing organic farming from gaining real momentum.