Around 58 percent of the total population of Bardhwan district relies on the agricultural sector for livelihood. The farmlands of the district are extensively cultivated given the soil’s rich fertility and good moisture content. Rice is the most important crop in the district and is grown with its various varieties around the year. Farmers of Bardhwan and their family members have been directly and indirectly exposed to highly hazardous, banned pesticides utilized for cultivation. Consequently, farmers are experiencing deteriorating soil health of their agricultural land as well as myriad health issues. On the other hand, organic farming is an agricultural process using biological fertilisers and pest control from animal or plant waste. It was initiated as an answer to the environmental sufferings caused by the use of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilisers. In short, organic farming is a new system of farming or agriculture that repairs, maintains, and improves the ecological balance.

Mr. Madhusudan Bairagya, resides in a remote village in Purba Burdwan district of West Bengal. He has 6 members in his family. The main source of livelihood is agriculture. He attended a training on ‘Organic farming’ conducted by ABSK. Through this, he understood the gravity of hazardous chemicals and pesticides used for growing vegetables. He realized that the excessive use of chemicals and pesticides renders negative impacts on soil health and ecology. As a vegetable vendor, he faced the problem of the shelf-life of vegetables which was one or two days only with pesticides whereas organic vegetables last longer and are health friendly.

Bairagya’s annual earnings used to be Rs. 50000 as a vegetable seller. A small farmer with a progressive mindset, Bairagya did not want his family to consume vegetables produced by using chemicals and pesticides. He started gaining knowledge and skill to prepare bio-pest repellents. He then started cultivating vegetables such as spinach, laal saag, coriander, beet green, spring onion, mustard, pumpkin, tomato and radish organically in 27 decimal (0.20 acre) land. As his agricultural land now has good soil, he was able to sell organic vegetables in front of his house. He earned around Rs. 5000/- in a month and with his saving amount, he purchased a rickshaw van and started selling the produce in the nearby villages. Now his annual earnings are above Rs. 1,10,000, of which Rs. 60000 is from selling organic produce. His fellow farmers got impressed with this new approach and followed suit to improve their livelihoods. They formed a group of farmers who are growing different organic vegetables and exchanged them among themselves for marketing purposes. This has motivated more than 10 small farmers to adopt the practice of organic cultivation. When asked why he is so passionate about forming the collectives? Bairagya said with a smile “I was alone in my village who was growing purely organic vegetables, and it turned from “I to We”, now, it’s a call to serve mother nature, hence it’s beyond the profit motive.

Through the U3 programme, Caritas India with the support of Miseroer focuses on self-sustained communities securing their livelihoods by fostering climate resilient-cum-adaptive agriculture and livelihoods security through the people-led process of empowering animation, dialogue, volunteering and sharing communities. To educate farmers regarding the use of pesticides, Caritas India with her partner organisation Asansol Burdwan Seva Kendra, (ABSK) Asansol diocese, have been working together to capacitate farmers to learn about the ecology of the agricultural land enabling them to make and implement decisions which are safe, productive and sustainable. Through the U3 programme, the farmers were capacitated on an ecological approach to protect plant protection through Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to secure their livelihood. It not only involves minimizing the use of pesticides but also promoting a wide range of practices aimed at growing healthy crops, including biopesticides.