Cotton Growers in Madhya Pradesh Earning More through Organic Farming

Organic farming is much more fruitful than chemical farming with lots of added advantage to nature and sustainable agriculture. The organic  Cotton Project have resulted ‘wow’ in the state of Madhya Pradesh which discourages chemical farming, is expensive and detrimental to land, water, and wildlife. 

Let’s meet, Twenty-six-year-old Laxmi Salami, who has come from a long line of farmers who have remained true to the tried and tested ways of cotton cultivation that they know. She was unwilling to stray from the well-trodden path into organic farming, which is unfamiliar territory for her. 

Then, this young cotton farmer, hailing from Gajandoh village in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, agreed to participate in an organic farming project. The results were a welcome surprise for her and to other farmers as well.  

“Last year, I harvested 12 and a half quintals of traditional cotton in seven acres,” she said with an enthusiastic tone. “I sold it all for Rs 62,500, but my costs towards pesticides, fertilizers, and labor came to almost Rs 40,000, so my net profit was not much.” 

Even, on the remaining one acre of land where she experimented with organic cotton farming, her production costs have been negligible and her profit from the one-acre cultivation, a 100%. 

She told to the reporters that she learned to make organic manure, insecticides, and pesticides using locally available material. And thus avoiding the expenditure on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, protect herself from the harsh effect of the chemical fertilizer. “Earlier, I used harmful and strong chemical pesticides for spraying,” she said. “These also affected my health.” 

Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, which is regarded as a home to two of the country’s oldest nature reserves – the Pench Tiger Reserve and Satpuda Tiger Reserve. It’s also famous for their untouched biodiversity and the habitat of the iconic Bengal tiger.