With increasing incidence of foodgrains, vegetables, fruit and dairy products, including milk, getting contaminated by pesticide residues leading to serious health consequences, there is a growing preference for organically grown farm products the world over.

Not surprisingly then, in the international commodities market, organically cultivated farm products command a much higher price than agricultural products grown with synthetic chemicals.

In fact, the havoc unleashed by the Green Revolution farming strategy based on the intensive and widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides. has given a quickening impetus to the popularity of organic farming practices that are in harmony with the natural elements.

Significantly, a well documented study by the American National Academy comes to the conclusion that the application of pesticides and fertilizers does not necessarily lead to better farming than natural farming.

Perhaps, the credit for putting natural farming on a firm footing on a global scale goes to the Japanese plant pathologist Fukuoka who secured a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) award for his signal service rendered to the cause of natural farming. He is clear in his perception that the soil's nourishing qualities stem from organic matter that returns to soil periodically.

The suicide spree by farmers in various parts of India, specially in the cotton-rich Vidarbha region, has gone to expose the Achilles heel of the chemical intensive farming. Against this backdrop, farmers in many parts of India are slowly but seriously taking to organic farming techniques with a view of not only boosting farm productivity but also improving their incomes. The converts to organic farming strategy are now fully convinced that organic farming stimulates plant growth without exhausting the natural resources or adversely affecting the soil health.

As researchers in organic farming state, far from being a chemicals-free farming, organic cultivation is a holistic system that respects natural crossing barriers and employs fertile plants capable of establishing a viable relationship with the living, dynamic soil. By all means, the focus of organic farming is on varietal mixtures and inter-cropping that effectively obviates the possibility of pest attacks and epidemics.

Recall, the Union Agriculture Ministry had sometime back announced an ambitious plan to launch a national programme on organic farming with a view to encouraging production of chemicals-free food products in an environmentally friendly and economically viable manner.

As part of this programme, it also planned to set up a National Institute of Organic Farming to take up research and development activities geared to boost organic farming in the country. But unfortunately, not much ground has been covered in giving a practical shape to this proposal. Take Karnataka, known for its world-class high-tech research institutions and a vibrant IT (information technology) industry. It is all set to make a big splash in organic farming. In order to prepare the ground for the organic farming revolution, the Karnataka Government is, in fact, planning to introduce organic farming as a subject of teaching at the school level.

In addition, organic farming will be a compulsory subject at the degree and post-graduate level in all agricultural universities of the State. According to a top official of the Karnataka Agricultural Department, "If we have to meet the emerging food-related challenges in the globalised era, we need to start preparing the ground to popularize organic farming."

As it stands, Karnataka, a leading horticultural producer in the country, is keen on earning a higher revenue through the export of organically grown farm products. For, both in the domestic and overseas market, organic food products command a premium price. Asserted an official of the Karnataka State Agriculture Department, "Costa Rican organic cocoa growers get 150 per cent more than the conventional cocoa farmers. No wonder then that many educated youth are taking to organic farming in the State".

In fact, farmer Naryana Reddy, with his ten acre farm at a village near Bangalore, has become a role model for farmers planning to switch over to organic cultivation. Several farmers, scientists and agricultural researchers with an active interest in organic farming regularly gather at his farm where they are advised not to be concerned over the steep raise in prices of fertilizers and pesticides.

States Reddy: "Indian agriculture should seize the opportunity to bid adieu to synthetic fertilizers and adopt farming methods that make use of organic manure. Incidentally, since Reddy's farm is located close to the monastery of the widely popular Godman Sai Baba, his organic farming methods have received plenty of international exposure.

Reddy has already trained many farmers in and around his village in the technique of organic farming. According to him, farmers can switch over to organic farming gradually over a period of five years by stopping the application of chemicals to a quarter of their land each year.

Importantly, he further stresses that organic manure does not destroy earthworms - the true friends of farmers. According to Reddy, the presence of earth worms was vital as it increased the nitrogen, potassium and phosphrous contents in the soil. Thus, farmers could not only manage without using fertilizers and pesticides but have also no real need for them.

Besides, Karnataka's Regional Centres of Organic Farming (RCOF) have already identified around 15 non-Government organisations (NGO) to support farmers keen on switching over to organic farming. Interestingly, more than 30,000 farmers in the State are practicing organic farming methods.

Moreover, to become a service provider to farmers interested in organic methods, an NGO must have five years of experience in farming. They also should be registered with the competent authority.

In order to popularise the organic farming methods, the RCOF organises periodic training programmes and inter-actions with accredited agencies. It also certifies extension agencies, farmers, industries and organisations engaged in the production, promotion and marketing of different components of organic farming, states a Karnataka Agriculture Department official.

On a more practical plane, with an eye on practically demonstrating the actual practices of organic farming, the RCOF has set up nodal organic farms in various parts of South India.