The Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) has reported a 235% increase in the number of Indian farmers participating in its Farm Programme. The number has increased from 22,146 last season to 74,229 this time.
- The multi-stakeholder organisation has reported the numbers in its OCA Farm Programme Impact Report 2021–22: Accelerating the Organic Cotton Effect.
The Other Highlights: Seed cotton prices at the farm gate were also reported to be high this season. OCA farmers in India received €936 per metric tonne (1000 kg) of seed cotton, compared to an average market price of €803 last year, which was a 16% increase over last season.
- This year’s payment included €4,411,000 in additional farmer premiums compared to €1,697,000 last year.
- Most of the project farmers remain small and marginal landholders: 21% of all farmers involved in the programme in 2021–22 were marginal farmers with less than 1 hectare of farmland.
- Small farmers with 1–2 hectares of land accounted for 33% of the total, while farmers with more than 2 hectares of land represented the remaining 46%.
- The income from in-conversion or organic cotton cultivation accounted for 63% of the total family income of farmers across the different projects. Other crops contributed to 22% of family income, and the remaining 16% came from non-agricultural sources such as off-farm labour.
- The average farmer’s family size was five.
- Most farmers were dependent on the monsoons for irrigation, yet there was an increasing number of farmers accessing alternative irrigation methods compared to previous years. Currently, 48% of the sampled farmers had irrigated farms (partially or fully), and 52% planted their cotton in areas entirely dependent on rainfall.
- Most farmers did not have secondary or higher education: 43% had received a primary-level formal education, and 22% completed secondary school. About 28% were illiterate, while 8% of the sampled farmers had attended high school or above (above 10th class in the Indian system).
- Some 26% of farmers mentioned an increase in price for the cotton as their number one need. 20% of farmers indicated the supply of bio-inputs to be their priority, followed by 17% demanded more clarity on buyback and premiums. Other support areas mentioned were higher yielding seeds, more cash advances, farmgate procurement and more training.
- Roughly 58% of farmers interviewed by third parties indicated to be better off economically when compared to their situation last year (this number was 13% last season).
- In the 21/22 cotton season, 22% of seed cotton payments and premium payments were conducted via bank transfer. Cash remained the preferred choice for farmers to receive payment for their seed cotton and premiums as farmer premiums were paid in cash in 76% of cases.
- The key to higher net income for organic farmers in the Farm Programme was the combination of lower production costs for organic cultivation and better prices received for organic cotton due to the organic premiums paid out in the projects.
- The lower production costs and the better prices received were able to compensate for the, on average, lower yields from organic farmers when compared to conventional.
- The average cost of production incurred by the organic cotton farmers was 16% lower than that of conventional farmers.
- The breakdown of costs indicates that the major savings for organic farmers came from the reduced cost of pesticides, fertilisers, seed, and irrigation, with the notion that we do see organic farmers investing more in irrigation.
