Bihar Rajya Kishan Sabha @APPELLANT@Hash State of Bihar

The present Public Interest petition seeks a Mandamus directing the respondents to encourage the farmers of the State to opt for organic farming for the purposes of saving the productivity of the earth and the environment as also for furnishing the ratio of the result of organic farming in certified area for which there had been budgetary allocation in the financial year 2007-08. The writ petitioners have also demanded details of the expenditure incurred in encouraging organic farming in the State as well as of the allocated subsidy amount for organic farming which were disbursed in various financial years since 2007-08.

At the outset, we must indicate that the prayers made in the writ petition are more in the nature of seeking a roving inquiry from the respondents, which may not be the subject matter of a Public Interest Litigation.

During the course of hearing of the writ petition, an attempt was made to enlarge the scope of the present petition by suggesting that the budgetary allocation for encouragement of organic farming in the State was not commensurate with the expenses which would normally be incurred for setting up units for manufacturing organic fertilizers and that the subsidies which were given to the farmers were not properly thought about and that there was no clear road map for achieving the object of such policy of the State Government to encourage organic farming.

The averments made in the writ petition discloses that the State Government has taken a policy decision of encouraging farmers for undertaking organic farming and for the aforesaid purpose, budgetary limits have been fixed and subsidies have been offered to the farmers. There is no allegation of any siphoning of funds or embezzlement of public money. In that view of the matter , the vague suggestions which have been given cannot be taken note of in the present writ petition.

The respondents have, inter alia, contested the petition on the ground that even though there were positive advantages of organic farming viz. protection of environment and health but organic farming is much more expensive and it does not yield sufficient produce to make the agricultural operations viable. The only reason for the organic farming not providing a viable alternative is that the production cost is higher because of the procedure being labour intensive but giving rise to less yield per acre/hectare. Even the nutrient content of organic manure is low compared to chemical fertilizers. However, by way of making the farmers aware of the advantages of organic farming, certain measures have been suggested to them viz. cultivation of DHIACHCHA and lentils before embarking on paddy cultivation. At a smaller level, farmers are also made aware and encouraged to make soak-pits and use the same for converting cow-dungs into vermi-compost with the help of earth worms.

Gobar Gas Units have also been encouraged and entrepreneurs have been given subsidy for putting up such units. The entire process of converting agricultural operations to organic method/ways would take a longer time and the results may not be visible in short-term.

Thus, the response of the State is that the budgetary allocation has been used to the maximum advantage for creating awareness amongst villagers for using/manufacturing vermi-compost and green manure.

As regards the road map, it has been argued that Organic Corridor Scheme was launched in the year 2017-18 for promoting Organic Farming. In the first phase, an attempt was made to develop an organic corridor in villages adjoining the National/State highways running by the side of the Ganga

river. The process is afoot, it has been informed, for certification of the fields after completely eliminating chemical residue from those fields. The agency which has been entrusted with the task of certification is Agriculture and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA). The planning is for implementing the scheme at a larger scale by 2017-22.

The supplementary counter affidavit on behalf of respondents no. 3 to 5 lists various commercial/viable units for production of vermi compost and also contains various programmes which have been initiated and the budgetary allocation as well as the expenses incurred, the detail whereof need not be incorporated in the order.

However considering the vague prayer made in the writ petition as well as finding that efforts are afoot to achieve the objective of organic farming by 2017-22 and for which various steps have been taken, we do not intend to pass any orders as sought by the writ petitioners. It is again reiterated that the entire process of switching over to the organic farming is a long drawn process and it would be chimerical to expect the results in short time.

For the aforesaid reasons, this writ petition is dismissed.