Doctor shows ryots benefits of going organic

KARIMNAGAR: Though many are aware of the ills of using toxic chemicals and dated techniques for agriculture, the shift to organic farming requires treading on uncharted territories as farmers are set in the ways that have always worked for them. However, a Karimnagar-based gynaecologist, seeing the rise in health ailments among farmers, decided to adopt a small village where she could start motivating farmers to make a shift towards organic agriculture.

Dr Gogula Gouthami Reddy adopted Kokkera Kunta situated in Ramadugu mandal for this initiative. Before the adoption, she submitted a report to district Collector RV Karnan, who gave her the go-ahead for the project and assured support from the government. He also interacted with the village farmers about organic cultivation on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day.

Speaking to TNIE, Dr Gouthami mentions that she chose Kokkera Kunta for the model project as a number of men from the village suffered from infertility or low sperm count and youths had cancer. This, she adds, is because of the indiscriminate usage of chemical fertilisers.

She asked them to take up vermicompost citing health reasons, Dr Gouthami says, adding that she needed to urge them constantly as the farmers were reluctant for change. However, after two months, her persistence paid off. To show how it could be carried out in the village’s fields, she took a two-acre land on lease and started organic cultivation of vegetables and other crops, she adds.

Additionally, she roped in a few NGOs to provide the facilities.  She mentions that she urged people against using weed killer or carrying out stubble burning since it affects soil fertility. Dr Gouthami mentions that it helped a lot of farmers as there was a shortage of labourers and equipment.