The decline in organic farming in the state is a concern, said Manoj Kumar Menon, executive director of Bangalore-based International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), an organization which helps organic farmers’ access opportunities in the market. “The area under organic farming in Kerala was 15,790 hectares in the financial year 2012, which slipped to 10,568 hectares in 2013. Market for organic products in the state is between Rs 80 crore and Rs 150 crore. Even with 10,568 hectres, it should have been Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore, assuming one could get Rs 1 lakh as revenue from an acre,” Menon said. The state government has failed to offer initial financial assistance to farmers shifting to organic farming from chemical fertilizer-based farming. “In Kerala, hardly 3,500 hectares are cultivated with the support of the government, whereas in Meghalaya, close to 20,000 hectares of farming is being completely supported by that state. Similarly, Sikkim has 50,000 hectares being assisted by government. Kerala has a larger potential for organic farming, especially in environmentally fragile areas like Idukki and Wayanad. What makes Kerala’s farm lands special are its high humus content that supports a wide spectrum of crops. And these farms are mainly homesteads, where people farm in the land next to their houses,” he said. Figures of ICCOA imply that state and Union governments spend between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 annually on subsidizing chemical fertilizer for each hectare. On the other hand, for organic farming the financial assistance offered was only Rs 3,000 per hectre. Kerala needs to increase the area under organic farming from the current 10,568 hectares to 25,000 hectares in the next two to three years, Menon said. The state also needs a strategic road map for achieving this end, he added. The state government is organizing an international organic trade fair and conference at Angamaly during November 6 – 8, in association with ICCOA.