Organic food mantra casts spell on Visakhapatnam

But with the increasing awareness about pesticides and its adverse effects on health in the recent times, people are apparently willing to shell out more money to catch the organic mantra.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Shruti Madhavan, a representative of an organic farm shop said, “We are registering 100% growth year by year and people are no more hesitant to pay some extra bucks for good health. And to keep up with the demand, we are planning to bring more stores on board.”

Prices varying anywhere from 40% to 70% higher than the conventional produce, every retail giant is allotting a separate section to organic foods. Not to mention, many exclusive stores have also forayed into organic segment.

Trinath, a marketing head of an organic firm, which sells organic produce through supermarkets, said, “We earlier used to supply around 50 metric tonnes a month, but now it has crossed 80 metric tonnes.”

When asked about the mode of procurement, he explained that they collect directly from the farmers with strict supervision from the very initial stage, i.e., seed sowing.

V. Satyanarayana, joint director of agriculture, Visakhapatnam, advised the farmers to decrease the use of pesticides which can otherwise lead to pesticide resistance. He also said that the government is advocating organic farming and practices such as vermicompost to the farmers rather than the toxic chemicals.

“Paying extra money for the organic foods also makes us conscious of our eating habits,” said Sekhar, who came to purchase vegetables to a super market.“The huge expenditure incurred on pesticides is making the agriculture a non-profitable sector. But organic farming is still in the nascent phases and is slowly catching up in Visakhapatnam district,” said another agriculture officer.