One question that echoed in the academic circles of the State in the past few weeks was whether Kerala has anything to learn from the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal openly admitted that the State can draw lessons from the economic crisis in the neighbouring country, which is considered as an extension of Kerala on many counts.
There are reports that the ill-advised policy of switching to organic farming, shunning chemical fertilizers, has led to a steep fall in agricultural production and export earnings from tea in Sri Lanka. Kerala is also on the same page to some extent as it is bringing around 82,000 hectares of farmland under organic cultivation, taking a leaf out of the chemical-free natural farming promoted by Subhash Palekar, often termed the father of zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF).
According to the data with the Agriculture department, out of the target of 82,000 hectares set under the project titled ‘Subhiksham Surakshitham - Bharatiya Prakartik Krishi Padhathi’ (Kerala Agro Ecology Based Biodiversity Conservation), farming was switched to the organic mode in 57,000 hectares by March 2022, spending around ₹22.27 crore, of which 40% was borne by the State government and the rest by the Centre.
