Prospects of organic certification and participatory guarantee system (PGS) in Tamil Nadu

Organic production much of Indian agriculture carried out under default organic management means the farmers had no access to chemical fertilizers, pesticides or other organically prohibited amendments for financial and other reasons. The default organic farmers never made a choice to organic. Under these circumstances organic guarantee system for India needs to address the issue of educating farmers on organic agriculture. Majority of the women farmers of Tamil Nadu reported that the participatory guarantee system (PGS) supported the sustainable agriculture-based livelihoods. The PGS was completely new to the government officers and it was difficult to implement PGS with women farmers without landholding, entitlements, access to markets, nutritional security etc. Problems in PGS were that organic laws did not include the PGS. The use of the word organic is regulated by law and requires thirdparty certification. Without allowing for a PGS model it can complicate and even slow the organic movement. The present paper includes suggestions to strength the PGS in Tamil Nadu, create more intensive awareness on organic PGS among both conventional and certified organic farmers, promote local market for organic products produced by PGS groups and promote premium price for them.