Organic aspirations in South India

Abstract

Organic regulation makes products legible to consumers around the world, adding value to commodities and seeking to counter socioecological injustice through neoliberal logics of consumer choice and market diversification. Despite the regulatory and consumer need for universal signification, organic agriculture varies considerably between regional contexts and even within the same country. Within India, home to more organic producers than any other nation, certified organic cotton agriculture in Telangana and certified organic coffee production in Andhra Pradesh highlight how organic agriculture provides distinct, but parallel, ways for farmers and intermediaries to capture value in these supply chains. These questions are especially pressing in South India, which has struggled to spread the economic development of Hyderabad and coastal Andhra Pradesh to poorer rural areas plagued by suicide and agrarian distress. In this article, we explore how organic farmers and intermediaries in South India navigate the demands of foreign capital and governance while negotiating the benefits of global ethical supply chains alongside their own aspirations.