Srinagar, July 14 -- Kashmir already possesses something many farming regions spend decades trying to build: a reputation.

Consumers associate the valley with apples, saffron, walnuts, almonds, honey and fresh mountain produce. Clean air, cool weather and traditional farming methods strengthen that image.

Those strengths place Kashmir in a strong position to lead India's organic farming movement. Public policy now has to convert that natural advantage into an economic one.

Chemical-intensive farming never reached much of Kashmir on the scale seen in several agricultural states. Many farmers still use traditional practices, making the shift to certified organic cultivation easier than in regions where heavy fertilizer use has become the...