Science shows that organic farming protects us from toxic pesticides, is more profitable for farmers and conserve the soil water and biodiversity.
We have seen the highly input-intensive conventional agricultural production systems seem to be becoming unsustainable. Therefore, many effort is being made to identify and adopt feasible, profitable and eco-friendly crop/farm diversification plans. Application of organic farming can be a major option because of the vast increasing realization that accumulation of chemical residues in soil, water and plants as a consequence of continued and inefficient use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can result in severe human and animal health problems.
“Health consciousness of people about food and non-food products and their consumption is dramatically changing in favour of organic products. Though organically managed farms produce lower yields (particularly in the initial years) than conventional chemical-based farming, health consciousness has led to consumers being prepared to pay higher premiums (up to 70 per cent extra), particularly in the international market, which greatly helps in increasing the overall profits.”
Moreover, advances in technologies for efficient organic management of soil fertility and pests are making it possible to raise the agriculture productivity and profitability of organic farms and also conservation of agro-ecosystem.
Because of such realizations market demand and opportunities for organic products is rapidly gaining momentum rapidly. To take advantage, innovative farmers in selected zones can be motivated to shift from conventional farming to organic farming systems. These farmers need to be trained about the “why, what, where and how” of organic production, processing and marketing.
Organic farming means using such cultural, biological methods that maintain long-term sustainable soil biological activity, recycle organic wastes to return nutrients to the soil, provide alternate care for livestock and not using extraneous synthetic chemical fertilizers additives for growing crops or for post-harvest processing (chemical preservatives) so that the integrity of organic products is maintained until they reach the consumers.
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