Dr. Banarsi Lal
Presently organic farming as a cultivation process is gaining popularity among the people. Organically grown crops are becoming one of the best choices of the farmers and consumers. Consumers quest for safe and healthy food that is produced through ecologically and authentically by the local systems. The term organic farming was firstly coined by Northbourne in his book entitled as “Look to the Land”. He defined organic farming as ‘an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity’. Organic food is not grown with synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, grown hormones, application of genetic modification techniques, sewage, sludge or chemical fertilizers. In conventional farming, synthetic pesticides and chemicals fertilizers are used to get more yields and profits. In order to be organic, crops should be cultivated in lands without any synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers and herbicides for three years with enough buffer zone to lower the contamination from the adjacent fields. It has been observed that organic cereals contain high quality proteins with better amino acids scores. It has also been observed that lysine content in organic wheat is 25-30 per cent more than the conventional wheat. Organic plants contain more magnesium, iron, phosphorous, calcium, sodium and potassium. Organic products contain more organic matter, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants as compared to the traditional farming. The secondary metabolites found in organic fruits and vegetables have substantial regulatory effects at cellular levels and hence found to be protective against the cancers, chronic inflammations and other diseases. It has been observed by some studies that organic foods such as corn and strawberries contain more than 30 per cent of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants. The phenols and polyphenolic antioxidants are higher in organic fruits and vegetables as compared to conventional ones. Studies show that organically grown tomatoes contain more salicylic acid than conventional tomatoes. Salicylic acid is a naturally occurring phyochemical having anti-stress and anti-inflammatory effects and prevents hardening of arteries and bowl cancer. Organic farming protects the environment as the chemical fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides are avoided in it. Organic farms sustains the biodiversity. Organic soils have great quality with more water retention capacity and can give better results even in droughts. Organic food has longer shelf life than the conventional foods because of lesser nitrates and great anti-oxidants. Organic farming can generate more income and employment among the rural people as the organic food has higher prices than the conventional ones. In organic farming we can use local resources without depending on the outer resources. Cow dung, cow urine, Panchgavya, jeevamrit etc. are useful in organic farming and are readily available at farmers field. The cow dung contains 300-500 crores of beneficial micro-organisms per one gram of cow dung decomposes the dried biomass on the soil and convert it into ready-to-use nutrients for plants. India ranked 8th in terms of organic agriculture and a significant growth has been observed recently in this sector.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, “Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity.” Organic farming is a system of farming in which we continuously enrich the soil health. Organic farming relies on a number of objectives, principles and common practices which help in minimizing the impact on environment. It has been observed that the agricultural sector is responsible for 20 per cent of the global anthropogenic Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. According to studies about 70 per cent of global N2O emission is from artificial fertilizers.5 per cent of global carbon dioxide comes from the emissions from fossil fuel consumption and biomass burning. About 50 per cent of global methane emission is from enteric fermentation and paddy cultivation. The conventional agricultural practices are unsustainable for mainly three reasons: (i) Disturb the complex ecosystem that is responsible for maintaining the balance of the nutrients in the soil. It not only leads to soil leaching or erosion but such practices also cause removal of nitrogenfixing bacteria. (ii) Excessive use of agrochemicals deteriorates the soil health. It adversely affects the water retention capacity of the soil and also leads to groundwater contamination. (iii) Deforestation and over-grazing and increase Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and affect vegetation, resulting into reduction of soil’s ability to sequester CO2.
According to the International Federation for Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), “Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, eco-systems and people, is based on the principles of health, ecology, fairness and care.” Organic farming mainly depends on the healthy soils. The two major parameters of soil health are: (i) Organic matter present in the soil which is measured by Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) (ii) Soil microbial life-presence of beneficial micro-organisms in the soil. Soil is said to the skin of the earth and provider of food for all of us. Plants need a healthy soil to grow. Healthy soil has the presence of bacteria, fungus and micro-organisms. Organic farming introduces combination of sustainable practices which includes region specific crop rotation, organic inputs application etc. All these measures help in building up of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) levels by an average of 10 times compared to the conventional farming. By sequestering carbon, the soil is acting as a carbon sink. Organic manures enriched with biofertilizers increase the availability of nutrients in the soil. Use of on-farm resources, such as FYM, vermicompost etc., help in maintaining the content and texture of the soil. In organic farming, compost, a natural input, is used which adds organic matter and SOC. Chemical pesticides, fertilizers and weedicides disturb the symbiotic relationship between plants and micro-organisms present in the soil. In Reasi district of J&K there are many potential organic farmers are applying organic practices in their fields to produce the organic food. KVK, Reasi has imparted training to them in preparing Panchgavya, Beejamruth, Jeevamruth, fermented butter milk etc. These organic inputs are made by cow dung, curd, cow milk, ghee jaggery etc. After the completion of the training, the farmers have started to prepare these inputs and use in their fields. Organic farming helped to gain water retention capacity in their fields and soil health also improved. KVK, Reasi has also provided them off-farm inputs such as bio-fertilizers, neem oil, neem cake, pheromone traps etc. Biological mulching is also applied in their fields. It helps in the conservation of soil moisture, improves the fertility of the soil and reduces weed growth. In organic farming soil health can be maintained by the green manuring and cover crops. Growing of green manure crops like sesbania, dhaincha and other leguminous crops and cover crops can protect the soil from soil erosion and moisture loss. This can be ploughed into soil for the maintenance of soil fertility as it provides nutrients in the soil. Presently organic farming has become an integral part of the agricultural sector. Organic farming increases the disease resistance in plants and farmers can fetch money by growing organic crops. Excessive use of chemicals enter into our food chain and cause health hazards. Thus, organic farming is need of the hour. Organic farming can build a nutritionally, ecologically and economically healthy nation.
(The writer is Sr. Scientist & Head, KVK, Reasi SKUAST-J).
