Organic Farming

Organic farming

By:Muhammed yasir k
CE10B040

Sustainable development has caught in the action all over the world for more than a decade. Sustainable agriculture is must to attain sustainable development. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sustainable agriculture” is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources". Organic farming is one of the techniques used to meet sustainable agriculture. Many techniques used in organic farming are more or less similar to old traditional farming systems which were practiced in countries just like India. But organic farming is based on a framework and methodology which prohibit the use of almost all synthetic inputs, and health of the soil is recognized as the central theme of the method. Based on the global survey on organic farming carried out in 2007/2008 (ref. 2) by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and Foundation Ecology and Agriculture (SOEL), organic agriculture is now practised in more than 130 countries with a total area of 30.4 million hectares in 0.7 million number of organic farms.

What is organic farming?

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides (which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms. Organic farming works in harmony with the nature. Some people say that organic farming is nothing but traditional farming. This argument comes from the lack of knowledge about organic farming. Organic farming combines the traditional ideas which are good with the concept of sustainable agriculture. It takes best from traditional farming and combines with scientific knowledge.Organic farmers do not leave their farms to be taken over by nature; they use all the knowledge, techniques and materials available to work with nature. In this way the farmer creates a healthy balance between nature and farming, where crops and animals can grow and thrive.To be a successful organic farmer, the farmer must not see every insect as a pest, every plant out of place as a weed and the solution to every problem in an artificial chemical spray. The aim is not to eradicate all pests and weeds, but to keep them down to an acceptable level and make the most of the benefits that they may provide.Combined techniques on an organic farm: each technique would not normally be used on its own.The farmer would use a range of organic methods at the same time to allow them to work together for the maximum benefit. For example the use of green manures and careful cultivation, together provide better control of weeds than if the technique where used their own.

History of organic farming

The traditional farming was practised for thousands of years. Due to industrialization, like in every other field some new methods are implemented in farming too. But some of these inorganic methods were not well developed and seriously planned and had some severe side effects. In 1940’s an organic movement is formed in reaction to agriculture’s growing dependency on synthetic fertilizers. Sir Albert Howard is widely considered to be the "father of organic farming" in the sense that he was a key founder of the post-industrial-revolution organic movement. Further work was done by J.I. Rodale in the United States, Lady Eve Balfour in the United Kingdom, and many others across the world. The modern organic movement is a revival movement in the sense that it seeks to restore balance that was lost when technology grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries.Modern organic farming has made up only a fraction of total agricultural output from its beginning until today. Increasing environmental awareness in the general population has transformed the originally supply-driven movement to a demand-driven one. Premium prices and some government subsidies attracted farmers. In the developing world, many producers farm according to traditional methods which are comparable to organic farming but are not certified. In other cases, farmers in the developing world have converted for economic reasons.

Why farm organically?

Organic farming provides long-term benefits to people and the environment.

Organic farming aims to:

• Increase long-term soil fertility.

•Control pests and diseases without harming the environment.

• Ensure that water stays clean and safe.

• Use resources which the farmer already has, so the farmer needs less money to buy farm inputs.

• Produce nutritious food, feed for animals and high quality crops to sell at a good price.

Modern, intensive agriculture causes many problems:

Organic farming can be done to avoid these effects

• Artificial fertilizers and herbicides are easily washed from the soil and pollute rivers, lakes and water courses.

• The prolonged use of artificial fertilizers results in soils with a low organic matter content which is easily eroded by wind and rain.

• Dependency on fertilizers. Greater amounts are needed every year to produce the same yields of crops.

• Artificial pesticides can stay in the soil for a long time and enter the food chain where they build up in the bodies of animals and humans, causing health problems.

• Artificial chemicals destroy soil micro-organisms resulting in poor soil structure and aeration and decreasing nutrient availability.

• Pests and diseases become more difficult to control as they become resistant to artificial pesticides. The numbers of natural enemies decrease because of pesticide use and habitat loss.

Organic farming methods

Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes. While conventional agriculture While conventional agriculture uses synthetic pesticides and water-soluble synthetically purified fertilizers, organic farmers are restricted by regulations to using natural pesticides and fertilizers. The principal methods of organic farming include crop rotation, green manures and compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation.

Crop nutrition and rotation

Soil nutrition

To produce a healthy crop an organic farmer needs to manage the soil well. This involves considering soil life, soil nutrients and soil structure.

Artificial fertilizers provide only short term nutrient supply to crops. They encourage plants to grow quickly but with soft growth which is less able to withstand drought, pests and disease. Artificial fertilizers do not feed soil life and do not add organic matter to the soil. This means that they do not help to build good soil structure, improve the soils water holding capacity or drainage.

The soil is a living system. As well as the particles that make up the soil, it contains millions of different creatures. These creatures are very important for recycling nutrients. Feeding the soil with manure or compost feeds the whole variety of life in the soil which then turns this material into food for plant growth. This also adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Green manures also provide nutrients and organic matter. These are plants with high nitrogen content that are sown as part of a rotation and are dug into the soil when young.

It is important to remember, however, that using too much animal manure or nutrient rich organic matter, or using it at the wrong time, could be as harmful as using man-made, artificial fertilizers.

The organic farmer must cultivate the soil at the right time and in the right ways to provide the best living conditions for the soil life and plant roots. To produce a healthy crop an organic farmer needs to manage the soil well.This involves considering soil life, soil nutrients and soil structure.

Choice of crop

Selection of different type of crops for rotation depends upon lot factors. These are soil type, rainfall,altitude, temperature, the type and amount of nutrients required and the amount of water needed. These factors affect how crops grow and yields. A successful organic farmer will have a great knowledge about these aspects of farming.

Rotations

Growing the same crops in the same site year after year reduces soil fertility and can encourage a build-up of pests, diseases and weeds in the soil. Crops should be moved to a different area of land each year, and not returned to the original site for several years. For vegetables a 3 to 4 year rotation is usually recommended as a minimum.

Crop rotation also helps a variety of natural predators to survive on the farm byproviding diverse habitats and sources of food for them.

A typical 4 year rotation would include a cycle with maize and beans, a rootcrop and cereals with either of the following;

1. Grass or bush fallow (a fallow period where no crops are grown).

2. A legume crop where a green manure, which is a plant grown mainly for the benefit of the soil, is grown.

Green manures

Green manures, often known as cover crops, are plants which are grown to improve the structure, organic matter content and nutrient content of the soil.They are a cheap alternative to artificial fertilizers and can be used to complement animal manures.

Growing a green manure is not the same as simply growing a legume crop, such as beans, in a rotation. Green manures are usually dug into the soil when the plants are still young, before they produce any crop and often before they flower. They are grown for their green leafy material which is high in nutrient sand provides soil cover. They can be grown together with crops or alone.

Green manures:

• Increase and recycle plant nutrient sand organic matter

• Improve soil fertility

• Improve soil structure

• Improve the ability of the soil to hold water

• Control soil erosion

• Prevent weed growth

• Stop nutrients being washed out of the soil, for example, when the ground is not used between main crops.

Composting

Compost is organic matter (plant and animal residues) which has been rotted down by the action of bacteria and other organisms, over a period of time.Materials such as leaves, fruit skins and animal manures can be used to make compost. Compost is cheap, easy to make and is a very effective material that can be added to the soil, to improve soil and crop quality.

• Compost improves the structure of the soil. This allows more air into the soil improves drainage and reduces erosion.

• Compost improves soil fertility by adding nutrients and by making it easier for plants to take up the nutrients already in the soil. This produces better yields.

• Compost improves the soil’s ability to hold water. This stops the soil from drying out in times of drought.

• Compost can reduce pests and diseases in the soil and on the crop.

There are many ways to make compost depending on available materials and climate, for example:

• Indore method

• Bangalore method

• Heating process/Block method

• Chinese high temperature stack

• Pit composting

• Trench composting

• Basket composting

• Boma composting

Mulching

Mulching means covering the ground with a layer of loose material such ascompost, manure, straw, dry grass, leaves or crop residues. Green vegetation is not normally used as it can take a long time to decompose and can attract pests and fungal diseases.

Mulches have several effects on the soil which help to improve plant growth:

• Decreasing water loss due to evaporation

• Reducing weed growth by reducing the amount of light reaching the soil

• Preventing soil erosion

• Increasing the number of micro-organisms in the top soil

• Adding nutrients to the soil and improving soil structure

• Adding organic matter to the soil.

Weed control

In organic farming systems, the aim is not necessarily the elimination of weeds but their control. Weed control means reducing the effects of weeds on crop growth and yield.Organic farming avoids the use of herbicides which, like pesticides, leave harmful residues in the environment. Beneficial plant life such as host plants for useful insects may also be destroyed by herbicides.

On an organic farm, weeds are controlled using a number of methods:

• Crop rotation

• Hoeing

• Mulches which cover the soil and stop weed seeds from germinating

• Hand-weeding or the use of mechanical weeders

• Planting crops close together within each bed, to prevent space for weeds to emerge

• Green manures or cover crops to out compete weeds

• Soil cultivation carried out at repeated intervals and at the appropriate time,when the soil is moist. Care should be taken that cultivation does not cause soil erosion.

• Animals as weeders to graze on weeds do have some useful purposes. They can provide protection from erosion,food for animals and beneficial insects and food for human use.

Natural pest and disease control

Pests and diseases are part of nature. In the ideal system there is a natural balance between predators and pests. If the system is imbalanced then one population can become dominant because it is not being preyed upon by another.

The aim of natural control is to restore a natural balance between pest and predator and to keep pests and diseases down to an acceptable level. The aim is not to eradicate them altogether.

The earlier used method was artificial pesticides. Not only it cannot solve the complete problem, but it also causes lot of environmental harms just like getting into food chain and contamination.

But the use of natural based pesticide in addition to its safety, it also provides decrease in cost in this sector of agriculture.

There are many ways in which we can control pest and disease in natural way. Some of them are given here:

• Growing healthy crops that suffer less damage from pests and diseases.

• Choosing crops with a natural resistance to specific pests and diseases.

Local varieties are better at resisting local pest and diseases than introduced varieties.

• Timely planting of crops to avoid the period when a pest does most damage.

• Companion planting with other crops that pests will avoid, such as onion or garlic.

• Trapping or picking pests from the crop.

• Identifying pest and diseases correctly. This will prevent the farmer from wasting time or accidentally eliminating beneficial insects. It is therefore useful to know life cycles, breeding habits, preferred host plants and predators of pests.

• Using crop rotations to help break pest cycles and prevent a carryover of pests to the next season.

• Providing natural habitats to encourage natural predators that control pests.To do this, the farmer should learn to recognise insects and other animals that eat and control pests.

Even with these natural pesticides, their use should be limited as much as possible and only the safest ones used. It is wise to check with national and international organic standards to see which ones are allowed or recommended.

Genetic diversity

Within a single crop there can be many differences between plants. They may vary in height or ability to resist diseases, for example. These differences are genetic.

In organic systems, some variation or ‘genetic diversity’ between the plants within a crop is beneficial. Growing a number of different crops rather than relying on one is also very important. This helps to protect against pests and diseases and acts as insurance against crop failure in unusual weather such as drought or flood. It is important to remember this when choosing which crops to grow.

An organic farmer should try to do:

• grow a mixture of crops in the same field (mixed cropping, inter cropping,strip cropping)

• grow different varieties of the same crop

• use as many local crop varieties as possible

• save the seed of local and improved crop varieties rather than relying on buying seed from outside the farm every year. Exchange of seed with other farmers can also help to increase diversity, and ensure the survival of the many traditional crop varieties which are being lost as they are replaced by a few modern varieties.

Animal husbandry

In an organic system, the welfare of the animals is considered very important.

• Animals should not be kept in confined spaces where they cannot carry out their natural behaviour such as standing and moving around in an inadequate amount of space. However, care should be taken that animals do not damage crops.

• Food for animals should be grown organically.

• Breeds should be chosen to suit local needs and local conditions and resources.

International standards

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) has produced a set of international organic standards, laid down by people from many countries. These give guidelines about what organic farming is and how it should be practised on the farm.

The main principles of organic farming are laid down by IFOAM in 1992.

•To produce food of high nutritional quality in sufficient quantity.

• To interact in a constructive and life enhancing way with all natural systems and cycles.

• To encourage and enhance biological cycles within the farming system,involving micro-organisms, soil flora and fauna, plants and animals.

• To maintain and increase long term fertility of soils.

• To use, as far as possible, renewable resources in locally organised agricultural systems.

• To work, as far as possible, within a closed system with regard to organic matter and nutrient elements. This aims to reduce external inputs.

• To work, as far as possible, with materials and substances this can be reused or recycled either on the farm or elsewhere.

• To give all livestock living conditions this will allow them to perform the basic aspects of their innate behaviour.

• To minimize all forms of pollution that may result from agricultural practices.

• To maintain the genetic diversity of the agricultural system and its surroundings, including the protection of plant and wildlife habitats.

• To allow agricultural producers a living according to the UN human rights; to cover their basic needs and obtain an adequate return and satisfaction from their work, including a safe working environment.

• To consider the wider social and ecological impact of the farming system.

Growth, profitability and productivity

Growth

As of 2001, the estimated market value of certified organic products was estimated to be $20 billion. By 2002 this was $23 billion and by 2007 more than $46 billion.

In recent years both Europe (2007: 7.8 million hectares, European Union: 7.2 million hectares) and North America (2007: 2.2 million hectares) have experienced strong growth in organic farmland. In the EU it grew by 21% in the period 2005 to 2008. However, this growth has occurred under different conditions. While the European Union has shifted agricultural subsidies to organic farmers due to perceived environmental benefits, the United States has not, continuing to subsidize some but not all traditional commercial crops, such as corn and sugar. As a result of this policy difference, as of 2008 4.1% percent of European Union farmland was organically managed compared to the 0.6 percent in the U.S.

IFOAM's most recent edition of The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009 list the countries which had the most hectares in 2007. The country with the most organic land is Australia with more than 12 million hectares, followed by Argentina, Brazil and the US. In total 32.2 million hectares were under organic management in 2007. For 1999 11 million hectares of organically managed land are reported.

As organic farming becomes a major commercial force in agriculture, it is likely to gain increasing impact on national agricultural policies and confront some of the scaling challenges faced by conventional agriculture.

Productivity and profitability

Organic farms withstand severe weather conditions better than conventional farms, sometimes yielding 70-90% more than conventional farms during droughts. Organic farms are more profitable in the drier states of the United States, likely due to their superior drought performance. Organic farms survive hurricane damage much better, retaining 20 to 40% more topsoil and smaller economic losses at highly significant levels than their neighbours.

Contrary to widespread belief, organic farming can build up soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming, which suggests long-term yield benefits from organic farming. An 18-year study of organic methods on nutrient-depleted soil, concluded that conventional methods were superior for soil fertility and yield in a cold-temperate climate, arguing that much of the benefits from organic farming are derived from imported materials which could not be regarded as "self-sustaining".

Profitability

The decreased cost of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide inputs, along with the higher prices that consumers pay for organic produce, contribute to increased profits. Organic farms have been consistently found to be as or more profitable than conventional farms. Without the price premium, profitability is mixed. Organic production was more profitable in Wisconsin, given price premiums.

Problems and Constraints in organic farming

• · Lack of Awareness
• Output Marketing Problems
• Shortage of Bio-mass
• Inadequate Supporting Infrastructure
• High Input Costs
• Marketing Problems of Organic Inputs
• Absence of an Appropriate Agriculture Policy
• Lack of Financial Support
• Low Yields
• Inability to Meet the Export Demand
• Vested Interests
• · Lack of Quality Standards for Bio manures
• · Political and Social Factors

Conclusion

As sustainability is the one of the major issues all world looking into, the idea of organic farming based on sustainability concerns in of the unavoidable field of agriculture will really help us to take the implementation of sustainability into a much higher levels. As every creature have equal right to live in the environment, if we kills all of them for our selfish reasons the harmony in the environment no longer exist.