| | | Organic Farming

From WikiVerde

Over 6 billion humans occupy this planet today, and the number keeps growing with every passing hour. There is an increasing concern over the food security for this burgeoning population. Arable land density remains more or less constant. Though there may be efforts to improve the arability in waste lands, arid and semi arid tropics, this will be offset to some degree by urbanization of existing farm lands. The net addition to land capable of producing food grains and/or related products remains neutral, if not negative. The land mass remaining constant and the population growing exponentially, poses serious threats to the food security of the occupants of this earth.

Bio-Technology

A few decades ago, advocates of bio-technology claimed that the only solution to this problem is using genetically modified crops in agriculture. And, they have only become more vocal in expressing their thoughts in current times. But, this argument is perhaps biased towards the agri business industry, which according to some schools of thinking has lead the world to a near food disaster and is now looking for an escape route. Bio-technology seeks to improve productivity through vigorous use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. The threats arising from bio-technology are the loss of top soil, reliance on petrochemicals, and salinity of soil, none of which have a renewable character and are therefore not sustainable either.

Organic Farming – a Solution?

Another technological fix to solve the deficiencies of an earlier problem cannot be the right approach. Instead, we should be looking at solutions built on ecological and biological principles, and at the same time carry fewer environmental costs. Organic farming effectively can address both of these issues simultaneously. The United Nations has described the Organic System as “a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity."

What is Organic Farming?

An approach to agriculture aimed at creating integrated humane, economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural production systems can be called organic farming. It places large reliance on farm-derived and renewable resources that are locally available. In addition to ecological and biological processes of a self-regulating nature, it can provide nutrition to crops, humans and livestock, protection from diseases and pests, provide an appropriate return to utilizing other resources. External inputs – chemical or organic is largely avoided. In many European countries, organic agriculture is known as ecological agriculture. When we perceive the farm as an organism, where all the components – organic matter, the soil, minerals, micro-organism, plants, insects, animals and humans act in unison to create a stable and coherent whole, it stands to be the best definition for the term "organic."

Major Characteristics of Organic Farming:

• Protecting the long-term fertility of soils through careful mechanical intervention, maintaining organic matter levels, and encouraging biological activity in the soil.

• Indirect infusion of crop nutrients through relatively insoluble nutrient sources, which are conveyed to the plant by the action of soil micro organisms.

• Nitrogen self-sufficiency through recycling of organic materials like livestock manures and crop residues.

• Weed, pest, and disease control through natural predators, crop rotations, organic manuring etc.

• Extensive management of livestock.

• Careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the surrounding environs.

Organic Farming Vs. Conventional Farming

Recent studies have revealed that organic practices in farming can bring about a wide array of benefits through conversion to sustainable methods of agriculture. The study further states that organic farming shows promise in increasing food production ability.

Several studies have been conducted across the United States of America as well as Canada, and the majority of them have concluded that organic farming is not only sustainable, but can also impact the environment positively. In addition to this, the soil in the terrains where organic farming was undertaken benefited immensely in terms of microbial abundance and nitrogen mineralization. The nitrogen mineralization potential in organic farms was found to be thrice that found in the conventional farms. The growing concern is over toxic pesticides percolating right into the grains and from there to the human metabolism will also help the proponents of organic farming find themselves on the winning side. These pesticides have almost become omnipotent today, and even the so-called mineral water or the soft drinks that we gulp down in gallons everyday are not free from it. The ground water, which is the primary source of potable water for millions, too has not been spared. The theory that soil acts as a filter for all these contaminants has unfortunately been belied when we look at pesticides as one of the contaminants.

Support for Organic Farming

In the United States of America, in spite of the lack of support from the government the consumer demand for organic products has provided a 20% annual market growth. In a short space of time, the acreage under organic agriculture has nearly doubled. In the U. S. Agribusiness conglomerates would perhaps want to dismiss these as a flash in the pan. They also contend that the low yields in organic farming are too little to feed the growing world population. Be that as it may, several studies have shown that organic farming methods can in fact provide higher yields than the conventional methods. Given that, organic farming has the potential to push up the food production levels with the added advantage of preventing degradation of agricultural soil and increasing soil health and fertility, the advocates of conventional farming systems would find it all the more difficult to sustain their claims and theories. Organic farming has come to stay.

Conclusion

For a long time, the world has suffered from the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. Vegetables and fruits which are often times consumed without cooking carry uncomfortable levels of residual pesticides. Fortunately, for mankind, organic farming has come, and come to stay. The strongest advocates of agri conglomerates cannot wish it away. The consumer after all, is the king, and the king has learned his lessons.

Sources

http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/research/Organics/define.html

http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.html