ARTICLE ON USEFULNESS OF ORGANIC FARMING:

 ORGANIC  FARMING:

Organic farming is a production system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, genetically modified organisms and livestock food additives. To the maximum extent possible organic farming system rely upon crop rotations, use of crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, off farm organic wastes, biofertilizers, mechanical cultivation, mineral bearing rocks and aspects of biological control to maintain soil productivity and tilth to supply plant nutrients and to control insect, weeds and other pests.

Nutrient management in organic farming

In organic farming, it is important to constantly work to build a healthy soil that is rich in organic matter and has all the nutrients that the plants need. Several methods viz. green manuring, addition of manures and biofertilizers etc can be used to build up soil fertility. These organic sources not only add different nutrients to the soil but also help to prevent weeds and increase soil organic matter to feed soil microorganisms. Soil with high organic matter resists soil erosion, holds water better and thus requires less irrigation. Some natural minerals that are needed by the plants to grow and to improve the soil’s consistency can also be added. Soil amendments like lime are added to adjust the soil’s pH balance. However soil amendment and water should contain minimum heavy metals. Most of the organic fertilizers used are recycled by-products from other industries that would otherwise go to waste. Farmers also make compost from animal manures and mushroom compost. Before compost can be applied to the fields, it is heated and aged for at least two months, reaching and maintaining an internal temperature of 130°-140°F to kill unwanted bacteria and weed seeds. A number of organic fertilizers / amendments and bacterial and fungal biofertilizers can be used in organic farming depending upon availability and their suitability to crop. Different available organic inputs are described below:

1. Organic manures

Commonly available and applied farm yard manure (FYM) and vermicompost etc. are generally low in nutrient content, so high application rates are needed to meet crop nutrient requirements. However, in many developing countries including India, the availability of organic manures is not sufficient for crop requirements; partly due to its extensive use of cattle dung in energy production. Green manuring with Sesbania, cowpea, green gram etc are quiet effective to improve the organic matter content of soil. However, use of green manuring has declined in last few decades due to intensive cropping and socioeconomic reasons. Considering these constraints International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) and Codex Alimentarius have approved the use of some inorganic sources of plant nutrients like rock phosphate, basic slag, rock potash etc. in organic farming systems.

2. Bacterial and fungal biofertilizers

Contribution of biological fixation of nitrogen on surface of earth is the highest (67.3%) among all the sources of N fixation. Following bacterial and fungal biofertilizers can be used as a component of organic farming in different crops.

• Rhizobium : The effectiveness of symbiotic N2 fixing bacteria viz. Rhizobia for legume crops eg. Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Azorhizobium, and Mesorhizobium etc have been well recognized. These bacteria infecting legumes have a global distribution. These rhizobia have a N2-fixing capability up to 450 kg N ha–1 depending on host- plant species and bacterial strains. Carrier based inoculants can be coated on seeds for the introduction of bacterial strains into soil.
• Azotobacter: N2 fixing free-living bacteria can fix atmospheric nitrogen in cereal crops without any symbiosis. Such free living bacterias are: Azotobacter sp. for different cereal crops; Acetobacter diazotrophicus and Herbaspirillum spp. for sugarcane, sorghum and maize crop. Beside fixing nitrogen, they also increase germination and vigour in young plants leading to an improved crop stand. They can fix 15-20 kg/ha nitrogen per year. Azotobacter sp. also has ability to produce anti fungal compounds against many plant pathogens. Azotobacter can biologically control the nematode diseases of plants also.
• Azospirillum: The genus Azospirillum colonizes in a variety of annual and perennial plants. Studies indicate that Azospirillum can increase the growth of crops like sunflower, carrot, oak, sugarbeet, tomato, pepper, cotton, wheat and rice. The crop yield can increase from 5-30%. Inoculum of Azotobacter and Azospirillum can be produced and applied as in peat formulation through seed coating. The peat formulation can also be directly utilized in field applications.
• Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria : Various bacteria that promote plant growth are collectively called plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR are thought to improve plant growth by colonizing the root system and pre empting the establishment of suppressing deleterious rhizosphere microorganisms on the roots.
• 

  
  

Advantages of organic farming

1. It helps to maintain environment health by reducing the level of pollution.
2. It reduces human and animal health hazards by reducing the level of residues in the product.
3. It helps in keeping agricultural production at a sustainable level.
4. It reduces the cost of agricultural production and also improves the soil health.
5. It ensures optimum utilization of natural resources for short-term benefit and helps in conserving them for future generation.
6. It not only saves energy for both animal and machine, but also reduces risk of crop failure.
7. It improves the soil physical properties such as granulation, good tilth, good aeration, easy root penetration and improves water-holding capacity and reduces erosion.
8. It improves the soil’s chemical properties such as supply and retention of soil nutrients, reduces nutrient loss into water bodies and environment and promotes favorable chemical reactions

Conclusions

Organic farming yields more nutritious and safe food. The popularity of organic food is growing dramatically as consumer seeks the organic foods that are thought to be healthier and safer. Thus, organic food perhaps ensures food safety from farm to plate. The organic farming process is more eco-friendly than conventional farming. Organic farming keeps soil healthy and maintains environment integrity thereby, promoting the health of consumers. Moreover, the organic produce market is now the fastest growing market all over the world including India. Organic agriculture promotes the health of consumers of a nation, the ecological health of a nation, and the economic growth of a nation by income generation holistically. India, at present, is the world’s largest organic producers (Willer and Lernoud, 2019) and with this vision, we can conclude that encouraging organic farming in India can build a nutritionally, ecologically, and economically healthy nation in near future.