Need for Organic Farming
With the increase in population our compulsion would be not only to stabilize agricultural production but to increase it further in sustainable manner.
It has been realized that the ‘Green Revolution’ with high input use has reached a plateau and is now sustained with diminishing return of falling dividends.
Thus, a natural balance needs to be maintained at all cost for existence of life and property.
Key charecteristics of Organic Farming
- Protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity and careful mechanical intervention.
- Providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms.
- Nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures.
- Weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical intervention.
- Careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats