Organic Farming: The Need for the the Healthy & Prosperous nation

Here is the need of Organic Agricultural practices to boost the country's developing rate:

"The Era of Organic Agriculture 2019"

Nearly 70 million hectares of worlds farmland are organic.This figure was around 57.8 million hectares in the end of 2016 and 48.8 million hectare in 2014 according to the FiBL report. Now we can interpret from the above statistical data that the world is at the verge of organic culture. The globally increment in the organic farmland is about 10-15% every year. In this way ,this figure ensures that the countries are now understanding the need to establish the organic agri practices.

 The concepts for the organic agriculture were developed in the early 1900s by Sir Albert Howard, F.H. King, Rudolf Steiner and others.Sir Abert Howard has been called as the Father of modern organic agriculture. In 1943, he published an "Agricultural Testament" in which he described the importance of observing natural system as a guide for the maintenance of soil fertility in agricultural system. He introduced that many of the diseases in plants,animals or humans are caused by unhealthy soil and proper farming technique can make it healthy.

In late 20th century ,some Farmers started implementing the concept of organic farming in their fields. Somehow they have managed the desired inputs . Some of the farmers managed to produce the Farm yard manure on their own. It was the starting of the ORGANIC REVOLUTION. In 1999, their was about 11 million hectares of land contributed for this practice. Following the exponential curve this figure reached to almost 70 million hectares. 

Inspite of having so much benefits from the organic crop utilisation, this practice did not became popular among individuals & Farmers. Most of the farmers were unaware of this technique and they continued their traditional agricultural practice. And the farmers who were aware didn't adopt it due to unavailability of its inputs, unorganised marketing structure, low production rate & its higher cost than the conventional farming.

Why The Countries are Demanding Organic Farming :

By the starting of the 21st Century , peoples started realising about the benefits of Organic farming over conventional farming. It has several benefits as described below :

1.  Better Health of Soil : 

If the soil is treated with harmful pesticides and chemical Fertilisers,then it may looses its natural characteristics and it transfers only the artificial nutrients to the crops. Organic farming builds up organic soil matter better than conventional no-till farming.

2.  Better Health of Groundwater :

In many agricultural areas ,the harmful synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are added with the water which causes the polluted groundwater. But in case of organic agriculture, they are replaced by organic fertilizers (e.g. compost, animal manure, green manure) .

3.  More Nutritious and better Taste of Food : 

The Food from organic farms have better taste and more nutritious value like vitamins, minerals , Proteins and other micro-nutrients as compared to those from conventional farms. This is because organic farms are managed and nourished using sustainable practices. The Organic food have natural or original taste that can't be observed in inorganic food.Organic farmers always prioritize quality over quantity.

4.  Restriction from Genetically modified Organism : 

The GMO has an adverse affect to both the environment and food health. In the organic food production, the use of GMO is highly restricted. organic agriculture is taking the precautionary approach and choosing to encourage natural biodiversity.But in conventional farming the use of GMO are still there in many countries.

5.  Prevent Antibiotics ,Hormones in animal products :

The farm animals are fed foods loaded with chemicals and hormones. so the drugs  are directly transferred to meat and dairy products.These products are consumed by humans which causes a  lot of complications like genetic problems, cancer risks, growth of tumor and other complications at the outset of puberty.

Why Don't Every Farmer adopting the Organic Farming:

Their are several reasons of its slow growth over the planet. Their are some constraints which is giving limited access to the Farmers for adopting Organic practices in their fields. Let us discuss it.

1.  Less Production capacity : 

The organic farming has lesser yield as compared to conventional farming. And the farmers may suffer a loss due to its small productivity. So the small and Poor farmers can't even think of switching to the organic farming. It is currently operated by only rich farmers as they have sufficient money to invest on its inputs and proper marketing structure to sell their yields at higher prices.

2.  Improper Marketing structure :

Most of the market players intends to deal with the conventional farming produce only. They don't emphasizes on the organic ones. There is a lack of marketing and distribution network for them because the retailers are not interested to deal in these products, as the demand is low.

3.  Lack of awareness : 

Many of the Farmers are unaware of such practices , So they are following their same ancestrial trend of conventional farming. Those who have heard about it have improper knowledge to implement this technique of crop production.Their are lack of resources to train the farmers for adopting these practices.

4.  High input investment :

The costs of the organic inputs are higher than those of industrially produced chemical fertilizers and pesticides including other inputs used in the conventional farming system. So only the rich farmers manages to adopt it and after selling it to the unsuitable market, its cost increases and it becomes non affordable to many ones.

How can the Organic Food occupies the Platter of each individual : 

As the world population continues to grow with the global population predicted to hit 9.7 billion in 2050. The organic crop production must continue to be increased so as to fulfil the requirement.

1.  Overseas Trade of Organic foods 

The countries with more Organic produces than its consumption can trade it to its nearby countries until these countries developed the resources to fulfil the requirements of organic food in their piece of land.  As the world population continues to grow, Australia could capitalise on organic export markets, says Bond University sustainability professor Tor Hundloe.

2.  Government Schemes & Policies

In India, the government aims to switch most of its conventional farming to the organic farming . In 2015 , Govt launched PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana) in favour of it. In this scheme,Following cluster approach mode of farming, at least 50 farmers would form a group having 50 acres of land to implement organic farming. The government aims to cover 10,000 clusters and five lakh hectares of arable land under organic farming within three years.

3.  Regulated market setup

The problem of the improper marketing structure of organic yield can be eliminated by the setup of Regulated market which are controlled by the government . The entry and exit of players in the market and the price structure all are in the hand of government.In this way the merchant or vendor can't take excess of amount by making monopoly.

4.  Increase in the organic input production

Basically the primary requirement in organic farming is of Manure. These manures can be Farm yard manure, Compost, Vermi compost, Green manure. These manures are produced by natural methods by using Animal waste, plant waste, ash, neem leaves, water etc. Instead of the chemical fertiliser industries ,organic manure production should increase to ensure the sufficient availability of organic inputs for farmers who are willing to produce it. 

5.  Increasing Awareness among farmers

The government should run the campaigns and training camps to train and educate the farmers about this technique of farming.