Developments and strategies perspective for organic farming in India Prasad Kamta*, Gill M.S. Project Directorate for Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, 250 110. *Corresponding author: (E-mail: kprasad@pdcsr.ernet.in, kamta_pdcsr@rediffmail.com)
Abstract Organic agriculture is a production system that avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic compound fertilizers, pesticides, growth-regulators and livestock-feed additives, and thus offers some solutions to the problems currently besetting the agricultural sector of industrialized or green revolution countries. The broader aims of organic farming are: sustainability of natural resources, minimize the cost of cultivation, provide healthy food, augment farm profits and improve soil health. Although in the market place to provide clarity on the organic claim, the organic agriculture requires certification, but broadly any system using the methods of organic agriculture and being based on four basic principles (the principle of health, ecology, fairness and care) may be classified as organic agriculture. Presently organic farming is practised on 30.42 million ha land and global market of US $ 38.6 billion is expected to reach US $ 70 billion by 2012. Area under certified organic farming in India during 2006–07 exceeded 2.55 million ha, with a total production of 586,000 tonnes and it is estimated that at least an equivalent share in the country may be under non-certified organic systems. The total export of certified organic products was 195,000 tonnes, worth Rs 3,012 million. At present there are 16 accredited inspection and certification agencies. Despite several benefits of organic agriculture reported elsewhere, there are some apprehensions that need to be answered, and the Indian scientific community has to strive hard to provide answers to some of these questions through hard-core research in organic farming under tropical and subtropical environments that exit in the country. There is greater need to undertake basic and applied research on these aspects, for which more resources in the form of dedicated team of scientists, better lab facilities and working capital would be required. On the contrary, farmers are also reluctant to convert to organic production because of constraints in availability of adequate quantities of organic manures and other organic inputs in the local market, lack of complete knowledge about organic farming principles, practices and advantages, complex and costly procedures of certification and the risks of marketing of organic produce at premium rates in domestic markets. Strategies needed to promote organic faming in India include adequate research and extension support by the government, quantification of role of organic agriculture in improving the resource sustainability and in mitigating the climate change by the researchers, acknowledgement of organic agriculture as an effective mechanism to reduce greenhouse gases and sequester carbon, recognition of organic agriculture in Kyoto Protocol carbon credit mechanisms, organic market development, mission-mode programmes for on-farm demonstrations and capacity building of all stakeholders, with full research back-up and government support for cheaper access to organic certification of farms. Top Key words Organic farming, Natural resource sustainability, Soil health. Top |