scholarly journals Status, benefits and future prospects of organic farming in India: A review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-111
Author(s):  
N Karunakaran
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Pertinent Question ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Global Food

Agriculture is still a major livelihood option for majority of population especially in developing counties. While addressing the global food demand, it should also be sustainable in nature in the sense that it should not directly or indirectly cause to depletion of natural resources and the ecosystem in general. Conventional farming is often based on excessive and unscientific use of chemical fertilizer, pesticide and insecticides. It is argued that conventional farming contributes to climate change, depleting fresh water resources, degrading soil fertility and polluting the environment. From this angle, organic farming is suggested as an alternative to conventional farming since its principles and philosophy are entirely different and it has an edge over conventional farming on various grounds. Considering the fact that organic agriculture covers only a small percentage of the net sworn area especially in the case of developing countries like India, whether organic agriculture is a better option to follow, is a pertinent question. In this context, this paper attempts to examine some of the major relevant literature (from year 2000 to 2021) on various aspects of organic farming like definition, principles, and proposed benefits (environmental, economic and social), present status in India, and its prospects.

scholarly journals Can Organic Sources of Nutrients Increase Crop Yields to Meet Global Food Demand?

Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagadish Timsina
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Food Demand ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Chemical Fertilizers ◽  
Organic Nutrients ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Global Food

Meeting global demand of safe and healthy food for the ever-increasing population now and into the future is currently a crucial challenge. Increasing crop production by preserving environment and mitigating climate change should thus be the main goal of today’s agriculture. Conventional farming is characterized by use of high-yielding varieties, irrigation water, chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides to increase yields. However, due to either over- or misuse of chemical fertilizers or pesticides in many agro-ecosystems, such farming is often blamed for land degradation and environmental pollution and for adversely affecting the health of humans, plants, animals and aquatic ecosystems. Of all inputs required for increased agricultural production, nutrients are considered to be the most important ones. Organic farming, with use of organic sources of nutrients, is proposed as a sustainable strategy for producing safe, healthy and cheaper food and for restoring soil fertility and mitigating climate change. However, there are several myths and controversies surrounding the use of organic versus inorganic sources of nutrients. The objectives of this paper are: (i) to clarify some of the myths or misconceptions about organic versus inorganic sources of nutrients and (ii) to propose alternative solutions to increase on-farm biomass production for use as organic inputs for improving soil fertility and increasing crop yields. Common myths identified by this review include that organic materials/fertilizers can: (i) supply all required macro- and micro-nutrients for plants; (ii) improve physical, chemical and microbiological properties of soils; (iii) be applied universally on all soils; (iv) always produce quality products; (v) be cheaper and affordable; and (vi) build-up of large amount of soil organic matter. Other related myths are: “legumes can use entire amount of N2 fixed from atmosphere” and “bio-fertilizers increase nutrient content of soil.” Common myths regarding chemical fertilizers are that they: (i) are not easily available and affordable, (ii) degrade land, (iii) pollute environment and (iv) adversely affect health of humans, animals and agro-ecosystems. The review reveals that, except in some cases where higher yields (and higher profits) can be found from organic farming, their yields are generally 20–50% lower than that from conventional farming. The paper demonstrates that considering the current organic sources of nutrients in the developing countries, organic nutrients alone are not enough to increase crop yields to meet global food demand and that nutrients from inorganic and organic sources should preferably be applied at 75:25 ratio. The review identifies a new and alternative concept of Evergreen Agriculture (an extension of Agroforestry System), which has potential to supply organic nutrients in much higher amounts, improve on-farm soil fertility and meet nutrient demand of high-yielding crops, sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, provide fodder for livestock and fuelwood for farmers and has potential to meet global food demand. Evergreen Agriculture has been widely adapted by tens of millions of farmers in several African countries and the review proposes for evaluation and scaling-up of such technology in Asian and Latin American countries too.

scholarly journals Is Current Research on How Climate Change Impacts Global Food Security Really Objective?

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2342
Author(s):  
Wangang Liu ◽  
Yiping Chen ◽  
Xinhua He ◽  
Ping Mao ◽  
Hanwen Tian
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Hotspot Analysis ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Food

Global food insecurity is becoming more severe under the threat of rising global carbon dioxide concentrations, increasing population, and shrinking farmlands and their degeneration. We acquired the ISI Web of Science platform for over 31 years (1988–2018) to review the research on how climate change impacts global food security, and then performed cluster analysis and research hotspot analysis with VosViewer software. We found there were two drawbacks that exist in the current research. Firstly, current field research data were defective because they were collected from various facilities and were hard to integrate. The other drawback is the representativeness of field research site selection as most studies were carried out in developed countries and very few in developing countries. Therefore, more attention should be paid to developing countries, especially some African and Asian countries. At the same time, new modified mathematical models should be utilized to process and integrate the data from various facilities and regions. Finally, we suggested that governments and organizations across the world should be united to wrestle with the impact of climate change on food security.

Partnership of Rural Tourism and Organic Farming to Achieve Goals of Green Economy

2018 ◽  
pp. 210-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Predrag Vuković ◽  
Svetlana Milorad Roljević-Nikolić
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Rural Tourism ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Logical Sequence ◽  
Balance Of Interests ◽  
Global Food

Practice has shown that the best results in solving problems that burden rural areas give mechanisms which coordinate development of agriculture with other economic activities on the principles of sustainable development. Partnership in the development of rural tourism and organic agriculture represent a logical sequence of things. People today are aware of the complex problem of burdening the global food chain and natural resources with the remains of persistent pesticides, nitrates, and the worsening of organoleptic properties and nutrient-like food. The concept of organic farming insists on the natural balance of interests. For this reason, tourists who come to the rural areas expect that they will be able to consume organically produced healthy food. The chapter analyzes the concept of rural tourism and organic farming, their dynamic development in the world and in Serbia. It points out the importance of its connectivity to eliminate existing negative trends which burden life in rural areas and possibilities to implement the goals of the green economy.

6. Organic and Conventional Agriculture: Assessing Synergies Between Agricultural Approaches

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Kim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Food Crisis ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Canadian Perspective ◽  
Organic And Conventional Farming ◽  
Global Food ◽  
Global Food Crisis

Organic agriculture (OA) and conventional agriculture (CA) represent two polar approaches to farming, both of which hold their own challenges and implications with the impending global food crisis. One of Canada’s major exports include crops, and yet globalization coupled with climate change present pressing agricultural issues leading us to ask how our farming methods will adapt to feed the world’s burgeoning population. An approach to finding a solution can come from setting aside the principles and biases defining organic and conventional farming to find a combinatory approach to farming, assuming that they are not so dichotomous they can be combined. A survey of three major Canadian crops (wheat, corn, canola) and agricultural variables relevant to food production and climate change (crop yield, emissions, energy usage, and application of fertilizer) in OA and GA will lay out a spectrum upon which an optimized combined approach to farming can be sought. Ultimately, this project aims to reconcile OA and GA farming practices in the best interests of human well-being and the environment when considering the predicted global food crisis from a Canadian perspective.

scholarly journals Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva-Marie Meemken ◽  
Matin Qaim
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Knowledge Requirements ◽  
Global Agriculture

Organic agriculture is often perceived as more sustainable than conventional farming. We review the literature on this topic from a global perspective. In terms of environmental and climate change effects, organic farming is less polluting than conventional farming when measured per unit of land but not when measured per unit of output. Organic farming, which currently accounts for only 1% of global agricultural land, is lower yielding on average. Due to higher knowledge requirements, observed yield gaps might further increase if a larger number of farmers would switch to organic practices. Widespread upscaling of organic agriculture would cause additional loss of natural habitats and also entail output price increases, making food less affordable for poor consumers in developing countries. Organic farming is not the paradigm for sustainable agriculture and food security, but smart combinations of organic and conventional methods could contribute toward sustainable productivity increases in global agriculture.

scholarly journals Performance of organic farming in developing countries: a case of organic tomato value chain in Lebanon

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Gumataw Kifle Abebe ◽  
Andrew Traboulsi ◽  
Mirella Aoun
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Third Party

The future of food value chains has increasingly been reliant on the wider adoption of sustainable farming practices that include organic agriculture. Organic farming in developed countries is standardized and occupies a niche in agro-food systems. However, such a standard model, when transferred to developing countries, faces difficulty in implementation. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting the expansion of organic agriculture in Lebanon, a Middle Eastern context, and analyzes the economic performance of organic tomato among smallholder farmers. Accordingly, the study was able to determine the production costs, map the organic value chain and assess the profitability of organic tomato by comparing it with the conventional tomato in the same value chain. The study finds organic farming being increasingly expensive primarily due to the inherently high cost of production in Lebanon and the inefficient organization of the organic value chain. As a result, we suggest a blended approach of organic farming with other models, in particular agro-tourism, as a local solution to the sustainability of organic farming in developing countries with limited resources (land and labor) and characterized by long marketing channels. In countries such as Lebanon, a country endowed with rich cultural heritage and natural and beautiful landscapes, the agro-tourism model can harness organic farming and tourism activities. We also propose the adoption of local collective guarantee systems for organic production as a way to alleviate the costs of third-party auditing in Lebanon.

Adaptability to organic farming of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) varieties developed from conventional breeding programmes

2010 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. VLACHOSTERGIOS ◽  
A. S. LITHOURGIDIS ◽  
D. G. ROUPAKIAS
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Lens Culinaris ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Organic System ◽  
Conventional Breeding ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
Organic Farming Systems

SUMMARYThe development of organic agriculture has raised the demand for crop varieties well-adapted to organic farming systems. Most of the varieties presently cultivated in organic agriculture were developed from conventional breeding programmes. The objective of the present work was to study the adaptability to organic farming systems of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) varieties developed from conventional breeding programmes. Twenty varieties were evaluated over five environments under organic and conventional farming systems from 2005 to 2007. Genotype×system interactions (GSI) for grain yield were significantly different in four out of the five environments and GSI explained 0·03–0·17 of the variance. Spearman's rank correlation index of the 20 varieties between the conventional and organic system ranged from 0·27 to 0·93 in the five environments. Direct selection of the top five varieties in organic systems resulted in significantly higher grain yields than indirect selection in one out of the five environments. However, among the top five varieties, the highest yielding varieties under conventional farming systems were not always the highest yielding varieties under organic farming systems. These results indicate that the demands of organic agriculture for yield performance could be only partially satisfied by varieties developed under conventional breeding programmes.

scholarly journals In the Era of Climate Change: Moving Beyond Conventional Agriculture in Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Suyeon Lee ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Cooperatives ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
The Government

Thailand is ranked among the top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change, and its farmers have faced the risk of natural disasters almost every year for nearly 30 years. However, those affected by climate change have also been the largest contributors to climate change, increasing the risks they will face in the near future. The intensive use of chemical pesticides in conventional agriculture has harmed not only the environment and biodiversity but health of both users and consumers. Responding to these problems, several policies have been put in place over the past decades to reduce pesticide usage as well as to encourage farmers to switch to low-carbon and low-pesticide agriculture, namely, organic agriculture. This study reviews policies related to the development of organic agriculture in Thailand and examines whether organic agriculture is an effective adaptation and mitigation strategy to climate change that can also generate enough food. This study finds that the organic sector has been largely driven by the private sector, particularly the agricultural cooperatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which have provided various support ranging from technology transfer, production, financing, distribution, to marketing of organic products. Their role is vital in encouraging farmers to switch to organic farming and growing market opportunities for organic goods. Nevertheless, constraints including inconsistent policies and limited support from the government remain, which, to some extent, weakens the efforts to build sustainable agriculture and climate resilience. To improve organic farming, there is a need for the government agencies to work together with all relevant stakeholders in the organic sector, namely agricultural cooperatives, NGOs, and consumers.

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