scholarly journals IS ORGANIC FARMING -UNDER CURRENT SATUS- A PROFITABLE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL FARMING GROWERS IN MENOFIA GOVERNORATE? هل یمکن أن تکون الزراعة العضویة ( فى الوضع الراهن) بدیل مربح للزراعة التقلیدیة فى محافظة المنوفیة؟

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-891
Author(s):  
أحمد الخولى
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthikeyan Mariappan ◽  
Deyi Zhou

Agriculture is the main sources of income for humans. Likewise, agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. In India, Tamil Nadu regional state has a wide range of possibilities to produce all varieties of organic products due to its diverse agro-climatic condition. This research aimed to identify the economics and efficiency of organic farming, and the possibilities to reduce farmers’ suicides in the Tamil Nadu region through the organic agriculture concept. The emphasis was on farmers, producers, researchers, and marketers entering the sustainable economy through organic farming by reducing input cost and high profit in cultivation. A survey was conducted to gather data. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been used to test the hypothesis regards the cost and profit of rice production. The results showed that there was a significant difference in profitability between organic and conventional farming methods. It is very transparent that organic farming is the leading concept of sustainable agricultural development with better organic manures that can improve soil fertility, better yield, less input cost and better return than conventional farming. The study suggests that by reducing the cost of cultivation and get a marginal return through organic farming method to poor and small scale farmers will reduce socio-economic problems such as farmers’ suicides in the future of Indian agriculture.


Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagadish Timsina

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.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9732
Author(s):  
Sigisfredo Garnica ◽  
Ronja Rosenstein ◽  
Max Emil Schön

Understanding the impacts of agricultural practices on belowground fungal communities is crucial in order to preserve biological diversity in agricultural soils and enhance their role in agroecosystem functioning. Although fungal communities are widely distributed, relatively few studies have correlated agricultural production practices. We investigated the diversity, composition and ecological functionality of fungal communities in roots of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) growing in conventional and organic farming systems. Direct and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications spanning the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA from pooled fine root samples were performed with two different sets of fungal specific primers. Fungal identification was carried out through similarity searches against validated reference sequences (RefSeq). The R package ‘picante’ and FUNGuild were used to analyse fungal community composition and trophic mode, respectively. Either by direct or cloning sequencing, 130 complete ITS sequences were clustered into 39 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (25 singletons), belonging to the Ascomycota (24), the Basidiomycota (14) and to the Glomeromycota (1). Fungal communities from conventional farming sites are phylogenetically more related than expected by chance. Constrained ordination analysis identified total N, total S and Pcal that had a significant effect on the OTU’s abundance and distribution, and a further correlation with the diversity of the co-occurring vegetation could be hypothesised. The functional predictions based on FUNGuild suggested that conventional farming increased the presence of plant pathogenic fungi compared with organic farming. Based on diversity, OTU distribution, nutrition mode and the significant phylogenetic clustering of fungal communities, this study shows that fungal communities differ across sampling sites, depending on agricultural practices. Although it is not fully clear which factors determine the fungal communities, our findings suggest that organic farming systems have a positive effect on fungal communities in winter wheat crops.


Author(s):  
Armands Veveris ◽  
◽  
Armands Puzulis ◽  

Organic farming is experiencing rather rapid development in Europe, including in Latvia. This could be rated from different aspects. The purpose of this article is to assess the economic indicators of the development of organic farming, linking them to conclusions stated in various studies in Latvia and other countries on the diverse economic, social and environmental impact of this type of farming, as well as potential problems. So, theoretical and empirical approaches are combined in this article. The different problems we can state as outcome of the research. The farms concentrate in areas with less favourable conditions for conventional farming. Also, large continuous areas under organic farming often leads to low production value per hectare and do not reach social goals.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Juroszek ◽  
Hsing-Hua Tsai

Organic production is considered by many researchers to be a viable alternative to conventional farming systems. Equivalent yields already have been demonstrated in several studies. The major objective of our study was to collect data on total and marketable fruit yields of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) under organic farming conditions in the tropics. Experiments were conducted during the hot-wet season from 7 Mar. 2007 to 30 July 2007 and during the cool-dry season from 27 Nov. 2007 to 7 Apr. 2008. The six experimental entries included four commercial F1 hybrids and two genotypes bred at AVRDC–The World Vegetable Center (Shanhua, Taiwan). During the hot-wet season, high total (44.6–55.7 t·ha−1) and marketable yields (36.9–45.6 t·ha−1) were achieved under organic farming conditions in the open field similar to yields of conventionally produced sweet pepper in previous field experiments at AVRDC. The total yield of the commercial cultivars Queen Star and Hercules exceeded 50 t·ha−1; however, this was not significantly different compared with the other trial entries. During the cool-dry season, the total (25.4–45.7 t·ha−1) and marketable yields (21.1–37.8 t·ha−1) of all trial entries were reduced, probably because the relatively late planting date in November and relatively low air temperature resulted in reduced fruit set. The commercial cultivars Andalus and Green Bell Improved realized in both seasons a total fruit yield of more than 40.0 t·ha−1, suggesting that these can be grown successfully in hot-wet and cool-dry seasons. The relatively high yields of sweet pepper achieved on-station under tropical climatic conditions may encourage farmers and agricultural stakeholders to consider organic farming approaches as a viable alternative to conventional farming systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Vaniamon Wira Yasyak ◽  
Suhatmini Hardyastuti ◽  
Slamet Hartono

Organic farming has attracted increasing attention in recent decades. Many believe this is necessary to maintain agricultural production while addressing environmental damages caused by conventional farming methods. However, the adoption of organic vegetable farming in Indonesia is still fairly slow. The fact that only a small number of farmers adopt organic farming begs explanation. Studies have shown that intention determines human behaviors. The problem is that intention to choose organic farming does not always manifest in behavior. To address this problem it is helpful to consider three factors affect how intention manifest in behavior, namely attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control. Based on in the case study on the central vegetable farming area of Kopeng village where conventional farming is still dominant, this paper analyzes the intention organic farmers in the light of the theory of planned behavior. Applying the SEM-PLS model of analysis, it identifies the key-driver organic farmers. This study found that farmers’ positive attitude toward organic farming is not the main drive in their shift from non-organic to organic farming. Rather than subjective norms, behavior control has the greater influence on the farmers’ choice to adopt organic vegetable farming. Famers view organic agriculture positively; but  the main obstacle is the access to information about organics, certification capabilities and other aspects of behavioral control  which make adoption rate for organic vegetable farming is still low. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
Ivelina Nikolova ◽  
Natalia Georgieva

Four systems of organic farming and a conventional farming system were studied over the period 2012-2014. The organic system trial variants included: I - an organic farming system without any biological products used (growth under natural soil fertility) - Control; II - an organic farming system involving the use of a biological foliar fertilizer and a biological plant growth regulator (Polyversum+Biofa); III - an organic farming system in which a biological insecticide (NeemAzal T/S) was used; IV - an organic farming system including a combination of three organic products: the foliar fertilizer, the plant growth regulator and the bioinsecticide (Polyversum+Biofa+NeemAzal T/S). Variant V represented a conventional farming system in which synthetic products were used in combination (foliar fertilizer, plant growth regulator and insecticide: Masterblend+Flordimex 420+Nurelle D). Treatment of vetch plants with the biological insecticide NeemAzal in combination with Biofa and Polyversum resulted in the lowest density of sucking pests, compared to all other organic farming methods tested (i.e. without NeemAzal, with NeemAzal alone, and its combination with Biofa and Polyversum). The greatest reduction in pest numbers during the vegetation period in that variant was observed in species of the order Thysanoptera (36.0-41.4%), followed by Hemiptera, and the families Aphididae (31.6-40.3%) and Cicadellidae (27.3-28.6%). This combination showed an efficient synergistic interaction and an increase in biological efficacy as compared to individual application of NeemAzal. The highest toxic impact was found against Thrips tabaci, followed by Acyrthosiphon pisum. An analysis of variance regarding the efficacy against the species A. pisum, E. pteridis and T. tabaci showed that type of treatment had the most dominant influence and statistically significant impact.


Author(s):  
Jaroslav Jánský ◽  
Jiří Pospíšil

The paper presents economic analysis of growing of legume-cereal intercropping in conditions of organic farming. Results of the analysis are based on data monitoring in chosen organic farms that grow LCI. In the paper there is also compared economic efficiency of LCI grown in organic and conventional farming system. Methodological solution results from costingness and earnings monitoring of LCI production in five chosen organic farms in the period 2007–2008.When evaluating costs existing in individual variants of LCI growing it is necessary to say that the selection of individual machines and machine aggregations represents the most important factor of influencing direct costs, namely with regard to the size of organic farms and to the area of individual field blocks. Under conditions of organic farms, the LCI production is also significantly influenced also by agrotechnical (tillage) operations. As compared with conventional farms, the final yield of both green fodder and grain is lower by 14–38%. Total direct costs per hectare of harvested LCI acreage ranged in case of fodder production from 9.249 CZK to 11.620 CZK per hectare. In case of grain production, the corresponding costs ranged from 8.848 to 9.970 CZK per hectare. In case of LCI, the direct costs of organic farms per unit of production of both fodder and grain consist mainly of material costs, which represent 63–76% and 61–68% of total expenses associated with production of fodder and grain, respectively. These direct costs are influenced also by higher prices of inputs.


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