Delve Publishing Organic Agriculture Towards Sustainability

Organic agriculture has gained immense popularity in recent years due to the belief that it is safer and better for the environment and human health because it is inherently free of synthetic chemicals that are often harmful. Demand for organic food touched USD 81.6 billion in 2015 according to Organic Monitor, with the USA being the largest consumer of organic food products. Organic agriculture and consequently, organically cultivated animal and plant products are an important and increasingly profitable segment among food products that are sold at a premium, higher than prices for conventionally produced food. The well-heeled, highly-educated class of consumers that views itself as socially responsible and politically engaged is the largest consumer of organic food. The purchase and consumption of food labelled as 'Organic' is slowly but steadily becoming one of the means of ""inconspicuous consumption"" patterns that are helping the wealthy and the ""nouveau riche"" to distinguish itself from the rest of the society. The term 'organic agriculture' is sometimes synonymously used with 'sustainable agriculture'. Many universities across Europe and North America, have started graduate-level degree programs to teach organic/sustainable agricultural development. The author herself holds a Master's degree in Sustainable Agriculture Development - Food security for development. Organic farming and its potential for contributing in a sustainable manner (read without causing pollution) to food production has greatly won the interest of young college students across the world and this is seen as problematic by critics of organic farming. The increasing agricultural cultivation area under organic farming is subject to criticism. Critics and sceptics have rightly pointed out that farms managed organically have lower yields than those of conventional farms, are input and labour intensive and do not always help the farmer to earn profits. Organic food has also been found to be no better than conventionally produced food in terms of nutrients or organoleptic properties. The supporters and proponents of organic farming strongly argue in favour of the environmental and health benefits offered by organic farming and organic produce. There are studies to support both sides of the argument. Many books and manuals are available in the market (either free or at a cost) to help farmers adopt organic cultivation practices. These suggestions are more or less based on the same principles and have many methods in common with conventional agriculture. However, the inputs are always of a non-synthetic nature. The organic agriculture manuals and guidebooks are always tailored to match the agro-climactic and soil conditions of the target reader audience. The manuals have systematic instructions and methods w.r.t. soil fertility management, seed/plant material procurement for cultivation, weed control, pest and disease management, organic animal husbandry and storage of harvested produce. Farmers across the globe have had a mixed bag of results trying to implement organic agricultural practices recommended for their region. This book is an attempt to honestly evaluate the practical implementation of organic farming recommendations and to see their advantages and disadvantages. The author, as an enthusiastic, young rural development worker in India, had herself tried to promote organic sugar cane production among smallholder farmers. The results were very enlightening. The most important lesson learnt was that agricultural research and subsequently extension education efforts are logistically difficult to implement and are in fact, far removed from reality. The chapter on soil fertility management considers all the possible organic options for enhancing and maintaining soil fertility. The suggestions on the use of bulky and concentrated organic manures have been studied with the point of view of actually implementing these on the farm. Green manure crops and leguminous crops have also been studied for their use in improving soil N, P and K content along with the potential advantages and disadvantages of actually including them in a crop rotation cycle. Organic farms need to supply the correct amount of macro and micronutrients to their crops for optimum growth and input-substitution i.e. the use of a proportionate amount of manures to match N, P and K supplied by chemical fertilizers, is not the correct method. Input substitution can potentially lead to ground and surface water pollution due to leaching, just like in the case of excessive synthetic fertilizer use. It can cause a serious imbalance of macronutrients in the soil as decomposition of organic manure tends to reduce certain nutrients and makes others available in concentrated amounts in the soil solution. The book also discusses the logistical and financial difficulties involved in the procurement of extremely large volumes of organic fertilizers as mandated in many organic