Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture
Principles and practices
Organic farming is a production system that avoids synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and genetically modified organisms, and relies on organic manures, crop rotation, green manuring, biological nitrogen fixation and biological pest control. IFOAM's principles are health, ecology, fairness and care. Typical inputs are FYM, compost, vermicompost, green manures (dhaincha, sunhemp), oil cakes, bone meal, rock phosphate, biofertilizers (Rhizobium, Azotobacter, PSB, mycorrhiza) and biopesticides (Bt, neem, Trichoderma).
Certification and sustainability
In India, organic certification runs under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) and PGS-India, with a conversion period of about two to three years during which no prohibited inputs are used. Sustainable agriculture is broader: conservation tillage, residue retention, crop diversification, integrated nutrient and pest management, agroforestry and water harvesting. It aims to maintain yield and profit without depleting soil and water.
Worked example
A farmer wants to convert one hectare. A plan: apply 10 t FYM/ha, grow dhaincha as green manure before wheat, treat seed with Trichoderma and apply neem cake, rotate wheat with a pulse, register under PGS-India and keep records through the conversion period. Reasoning: 10 t FYM at 0.5% N supplies about 50 kg N, but only part is available in the first season, so the pulse rotation and biofertilizers must make up the difference; synthetic urea cannot be used during conversion.
Traps
Assuming organic means "no inputs" rather than substituting approved inputs; believing organic produce is automatically pesticide-free (contamination and drift occur); overlooking the conversion period; claiming organic yields always equal conventional yields; ignoring nutrient budgeting for phosphorus and potassium, which organic sources supply slowly.