Economic Benefits from Adoption of Organic Farming in India

Abstract

Organic farming is one amongthe broad spectrum of production methodsthat support environment. Even though organic farming is gaining popularity in several states, its feasibility needs to be studied. The study was undertaken in Maharashtra to address this. Primary data was collected from farmers in Nashik district for the agricultural year 2012–13. Tabular analysis, Logit regression, Garrett's ranking and Farm business analysis were employed to analyze the data. Although the adoption was good in all categories of farms, it was more prominent in the large farms compared to small and medium farmsin the study area. Further, education and livestock owned were the major factors affecting the adoption of organic farming. Although, the cost of tomato cultivation was higher, and the yield lower on organic farms than that of traditional farms, organic farming was found to be generating impressively higher returns in comparison to traditional farms. Non availability of labour, high transportation cost, lack of proper technical guidance, problem of certification andnon-availability of quality bio-inputs were found to be themajor constraints to adoption of organic farming. Organic farming can thus be considered as a suitable option for healthier soil, environment, enhancing quantity and quality of agricultural productivity and improving rural livelihoods. The efforts should be directed to enhance the adoption of organic farming by providing proper technical guidance and quality bio inputs at a nominal price, and to strengthen the forward linkages for stabilizing prices and enhancing the returns.