Organic Farming Practices of Plains and Hills Farmers and Their Extent of Compliance with National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) Guidelines

Abstract

KEYWORDS NPOP Guidelines. Organic Farming Practices. Organic Farmers. Experience in Organic Farming ABSTRACT Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pest, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives and genetically modified or ganisms. Government of India has taken up various steps to promote or ganic agriculture. Under the National Program for Organic Production (NPOP), a range of standards have been evolved. These guidelines should be followed by the farmers during organic farming. The present research paper highlights the extent of compliance with NPOP guidelines by organic farmers in plains and hills regions of Uttarakhand. Further , the paper deals with relationship between farmer 's extent of compliance with NPOP guidelines during organic farming and their selected personal variables like age, education; family variables like land holding size, land under organic farming and socio-economic status; and situational variables like awareness and belief regarding organic farming and experience of farmers in organic farming.