Aspects Of Organic Farming Research Articles

Reliance on Organic Farming Resulted in Food Crises in Sri Lanka: A Review

The organic agriculture approaches for the betterment of food security at a global position. It is a disputed subject for discussion. Although, there are several types of research on the different factors in different aspects of organic farming. Most of the given data come from the deep suffering crisis in Sri Lanka. How organic farming implemented in Sri Lanka and how it performed till now in the context of farmers having small holdings remains poorly understood. Additionally, we found that somehow organic agriculture is responsible for the crisis in Sri Lanka. The major challenges for the rapid collapse of Sri Lanka were limited capacity, lack of suitable inputs and market access. Organic farming gives the impression of being one of the center stages of the crises. Some commentators have blamed Sri Lanka’s decision to go organic as the root cause of this crisis. Additionally, the event was used to smear the regenerative agriculture movement.

Knowledge based assessment of trained certified farm advisors (CFA) on organic farming

An inter-organizational certificate course i.e. Certified Farm Advisor (CFA) in Organic Farming was jointly organized by National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad and ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut during 2019. The objective of this certificate course was to create a cadre of “Certified Farm Advisors” in appropriate technologies of organic farming and enable them to deliver effective “Technical Advisory Services” and thereby solving the field level problems faced by the organic farmers/entrepreneurs/startups or other related stakeholders. A 15 days CFA module II was organized at ICAR- Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut in two batches with 50 trainees from 15 different states and union territories. In the present study, the learning, knowledge and skill levels of the participants were analyzed. Multiple regression analysis showed that, gender, service experience and serving region significantly affected the learning ability of trainees. There was significant improvement in the knowledge and skill of trainees in various aspects of organic farming, viz. organic standards, certification and marketing network (study area A); technology package (study area B) and general knowledge (study area C). Based on the training effectiveness scores (TES), maximum improvement was observed with general knowledge of organic farming with 103.73% improvement. However, study area A and B exhibited 45.41% and 34.88% improvement, respectively. Further, the success of this inter-organizational training programme could serve as a model for streamlining HRD programmes on organic farming in the country.

Status, benefits and future prospects of organic farming in India: A review

Agriculture is still a major livelihood option for majority of population especially in developing counties. While addressing the global food demand, it should also be sustainable in nature in the sense that it should not directly or indirectly cause to depletion of natural resources and the ecosystem in general. Conventional farming is often based on excessive and unscientific use of chemical fertilizer, pesticide and insecticides. It is argued that conventional farming contributes to climate change, depleting fresh water resources, degrading soil fertility and polluting the environment. From this angle, organic farming is suggested as an alternative to conventional farming since its principles and philosophy are entirely different and it has an edge over conventional farming on various grounds. Considering the fact that organic agriculture covers only a small percentage of the net sworn area especially in the case of developing countries like India, whether organic agriculture is a better option to follow, is a pertinent question. In this context, this paper attempts to examine some of the major relevant literature (from year 2000 to 2021) on various aspects of organic farming like definition, principles, and proposed benefits (environmental, economic and social), present status in India, and its prospects.

Chemical and Biological Characteristics of Organic Amendments Produced from Selected Agro-Wastes with Potential for Sustaining Soil Health: A Laboratory Assessment

Sustaining soil health cannot be divorced from sustainable crop production. Organic, or natural, farming is being promoted as a good sustainable agriculture practice. One aspect of organic farming that could significantly enhance and sustain soil health, soil quality, and crop productivity is the use of high-quality soil conditioners or organic amendments produced from agro-wastes. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and biological properties of selected agro-wastes with potential for use as organic amendments in sustaining soil health. Standard procedures were used to produce and characterize the soil conditioners, namely fermented plant juice (FPJ), fermented fruit juice (FFJ), palm kernel shell (PKS) biochar, and kitchen waste (KW) compost. The fermented juices (FPJ and FFJ), PKS biochar, and KW compost exhibited chemical and biological properties with good potential as soil conditioners or organic amendments to sustain soil health. The fermented juices contained important microbes that can solubilize P and K in soil for crop use. The high pH and C content of the biochar and compost and the high cation exchange capacity of the biochar are good indicators of the potential of these materials to sustain soil health in terms of the liming effect of acid soils, nutrient and water retention, nutrient reserves, and a suitable habitat for microbial life. Moreover, the organic amendments contain reasonable amounts of macro- and micro-nutrients, which could be released to increase soil fertility. Despite these potential benefits, field application of these organic amendments is necessary to evaluate their effects on soil health and crop production in both the short and long term.

Compliance of small-scale Organic Tea Farmers with Organic Standards: A Study in Sri Lanka

Purpose: Authenticity of organic tea has been questioned recently due to some evidence of contaminated organic tea in the market. Although producers’ compliance with organic standards (OS) is a necessity to ensure the safety of organic tea and consumers’ trust, the lack of empirical studies has become a timely need to understand the authenticity of organic tea production systems. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the certified organic tea (COT) farmers’ compliance behaviour with OS using a study in Sri Lanka. Research Method: A cross-sectional field survey was conducted among 77 small-scale COT farmers in the Central and Uva provinces. These farmers were accessed through two coordinating organizations. Data was collected using interviews, structured questionnaires and observations and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings: Results show that higher profits and benefits from certificate holders are the main reasons to select COT farming than conventional tea farming. Generally, farmers perceive high discouragement violating OS and have mixed attitudes on different aspects of organic farming. Farmers’ compliance behaviour towards OS is not perfect and vary among OS due to various reasons, i.e. expected loss by being noncompliant, group farming, availability of support services, financial ability and awareness about hazardous contaminants. Effective quality assurance system and hazardous free neighbourhood potentially facilitate the farmers’ compliance behaviour. However, the unavailability of support services, lack of financial capacities, and farmers’ unawareness of contaminants during handling seem to hinder the compliance. Originality: Understanding the first step of COT production is novel and provide insights to implement needful actions by those who are concerned and responsible for the authenticity of COT production.

Performance of different Vermicomposts on yield and yield components of Mungbean {Vigna radiata L.) in major soils of Bundelkhand region, India

Sustainable agriculture is one in which the goal is permanence, achieved through the utilization of renewable resources. This leads to development of concept of organic natural farming. Vermicomposting is one of the important aspects of organic farming. Vermicompost plays a major role in improving growth and yield of different field crops, vegetables, flower and fruit crops. Present study was carried out in major soil group (black soil and red soil) of Bundelkhand region with addition of different vermicompost and their effects on performances of Vigna radiata L. GonA/th and yield parameters were measured 30 days and 60 days after sowing. Significant performances were found in cowdung based vermicompost in black soil in compare to red soil. The result of our experiment showed the application of vermicompost had significant positive effects on growth performances and yield of plant as compare to control

Soil Nutrient Status of Organic Farms in Flanders: An Overview and a Comparison with the Conventional Situation

ABSTRACT Organic farming is put forward as a sustainable alternative to the conventional way of farming. However, until now there has been practically no research on soil related aspects of organic farming in Flanders. Therefore, in this study, the carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus status of the fields on organic farms was measured and was related to characteristics of the farms involved (land use, soil texture, management intensity and time since conversion to organic farming) and was, where possible, compared with the general soil fertility status of agricultural soils in Flanders. The SOC (soil organic carbon) contents tended to be larger in the fields of the organic farms studied than in conventional farming. This content was correlated positively with the management intensity of the fields. However, some of the organic fields still had rather low SOC contents. To increase this content organic farmers will need to apply more organic materials with large C:N and C:P ratios taking into account the strict current manure legislation. The mineral N contents on the organic farms measured in the period between 1 October 2003 and 15 November 2003, indicating the risk of nitrate leaching, were well below the average values of the different land use classes of conventional agricultural soils in East Flanders. The available P content of the organic fields was high to very high as is also the case for conventional agriculture in East Flanders and was strongly related to the management intensity.

Ergonomics in Organic Farming

The main principle of organic agriculture is that it refrains from the use of fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. In a Swedish project the working environment in organic farming is evaluated. The mail-in survey shows that the positive aspects of organic farming involves that they do not have to handle pesticides or fertilizers as well as and a lot of satisfaction from working with the nature in a more natural way. Increased work load is the most common negative aspect of organic farming. Especially the weed control leads to more work, both manual and machine operated. The organic farming also leads to more labor input and some new job opportunities, mainly seasonal work. The need for further education, improved extension service and research in the organic farming is on the list of demands among the participants in the study. The future needs a new type of organic farming which involves and highlight the working conditions for farmers and farm workers at the same level of importance as the present concern for the external environment, the animal welfare and the food quality!