Note: This is a guest article by Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth. Dr Kainth is the Hon. Director of GAD Institute of Development Studies, India and can be contacted at the following address:
14 Preet Avenue, Majitha Road
PO. Naushera, Amritsar-143 008, Punjab, India

Organic farming is an age old practice in India which got disturbed during First Generation Green Revolution. Organic manure has been practiced in Indian agriculture since the Vedic period. Sir Albert Howard, a British Agronomist, however, started the organic agriculture way back in 1900.

In organic farming, farm is viewed as an economy. It is a way of farming which excludes the use of off-farm inputs such as chemical fertilizer, pesticides, insecticides etc and is primarily based on the principle: use of natural organic inputs and biological plant protection measures. Properly managed organic farming reduces or eliminates water pollution and helps conserve water and soil on the farm thereby enhances sustainability and agro-biodiversity. Indian farmers have an inherent understanding of how to work closely with the nature, because only 30 per cent of India’s total cultivable area is covered with fertilizers because of assured irrigation and the balance 70 per cent of arable land is mainly rain-fed with little or zero use of fertilizer. It isn’t a profit oriented but social-profit oriented. Commitment to nature protection is a pre-requisite to organic farming. India has comparative advantage over many other countries because of the vast cultivated area, which has remained free of contamination from chemicals, spread over distinctly varying agro climatic conditions, for example, large area in north-east region, northern hills and rain fed regions with very low or zero use of agro chemicals, can be instantly converted to organic farming. Farmers in these areas often use organic manure as a source of nutrients that are readily available either in their own farm or in their locality.

Organic farming is based upon an integrated relationship among soil, minerals, water, plants, micro flora, insects, animals and human beings. It creates productive landscapes and successfully reconciles food production and environmental conservation. Organic management relies on local human resources and knowledge to enhance natural resource processes, respecting ecological carrying capacities. By reducing dependence on off-farm inputs and creating more balanced nutrient and energy flows, ecosystem resilience is strengthened, food security is increased and additional income are generated. Organic farming responds positively to all sustainable agriculture and rural development objectives and helps in maintaining soil fertility to improve crop production and socio-economic conditions of the farmers. One of the biggest rewards of organic farming is healthy soil that is alive with beneficial organisms. These healthy microbes, fungi and bacteria keep the harmful bacteria and fungi that cause diseases in check. Organic farmers, working with nature, build soil that protects their crops from diseases. They also try to be diligent about crop rotation. They do not plant the same crop in the same location repeatedly, which encourages the build-up of diseases and pests that plague that particular crop.

Excessive application of pesticides and fertilizers has caused damage to the soil and environment besides affecting crop production. The consumption of pesticides and fertilizer over the period of time has increased substantially. Pesticides residue is the second largest agent causing cancer, next to cigarettes. Besides, the pesticides and fertilizers residuals that persist in the soil are harmful to the beneficial soil micro organism and earthworms thereby resulting in degradation of soil fertility. Fertilizers have a short term positive effect on productivity but a long term negative effect on the environment where they remain for years after leaching and running off, contaminating ground water and water bodies. In the name of growing more to feed the earth, we have taken the wrong path to sustainability. The effects have already been noticed: farmers committing suicide in growing numbers every passing year. Another negative effect of this trend has been on the fortunes of the farming communities’ around the globe. Despite the so-called increase in productivity, farmers practically every where around the globe have seen downtimes in their fortunes. Pesticides residue controversies in the recent past in the bottled drinking water as well in the aerated beverages in India hardly come as a surprise. Pesticides, a non-bio-degradable but highly toxic, find their ways into ground water and water bodies contaminating them and rendering them unfit for human consumption. Pesticides go into the water in the first place only because of the practiced agricultural system. The pesticides problem compounded in India because many pesticides banned abroad are manufactured/ dumped and sold freely in India.

Organic in agriculture is a labeling term that denotes products have been produced in accordance with certain standards during food production, handling, processing and marketing stages, and certified by a duly constituted certification authority or body. The certification of organic farms is required to satisfy the consumers that the product is totally organic. Certification agency conducts the inspection that minimum requirements prescribed for organic agriculture is fully met and issues certificates. The formation of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) in 1972 gave an international framework for the discussion and codification of internationally recognized principles of organic farming. FAO-WHO has officially declared that International guidelines on organically produced food products should be considered important for consumer protection and information as they facilitate trade. The Codex Alimentarious Commission, a joint FAO-WHO food standards programme, body that sets international food standards, started to develop guidelines for the production, processing, labeling and marketing of organically produced food in 1991. The Codex guidelines are important for equivalent judgments under the rule of World Trade Organization (WTO). The Codex Alimentarious Commission defines organic agriculture as a holistic food production management system, which promotes and enhances agro ecosystem health including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of management practices in preference to the use of farm inputs, taking into account that regional conditions require locally adapted systems. But the commercial organic farming in India is still at a nascent stage. According to IFOAM - SOEL (Stiftung Oekologie & Landbau) survey of February 2005, India has about 76,326 hectare of land under organic management managed by about 5147 certified organic farms, which is only 0.05 per cent of total agricultural land. According to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a nodal agency involved in promoting Indian organic agriculture, about 67292 tons of organic products worth of Rs 7123 lakhs are being exported from India. According to APEDA, India has 2508 thousand of hectare area under organic farming including herbs collections from the forest area of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (2432500 hectare) producing 119656 tons of organic products, 165700 numbers of seedlings and cuttings and 264000 litres of effective micro organism. The Indian organic farming industry is estimated at US $ 20 millions and is almost entirely export oriented. But there are a number of farms in India which have either never been chemically managed/ cultivated or has converted back to organic farming because of their farmers’ beliefs or purely for reason of economics. These thousands of farmers cultivating hundreds of thousands of acres of land are not classified as organic though they are. Their produce either sells in the open market along with conventionally grown produce at the same price or sells purely on goodwill and trust as organic through selected outlets and regular specialist bazaars. These farmers may never opt for certification because of the costs involved as well as the extensive documentation that is required by certifiers.

Can organic farming feed the world isn’t a question. The real question is: Can we feed the world better? Organic farming yields other benefits in which the external costs of organic farming-erosion, chemical pollution to drinking water and death of birds are one third of the conventional farming. There is another argument which is relevant to India. Because organic farming does not depend on extensive inputs, it might help shift the balance towards smaller farmers. The organically produced food items are superior in quality aspects as compared to synthetic chemicals. They are good in taste, flavor, and essential nutrients and at the same time, they are free from harmful or toxic chemicals. The use of pesticides has led to high levels of chemicals in the soil, water, air and even our bodies. Fertilizers have a short term effect on productivity but a long term negative effect on the environment contaminating water bodies. In fact organic farming is another revolution emerging as Viable Alternative of Farming. It has the potential to transform agriculture as the main tool for nature conservation. Large scale shift to organic farming would bring better results and not reduce the supply of food gains which is the apprehension among few scientists. Indian farmers and the traders can exploit the huge demand, both the domestic as well as global market for organic products.

To promote and develop the Indian organic movement and to maintain its quality system at par with the international standard as to receive reciprocal approval from other countries, a National Programme of Organic Production (NPOP) has been launched which provides an institutional mechanism for the improvement of National Standards for organic products through a National Accreditation Policy and Programmes. In order to provide reorganization to organic products destined for export to the US, APEDA on the behalf of Ministry of Commerce (MOC) had initiated a process of equivalence of Indian Standard under NPOP with US standards since May 2002. Recently, USAD has agreed to recognize our accreditation system and the certificate of organic agricultural product by certification bodies accredited under NPOP for import of organic product into US with effect from February 16, 2006. USAD has accepted affixing the Indian Organic seal along with USAD organic seal on Indian products as well as certificate. This will help the exporter by reducing the cost of certification which they have to pay to the international agencies. Indian Organic seal is thus going to gain popularity. Indian farmers and traders can exploit the huge domestic as well as international market for organic products because eating organic foods help reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

Source: http://www.organicfacts.net/