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ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRINCIPLES SCOPE AND CHALLENGES

Chapter One

Introduction

Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives
for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity
while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics,
synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones"..
Organic agriculture is one among the broad spectrum of production methods
that are supportive of the environment. Agriculture remains the key sector for
the economic development for most developing countries. It is critically
important for ensuring food security, alleviating poverty and conserving the
vital natural resources that the world’s present and future generations will be
entirely dependent upon for their survival and well-being. The world
populations will inevitably double by the middle of the twenty-first century, that
we are soon to enter, that is in the space of just two generations. Over 90% of
the developing nations, especially in Asia and to an ever greater extent will be
in the urban areas which follow up the green revolution strategy (Rothschild
1998).
Organic farming is beneficial for natural resources and the environment.
Organic farming is a system that favors maximum use of organic materials and
microbial fertilizers to improve soil health and to increase yield. Organic
farming has a long history but show a recent and rapid rise.

Organic gardening basic tenets are feeding the soil though decaying organic
matter and utilizing natural cycles and predators for disease and pest control.

Organic horticulture (or organic gardening) is based on knowledge and

techniques gathered over thousands of years. In general terms, organic
horticulture involves natural processes, often taking place over extended periods

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of time, and a sustainable, holistic approach - while chemical-based horticulture

focuses on immediate, isolated effects and reductionist strategies.

Organic horticulture also know as organic gardening is the science and art of
growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the
essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest
management, and heirloom variety preservation.

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Chapter Two

Organic Agriculture: Principles, Scope and Challenges

Organic production is a holistic system designed to optimize the productivity

and fitness of diverse communities within the agro-ecosystem, including soil
organisms, plants, livestock and people. The principal goal of organic
production is to develop enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with
the environment.

The key characteristics of organic farming include

 Protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter

levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical
intervention
 Providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient
sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-
organisms
 Nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological
nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials
including crop residues and livestock manures
 Weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations,
natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and
limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical
intervention
 The extensive management of livestock, paying full regard to their
evolutionary adaptations, behavioural needs and animal welfare issues
with respect to nutrition, housing, health, breeding and rearing
 Careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider
environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats

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Basic Principles of Organic Agriculture:

The essential principle of organic growing is stewardship of the soil, basically

managing the soil in an organic manner ensures that the soil quality is
maintained and enhanced for future generations.

The general principles of organic production, from the Canadian Organic

Standards (2006), include the following:

 protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease

pollution, optimize biological productivity and promote a sound state of
health
 maintain long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological
activity within the soil
 maintain biological diversity within the system
 recycle materials and resources to the greatest extent possible within the
enterprise
 provide attentive care that promotes the health and meets the behavioural
needs of livestock
 prepare organic products, emphasizing careful processing, and handling
methods in order to maintain the organic integrity and vital qualities of
the products at all stages of production
 rely on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems

Organic farming promotes the use of crop rotations and cover crops, and
encourages balanced host/predator relationships. Organic residues and nutrients
produced on the farm are recycled back to the soil. Cover crops and composted
manure are used to maintain soil organic matter and fertility. Preventative insect

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and disease control methods are practiced, including crop rotation, improved
genetics and resistant varieties.

Chapter Three

Scope of Organic Agriculture

Organic farming has attracted considerable attention from those who see it as a
panacea to those who see it as ideological nonsense. A more humble
responsibility for the organic movement may be to serve as role model for a
farming system in which values other than financial are cultivated. Organic
farming asks how we ought to relate to each other andour natural environment.
The values of the organic movement are not esoteric, but are based on
observation and common sense: treat livestock well, use resources sparingly,
use the least harmful method, nature is inherently valuable and so on. Food
security depends upon personal relationships of integrity and trust among
farmers, farm workers, suppliers, consumers and others up and down the
agricultural supply chain, and integrity and trust have been fundamental to
organic agriculture’s success.
There are many other role models across the spectrum of agricultural systems,
such as conservation tillage, permaculture and traditional farming systems, but
organic farming has emerged as one of the best known alternative farming
systems developed in response to the shortcomings of mainstream agriculture.
Many of the key benefits and opportunities for organic agriculture are suitable
areas for the organic movement to show leadership and innovation, including
assurance and auditing procedures, rural and regional development and low cost
agricultural systems relying on biological and ecological processes.

Scope of Organic Farming

 Protecting soil quality using organic material and encouraging biological

activity
 Indirect provision of crop nutrients using soil microorganisms
 Nitrogen fixation in soils using legumes
 Weed and pest control based on methods like crop rotation, biological
diversity, natural predators, organic manures and suitable chemical,
thermal and biological intervention

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 Rearing of livestock, taking care of housing, nutrition, health, rearing and

breeding
 Care for the larger environment and conservation of natural habitats and
wild life

Four Principles of Organic Farming

 Principle of Health: Organic agriculture must contribute to the health

and well being of soil, plants, animals, humans and the earth. It is the
sustenance of mental, physical, ecological and social well being. For
instance, it provides pollution and chemical free, nutritious food items for
humans.
 Principle of Fairness: Fairness is evident in maintaining equity and
justice of the shared planet both among humans and other living beings.
Organic farming provides good quality of life and helps in reducing
poverty. Natural resources must be judiciously used and preserved for
future generations.
 Principle of Ecological Balance: Organic farming must be modeled on
living ecological systems. Organic farming methods must fit the
ecological balances and cycles in nature.
 Principle of Care: Organic agriculture should be practiced in a careful
and responsible manner to benefit the present and future generations and
the environment.

As opposed to modern and conventional agricultural methods, organic farming

does not depend on synthetic chemicals. It utilizes natural, biological methods
to build up soil fertility such as microbial activity boosting plant nutrition.

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Chapter Four
Challenges of Organic Agriculture
Organic farming is nothing new, it has been practiced since 5800 B.C.
However, farming with pesticides has only been common within the last 50
years (Fossel, 6). Many commercial farmers would tell you that it’s not even
possible to successfully grow crops without them.
With recent studies done on the effects of pesticides on our health, organic
farming is having a strong comeback. With this comeback have come new
ideas. Technology today affords us a lot more luxury and variation when it
comes to farming. This technology ranges from herbicides to tractors and
doesn’t stop there. As a new farmer, it can be confusing coming into all this
progress and trying to decide what works and what doesn’t. Every farmer has
their own miracle fix or ideas on how best to solve the three main farming
issues: soil composition, weed control and dealing with pests and disease. 

 Experimentation is the best way to learn what will work on your land and
in your particular climate as a farmer, but in order to experiment, farmers must
know what’s available.
Soil
 One of the most important components of an organic farm is the soil. Pesticide
farmers have chemical fertilizers that they use to create a topsoil layer. They
have to apply this every season as it washes away easily with rain. The key to
good soil for organic farming is building up nutrient rich soil that will last.
Fossel feels that by applying compost at the beginning of every season and
working it in with shallow tilling you will obtain the best soil possible (Fossel,
28).

All three farmers explain how to create compost. You must have a proper
balance of phosphorous, nitrogen, carbon, and potassium in order to achieve the
rich humus that farmers want to add to their soil. This requires time, and means
you must be careful about what you add to the heap. Manure must be allowed to
rot, nitrogen sources such as cardboard or wood must be shredded, and if you
are to be organically certified, your pile must reach between 131 and 170
degrees Fahrenheit for at least three days on order to be considered safe.

Cover crops

The homesteader, Ussery, believes compost is just too much work. He supports
the idea of cover crops, also known as green manure. Soil should never be left
bare, all three farmers agree. Ussery keeps the soil covered with nutrient rich
cover crops and then either lets winter kill them or cuts them off at the base and
allows the roots to decompose underground. The purpose of cover crops is for
them to decompose and slowly release their nutrients into the soil to become

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available to the cash crops. Good cover crops include cereal grains and legumes.
These keep nutrients in the soil and then once killed release those and more
back into the soil. It also opens channels in the soil that allow worms and
moisture to infiltrate deep throughout.

Another way to kill the cover crop and release its nutrients is by using
your own chickens. If you set up a wire around the part of the garden where the
cover crop is planted, the chickens will scratch, trample, and eat the cover crop
down to nothing. They will also defecate in the fields, leaving behind their
manure as fertilizer (Ussery, 2005).
Soil analysis

All three farmers place varying importance on getting a soil analysis. Kaysing,
however believes this is key. He offers several sources of free or cheap analysis
such as the USDA soil conservation services. The cheapest way to test your soil
is to scoop up about a pound of topsoil and put it into a glass jar. Fill the bottle
with water and then shake. The first layer to settle would be pebbles, then sand,
then organic matter, and finally clay. This can tell you what your soil is made
up of, but still doesn’t tell you what nutrients are lacking (Kaysing, 54-57).

Once you know what your soil needs, Kaysing feels that you should
enrich the soil. He believes you should add rock phosphates, greensand, and
limestone to achieve the perfect soil once you have gotten your analysis. These
are the basic components that make up most good soil, various forms of
decomposed rock and seabed deposits (Kaysing, 58). 
Stifling weed growth 

Commercial farmers of today’s day and age deal with weeds by using chemical
fertilizers on cash crops and heavily tilling in between the rows. This destroys
topsoil and opens the field up to even more weed growth the following year.
Fossel offers many ways to control weed growth, but has had the most success
with limiting the weed plants that reach germination and thus cutting weed
growth in half every year. Fossel achieves this through regular shallow tilling,
which opens up weed seeds to predation by birds and small rodents (Fossel, 66).
The other two farmers feel that little to no tilling should take place even if it’s
shallow, because it buries the nutrient rich topsoil. Fossel also goes after the
weeds by hand before they germinate and scatter their new seeds (Fossel, 67).

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Chapter Five

Conclusions

Organic farming can be a viable alternative production method for farmers, but
there are many challenges. One key to success is being open to alternative
organic approaches to solving production problems. Determine the cause of the
problem, and assess strategies to avoid or reduce the long term problem rather
than a short term fix for it.

Organic farming/gardening is a type of exercise that eliminates the risk of old

age diabetes, heart attacks, etc and also offers you the best opportunity to stay
close to nature and revitalize you totally from within. It is also a cost effective
way to do farming in your own space.  Organic farming helps to conserve water
as there are no chemicals used; nitrogen leaching can be effectively avoided. It
makes the soil healthy and nutrient rich, offering good quality products and
serves the  standards of the country. Also non food products like cotton can be
grown successfully in organic gardening.

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References

Paull, John & Hennig, Benjamin (2016) Atlas of Organics: Four Maps of the
World of Organic Agriculture Journal of Organics. 3(1): 25-32.
"USDA Blog  » Organic 101: Allowed and Prohibited Substances".
blogs.usda.gov. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
Paull, John (2011) "Nanomaterials in food and agriculture: The big issue of
small matter for organic food and farming", Proceedings of the Third
Scientific Conference of ISOFAR (International Society of Organic
Agriculture Research), 28 September – 1 October, Namyangju, Korea.,
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"USDA List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances in Organic Agriculture".
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Arsenault, Chris. "Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation
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Coleman, Eliot (1995), The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools
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Paull, John "From France to the World: The International Federation of Organic
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Gold, Mary. "What is organic production?". National Agricultural Library.

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Fargione J, and D Tilman. 2002. "Competition and coexistence in terrestrial plants". Pages
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Ingram, M. (2007). "Biology and Beyond: The Science of Back to Nature Farming in the
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Websites:

The Balance - Environmental benefits of Organic Faring:

https://www.thebalance.com/environmental-benefits-of-organic-farming-
2538317; Retreived: 6th February, 2017

Omafra- Organic farming: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/09-

077.htm Retrieved: 2nd February, 2017

Wikipedia – Organic Farming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming;

Retrieved 6th February, 2017

AgriTech – Need for organic farming:

http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/org_farm/orgfarm_introduction.html; Retrieved 1st
February, 2017

Conserve – Benefits of Organic Farming: http://www.conserve-energy-

future.com/organic-farming-benefits.php; Retreived 7th February, 2017

Food and Agriculture Organization United Nations – Organic Agriculture:

http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq6/en/; Retrieved 7th February,
2017

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