Tag: organic farming

Organic Food’s Growing Popularity

Organic food is the food produced by methods that cycle resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity. It is either entirely free of synthetic fertilizers or processed food made from organically produced raw materials.

Organic food is slowly becoming a part of the daily diet of hundreds of people around the world. This surge in the use of organic food became somewhere in the early 2000s because of the uncontrolled use of synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers started affecting the health of people negatively. Thus, people started shifting to organic food. 

Initially, buying organic food was limited to fruits and vegetables. But today, people prefer almost all food products organic. Like tea, pulses, spices and even oilseeds.

With the introduction of organic foods in the market, people started realising the connection between diet, health and environment. If we consider the environmental perspective, the overuse of pesticides, fertilizers and overproduction have only had negative effects on the environment. It has affected biodiversity, drinking supplies and groundwater. 

India is well known for its organic heritage. Therefore, in India, the organic food market is rapidly growing every year. It has shown an upward trend of 20-22 per cent annually and some data show that about 1.5 million hectares of land area under organic farming. 

Organic food market continuously shows growth and is not expected to decline anytime soon. 

BENEFITS OF ORGANIC FOOD:

Organic foods come with a number of benefits which is why people are shifting to it. Organic food is chemical-free and grown with the help of manure or compost. The consumers of organic products have reported that organic food tastes much better than conventional food. 

Many animals are often fed with growth hormones and antibiotics which passes on to animal food products and further to human consumers of these products. Organic farming prohibits this practice. Animals feed outside in natural surroundings which makes the antibiotic-containing food ineffective in human beings.
Not only organic food but organic farming itself has many advantages. It has acted as a saviour of biodiversity. When humans were continuously exploiting the land to produce more products and the land and soil quality was degrading day by day, organic farming was the only last resort. It promotes the growth of natural varieties and prevents loss of species. It helps preserve the environment which leads to the protection of the wildlife as well. 

Organic farming despite having many benefits has one disadvantage which makes it inaccessible to many. The cost at which organic products are sold tends to be pretty high. Along with high costs, the output is very low because it takes a lot of time and effort to grow or make them.

Globally, the United States holds 40 per-cent of the global market revenue and dominates the organic food market. Europe stands on the second position and accounts for 33 per-cent of the total global revenue share globally.
In the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea are major markets for organic foods. 

All around the world, organic food is gaining popularity rapidly. It is mainly because people are becoming more health-conscious because of increasing health issues like heart attacks, obesity and strokes. In a few years, organic products will easily take over conventional food products. And the reasons are very simple and clear. Organic food is GMO-free, nutrient-rich, environment-friendly, negligible pesticides and fertilizers and no growth hormones.
The organic sector is continuously changing, thanks to the new certifications, policies and products which make them safe for the consumers.
But one should be well aware of which product to buy because many companies sell conventional products with the label of organic products. Consumers should stay informed thoroughly and buy only from certified and authentic suppliers.

Learning from Ancient Agriculture in India

Our earth can no longer tolerate pesticides and fertilizers, because of the ever increasing demand of food, we must return back to our basics – using age old agricultural practices with the help of modern technology.

The evidence of agriculture practice in India dates back to 9000 BC. The domestication of plants and animals was also reported around this time. Wheat, barley and jujube were among crops, sheep and goats were among animals that were domesticated. This period also saw the first domestication of the elephants. Agricultural communities became widespread in Kashmir valley around 5000 BC. It was reported that Cotton was cultivated by 5000 – 4000 BC in Kashmir. As early as 4530 BC and 5440 BC wild Oryza rice appeared in the Belan and Ganges valley regions of northern India. Agricultural activity during the second millennium BC included rice cultivation in the Kashmir and Harappan regions.  Agriculture was far from the dominant mode of support for human societies, but those who adopted it flourished.

Why should we return to ancient practices? 

Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides to increase crop production has augmented the deterioration in quality of the yield. Using chemicals in farming destroys natural resources, and wastes a lot of water because it causes soil degradation and soil to become salty. The chemicals are washed from soil into water and also cause water pollution along with soil pollution. Due to the process of biological magnification, the chemicals are being accumulated in our bodies. Due to the above reasons we need to switch to sustainable methods of farming like organic farming.

Ancient practices that can help farmers

  1. Water harvesting should be adopted by farmers. This will irrigate their fields and the water can also be used for domestic use in the farmer’s house. This also will decrease the farmers dependence on borewells and tubewells and thereby save water. The Harappan farmers used to harvest the rainwater.
  1. Trees should be grown along with the crops. It increases biodiversity in the farm and also may be used as an income source. By planting a neem tree in a field, a farmer can sell its leaves and small branches. Also, birds will visit it and eat the pests from crops. Growing trees of medicinal value will help to cure an ill member of the farmers family. 
  1.  The farmers should grow crops with only traditional seeds. HYV seeds (High Yield Variety seeds) appear to be good for a short course of time; but in the long run, they decrease the groundwater table of the area and decrease the productivity of soil.
  1. Manure is a cost effective and an environment-friendly alternative of Fertilizer. Farmers should reintroduce the use of Jiwamrita which has been used for thousands of years in India. The only ingredients in this miracle fertilizer are cow dung, cow urine, evaporated cane juice or raw sugar and water.
  1. Mixed farming was the basis of the Indus valley economy. Indian farmers should also diversify their crops and grow at least two crops in  a year. This will aid in increasing the fertility of the soil.

These were a few ancient farming practices that can help a farmer to increase his income while saving water and energy; ultimately saving the world from food scarcity and pollution.