Organic Farming for Better Health and Safe Environment

Deepali Tewari, GBPUAT

Introductory information:

Green revolution in India resulted into a jump in agricultural production with the introduction of HYVs of various crops followed by intensive cultivation practices with the use of fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs. This intensive use of inputs led to soil, water and the environment pollution causing their slow degradation. It has also affected the health of human beings. People are now realizing that the green revolution with high input use has reached a plateau and is now sustained with diminishing return and falling dividend. India has a population of over 1.06 billion, more than whole Africa put together. Every sixth person on earth is an Indian and we are adding 33 babies a minute (Hindustan Times, July 11, 2003). Therefore, with this high rate of population explosion, there is a need to study the past trends in inputs usage like fertilizers and pesticides, which are the major components in crop production and future challenges and strategies for sustainable agriculture.

Imbalanced consumption of fertilizers and pesticides-Effect on environment and human beings:

Chemical Fertilizers: Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the primary fertilizers nutrients, which are widely used in our country. Table-1 shows the increasing trend in fertilizer consumption in India from 1991-98.  

Source: MANAGE Cyberary

• Increasing fertilizer use may not give the expected yield, particularly in areas where it is being regularly used. Experts point out that the fertilizer-use efficiency is only 30-35 per cent and the remaining 65-70 per cent of nutrients reach the underground water resources in the form of nitrate, which along with phosphates, pollute water bodies. Because of this imbalanced application of fertilizers and neglect of organic and bio-fertilizers, acute deterioration of soil health and in turn ill effects on plants, human being and cattle is being observed.

Pesticides: Consumption pattern of different groups of pesticide (Table-2) shows an increasing trend especially that of herbicides, whose application is growing at an annual rate of 13.7%.

Source: Pesticide Association of India

Harmful effect of non-judicious pesticides application: Pesticides enter environment mainly through:

• Air by sprayed drift or volatilization from soil or water.
• Water mainly by surface runoff, sediment transport from treated soil, industrial wastes and direct application of pesticides to control aquatic pests.
• Soil through direct application besides runoff from plants, rains and dumping of empty containers of pesticides.
• Emergence of resistant strains: Improper use of systematic fungicides like (Carbendazium) resulted into development of resistant stains of different plant pathogens.
• Environmental pollution and leads to health hazardous.
• Adverse effect on non-target organisms and destruction of beneficial organisms like honeybees, pollinators, parasites and predators. At the height of the American bollworm problem in Guntur and Prakasham districts in Andhra Pradesh in 1986 almost all the predaceous bird fauna were totally exterminated. The crisis in cotton cultivation posed by bollworms, white flies etc. leading to total crop loss and eventual frustration and suicides of many farmers in A.P.
• Table-3, gives an idea about the degree of pesticide contamination in India.

 Source: ICAR project, 1986 - 1999

Now comes the solution part: Organic Approach

• Organic farming means using such cultural, biological and mechanical methods that maintain long-term soil biological activity, recycle organic wastes to return nutrients to the soil, provide alternate care for livestock and not using extraneous synthetic additives for growing crops or for post-harvest processing (chemical preservatives) so that the integrity of organic products is maintained until they reach the consumers.
• Organic agriculture is an environment friendly ecological production system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and biological activities. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and management practices that restore maintain and enhance ecological balance.
• Organic Agriculture is much more than simply chemical free.
• Producing Organic is a commitment to a system, which ensures that healthy, nutritious food can be produced year after year without environmental degradation.
• The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.

Why to go organic: A farmers point of view:

Organic farming aims at reducing the costs of production and helps the farmers to get reasonable returns. Organic farming is today's answer not only to sustained productivity, but also to safe and nutritious food, which is increasingly demanded by conscious consumers within and outside India. Organic products also promise better prospects for Market and Trade. There is an ever-growing export market for organic products, and also the domestic market in India is emerging. Products that are certified and sold as 'organic' can fetch a premium price compared with conventional products.

 Why do people choose organic food?

• Better taste - Organic food tastes better; this is the simple message given by many people who eat organic.
• Healthier -Organic foods have far less residues of pesticides, growth promoters and antibiotics. It has been shown in a number of studies that organic food contains more vitamins, nutrients and cancer-fighting antioxidants than non-organic food.
• Animal friendly - Organic farming places great emphasis on animal welfare and is more animal friendly, where animals are not treated with synthetic growth hormones or drugs.
• GMO free - Genetically Modified Organisms are not allowed in organic agriculture.
• Fair Play - By avoiding expensive inputs of agrochemicals, organic farmers can manage to reduce production costs and get out of the debt trap. Fair prices additionally can enable farmers to get reasonable returns for their efforts.
• More sustainable - Organic production aims, at all times towards sustainability while having best management of the environment and wildlife as a priority. This implies a sustainable management of natural resources; soil water and bio diversity. Organic systems are less dependent on non-renewable resources.

Characteristics of organic farming: Organic farming involves 3 agricultural practices, viz.

1. Protection of long-term fertility: This is achieved by adopting the following practices:

Following organic materials are used to maintain organic matter and nutrients in the soil:

• FYM cow dung
• Green manure
• Coir Pith
• Vermicompost
• Biofertilisers, living cells of different types of microorganisms, which can convert important elements from non-usable to usable form. Important examples are Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Blue green algae, Azolla, Mycorrhizae, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB).
• Careful mechanical intervention to maintain and enhance the ecological balance.
• Use of Nitrogen-fixing plants and balanced fertilization and
• Recycling of plant and animal residue.

2. Crop protection without chemicals:      It means:

• Pest-resistant plant varieties are used.
• Deep ploughing the fields during summer season helps in killing pests, larval & eggs.
• Use of bio-pesticides like Trichoderma, to control pests.
• Use of pheromone traps and light traps.
• Hormones, growth promoters and food irradiation are not used.
• Organics also prohibits the use of Genetically Modified Organisms.

3. Adoption of proper management techniques or cultural practices to control pests:

• Soil management techniques, such as mulching.
• Proper water management.
• Use of fallow periods.
• Various cropping systems, such as inter-cropping/ agro-forestry.
• Proper crop selection and rotation.
• Change in time of sowing.
• Growing of trap crops.
• Due consideration to be given to animal welfare.
• Use of manual, mechanical and thermal weeding.

Worldwide market for organic product:

Although presently, organic agriculture and organic trade account for less than 1% of the total food industry but trend is likely to be more pronounced in the coming years. The state of the organic industry differs slightly across countries, but there are clear signs that worldwide markets for organic foods are expanding. A recent report of the International Trade Center shows that over 100 countries produce organic products and beverages in commercial quantities. The present potential of the international market for organic foods has been estimated at $ 20 billion (The Tribune, 2003). The annual growth rates are 15 to 30 percent in Europe, the United States, and Japan for the past 5 years. As many as 20 to 30 percent of consumers surveyed in Europe, North America, and Japan claim to purchase organic foods regularly.

On the processing side, major food processing companies like Danone and Heinz have entered the organic production, as well as the majority of the world's biggest super market chains on the retail distribution side. The recently enacted National Organic Regulations in the United States and Japan, the National Organic Standards of India adopted and efforts to develop rules for organic agriculture in many other countries like Canada, China etc. are certain to further the standing of organic agriculture on an international scale.

Market size for organic foods for some countries is given below:

Source: www.indocert.com

Certification: To ensure genuineness of organically farmed products reaching the market, the farmer; processor/manufacturer, distributor and retailer have to go thorough a process of certification.

Some well-known international organic standards are:

• International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM) standards,
• The Soil Association of UK standards,
• USDA standards,
• UK Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS),
• Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) USA,
• International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS),
• Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) etc.

Organic farming-Opportunities for India: Organic farming in our country is a welcome alternative from three angles, viz.

• 1. For the small farmer-for whom it is less financially draining;
• 2. For the environment-which is now subject to a more eco-sensitive mode of farming, that would help improve soil fertility; and

•3.      For the government, which by encouraging organic farming, and thereby reducing the reliance on fertilizers, can gradually trim its subsidy bill and thus achieve cost-savings.

India is blessed with various agro-climatic regions, vast farmlands available for conversion, and thus has bright prospects for organic agricultural products for domestic as well as for export market.

Factors that should be kept in mind while exporting organic products:

• Organic products to be exported should be certified properly.
• The distribution channels, whether exporter, importer or distributor should be selected carefully.
• Close contacts and prompt communication with importers need to be established.
• Knowledge of foreign markets should be built up on the basis of customer requirements when and where the product is to be sold.
• Price premiums may be falling in the future years.
• Qualities of products may vary from country to country. For example, the vegetable exported to European countries, Japan, Australia and America have different characteristics than the vegetable exported to gulf and Asian countries. In case of onion, the demand in European and Japanese market is the yellow and brown colour onions, which have less pungency, and big size whereas the demand of Gulf and other Southeastern countries is light to dark pink color onion. Similarly some south Asian countries have market for small pink colour multipliers onion.
• Working in collaboration with other producers or in co-operatives is advantageous to promote R&D and in the production of marketable quantities at economic costs.

Orientation of Marketing

Organic farming should be export oriented. There are two interrelated pre requisites for the success in agri-export business.

• 1. Well-attended organic farming technology for production of exportable agricultural goods.
• 2. Availability of assured and organized market for produce.

Organic Farming- A different perspective:

Some scientists do not agree to the superiority claimed by organic foods. They view the whole issue of organic agriculture from another angle.

Samuel R. Aldrich, in his article "Which system can meet the food needs in today's world?" voices his contradictory opinions very strongly regarding organic agriculture, which are summarized below:

• Proponents of organic farming have suggested that returning animal manures and sewage sludge to the land could largely replace the need for fertilizers. They seem unaware that most animal manure is already returned to the land; furthermore, it is not a net
  addition because the manure only contains fertilizer nutrients previously removed by crops. It is difficult to return more than one-fourth to one-half of the nitrogen in harvested crops. Human excrement in Illinois contains only 5 percent as much nitrogen as is supplied in fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizer in Illinois is, in fact, added by farmers to supplement but not replace the amounts available from soil humus, crop residues and manure.
• The use of the term "health foods" should be discontinued. It implies special health-improving characteristics, which not only are unproven but also are in many cases denied by competent, unbiased authorities
• Organic farming as originally devised by Sir Albert Howard was designed as a farming system for impoverished and remote areas of India where farmers had little or no money with which to purchase fertilizers and no feasible way to transport them from factories to farms. Organic farming has since evolved into opposition to the use of any processed fertilizers.
• Fertilizers at recommended rates increase both earthworms and soil bacteria by providing more plant residues to their food supply.
• Recent news stories suggest that increased use of nitrogen fertilizer poses a long-term threat to the protective ozone layer in the stratosphere. It is important to understand that any strategy to increase the supply of nitrogen for food production, including capturing nitrogen by growing legume crops, has the same potential effect.
• Unfortunately, preservatives and artificial coloring compounds have often been lumped together and declared hazardous chemicals by organic gardeners and by environmentalists. Preservatives, in fact, serve highly useful purposes. They add greatly to the shelf life of baked goods in the store or at home by delaying mold growth. Molds are only an annoyance to some persons, but others are extremely allergic to them. Nitrite prevents the development of botulism, a deadly poison. Other preservatives delay the development of rancidity in fats and oils. Whether there is excessive use of preservatives will not be debated here, but a blanket rejection of them would have a serious effect on food supply, on the appearance and flavor of many foods and the nutritional value and safety of some.
• There has been a strong back-to-nature movement during the past decade, to find an escape from the artificiality of big city life, healthful exercise and a special sense of accomplishment and self-reliance in planting, growing and harvesting their own food. Being untrained and unskilled in the basics of plant growth, people have an almost mystic reverence for nature and a fear of man-made chemicals. Some have developed a genuine concern for possible residues of pesticides and food additives. Highly selective reading and acceptance of anti-chemical literature to the exclusion of more scientific and better-balanced reports reinforce their concerns.

Dr. Ruth Leverton, Science adviser in the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, says, "Food labeled as organic is not likely to contain more vitamins than similar foods not considered organic."

The notion that organically grown food is somehow different is based upon lack of understanding of the way that plant nutrients enter plant roots. This is clearly explained by Dr. Milton Salomon, chairman of the Department of Food and Resource Chemistry, University of Rhode Island:

"When organic matter breaks down in the soil, mineral fertilizer elements such as nitrates, phosphates, calcium, and others are released to the soil solution for subsequent uptake by plants. When chemical fertilizers are added to soils, the same elements are made soluble rather quickly and plant roots, too, then absorb them. The plant does not and cannot distinguish, for example, nitrate from a compost pile from that coming from an inorganic chemical source. Whatever you feed the plant, it eats the same thing, whether it's organic or inorganic."