The global concerns of safe foods have introduced the concept of organic farming. Organic agriculture is an eco- friendly production system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and biological activities. The principle 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.

Concept of Organic Agriculture

 Organic farming is not new to Indian farming community. Several forms of organic farming are being successfully practiced in diverse climate, particularly in rain fed, tribal, mountains and hill areas of the country. Among all farming systems, organic farming is gaining wide attention among farmers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and agricultural scientists for varied reasons such as it minimizes the dependence on chemical inputs (fertilizers; pesticides; herbicides and other agro-chemicals) thus safeguards/improves quality of resources, and it is labour intensive and provides an opportunity to increase rural employment and achieve long term improvements in the quality of resource base. Organic production systems are based on production standards that are formulated for food production which aims at producing socially and ecologically sustainable agro ecosystems.

 Need to go for Organic

farming systems can deliver agronomic and environmental benefits both through structural changes and tactical management of farming systems. The benefits of organic farming are relevant both to developed nations (environmental protection, biodiversity enhancement, reduced energy use and CO2 emission) and to developing countries like India (sustainable resource use, increased crop yields without over-reliance on costly external inputs, environment and biodiversity protection, etc.). 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.

 Organic agriculture and food security

Organic food comes from organic farms which rely upon environment friendly technologies and production methods rather than external agricultural inputs. This system means no artificial pesticides, no herbicides, no hormones and no growth promoters or food irradiation. Organics also prohibits the use of GMO’s – or genetic engineering. Organic agriculture supports and enhances ecologically sound systems of food production that provides food security. There is a growing demand for organic foods in the present market mainly due to its better taste and safety.

Organic Cultivation Practices

The indiscriminate and injudicious use of pesticides and chemicals has resulted in several environmental and health hazards and this necessitated the use of eco-friendly approaches and techniques in our farm. Organic Foundation aims at developing feasible and user-friendly programs to help farmers go organic in every sense. The complete package of practices for various crops helps farmers to adopt organic farming effectively by giving set of technologies and practices covering areas like seed selection, storage, pest and disease management, and cultivation techniques. Traditional pest management tactics with indigenous technical knowledge of farmers are reported to be effective in managing pests and diseases to a large extent. When a crop is cultivated organically a buffer zone shall be maintained if the neighboring farms are non-organic. From the seed/plant material selection onwards the system should adhere to organic practices. Soil nutrient management and pest and disease control should be based on environment friendly approaches. The documentation and learning from the past experiences have enabled us to come up with a standard package of practices for a wide range of crops. The packages are delivered to the farmers through training programmes, backed up with user manuals and other consultancy services.

Organic Inputs

Organic Manures

Organic farming requires greater understanding in handling organic manure than conventional farming. From the day of sowing till the harvest, the plants take in several nutrients from the soil. It is highly essential to replace the used nutrients back in the soil for the next season crop and to retain soil fertility. The nutrients required by the plants can be supplied by means of organically available manures such as farmyard manure, green manure, green leaf manure, Vermicompost and Biofertlizers.

Advantages of organic manures

• The supply of nutrients from organic manures is balanced, which helps to keep plants healthy and strong.

• Soil biological activity is enhanced, which improves nutrient mobilization from organic and mineral sources.

• Compost has the potential to suppress soil borne pathogens, when applied to the soil.

• Due to better soil structure, root growth and aeration is enhanced.

• Organic matter improves the soil capacity to store and exchange nutrients and water.

• Organic matter prevents soil acidity.

• It increases the water holding capacity of soil.

 • Organic manure helps in maintaining C: N ratio in the soil and also increases the fertility and productivity of soil.

 Different types of organic fertilizers

The aim of all organic fertilizers is to maintain soil –fertility, to feed the plants with balanced nutrients and to save money. There are four kinds of organic fertilizers: manure, compost, biohumus and green manure. Manure: Manure is the excrement of any type of farm animal. Farms with a lot of animals can produce huge amounts of manure during the year. Depending on the storing technique, nutrients in the manure are available quickly or slowly once applied to the field.

Compost

Composting is a method of recycling organic matter mainly composed of plant residues. Through the composting process, these products decompose with the help of microorganisms.

Biohumus

For Biohumus preparation, earthworms are used to transform organic matter in to humus .As earthworms transform organic matter in to excrement with in a short period of time the process can be faster than ordinary composting. The stable crumbs left by worms have a high nutrient content and other good effects on the soil. Worms like all other animals need shelter food and special protection against ants. This makes the production of Biohumus challenging. Green manure

Green manure is plants grown to gather nutrients for the main crops. They are mainly planted during the off-season when no other crops are able to grow. They are gathering nutrients from the soil and air and protecting the soil .Their roots protect the soil from being washed out by introducing nutrients. At the same time they cover the soil with their leaves or residues and protect against erosion.

Biofertilizers

The use of Biofertlizers is quite important while practicing organic farming. Some of the commonly used Biofertilisers are as follows.

Rhizobium (Bradyrhizobium and Azorhizobium)

It induces better root nodulation and stem nodulation (Azorhizobium) in inoculated plants and thereby brings down the requirement of nitrogen fertilizer for the cultivation of pulses, oil seeds and legume green manures. Commercially it is available as carrier based inoculums. Method of application is seed treatment.

Azotobacter

Suitable only for upland crops like vegetables, tapioca, plantation and orchard crops. It is available as carrier –based inoculum.It fixes N about 15-20 kg/ha, under ideal upland conditions. Method of application are seed treatment, seedling dip and direct soil application. It grows well in waterlogged paddy field.

Azospirillum

It is suitable for both upland and wet land conditions and is available as carrier- based inoculum.It fixes nitrogen about 20-25 kg per ha.under ideal conditions. Treatment with Azospirillum also induces better root formation in inoculated plants. Hence this biofertilizer is also recommended for root induction in polybag-raised seedlings of plantation and orchard crops and also for vegetable crops.

Azolla

It is a floating fern grows in the stagnant water of rice fields. This plant contains algae called Anabaena Azolla in the cavities of the fronds. It provides the necessary nutrients and space required for the growth of these algae. In turn the algae provide Azolla with the fixed atmospheric nitrogen and other nutrients essential for its growth. The required quantity of Azolla will have to be raised in the farmers field itself. Fixes nitrogen about 25-30 kg /ha.

Crop Protection Methods

If all preventive crop protection practices fail to prevent economic losses, it is necessary to take curative means to control the pest or disease once it has already infested the crop.

Natural pesticides

Some plants contain components that are toxic to insects. When extracted from plants and applied on the infested crops, these components are called natural pesticides. Most of these pesticides are not very selective, but target a broad range of insects. The toxicity of natural pesticides is usually not very high and they breakdown quickly in the environment. Some natural pesticides are dangerous to humans and they can be very toxic to natural enemies. For example Nicotine, derived from tobacco plant is one of the most toxic organic poisons for humans and animals.Therfore it is now forbidden to use it in organic agriculture. Besides plant extracts, there are other, often commercial natural pesticides, which are permitted in organic agriculture such as sulphur or whitewash

Post harvest Handling for Organic Crops

Optimal-quality organic produce that achieves the desired textural properties, sensory shelf life, and nutritional content is the combined result of careful implementation of recommended production inputs and practices, careful handling at harvest, and appropriate post harvest handling and storage. Under organic production, growers harvest and market their produce at or near peak ripeness more commonly than in many conventional systems. However, organic production often includes more specialty varieties whose shelf lives and shipping traits are reduced or even inherently poor. As a general approach, the following practices can help to maintain quality.

1. Harvest during the coolest time of day to maintain low product respiration.

2. Avoid unnecessary wounding, bruising, crushing, or damage from humans, equipment, or harvest containers.

3. Shade the harvested product in the field to keep it cool. By covering harvest bins or totes with a reflective pad, you greatly reduce heat gain from the sun, water loss, and premature senescence.

4. If possible, move the harvested product into a cold storage facility or post harvest cooling treatment as soon as possible. For some commodities, such as berries, tender greens, and leafy herbs, one hour in the sun is too long.

5. Do not compromise high quality product by mingling it with damaged, decayed, or decay-prone product in a bulk or packed unit.

6. Only use cleaned and, as necessary, sanitized packing or transport containers.