Key Features of Organic Farming
Question:
Discuss about the Technologies And Strategies In Organic Farming.
A short description of the organic farming sector
Industry of Organic farming can be looked at as a parallel system of agriculture that was came into practice in the early phase of 20th century as a reaction to the heavily and frequently changing practices of farming. It is seen that with time the industry of organic farming started to develop and in contemporary times organic farming has reached its pinnacle by utilizing the latest technologies and strategies. The major plus point of organic farming industry is that the farming depends only on the fertilizers which were prepared organically or the fertilizer’s origins are organic. For an example, it can be said that compost manure, bone meal green manure are the highly regarded organic fertilizers. The practices of organic farming in an industrial manner focuses on various aspects of farming; like, companion planting, crop rotation and many more (Andersen et al., 2015). It is seen that the standards set for industrial organic farming are designed in such a way that it allows the usage of natural substances while farming and discards utilizing synthetic elements in farming for the sake of sustainability.
The key feature of organic farming is that it ensures food security along with the sustainability of environment. In contemporary world, attaining a green environment has become a matter of concern and thus practices of organic farming can be a huge step forward while fighting this global issue (Ayuya et al., 2015). Not only that, organic farming allows the consumers to have food products which are free from harmful chemicals. Apart from that it can be said that organic farming practices can effectively lower the emission of fossil fuel due to the usage of cover crops and grass clovers in organic rotations. It is seen that practices of organic farming can effectively saves energy consumption as the production methods are highly energy efficient in contrast to the traditional method of farming. Apart from that from a recent study it has been seen that promoting organic farming can potentially enhance the yield in especially poorer nations where the prerequisites of traditional farming is relatively expensive. Practices of organic farming can effectively help to improve the human health, as it offers safe products for consumption than the food products produced by traditional way of farming. It can be said that as the standards of organic farming have stern principles to make sure that the food products contain no harmful and synthetic chemicals and in organic practices the farmers do not use genetically modified production technologies for increased profitability (Andersen et al., 2015). Thus it can be said that organic farming can effectively help to improve health conditions of humans and promotes environmental sustainability.
It can be said that the aim of this report is to promote awareness related to how Organic farming should be establish and sustain soil-plant, animal –soil and plant-animal interdependence and also to create a sustainable agro-ecological system dependent on the regional resources (Tuck et al., 2014). Apart from these, the major aims of this report is to establish that organic farming are minimizing various sorts of pollution and sustaining the genetic diversity of the agricultural system along with sustaining and increasing the long term fertility of soil as it is one of the most important part of farming (Ayuya et al., 2015).
A brief description of the history of organic farming
Importance of Organic Farming in Contemporary World
It is seen that traditional farming is been practiced from thousands of years and technically the traditional farming practices were actually organic farming. With time and technological advancements over the years the traditional way of farming got laced with usage of various chemicals to increase the yield and to fight the pests that destroys crops. Thus it can be said that the age old farming that has been practiced from the initiation of human civilization can surely be called organic farming and later the concept of organic farming deviated from that. It is seen that the first five decades of the 20th century noticed gradual advancements in biochemistry and in the field of engineering that worked as a positive catalyst and changed the concept of farming. Various research works related to plant breeding and mechanized farm implements helped the farming industry a lot. Statistically it can be said that up to the year of 1910 one farmer had to take the responsibility of feeding 2.5 people on an average, but during the year of 1990 the ratio between the farmers and the people became near about 1:100 and that made the situation concerning (Ayuya et al., 2015). That necessity eventually became the mother of invention and various technological advancements increased the yield. At that point of time excessive usage of chemicals while farming enhanced the yield but those chemicals exposed the consumers of those crops in front of various health issues. Later on it was seen that Sir Albert Howard became the pioneer of organic farming and organic farming practices initiated in the parts of Europe, India and in parts of America (Tittensor et al., 2014). Howard’s book An Agricultural Testament effectively influenced many scientists who later on worked on the subject of organic farming. The culture of organic farming accelerated after the World War II and at that point of time more powerful machinery enabled a single cultivator to work in larger fields or lands effectively. The year of 1950 became an important year for the practices of organic farming as in that point of time organic farming became popular topic of interest for many scientists which gave a boost to the practices of organic farming. These practices of sustainable farming majorly helped the green revolution that took place in Mexico in the year of 1944 and that encouraged the development of policies regarding chemical control, heavy mechanization, large scale irrigation and hybrid plants. The green revolution of Mexico made it possible for the practices of organic farming to get spread all over the world for the best interests of the human society. In the land of America, J. K Rodale popularized the ways of organic farming. Practices of organic farming reached its peak with the advent of 21st century and it was seen that advancements in biotechnology gave an immense boost to the organic farming practices (Tuck et al., 2014). Among all the positive sides, one negative aspect is seen nowadays and that is initially the small scale farmers initiated the practices of organic farming, but looking at its merits, nowadays the bigger agro firms came forward and started to invest in agriculture in an organic way. This made it impossible for the small scale farmers to sustain as the competition is fierce (Andersen et al., 2015).
Improving Health Conditions and Promoting Environmental Sustainability
The farmers who promote and has been practicing organic farming may choose to comply with the organic standards of their choice. In order to access specific markets and to declare their products as organic, the products they produce have to be certified to a specific government regulation or standard (Rader et al., 2014). In this regard, it is worthwhile to mention that if an individual want his or her product to have a specific private label, they will require to get certified to that corresponding private standard. It can be said that certification is a process in which the operators get an endorsed assurance that the products they are producing complies with the set standards and regulations of organic farming (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). It is a matter of fact that this process of authentication and certification is important for earning the trust of the consumers (Tittensor et al., 2014). In the sector of organic farming, the certification of organic farming nowadays take place by individual third party certification by an independent certification body, by group certification and in many other ways. Throughout the world, there are numerous certification bodies who give authentication certificate to the farmers who practice organic farming. Some of the reputed certification bodies are International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS), IFOAM, Organic Guarantee System and many more. It can be said that the in recent times, it has been essential to have an authentic certificate to produce and sell organic products as it would maintain the transparency between the sellers and the producers of organic food products (Tuck et al., 2014).
The organic approach of farming made it possible for the farmers to cultivate in a sustainable manner and thus it can be looked at as a well defined system of agriculture (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). In today’s world, organic farming can be looked at as a way that immensely contributes to the environmental sustenance and ensures that after consumption of the food products the consumers would not get into any type of health related problems. Codex Alimentarius Commission declared organic farming as a holistic production system that promotes and increases the health of agricultural sector and also contributes to sustain biological cycles and biodiversity which are vital for the sustenance of environment (Tuck et al., 2014). It can be said that all the possible definitions of organic cultivation recognizes that organic food system is highly dependent on the principles of ecology and it also utilizes an adaptive management for sustenance of a long term productivity (Rader et al., 2014). It is seen that for practical reasons, the guidelines of organic agriculture specifies minimum requirements for labeling the food products as organic and these requirements include some voluntary and mandatory practices for organic management (Andersen et al., 2015). It is seen that the contribution of organic farming is enormous in the biological diversity and it allows the farmers to have substantial scope to continue farming in an organic way. It can be said that currently there is immense scope for organic farming as in recent times looking at the prospects of it various multinational organizations are coming forward to invest in farming in organic way (Alvarenga et al., 2015). The main issue that rose in this situation is that when the big companies started to come forward and invest in organic farming sector, the small scale farmers who initiated organic farming started facing severe challenges and sustaining their business became a major issue (Tittensor et al., 2014). As organic farming immensely helps to reduce the agricultural pollutants, it is becoming a popular matter of interest day by day (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). While farming in organic way, the reduction in using harmful chemicals and pesticides are seen for the best interests of humankind. Not only that, decreased usage of herbicides, fungicides and synthetic soil fumigants are seen. It can be said that such preventive measures taken in organic cultivation makes it contribute immensely for the environmental sustainability and that is why organic farming has become a topic of interest within a short period of time. Various researches in the field of organic farming made it easy for the individuals to increase their awareness regarding usage of harmful chemicals and pesticides in the traditional way of farming. Thus it can be said that currently the scope is immense to work on the field of organic farming for the best interests of humankind (Tuck et al., 2014).
Evolution of Organic Farming over Time
Organic farming has gained considerable attention from many, especially those who believes in building sustainable future for the world (Alvarenga et al., 2015). The growing demand of organic food is a major factor that influences many in using this technique. However despite several strength of organic farming most of the farmers across world still operate in the traditional agriculture (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018).
One of the major strength of organic farming is that it can be easily transmitted which refers to the idea that if a farmer wants to go for a organic farming from the traditional farming process the entire job can be performed quite easily (Rader et al., 2014). It is not complicated at all and especially the transition period does not take much longer time as well (Tittensor et al., 2014). In addition to that if one switches to organic way of farming it can be observed that there is a measure used in the production. The primary reasons behind these are composed seats using crop rotation and manure (Rader et al., 2014). Within the conventional farming process of the farmer has to use artificial fertilizers and pesticides which is not a good way to enhance the soil fertility therefore it affects the crops soil and the production in an adverse way however organic farming does not include such procedure at all. Another major strength of organic farming is the soil gets nourished through the organic methods of farming. In traditional agriculture procedure the farmer has to utilize pesticides and other chemicals however it is not at all necessary within the organic farming therefore the microorganisms which enhances the nourishment of the soil tends to remain alive (Andersen et al., 2015). Therefore this becomes a major advantage for switching to the organic farming. Also the all this process is based on the notion of promoting biodiversity ideas therefore there is no requirement for restricting other organisms and animals. This is a major strength of this process as it provides greater freedom to the nature. Another major strength of organic farming is it generates more revenues than the traditional way of farming (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). In today’s world the demand of foods that are produced organically is raising therefore innovative leave it enhances the price structure of organic food products (Alvarenga et al., 2015). The farmers’ income is higher which also encourages many to switch to this process. Also there is search for inventing more intensive technology is ongoing so it helps the farmers to produce more products with less investment. Organic food products are also a nutritious substitute for the conventional food (Tittensor et al., 2014). Many consumers across the world have noticed positive changes in their health after they started consuming organic foods. As no synthetic substances is used in the organic method of farming which can have an healthy or toxic residual in it, the products are more nutritious and beneficial to health (Alvarenga et al., 2015).
However, most of the agricultural firms still utilize the age-old procedure of farming due to some major weakness of the organic methods of farming. A major reason behind this is that the supply chain of organic food tends to increase the challenges associated with the process (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). No usage of pesticides is also maximizing the crop-destroying influences (Alvarenga et al., 2015). Therefore it is much costly and consumes more time than the usual farming methods. Therefore it is less likely for the farmers to switch to this method which eventually becomes a major challenge in finding steady and reliable suppliers of such organic food products. The processing, transportation and distribution also become a major weakness of the process as there are few complicated procedures involved here (Tittensor et al., 2014). The farms who are offering both non-organic and organic products have to use two separate machines which boost the product cost to a great extent. Sometimes it also impedes the production speed. The seasonality of few organic crops and the incapability of growing adequate amount of products in order to meet the demand of customers in certain regions becomes a key challenge for the supply chain as well (Ronald & Adamchak, 2018). Despite the efforts from several governments across the world, the issue of organic farming is a major challenge. The governments concentrate more on the approach that is export oriented than being customer oriented (Tudisca et al., 2014). Therefore as the market of organic food is developing in a rapid speed, the businesses should optimize the supply chain manufacturing food products, modify the procurement policies in order to remain competitive in the market (Rader et al., 2014).
Conclusion
The key points in a summarized form, implications of the findings and intelligent suggestions for further work
Thus to conclude, it can be said that the recent progress in the field of organic farming is an indication that the awareness regarding the harmful elements that are utilized in organic farming has increased over time. In this regard, it can be said that in the way people used to get engaged in the agricultural activities thousands of years ago, that was perfect and harmless for human consumption. Scientific and technological advancement is necessary, but uncontrolled usage of chemicals ruined the balance of using synthetic chemicals and using natural ingredients in farming. It can be said that organic farming culture can immensely contribute to the sustainability of the environment as decreased usage of harmful chemicals will contribute to the bio diversity which is vital for the sustenance of environment. In recent years the sustainability of environment has become a major issue and the efforts put in by various individuals for the promotion of organic farming is commendable in this scenario. It is seen that the practices of organic farming is immensely beneficial for the humankind as well as for the sustenance of environment. Controlled usage of fertilizers and pesticides helps immensely to keep the nutrients of soil and water intact for prolonged time and it helps the decay of land. On the other hand, planned organic cultivation is always more economic than the traditional way of farming that has been practiced widely throughout the world. This is because while farming in the so called traditional way, the cost of necessary chemicals, engineering tools and other equipments are relatively more than that is used while farming in an organic way. Thus it can be said that for the betterment of the society and the environment, farming in organic way must be promoted and should be accepted widely. For future, the scientists should work on various aspects of organic farming for betterment and to ensure that while farming in organic way the farmers can yield more than they do nowadays. The governments of each and every country throughout the world along with business leaders should come forward for promoting and contributing for organic farming to secure the sustenance of the environment.
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