A Review of Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture in Northern India

Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Agronomy Volume 2013, Article ID 718145, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/718145 Review Article A Review of Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture in Northern India S. K. Yadav, Subhash Babu, M. K. Yadav, Kalyan Singh, G. S. Yadav, and Suresh Pal Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221005, India Correspondence should be addressed to S. K. Yadav; Received 29 March 2013; Accepted 16 May 2013 Academic Editor: A. V. Barker Copyright © 2013 S. K. Yadav et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In the post independence period, the most important challenge in India has been to produce enough food for the growing population. Hence, high-yielding varieties are being used with infusion of irrigation water, fertilizers, or pesticides. This combination of high-yielding production technology has helped the country develop a food surplus as well as contributing to concerns of soil health, environmental pollution, pesticide toxicity, and sustainability of agricultural production. Scientists and policy planners are, therefore, reassessing agricultural practices which relied more on biological inputs rather than heavy usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic farming can provide quality food without adversely affecting the soil’s health and the environment; however, a concern is whether large-scale organic farming will produce enough food for India’s large population. Certified organic products including all varieties of food products including basmati rice, pulses, honey, tea, spices, coffee, oilseeds, fruits, cereals, herbal medicines, and their value-added products are produced in India. Non edible organic products include cotton, garments, cosmetics, functional food products, body care products, and similar products. The production of these organic crops and products is reviewed with regard to sustainable agriculture in northern India. 1. Introduction The organic movement in India has its origin in the work of Howard [1] who formulated and conceptualized most of the views which were later accepted by those people who became active in this movement. Organic farming is a production system which avoids, or largely excludes, the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. The objectives of environmental, social, and economic sustainability are the basics of organic farming [2]. The key characteristics include protecting the long-term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, fostering soil biological activity, careful mechanical intervention, nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock wastes and weed, and diseases and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, and resistant varieties. A great emphasis is placed to maintain the soil fertility by returning all the wastes to it chiefly through compost to minimize the gap between NPK addition and removal from the soil [3]. Today, the burgeoning population pressure has forced many countries to use chemicals and fertilizers to increase the farm productivity for meeting their ever-increasing food requirements. The prolonged and over usage of chemicals has, however, resulted in human and soil health hazards along with environmental pollution. Farmers in the developed countries are, therefore, being encouraged to convert their existing farms into organic farm. The key factors affecting consumer demand for organic food is the health consciousness and the willingness of the public to pay for the high-priced produce. In general, consumers of organic products are an affluent, educated, and health conscious group spurred by strong consumer demand, generous price premium, and concerns about the environment. Because of these hidden benefits, conventional growers are turning to organic farming. In Europe, government policies aim to stimulate the organic sector through subsidies, consumer education, and support in the form of research, education, and marketing. Agricultural practices of India date back to more than 4000 years, and organic farming is very much native to this country. As mentioned 2 in Arthashastra, farmers in the Vedic period possessed a fair knowledge of soil fertility, seed selection, plant protection, sowing seasons, and sustainability of crops in different lands [4]. The farmers of ancient India adhered to the natural laws and this helped in maintaining the soil fertility over a relatively longer period of time [5]. 2. Organic Sources of Plant Nutrients At present, most optimistic estimates show that about 25–30 percent of nutrient needs of Indian agriculture can be met by various organic sources. Supplementation of entire N through FYM sustains crop productivity at more than use of conventional N fertilizers. Since the estimates of NPK availability from organic sources are based on total nutrient content, efficiency of these sources to meet the nutrient requirement of crops is not as assured as mineral fertilizers, but the joint use of chemical fertilizers along with various organic sources is capable of sustaining higher crop productivity, improving soil quality, and productivity on long-term basis [3]. These organic sources besides supplying N, P, and K also make unavailable sources of elemental nitrogen, bound phosphates, micronutrients, and decomposed plant residues into an available form to facilitate the plants to absorb the nutrients. Application of organic sources encouraged the growth and activity of mycorrhizae and other beneficial organisms in the soil and is also helpful in alleviating the increasing incidence or deficiency of secondary and micronutrients and is capable of sustaining high crop productivity and soil health [6]. The farmers can in turn, get good remuneration from organically produced crops and if included in high value crop rotations, that is, aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.), table pea (Pisum sativum L.), and onion (Allium cepa L.) [7] due to their heavy demands in domestic, national, and international markets. Nutrient concentrations in FYM are usually small and vary greatly depending upon source, conditions, and duration of storage. The N, P, and K contents of fresh FYM range widely from 0.01 to 1.9 percent on dry weight basis due to variable nature of manure production and storage [8, 9]. Tandon [10] reported that on an average, well-rotted FYM contains 0.5 per cent N, 0.2 per cent P2 O5 , and 0.5 per cent K2 O. Gaur [11] stated that an application of 25 t ha−1 of well-rotted FYM can add 112 kg N, 56 kg P2 O5 , and 112 kg K2 O ha−1 . Several researchers all (...truncated)